John Hayden was 8 months old on Saturday (we were out of town, so just now getting to write this). Here's his monthly update:

--He weighs around 22 lbs. I can feel it in my shoulders...haha!
--He still eats 6-7 ounces every 3ish hours. Still doesn't like baby food, table food, any food. I don't know what to do with this kid...hope he finds his appetite for solids soon or the doctor will send us for an evaluation with a therapist at 9 months to make sure it's not sensory issues or something like that.
--He is still in size 4 diapers, but the other weekend, literally overnight, he completely outgrew his remaining 9 month and 9-12 month clothes and we had to go on a shopping spree. I bought a combination of 12 month and 18 month stuff and everything fits much better now. (The outfit above is a little big, but Daddy dressed him!) He can still wear the 9-12 month zip-up pajamas from The Children's Place (I love those things...the designs are SO cute), but that is the only thing in that size.
--Sleep sucks...as usual. (Sorry for the "language," but that's how we all feel about it.) Juliette has started praying for John Hayden to sleep good at night. I'm not sure if I should laugh or cry about that! He goes to sleep fine...he just wakes up most nights around 10 or 11 and it's extremely hard to get him back to sleep in his crib. Most nights he ends up in bed with me, where he then proceeds to wake up at the crack of dawn (around 5) and wants to get up for the day. Some days I get lucky and he sleeps until 6. And some very rare days, he'll sleep all night in his crib with hardly a peep and not wake up until after I've gotten out of the shower. Insanity is often described as doing the same thing over and over and hoping for different results. That definition perfectly describes our efforts at sleep training. (Before anyone offers advice: we've tried it all. He's one stubborn kid and we can only do cry-it-out [or more like fuss-it-out for him since he's not straight up crying] for about 10 minutes before we risk waking Juliette since they share a room.) He was taking naps good, but as of today, he can shimmy himself out of the swing--where he's been taking most naps--and Matt found him on the floor beside it twice when he should have been sleeping. (The swing is a low one that is almost on the ground, so he basically just crawled out of it...can't fall, thankfully!) You know it's getting frustrating when your husband starts Googling sleep training ideas and reading the baby books. (He NEVER did that with Juliette.) Until John Hayden decides to sleep better, I just have to remind myself often "this too shall pass." One day. Probably not any time soon, but one day.
--John Hayden has gotten super fast with his army crawls and is now venturing to all rooms in the apartment (which really doesn't take much effort on his part since the place is so small). Last week he started taking a few traditional crawls very slowly, but he hasn't gotten good enough to crawl across the room or very quickly, so he just does a few and then plops down on his belly and takes off in an army crawl (he's super fast like that) . Matt swears he said "ba-ba" for his bottle the other day, but I'm not convinced it was in reference to it and haven't heard him say it. He is trying to pull up ALL the time now, but he isn't strong enough yet to get on his feet. He can pull up to his knees, though. Since he can sit up good now, we're not using the baby sling seat for baths and he loves getting to play in the water. He got to go swimming for the first time this month and loved that as well. And, I've noticed him practicing waving a couple of times, but I can't get him to do it in response to my waving. I imagine he'll be developing more of those fine motor skills in the next month or so. He's a busy body and some nights I'm sweating by the time I've given him a bath (that involves sitting him back down on his bottom every few seconds while trying to bathe him) and then literally wrestled him to get his diaper and pajamas on. So far, he has done great at restaurants sitting in a highchair, although he prefers to turn himself practically all the way around and people watch instead of looking at us. He might not be a good sleeper, but he is definitely a happy, giggly baby (and that helps ease the frustrations with his sleeping habits!).

Some pictures of this past month:

First trip to the library.

Juliette reading to John Hayden.

First Fourth of July.

With Matt's parents.

Four generations on Matt's side of the family.

John Hayden liked Zoe and kept trying to pet her, however, he didn't like for her to lick him and that was what she did when he got close, so it was a love/hate relationship. I made Zoe sit still to take this picture...she doesn't look very happy about that, but John Hayden looks excited because he thought he was going to be able to get a hold of her collar!