Eight Months Old (Oliver's Monthly Photo)

Meet the screech owl.

I borrowed that term of endearment from a good friend, but it suits Oliver perfectly right now. 


Gone are the days of the easy-going, go-with-the-flow, I'm-sure-they'll-come-get-me-at-some-point attitude.



Oliver has gone from mostly quiet to SCREAMING practically overnight.  It is one of the shrillest screams I've heard from a baby.  He does it to get more food, to be gotten from nap time, or when he's discouraged about not being held from 4pm - 7pm. 


To be fair, he's still extremely good natured and (mostly) easy-going.  But his opinions have gotten much stronger in the past month.


He went on hunger strike for a couple days, and I wasn't sure if he was sick or what.  He just refused to eat.  On a whim, after two days of it, we put the food down in front of him (pureed zucchini, I think), and he went to town on it -- both hands covered in green mush, licking all of his fingers.  It seemed he had decided being fed was beneath him, and only self-feeding would do from then on.  

He shrieks a lot during meal time now, but it's not necessarily because he's unhappy.  He doesn't seem to have strong food preferences at the moment.



Oliver is pulling up on EVERYTHING.  I think he'll be walking before the end of next month.  It is crazy.  He crawls at lightening speed and is just beginning to be offended when one of the "big kids" snatches a toy he had his sights on.



We've started teaching "head down" and "lie still" and "no touch," and he's doing really well with those.  Oh, and "no bite" -- that one he learned quickly and absolutely.  It's so cute to watch him process the request (like, "head down, Oliver.") and decide whether he'll obey.  He generally does slowly lower his head back down to the bed, even if he whimpers and cries while he does it.  It's so sad and so cute at the same time.  Since he's already so mobile, we'll start working on "come here" in the next few weeks. 

He likes to pull up on the play kitchen in the kids' room.  It's amusing watching an 8-month-old reach up for the microwave, as if he's one of the little chefs in there, milling about with pretend cookies and cupcakes needing to be baked before that day's tea party. 




This child has a rash I cannot, for the life of me, get on top of.  I don't know what the deal is.  It reminds me of the rash-that-would-not-quit that Lucy had when she was 6 months.  Gah. 



Oliver is still SO ticklish and happy at night.  He loves having his tummy and neck nuzzled while his arms are held outstretched above his head.  In Lucy's words, "he finks it's huh-WARE-ee-us."



I love holding you, Oliver.  You are so sweet and fun.  You are learning so much every day.  We can't wait to know you more and more as you grow from a crawler into a full fledged toddler!  Any day now.