Luke is 8 months + pics

i'm slacking already! Luke is 8.5 months old and i never got around to taking his cute little "monthly" pics with the stickers :( i usually wait until i can get those pics before updating my blog but since half the month has already come and gone, decided to just use his park pictures as his 8-month pics. and ugh, i've been doing such a poor job, too, of keeping track of his monthly progress so i'm writing this completely from memory.

- 22 lbs 6 oz, 28"

- Still EBF, eats about 4-5 times per day. Each session only lasts 5-10 mins, it's amazing how quickly he can eat!

- Luke has 2 teeth now, both lower central incisors, and looks super cute when he smiles (though you have to be taking a pic overhead to get them in the shot).

- He's a great eater, my little boy. He eats 3x's/day, about 2-3 oz per meal. He tries a lot of new foods, I basically go off the suggestions found on wholesomebabyfood's website here. He does really well with his pincher grasp and picking up banana bites, cheerios, toast, etc.

- Luke still isn't much of a talker, just yesterday (5/13) he started babbling, "ba ba ba ba," and we got all excited, lol, just goes to show how rare it truly is. He is a screamer, however. He loves to scream like a dinosaur when he's excited and/or frustrated. It's still the cutest thing.

- He just started rocking on his hands and knees within the past few days. Still not crawling but can get around on his belly in no time.

- He somewhat understands the word "No," and will pull back when he hears it. It's probably more of the firm tone in our voice that he's picking up on but it works nonetheless (well, not when he's trying to get into my purse of course, then he's got tunnel vision).

- He loves standing! LOVES it! whenever we put our arms out he reaches for them and pulls himself up to a standing position. He doesn't stand on his own yet, but i'm sure that will come soon enough

- Luke recently discovered how to look around objects to see behind them, again, the cutest thing ever! So now when we play hide-and-seek, he's looking for us when we hide, lol.

- Luke is super curious. Super super curious. He loves looking around and can't eat in new environments because he's just too distracted, taking in the new surrounding.

- Both tear ducts are official clear as of 7.5 months! his right eye was a stubborn one, but thank God it cleared up on it's own and we don't need to worry about the surgery anymore.

- what else? He's transitioning into size 4 diapers and wears 12-18 months sized clothing.

- He still loves his nightly baths and has been going to bed by 8:30-9pm. Since his teeth came in he's had more disruptive sleep patterns and will sometimes wake 1-2 times/night. We're doing better about not jumping out of bed to tend to him, allowing him time to work it out on his own, sometimes he just wants to nurse back to sleep and I'm good with that.

Here are some pics from yesterday, taken with my new Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 (have i mentioned that i LOVE this lens?!).