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I'm not sure if this is normal for all babies or just my special Brooks. If I start feeding him a bottle and it runs out or if I swap bottles without help (like being super quick and swift so he doesn't know it's a different bottle) he won't eat anymore. Tonight, he was freaking out so I gave him his 2 oz. bottle as I changed his diaper for bed. I had another 8 oz. bottle made and I usually do it the other way around but he can't hold the big bottles on his own. Make sense? So I go to rock him and give him his bottle within a minute of his other one running out and he refused to drink it. I fought him and fought him for ten minutes and he just refuses to drink a bottle if events like that occur. To say the least, it is EXTREMELY frustrating. Which means, I have to get up to do a night feeding. Seriously, he will be 8 months old this Friday and I'm still getting up more nights than not. I have had 2 good nights in a row which is a miracle, no feedings! My philosophy with future children is "How much harder can it get?" Let's weight this out: there is only one of me, no spouse. He screamed for the first 2 months of his life because of his milk protein allergy. He is 8 months old and still doesn't really sleep through the night, but we are making big progress. He rolled over at 3 weeks, crawled at 6 months, learned stairs before 7 months, will be walking well before a year. He is incredibly active. I mean really, how much harder can the next one be when the odds of the milk protein allergy probably aren't high. I will have a spouse to help. I'm determined to get the next one to sleep through the night before I lose my mind at 8 months. I mean come on, weigh those out and tell me I wasn't blessed with a challenging child. Haha. I'm better for it right?! NO, I'm not complaining, just wondering when the heck it's going to get a tiny bit better. Oh yes, the one thing people don't tell you about babies, it gets better for like a week then you go back 10 steps because of a cold or teeth or something funky (like the 3 weeks of diarrhea Brooks has had). It's all a new and surprising journey for me. I just can't figure out his weird preferences still, hence the eating thing.

On a more exciting note, Brooks has his two top teeth now so he is up to 4 teeth by 8 months. WHAT?! Tell me about it. He is almost standing on his own, I think it will happen soon. He walks while he is holding onto the couch, fireplace, and ottoman. He takes the stairs. The other day I was making a bottle and within the time I started and as I was about to mix it he made it up 3 flights of stairs! WHAT?! Tell me about it, AGAIN!!! He went from the family room all the way up to my parents room which is 3 different flights like I said and is a total of 18 stairs. Yeah, crazy. A few funny things he does: he hides his toys behind the DVD stand. He can pull the outlet covers out of the plugs so we tried the super flat kind and he figure those out as well. I can barely get the outlet covers out and he does it like it's a piece of cake. He loves the toilet brush, GROSS, so all bathroom doors stay shut at all times. He sits in the bath tub all on his own like a big boy, no more bath hammock thing. Hmmm, what else can I tell ya?! He loves playing in the dog's water bowl and he tries to slide Toby's kennel all over the kitchen floor. He LOVES playing with our metal dry measuring cups he puts one under his right hand and slides across the tile floor. Oh boy, It's LOUD!!! That's kind of his new thing, taking his toys and putting his hand on top and sliding across the tile like a skateboard. He loves playing with cousin Rian's toys, especially her plastic princess dress up shoes. She yells at him, "NO!!! DON'T EAT MY SHOES!!!" It's pretty cute. He loves playing with cousin Cole, but he is a bit rough for Cole's liking. He gave him big kisses on his head the other day which made Cole cry because his kisses involve a bit of a bite! Brooks plays really rough, I think it's my fault, I play REALLY rough with him. But we have fun. I guess it probably isn't the best because he pulls Rian's hair and hurts Cole too often I think. I need to take a video of his "slide" it's really neat. I set him on the ottoman sitting on the edge and he scoots off and into my arms, just like the scoot you would do to go down the slide.

On Sundays his naps correspond with the time church starts which is pretty inconvenient because I end up leaving him home and I would really like him at church with me. BUT, it's a little nice because it's pretty hard to entertain an 8 month old for 3 hours at church and not let him roam around everywhere. His favorite part of Sundays is riding to church and home with me in the car. He doesn't have to be in his car seat, he can play with the steering wheel, and look around the car and out the windows like a big boy! My church is like ten houses away and it's WAY more work to put him in the car seat twice and take him out twice than to drive slow and hold him tight. I NEVER EVER thought I would be that lax but it's the one and only thing I'm so laid-back with. He also LOVES the hymns we sing at church, which is neat because holy cow, no offense to the church, but they are a snooze fest. I love the hymns, of course the lyrics are fantastic, but they lack any personality or giddy up! I know church music isn't like that but the Presbyterian church my parents go to have AWESOME hymns. I miss that. Brooks sings with everyone it's the best.

On a personal note, I'm biting the bullet and accepting that it's time for me to start dating. I know it's up to me but at the same time it's kind of not. I don't know, I would LOVE to be single the rest of my life but I know I'm lonely. It's a double edge sword. I am learning some very important lessons already though. I don't like anyone in authority and I don't like being told what to do. So that rules out dominant men. I don't like being told sweet things all the time (because they're lies) haha so that rules out butt kissers and needy guys. So basically I've been told that I'm a heart breaker and that I'm never going to give a guy the chance because I don't trust any guy. YUP!!! Ding ding ding, WINNER!!! Haha. I've had a LOT LOT LOT of bad experiences with dating and guys in general so I'm not the most excited about it all. I'm easing my way into it and mostly I'm just enjoying some time with friends and grown ups in general. Perhaps I'm a bit apprehensive but it will pan out well. There are two ways to look at it: (1) I'm a convert to the church with liberal views compared to the majority of members so I have to find a guy who isn't completely strict and narrow minded but someone who is a member so I can uphold my new values and morals with support and live the life I want to live which means I'm never going to find someone OR (2) the narrow playing field I have means I'm going to get quite the catch which is difficult to find these days. I'm looking at it with the silver lining, I'm going to find an upstanding man is difficult these days. I know a lot of things that work and a lot that don't in a relationship with me so I will be quick to notice red flags. BONUS BONUS BONUS, it will be a journey! I'm excited. I'm not sure if anyone cares about my dating life but all these great new things that are happening are a part of mine and Brooks' life! Hope you all enjoyed the updates. I will post some pictures and maybe I will be lucky and figure out how to post videos.