Eight Months

I have been waiting on his doctors appointment to update everyone on Alex's eight month status and we have finally been able to squeeze the visit into our busy schedule, so here she blows: Alex is a happy, fairly healthy, slightly delayed eight month old. At six months his pediatrician felt there were concerns with his health and I am delighted to report that after spending the last couple months jumping through hoops and having lots of appointments (CT scans, developmental and occupational evals), we have discovered that his issues are all just delays of skills. We are blessed that he is healthy and there seems to be no medical reason for his delays (basically he is just lazy and stubborn--he will develop at his own rate darn it!)
At this point he is going to begin weekly physical therapy to help get him on level with his peers (he tested at a four to five month level) and twice a week occupational therapy for fine motor skills (he tested at a two to three month level). We love his therapists--they are really nice and he digs them too (they are blond and very pretty...he gets all smiley and flirty as soon as he sees them.)
He is weighing in at seventeen pounds, we still have no teeth popping through (despite MAJOR drool and chewing) and he is more chatty lately (bababa, daddadada, mamamam, and lots of shrieking!) Most nights he sleeps through the night (6p-6a) with sporadic periods of wakefulness where he coos and talks himself back to sleep. He is drinking mostly formula now (mixed with some frozen breastmilk) because after my surgery my milk went all funky and I decided to stop pumping. This also coincided with his six month appointment where the doctor expressed concerns over his weight gain, so we felt it was the right time to switch to formula so we would know exactly what nutrients he was getting. Most days he takes four eight ounce bottles and eats three full containers of baby food. We have just begun giving him "mashers" type food in his net baggy to chew on (pics of that to come) and he seems to like that, but no chunky food yet--it still makes him gag.
He has made very little physical progress--he still can't sit up on his own and has only rolled over a couple of times. Hopefully PT will help him accomplish these skills.
But he is extremely sweet and happy and such a joy to have around. (FYI-this post was so boringly detailed because if we have baby number three I want to remember at EXACTLY what age my children achieved certain milestones and tasks.)