Team Schuurman: Our 8 Month Old Bruiser

     Our sweet baby boy is 8 months old today. I call him a, "bruiser," because he's a BOY'S boy. He's rough & tough, constantly dirty, and loves destruction. He's between 21-22 lbs (unofficially), around 30 inches long (he wouldn't hold still long enough, so I'm not 100% sure), and he is quite mobile, although not yet crawling. He loves his walker and can now go forward and backward in it and when on his belly, if he can't reach something, he'll roll until he gets there. He likes to pull out our DVD's when he's on the floor, and if he's given ANYTHING, it goes straight to his mouth, whether it's edible or not.
     So far, Marcus has been great with us dropping him off in the nursery at church or at the gym, but as soon as Mark or I enter the room again, he wines until we pick him up. He enjoys watching other children play and is calmed by singing songs, especially ones with hand signs. He no longer likes wearing his sunglasses, but wears his Braves ball cap with ease (duh...it's the Braves). We put his first pair of "real" shoes on him this week and he was less than impressed. He maneuvered them off before I got to the gym so he could play with his feet, so I just let him keep them off. His sweet little toes are still a toy he seems to enjoy and are sometimes a tool for him to chew.
     He has four 6oz bottles a day with fruits and vegetables following those bottles for the first three meals. He still loves sweet potatoes best, but really seems to scarf down carrots and green beans. He does NOT like mango or just plain apples. I mixed blueberries with the last batch of apple baby food that I made and he LOVED that. He can also feed himself the dissolving "puffs" and apple wagon wheels. We offered him a sippy cup this week and he got some water out of it, but didn't totally understand to suck it. He was biting it more than anything. He got the gist of it eventually, but we'll just continue to offer him water in it after he eats his puffs.
     Finally, he's really showing more personality nowadays as well as almost reaching for us. He raises his arms when we come to pick him up, but isn't reaching out towards us, yet. He laughs with ease, likes to watch baseball in daddy's lap, and grunts to get our attention when we're not watching him enough. He can be a real stinker sometimes, but gosh, what a good baby we are blessed with. We not only love him, but we are infatuated in watching him grow and change each day.