8 Months!

Colton (aka "Pudge") is officially 8 months old! We went to the ENT a few weeks ago and he weighed in at a whopping 21 pounds. I looked his stats up on the DS chart and he was in the 95th percentile for both height and weight. He is still such a BIG boy! He's so big, he's starting to grow out of his 9 month pajamas! Oops! Time for some new jams!



We still have not mastered the art of sitting up, but we still continue to practice. Part of the problem is just Colton. He doesn't like to sit up. Every time we try, he throws his body back and arches. I don't think he likes his tummy scrunched up....or maybe it's tight on his hamstrings??? Who knows...but I really wish he'd sit up! I think he'd find that it's much more enjoyable. Our PT suggested we get him a chair that has a high back to practice, but that is also short enough for his feet to reach the ground. You can see him sitting in the yellow chair above. I'm not holding onto him and he can sit for a good while before he falls over. But don't leave him there alone...that could be dangerous!
Speaking of dangerous, he loves to flip out of this chair. Don't let that smile fool you...



He loves to play in his Baby Einstein jumper and has started to jump lately...hooray!!!



He also can finally grab his feet! To some, that may seem like an easy skill, but for Colton, it's been hard. Due to his low tone, his abs weren't strong enough for him to get his legs off of the floor. But he has no trouble with that now. They still can't quite reach his mouth, but I'm okay with that.



Colton enjoys watching Baby Einstein. His big brother likes to watch it with him, too. They are so cute together.



Colton absolutely LOVES Weston. It's so sweet! The other day, Weston was telling me a story about Ninja Turtles and he was being very animated. I look over and Colton is watching Weston with the biggest grin on his face...then he started laughing out loud. Weston, of course, loved that he made brother laugh, so he kept doing it over and over. It just melted my heart. I wish I could've gotten it on video.

Colton is doing a great job with eating. I'm only feeding him baby food 1x each day until we have our Swallow Study on September 15th. I'm hoping that he won't have to have his formula thickened to Stiff Honey anymore, but if he does, it's not the end of the world. I just want to make sure he's not aspirating. I know that it can take a few years before they outgrow the aspirating stuff...but it would be nice if we only had to thicken to Honey or Nectar.



Colton is still a very happy baby. He eats well and sleeps well. He likes to play with his toys and roll around on the floor. Sometimes, he gets stuck and can't quite figure out what to do...



We are loving our "Pudge!" He's getting so big and so strong. He continues to go to PT 2x each week. We are hoping that he will begin sitting up soon and pulling up into the crawling position....but that crawling brings all kinds of trouble. I don't know that I'm ready for that just yet.

I found this poem the other day and I thought I'd share it. I think it's so sweet. Colton is such a blessing to our family. Life just wouldn't be the same without him. We love our chubby, happy, strong 8 month old!