8 Months!

This past Sunday, Clark had his 8-month birthday! It was an especially joyful day for the Tenner family because we were still celebrating the Aggies' surprising upset of Tech.

Life these days with our 8 month old is getting more active. We are going on more walks as we figure how his ever-evolving nap schedule. We love going to the park, and love to practice crawling. It's going to be a slow process for sure because he realizes his reach can get him things he normally couldn't except by crawling. I'm trying to be good about letting him figure it all out; He gets frustrated if he can't reach something, but I just cheer him on and try to show him how he can get it by himself.

A few not so exciting things is that Clark seems to rain urine at night or naptime. I don't know why the diapers aren't containing it all, but they simply aren't. We end up changing the sheets quite often which is a pain with the bumpers in so..... we had to (sob, sob) remove the bumpers the other day to make sheet-changing easier. We also tried fitting his diapers a little different on him and so far, no bed-wetting. However, he sees his crib (sans bumpers) as a playhouse! Jason went in one morning at 5:30 to see Clark's leg stuck through the crib. He was just smiling away. Today, he actually wanted to play in there instead of nap! Oh well! Just more signs our little boy is getting bigger each day!

He's said "Mama" just recently all by itself. I didn't get too exuberant as I knew he wasn't referring to me, but it was so cool that he said a recognizable word! :-) A new sound for him is the "Waa" sound. It even surprised him when he uttered it for the first time. That's the thing that's so fun ~ watching him be surprised and excited when his mouth and lips make a new noise. He loves to smack his lips now!

I've been trying to teach him a few things lately: clapping, kisses, patty-cake, and waving. Poor thing just doesn't get he can do it on his own yet, but here it just happens when it happens.

Bottom right tooth is now about 1/4 way out of his gums and is sooo cute! The other one is just about to pop through his gums and I can tell it's a little upsetting to him - I can't imagine how that must feel! He HATES orajel, but it truly is miraculous!

The Tenner Diner serves our little man all kinds of foods now that he is able to sit up by himself: Sweet potatoes, squash, carrots, green beans are his favorite veggies; He's enjoyed nearly everything he's eaten and doesn't make the sour or gag faces any more; Some yummy foods for Clark are Macaroni and Cheese, Chicken Noodle, Chicken and Apples, Vegetable Chicken, and Turkey Rice! He LOVES oranges with bananas, apples, apricots, pears and today he tried pineapple! My favorite thing about mealtime is how his mouth forms a HUGE "O" when he wants us to spoon in the grub! That "O" succinctly shuts close when he is full and is followed by an emphatic, tightly-closed mouth saying "Mmmmmmuuuww".

That's all for us! We don't know what he weighs or measures at the 8mth mark, but judging by the fact that is 12mth jumpers are almost shorts on him, he's growing! :-) More updates and pumpkin pics to come!

~Emily