Shepherd James | 8 Months

Big man is now 8 months. I blinked and he grew an entire foot overnight. Taylor is thrilled that he's getting so big, but I'm missing those sweet newborn snuggles 😭 And, according to Tay, it's still not time to talk about baby 3 😡 So I'll settle for snuggling this big guy and his big bubba.

Shep's a pretty hefty guy. He's got a lot of meat on his bones and off the charts for height and weight. He's officially crawling and pulling up and it all happened overnight, seriously. He's been doing something we call the 'Lieutenant Dan', which is just dragging his entire body through the house by using only one arm. And then one day he got up on all fours and immediately starting crawling. The very next day, he pulled up. Then ate it. Then cried. Then pulled up again. We've never focused on milestones because each baby develops differently, but this guy is hitting the major milestones early. We both anticipate him walking by 10 months, maybe 11.

He still doesn't sleep through the night. And it's hard. And I've listened to every suggestion and NOTHING works. We are currently cosleeping, but it's still touch and and go. Some nights he sleeps for 4 hour stretches and others he wakes up every hour and wants to nurse. It is absolutely exhausting. But I'm thankful he's cute and happy because I honestly don't mind. That's what coffee is for, right?

He's rocking size 4 diapers, 12 month clothes and is constantly moving.

He's learned to clap and thinks it's the best thing other than mama's milk.
We are still nursing on demand and he's loving real food. We do a modified baby led weaning approach and it seems to work well for us. He'll eat purees while he's at daycare and when he's home, he has mama's milk and whatever we are eating for dinner. He LOVES apples and ham and bananas and anything else we throw his way. He's not picky like Henry.

His eyes are the prettiest blue and are so big and so bright. His hair is pretty sparse, but it looks to be strawberry blonde.

He's got the fattest wrists and the chunkiest thighs I think I've ever seen.

He loves to be held, especially when he's tired. But when he doesn't want to be held, DON'T FIGHT HIM. He wants to be on the ground, shoving things in his mouth that don't belong there.

His reflux is almost nonexistent now, thank God! I got sick of washing a million loads of clothes a day.

He loves his Norman and his Henry. And he loves stealing toys from Henry. Henry, on the other hand, HATES when bubba Shep steals his toys...we are working on it!

Here's what been happening the past month: