Joshua Daniel: Eight Months

I forget how much I love having a baby around. Josh has been the best last addition and we all adore him more every month!

He was not happy for photos tonight, all he wanted was his blanket.

Little guy got sick, again. This time it was RSV. He's been sick a lot in his short little life, but this was the first time he had a fever to go with the stuffy nose and cough. We went to the pediatrician after he had a fever for the second time and got his diagnosis. Thankfully we were already on about day three of it and his ped said it usually gets better after day four, and he did. I thought his cough would linger since his last one did for weeks, but he seems to be getting over that too. He's a tough baby and I'm so amazed at his strength. I'm extremely grateful we didn't end up in the hospital again. 
While we visited his ped when he was sick I also asked about starting him on food and she gave us the go ahead. I got him some baby oatmeal and he tried it a couple days ago. He was good at swallowing and it didn't end up all over his bib, but he wasn't very interested. He would turn his head away from the spoon. He also decided he's not taking a bottle anymore. I'm only worried about that for when he's at the gym childcare, but I usually feed him before I teach anyway so hopefully that'll keep working. We're going to try some baby purees this week and see how that goes.
Joshua is STILL not sleeping through the night. There have been times when he has gone back to sleep on his own though so I'm setting a timer when he wakes and if he is crying past when it goes off then I'll feed him. Oh besides his bottle, he doesn't take a binky anymore either. He uses his two fingers to suck on and likes having his blanket up by his face to fall asleep. Yes, just like Paige. It's some crazy deja vu. Humans are not meant to wake up so often and I'm feeling it after a year of doing this (I've been waking up in the middle of the night since I was pregnant). Mama needs some good sleep. Dan needs it more than I do with how many 30+ hour shifts he's been working almost every other day so I can't ask him and I hate that we can't help each other with that. We're both zombies most days.
The girls are still as obsessed with him as ever. They fight over holding him and are good helpers, besides the part that they bring home all their germs and share them with him. He loves his sisters too. He gets excited when he sees them and gives them great smiles.
Joshua is still in his 3-6 month clothes. We discovered while we didn't have AC for over a month that he seems to enjoy being "in the buff" as Dan calls it. We did move up to size two diapers but that was mostly because we ran out of size one. But the twos work well for when he does have those long, rare stretches of good sleep. I don't think he's gained more than a pound since his six month well-check. He was growing like a weed and now has slowed down a bit. When he had RSV he didn't eat much though and slept most of the couple days he was especially miserable.
I did find him on his stomach this morning when I went to get him once he woke up and was crying. He has only rolled from his back to his stomach a couple times. He has almost mastered sitting up on his own. His therapist at his NICU grad clinic appointment was impressed by that, especially with how big his head is haha. Besides still putting everything he can in his mouth, he enjoys scratching different things and feeling textures. He likes playing with his toes. His new sound is a gurgling one and he makes it when he's happy ha. He is getting more ticklish, especially his toes and around his collarbone.
We were busy, once again with doctor's appointments for him. Besides going in for RSV and his NICU grad appointment, we had one with his audiologist to make sure his hearing is good. I guess it's normal to follow-up with NICU babies, even if they passed their hearing tests in the NICU. One of his ears failed, I can't remember which, so we get to go back again and double check to make sure it wasn't just fluid build up. He had been sick and then was also getting sick so it could have been from either of those. Then he had another follow-up with his neurologist and everything looks good there too. She wants to keep having follow-ups until he's about 18 months old. Which I am grateful for because it is nice to know everything is still fine and his former bleed won't be an issue. 
Joshua's hair is getting longer, but it doesn't look like he has much because of how light it is. It seems to be losing its ginge tinge. His eyes look brown or blue depending on what he's wearing so I think they are going to eventually turn brown completely.

Sweet Hayley put a picture above his bed for him to look at.

He's been my little workout buddy.

First trip inside Bucees.

Paige made him a little fort.

First Easter!

He got this carrot in his Easter basket (a gift from Jenny Barrow) and absolutely loves it.

Poor, sick little boy.

Dad got to come to his neuro appointment with us.

Always napping with Dad.

We love our boy! He's been more challenging than his sisters in most ways, but always worth it.