8 Months Old

Dear Oliver,

You are so much fun! We love your smile, your laugh, your love of books, the way you chill on your side mid-crawl (hilarious!), watching you discover new things, your love for Squeak...you are an amazing baby. You are such a blessing to us and bring us so much joy. Eight months old is such a fun age.

• You are pretty mobile. You still army-crawl but you also do the inch-worm move. Tonight Dad saw you lift your stomach off of the ground and crawl for a bit. I try to keep the carpets and floors clean because if there is something to find, you will find it and put it in your mouth, guaranteed.
• You love, love, love books. You have a good attention span and will let me read several in a row. When I pull one out, I have your full attention. Tonight you woke up after being asleep for a while. You were crying, I think because you're teething on the top. I could not get you to calm down and go back to sleep. After a while, I turned on your lap and read you Goodnight Moon, Peek-a-boo I Love You (a lift-the-flap book that you love) and Touch and Feel Town (your three favorites). As soon as I pulled out the first book, you calmed down right away and settled in to enjoy the story. After I finished reading the three books, I turned off the lamp and you fell asleep right away. I love your love for books.
• You still love bouncing in your jumper. When we hold you on our laps, you bounce up and down as well, squealing and laughing. You love your bounces. 
• You enjoy dissolveable whole-grain puffs as a snack. You pick them up between you thumb and pointer finger. Sometimes they make it in your mouth and sometimes they don't. It's fun to watch as you learn new things, like how to get a puff into your mouth. 
• You love animals. Not only our cat, Squeak, but all animals. You squeal with delight when you see them. You hold your finger out toward Squeak and he sniffs it, and you think it's the best thing ever. It's so cute. 
• You continue to have two short naps in the day (usually 1/2 hour each) but you generally sleep well through the night (although you have been waking up a little lately due to teething, and last week I fed you a small amount of cheese and that really upset your stomach, resulting in painful cries about once an hour for several hours...poor little friend.  I learned my lesson with that one). 
• You love music. If we are driving in the car and you start to get upset, Dad and I will sing The Ants Go Marching and you calm down. Luckily there are ten versus.
• You are very social. You have smiles for everyone. Since a lot of our friends in our ward watch you while I am studying, a lot of the kids in our ward know you. One girl, Riley Tyler, asked her mom the other day how to spell Oliver because she wants to make you a picture. The Worton girls (who are two years old) ask their mom all the time when they can play with "Baby Oliver." Anna and Viva Weed, daughters of some of our good friends, call you Whooper (because they couldn't pronounce Oliver when they first met you) and have named their dolls Whooper. We were over there last night and they were having so much fun with you. I have numerous friends whose kids ask me when Oliver is going to come and play. You are quite the social little guy. 
• You are a really good baby. Our neighbor across the street, Sue Lambert, watched you last week. When I picked you up, she told me, "He's such a good baby. If you guys have babies this good, you should have twelve."
• You love baths. As soon as I turn on the water, you start leaning toward the bathtub, anxious to get in (even if all of your clothes are still on). I have a little bath book that I give to you while you're in the bath, and you lay in your little tub, looking at your book. It's adorable. 
• You are a lot like me in that you don't like to cuddle but want your space. You arch back when we try to kiss and cuddle you.  You even picked up my hand and moved it the other day when I was loving on you. I am told that's how I was as a baby and to this day I am not cuddly or into hugs and affection (except with your Dad). The only time you let me cuddle you is when you're not feeling well or you're really, really tired, and then you let me rock or bounce you and tickle your face until you fall asleep. 
• You love exploring my face as you are falling asleep. It's funny how this is the only time you really do it. You put your finger in my mouth, pull on my nose, etc. You do the same thing to Dad when he is putting you to bed. I think it's pretty cute. 
• Your dad and I are constantly telling each other how amazing you are. You are one loved kid.