8 months old & learning lots of fun new things!

It's hard to believe but Hatcher turned 8 months old on May 24th! This sweet child of ours is growing like crazy and learning so many new things. It's like everyday he learns something new! We have had many "firsts" over the past month so needless to say it's been an exciting time!

Hatcher is all over the place in his walker. He has learned to open the kitchen cabinets & drawers. He has even learned that there is stuff in the drawers that are super fun to play with like plastic spoons & ladles!! I can't take my eyes off of him for one second. 

He's officially a CRAWLER!! So crazy but so exciting for him! He did it for the first time on May 28th. His daddy had been working with him on it all weekend & of course he does all by himself as soon as daddy leaves town for work. Still trying to catch it on video but I know he's going to be all over the place now!! 

We still only have two bottom teeth. Those top ones that he's been teething since he was 6 months old have still not made their appearance. He drools every where & puts literally everything he can get his hands on in his mouth! Come on teeth!!!

He is saying "dada" really well & can say "mama" but doesn't say it very often! We've been working with him on who people are. For example, you can say "Hatcher, where's the puppy or where's Dooley" and he'll look for him until he finds him. He does it with mommy & daddy too and now we're working on grandparents. It's so neat to see him start recognizing who people are by name!

Hatcher had his first & I hope his last Emergency Room visit on Mother's Day. Scared us to death!! He had a runny nose & lots of nasal congestion for about two weeks. Tissue and the nasal aspirator were our very best friends...well mine not his! The doctor told me it was just a part of teething and there wasn't anything we could give him. He started with a cough on the Saturday before Mother's Day. It got worse as the day went on and much worse after we put him to bed. By 3:00 he was having difficulty breathing and we made the decision to go to the ER. They gave him a breathing treatment and a steroid shot and told us he had croop. He was honestly doing so much better before we ever left there around 6:00. Seeing him that sick and in the hospital was terrifying and I literally had knots in my stomach the entire time. The doctor and nurses took excellent care of him and it meant so much to us. He was supposed to be dedicated later that morning at church but we decided that wasn't a good idea after our eventful night and didn't want him getting the other children sick. So we will wait until next time! 

Hatcher also had his first beach trip which I'll post about later! What a fun trip!!

We also moved him into a big boy rear facing car seat. He was getting too big for his infant car seat & honestly he was uncomfortable in it. He seems to be more comfortable in his Britax although right now he just isn't a fan of being in the car seat. I think at some point all kids go through this stage. He does like sitting up & being able to see more though! 

Time is flying by & I can't believe I'm already thinking of 1st birthday party ideas!! Yes, I have a Pinterest board all about it. Haha! We are throwing around a few different ideas and although I'm not ready for him to turn the big one, it'll be fun to plan!!

Below are pictures from his 8 month photo shoot!!

Hatcher: The Busy Body! :)

It seems that as soon as Hatcher turned 7 months old, he decided he was ready to put growing up into overdrive!! Let's just say we're going to have our hands full with this little boy!

He's into EVERYTHING!!! When he gets in his little walker, he is gone! This child can move so fast & manuever himself in tight spaces like nothing I've ever seen! He can also clip your ankles & run over your toes like a champ! He bumps into everything & I swear he's going to give himself whiplash!

In just the past week, he has learned how to open & close the door on Dooley's kennel, shake the blinds on the back door, pull on the table clothes & curtains, run his little fingers all up & down our pantry doors which are glass & how to really chase Dooley down!! Poor dog doesn't know what he's in for. Dooley is terrified of him in that walker & hides behind Johny & I when he feels threatened by it. We have a bench at our front door & a chair in our bedroom that allow Dooley to see out the window. This is not what they're there for but that's not what Dooley thinks. Hatch has learned to walk up to them & that Dooley will lick him all over & that he can pet Dooley. Today, he learned how to hold Dooley by the collar...seriously?!?!

He has also become quite the wiggle worm! He is constantly flipping over while we're changing his diaper & clothes. It takes forever to do either of these chores now & it's hilarious. He used to lay there so still & sweet & now he just wants to be on the move!

He has also become quite impatient. (I have no clue where he got this trait; certainly not from me!!) When we feed him his bottle, we have always burped half way through. Now when we take the bottle away, he screams bloody murder. You give it back to him, it stops. OMG!! So now, we're just feeding him the whole bottle & then burping to overcome a screaming fit.

Now, all this said he's still the sweetest little thing ever!! He's still very laid back, smiley, happy & silly! He's just realizing that he's way more mobile now & that he can manipulate us to get his way. He's wrapped around both of our fingers so we'll see how this goes!

I love watching him grow & learn new things! He's getting so big & it feels like time is going at warp speed. We were looking at pictures of his first few months the other night & we couldn't believe how much he'd grown & changed.

He's at such a fun age that I just wanted to share a few exciting new things happening in our household!