O, how he's growing: 7-8 Months

7.5 Months

Oscar at 8 Months

I have so many shots of Oscar hanging out on our bed.  I realized that this is because I often plop him there to play while I'm working on the computer next to the bed or folding laundry there. We talk and exchange smiles and it isn't long before I'm overcome by his cute and just have to grab my camera. I can't help myself. 

Before Oscar was born, one of my biggest fears about having a second child was that I didn't think I could possibly love another child as much as I love Finn. It would be so unfair to that second child! He would have a complex his whole life! Well, as it turns out, it is entirely possible to love two children so completely. I am in it deep with this little Ozzy.  Smitten.

Over the past month Oscar's been busy:

• Swivels/ rotates himself around in sitting position, using his grippy little feet. He turns to find new toys or other things to explore. It's kinda my favorite.
• Goes from sitting to crawling position, and back to sitting. 
• Downward dog!
• Pulls himself to standing if there is something low enough to grab onto, and stands to play with good balancing (holding onto something of course)
• Responds to my request for kisses and dives in for a wet one. I love his kisses. I'll tell you one thing, this sweet little monkey gets smooched on all day long from mama and papa.

• Takes steps with his hands /bears weight on one hand at a time in crawling position, but his legs haven't followed that pattern yet, so no real crawling yet but SO close! Still rocking on his hands and knees, and scooting on his belly.
• Wants everything he see us have/ use and is less interested in his toys
• Discovered the joys of the tupperware cupboard
• Stares us down when we eat or bush teeth in front of him. "I want that."say his eyes.  His nana says he'd be the perfect person to have around if on a diet. He's so accusatory with every bite!
• Has become such a busy little guy...so anxious to move around and get his hands into everything. When held he often swivels his little body down and lunges to indicate he wants to get busy.
• Has had 4 top teeth coming in all at once.  His 3rd tooth to break through will be the small tooth next to the front teeth. The front tooth next to that one is just about through.
• When we pick him up will greet us with a nice chomp on the shoulder or arm, thanks to impending teeth. 
• Loves gumming and slurping on frozen grapes in one of those mesh nets--sweet and cold on the gums!
• Ate sand for the first time!

(We forgot his sun hat)

•  Likes to open and close his hand repeatedly, fingers to palm.
• Still starts crying the minute we put him into his carseat. This is the only place he ever really requires a binky. There's one hooked to the harness from which he gets instantaneous relief. (Still think baby with a binky is the cutest thing in the world so I love giving it to him) 
• Sucks on the nubby ends of his lovey 

Oscar is sooo excited when he wakes up for the day, or from a nap. It's the best ever. He is all smiles and shrieks and leg/ arm pumps.  We all love to go get him when he wakes up because he makes it so fun.

 One of Oscar's favorite toys is this little orange egg rattle. It fits perfectly in his grippy little palm, and it sounds like a maraca.  He also loves to empty boxes full of things. With it being mandarin season now I've saved the boxes and I fill them with his toys. He empties all of his toys out, one toy at a time.  He always stops the process when the egg comes out, and enjoys shaking it for a good while, with a big smile on his face.

 He also loves manipulating his nobby green ball with his hands and feet!

I've never heard Oscar laugh as hard at anyone as he does at Finn's antics. Finn is sooo fascinating and entertaining to Oscar.  Maybe except for when he's being smothered or tackled into a nice head bonk. 

I love watching Oscar watch Finn.

And sometimes Oscar makes Finn laugh too when he's being a "weirdo," as Finn calls it. Lately Finn gets Oscar giggling and then he can't help but start giggling himself.  It's the greatest.

Oscar is a pretty easy-going and content little lad.  If I have house work or cooking to do, or work on the computer, I just plop him on my bed, or on the kitchen mat with a few toys and he plays with toys. We talk and smile at each other as we work.  He doesn't much like it if I leave the room he's in to grab something, or use the bathroom.

It's pretty easy to take this little guy out to restaurants. Give him a toy and he's happy as a clam in his high chair.

Lunching at Park Chalet

Oscar's menu is ever-expanding! We recently started giving him some of our dinners, blended up. He really enjoys the different flavors and will smack his lips/ tongue as he is tasting and considering something new.  He likes spicy! We blended up some of our curried lentil soup, which was quite spicy and had a myriad of different flavors added (curry powder, cumin, ginger, garlic, coriander, paprika).  He loves it! He enjoyed papa's homemade beans as well, which are made with green chilis. He recently got to try some of my ice cream when we went out for dessert the other night. His eyes got as wide as saucers after that first taste and he watched that spoon like a hawk, clearly pining for more.

