^^My little stud
8 Months Old
Birch is now 8 months old! He’s going to be one before we know it. Guess I need to start planning his first birthday party!
I asked Mazen what theme we should plan and he said “Duh. Birch theme” matter-of-factly. I think that one’s a given 
Remember Mazen’s mason jar party?!
On The Move
Birch will be crawling soon. He’s become so much more mobile and can climb up to a stand and rock on all fours. We’ve already started to baby proof a little, but we’re gonna have to do a lot more soon.
Gussie + Birchie
Gus and Birch have also become better friends now that Birch can mosey his way over to Gus and say hello (aka try to grab his tail!) Gus is very friendly, but if he gets poked a little too much he gets up and relocates to another spot.
Look Who’s Talkin’!
B can say mama and dada and also bath and ball. He’s a chatterbox, but most of his babbling is M’s, D’s, and B’s. I swear he pointed at Gus and said “dog” but since we never call Gus “dog” and mostly call him “Gussie” I don’t think that was a real one. If we say “where’s dada?” Birch will find Thomas in the room, so that’s be a really cool observation! I’m not sure if he knows the difference between “mama” and “more milk” 🙂
We’ve also been working on sign language. I really don’t expect him to sign back until about 12 months like Mazen, but he has done the signs for milk and all done enough that I’m pretty sure that he did them intentionally. But it’s still hard to tell because he’s not doing them consistently.
Real Food
B has turned into quite the eater!! He LOVES to eat and typically shoves his food in with two hands at one time! We’ve been doing 3 meals a day and giving him a mixture of pouch purees and finger foods. Here he is eating some of my lunch quiche! I purchased this smock on Amazon and it’s been so great to keep his clothes more clean. It’s easier to clean than a baby is!
My meal strategy is “some for me, some for you” so that translates to trying to make the grown up food baby friendly. I took some of this lunch and shared with Birch. I smashed the roasted sweet potatoes (he loved those), shared some farro, cut some quiche into strips, and sliced up some cherries.
Scrambled eggs, berries, banana.
Sleep
Our current sleep routine:
- 6-6:30 Wake
- 9-10:30 Nap
- 1:30-3 Nap
- 7:30 Bedtime
Happy Happy
B has a great temperament. Everyone comments on what a happy guy he is. We got very lucky he is so laid back! I hope that continues into toddlerhood – lol!
Charmaine Ng | Architecture & Lifestyle Blog says
I can’t believe that Birch is eight months old already! Time really does fly. He’s looking better every day! 🙂
Charmaine Ng | Architecture & Lifestyle Blog
http://charmainenyw.com
Mel says
I thought his name was said MAZE-in, not MACE-en like the jar???
KathEats says
It is Maze-in. Sounds like “mason” – so it works.
Donna says
He’s so cute! Do you I’ve give him cheese or yogurt?
KathEats says
Yup
Lisa says
He is babbling not saying real words. 8 months is far too young to be saying words. But babbling is great! Yes, they sound like words and he may even repeat a word after you, but that is repetition not truly a word.
KathEats says
As far as I’m concerned, as his mother, his “first words” were when anything other than crying or squealing came out of his mouth, even if that was just repeating a word we said without recognizing the symbol of it. It’s not necessary to get so correctional and technical, especially on a sweet update post like this.
Kate says
ugh, snarky people are the worst. I count repetition as words too. He must have some idea if you can say da-da and he looks at Thomas! Birch is such a sweet guy, you can tell just by his photos. Precious little smile 🙂
Megan says
I have a video of my daughter at 6 months in her little robe waiting for a bath. She is saying “ba-time” (bath time) over and over again. Was it perfect? Nope. Did she know exactly what “bath time” meant? Maybe (ok, most likely) not. But she knew darn well that when that tub began to fill and she had her little robe on that it meant something called “bath time” was about to happen. And frankly, I don’t even care if that was a fluke and she had no clue. It’s SO DARN CUTE. 🙂
KathEats says
That is adorable!!
Lisa says
I didn’t mean it as negative. I think sometimes saying my child did x, y, and z when it isn’t accurate can be hurtful to other moms who don’t understand child development. Oh, he’s 8 months and saying words, why isn’t my 8 month old. Because they aren’t words. A six month old saying bath time is a repetition of sounds and holds no meaning. I’m not saying it’s bad it’s just true. I’m a pediatric speech pathologist. This wasn’t meant to be a huge negative comment. Birch is an adorable, happy, healthy, developing little guy!! Kath should be proud and excited! But saying they have words at 8 months is inaccurate.
Ashley says
If you’re a pediatric speech pathologist, you should know that while it may not be typical, especially since most speech development occurs between 18-36 months, it’s not actually impossible for an 8 month old to attach meaning to some of their initial words. I get what you’re trying to do here, but it’s really unnecessary and you saying what a baby is doing WITHOUT personally interacting with that baby is unfair and no better than what you act like Kath is doing by sharing it. You can’t actually say it isn’t true without spending time with the baby. I suppose you’d want to tell me that it’s impossible I was reading children’s books aloud before I turned two, just because it’s not in the typical range of skills for a 22 month old? You seem awfully set on nitpicking something that’s meaningful to a parent when most people who aren’t in your profession consider that kind of babbling an important “talking” related milestone.
Krista says
My daughter was definitely saying mama and dada at 8 months and looking right at us when she said it – I definitely count those as words 🙂
Lori says
Birch is communicating and yes- trying to form real sounds/words. Why leave Kath a negative comment on a sweet family life update? Thank you for the peek into Birch’s 8 month life Kath! You’re doing great Mama!
Alison says
He looks like Thomas in that last photo 🙂
Mary says
I thought that too!!!
Tonya says
OMG I’ve forgotten all about Gus! Poor pet baby. Thrown usurped by little Birchie boo.
Kelli @ Hungry Hobby says
He is so cute!!! Birch themed duh!! Love that !
Jessie Labadie says
What a sweet, happy guy! I have a 4.5 month old and looking forward to him eating soon! Do you leave the salt out of your quiche or do you think it’s not enough to matter?
KathEats says
It is salted as normal adult food. I would never put salt ON his food, and I wouldn’t give him anything specifically super high sodium like soy sauce or canned soup, but I think general “grown up food” is ok.
vicki says
So cute!
Jennifer Valdés says
He is just super cute! He is always smiling and such blue, blue eyes. What an exciting time! These next few months will be filled with “firsts.”
BTW, I love the saying on his smock.
Bobbie says
This was a sweet update 🙂 they sure do grow so very fast! My oldest is 5 1/2, and it seems like just yesterday he was army crawling around the house, pulling the dogs tail, and working so hard to pick up peas from his tray. Soak it all up!
Emily says
Love these updates! If you ever want to share some baby proofing tips, I’m all ears! 🙂
Mary says
He is such an adorable, photogenic, chunk! Glad to hear he’s an easy going happy baby, too. 🙂
My nephew also started talking really young (first word, of course: “mama”). I’m still trying to get him to master Mary. 😉
Sarah says
I love reading these updates! My son, James, is almost 5 months old and so it is super fun to see what might be in our future!