Julian's Blueprint: 8 months

This handsome guy is now 8 months old, and forever charming. He will smile at anyone, anytime. Teething continues to rock his world, day and night. His first top tooth is so very very close to breaking through, we can see the white ridges. Along with teething comes drool, buckets and buckets of drool, which make his big kisses all the better. It's hard to turn down a wet kiss from this handsome face, even if it leaves you hankering for a towel afterwards. He is getting super strong and you can tell he's thinking about how to move those limbs around in just the right order. He's pretty good at pushing himself backwards until he is trapped under the couch or crib or up against a wall. Any minute now he will figure out how to propel that body forward and then off to college. Eek! Slow down, littleman.
Julian had his first ear infection this month which was heartbreaking for us all. Mom could tell he wasn't feeling himself on Sunday morning and by Sunday evening we were pretty sure something was terribly wrong. Sure enough, double raging ear infections. It was so sad, but the antibiotics kicked in and within a couple days and he was back to his happy self. We are crossing our fingers that he doesn't have any more colds this season that would invite other ear-aches.
My guy is super ticklish, all over his little chubby body. It's the best to run your fingers up his sides and watch him explode into a burst of giggles. The bottoms of his feet are especially ticklish as well. Imagine the torture we can inflict when he's sitting in his highchair! Phoebe likes to share in the fun and will say "Phoebe's turn!" when she wants to be tickled and then "Juju's turn" when she's had enough. No wonder mealtime is such a giant mess with all the nonsense going on. Julian has started self-feeding with rice puffs and mum-mum crackers. But still doesn't want much to do with pureed foods on a spoon. We have to trick him into taking bites when he opens his mouth to laugh at Bee.
Julian is developing his own signature mannerisms, like rubbing the back of his hand across his forehead when he's tired, or crossing his feet and hands when he's relaxed. He loves to watch the dynamics of the family all together, and we can tell he is taking notes on who does what and when.
We mostly call him Juju, taking Bee's lead on the nickname front. She has been saying Juju since the day we brought him home from the hospital and it's the nickname that sticks the most. It's a happy nickname and fits his personality well. But we also call him Jub Jub Bird (stolen from the poem The Jabberwocky) and that has morphed into Jubbers, which perhaps is a combination of "chubby" and "jub jub?" Who knows. Mr. Guy, Big Guy, 'Lil Bro, and Brother Bear also make their rounds, but no matter what we call him we are especially glad we get to keep this little love around.