And because I've been so busy at work, I'm kind of in a nutritionist mindset, so here's the details on this baby's nutrition these days.  Ice cream is not a regular offering, to Ozzy's dismay.  Lately he eats oatmeal or mixed Grains for breakfast with some fruit (these days banana-mango-berry, peach, pear-blueberry-banana or peach-kiwi-banana). These days he has a mid-day snack of sweet potato, acorn squash, butternut squash-cauliflower, or carrot soup.  Dinner is either barley or mixed grains, usually with a veg-protein combo (peas, edamame-broccoli, chickpea-cauliflower-spinach, or lentil-cauliflower-spinach soup. For breakfast and dinner he eats about 1/4 cup solids; mid day is less than that. Milk is still the vast majority of his diet, you see.  In general, he's kind of a snacker when it comes to his milk. He eats in small spurts vs 1 big meal between naps. He'll guzzle one side, but is then anxious to get playing.  About a half hour later he realizes he's still hungry, and he goes for the other side. But in total he's drinking about 5-6 oz after he wakes up from naps; probably about 30 ounces per day, plus a little more that is mixed in with his cereal.  

Healthy chunk

Between 6 and 7 months with all those illnesses and nursing strikes, Oscar's rate of weight gain slowed down to less than it should be for his age (about 6 grams/day) and he dropped down on his growth chart. If you think it's strange that I know this, realize that I calculate average daily weight gain and analyze childrens' growth patterns all day at work....of course I'm going to do it for my own kids! Especially when I notice unusual eating or thinning out. Anyway, the RD, CSP in me kicked in and I worried that Oscar needed a little boost with his nutrition. If nothing else, my kids will get the nutrients they need for their developing brains and for growth!! So he got a couple dashes of olive or canola oil added to his food for a week.  This worked beautifully to kickstart his weight gain, and since then he's been happily catching back up.  I readily welcomed back the leg chunk. At 8 months he weighed 18 lbs 1 ounce (22% on CDC growth chart, 31% on WHO growth chart). His average daily weight gain the past month was 20 grams/day (perfect catch-up growth).  

He's been pretty good at drinking sips of water from a sippy cup.  We have to help him tip the cup back, but he successfully takes little drinks. He loves it! He also loves chewing on the valve.

 Oscar had his first Halloween in the past month! To get us all in the spirit that morning, we dressed him in a little dragon costume that we were given, although this wasn't his official Halloween costume for the night. He looked adorable as a dragon!

I had my regular work on Halloween, so our nanny stuck around as we were getting the kids ready for Halloween. Oscar was the Wallace and Gromit character, Feathers McGruff, a rogue penguin whose criminal disguise is to put a rubber glove on his head to become a rooster. 

Speaking of Laura, Oscar has won her over as well. Big time.  She calls him O-carito or Oscito, or Cosito Bello.  

Thanks to more time in the sun this Fall, Oscar's hair seems to have lightened up. His dark pelt at the back/ base of his head has also bleached out so he's less strikingly multi-toned.

It still looks orangey it some light, so we still get to call him our "ging-ah ninja." 

 It continues to have that soft fluffy texture, that easily gets swept up by the breeze, or the static of a playground slide. It is getting quite long and has started to grow past his ears. We've even started thinking of giving him a trim, which seems incredible given that Finn didn't have his first haircut until 2!

Speaking of nicknames, aside from gingah ninja, he's also known around these parts as Osky, Osquito-Mosquito, Sweet bug, Ozzy, Oz, and Ostrich.

Oscar has enjoyed the beach several times in the last month.  Initially he just watched the water come in and go back out, fascinated.

Still with his eyes on that water

I think we have another water boy on our hands.  Oscar looooves the bath.  If I'm holding him and he hears the bath water turn on he starts fussing and leaning towards the bathroom, especially if he sees that Finn is going to get in. As we undress him and take him towards the bath, his legs and arms start flapping like crazy, his eyes held wide. In the bath he splashes like a maniac. He likes sitting up and being on his back as well. He especially loves baths with Finn and laughs and squeals, even when Finn intentionally splashes water in his face.

He was also really taken with wading in the ocean water. As the water came rushing up towards him he liked to lift his legs just before it got there, then shoot them down into it with a big splash, after which he stared at the water rushing around his legs.

Oscar really lights up our world. Jeremy and I mention pretty much every day how much and how fast he's grown up and that he's becoming such a person now rather than a baby. We adore him and are so grateful he's part of our family.  Even now as I write this, looking at his photo I wanna go wake him up and smooch all over his face.