8!

happy 8 months to our little baby boy!!! he's bringing more and more happiness to our lives each day!




favorite thing he likes to do: i'm going to have to say EAT! this kid loves food. i have yet to make him anything that he doesn't 1.) like and 2.) cry and scream for wanting more. in between bites, he gets so upset waiting for the next spoon full. we've had to slow it down so he learns to chew what he has in his mouth before getting more. new foods he had this month include butternut squash, quiona, chicken, turkey, beef, cauliflower, grown up oatmeal, plums, parsnips, black eyed peas, puffs and yogurt bites. his favorites are probably avocado and bananas (but what do i know?!? its hard to tell cause he eats it all...)



he also loves to WALK! he still has to hold our hands to do this, but he much prefers this to crawling, sitting, or even being carried. i think we have an independent little boy on our hands.



we've noticed this month how much he really loves other kids. mommy gets no attention when there are other kids around!! he can definitely tell the difference and prefers the company of other little ones. we try to do lots of visits with his cousins and lots of play dates with friends.



favorite thing we like to do with him: we bought a running stroller and now david takes max out on his runs. they both love it (and so does mommy because i have the house all by myself for a few minutes a day!!). this is probably david's current favorite thing to do together.



mine is way more motherly---i love to just watch him play!! i love to see how he uses a toy, or discovers a new object. i love seeing him learn about the world.



firsts:


crawling: he's not too big on it though. like i mentioned, he much prefers walking. the problem is that he is too content to justify the effort of moving to get a toy. usually instead of crawling, if he can't reach one toy, he'll just pick another toy to play with that IS in reach. or he'll just sit there happily and stare into space.





time away from mommy: during MOPS, he goes to the nursery and stays with the workers there. they always comment that he is good. it's only for about 2 hours every other week, but it's good that he's getting exposed to other people as opposed to being home with me all day.

friend's birthday parties: wow, this starts early! this month, he went to 2 friend birthday parties. one was for his friend Myla, here in WV. she turned 2 and had a birthday party at the playground. (her mom is the talented photographer that took our family pics). he also went to one in louisville at gymboree (love that place!) for miss bella coleman. bella's dad went to med school with david and his wife and i became friends when they did their intern year here in morgantown. bella also turned 2. max likes the older ladies.

word??? we think he is saying "dada". However, i don't think he associates this with david. i think he just enjoys saying those syllables.



stand by himself: he did this today! so proud!



waving!



activities: MOPS started back up for the year, so we are really enjoying that and the play groups that go along with it. he's at the age now where he really "plays" with the other kids.



also, we discovered the children's discovery museum of west virginia and will probably be there all winter. we go to barnes and noble to read, but there is a train set there and he's mostly interested in that. boys and their choo choo trains!

we still try to meet david for lunch, but it is becoming increasingly more difficult as max's demand for finger foods grow. it's work to pack max a lunch, feed him outside of our own house, clean up the floor and highchair, etc, etc, but it's worth it for us to all enjoy a lunch together.

etc: we are just so blessed, and enjoying getting to know max's personality more each day. each day he is more animated than the one before. it seems like he really enjoys his days, and as his mother, that is my main desire for his life. he's just our happy, healthy, and sweet little boy. looking forward to the upcoming "first" holidays--Halloween, thanksgiving and christmas.

7 months!

7 months in...though it feels like 7 weeks in. time flies with this little guy around.

here is his 7 month info (hope to get this all in before nap time's over!!)

his favorite thing to do:

EXPLORE, EXPLORE, and EXPLORE some more!! he's crazy. has to touch, look, taste anything and everything. I'd worry it's A.D.D if he wasn't 7 months old and SUPPOSED to be in this exploratory stage. if only us adults had that kind of curiousity and passion for life!!

favorite thing we like to do with him:

david is trying to teach him to crawl. this is probably david's favorite. i just assume let him do it whenever he does it naturally, but david likes to get on all fours and try to encourage max to do the same. it's quite a site.

my favorite thing with him lately is getting him to giggle and smile. he's starting to be a little tickilish!!

firsts:

solid foods: at first, he was not so into this, which really surprised me. but now, he's loving food. after reading a lot about the store bought baby food, i decided to make max's food myself. it's actually really, really easy, and i'd argue it's just as convenient as the packaged kind. whatever we have around the house or whatever david and i eat for dinner, i just puree or chop up for max. so far he has had: bananas, avocado, sweet potatoe, peas, carrots, asparagus, apples, pears, oatmeal, and zucchini. he also likes to feed himself the "Mum-Mum" baby crackers which disolve in his mouth. it's cute, and he loves them, but i watch him like a hawk---they make me pretty nervous... but i guess he has to learn!

airplane: took our first flight to see max's cousins in nebraska. he was great for the plane. i defensively packed a diaper bag full of distractions, and didnt even need it. all he was interested in was looking at the window, touching the seatbelt or tray in front of us, looking around, and showing off to the flight attendants.

zoo: first visit to Omaha's zoo. he LOVED the aquariam exhibit. then he loved his nap in the stroller.

water park: went to a great water park in nebraska. though he was small, there was still some things for him to do in the kids' area. he loves water and the waves! he got over-splashed a couple times when he was with david though... david would let him venture a little further out than i would :)

activities: once again, traveling has been his main activity it seems. besides nebraska, we also made a trip to chicago. ethan and zoe loved playing with him. zoe even "let" max take some of her baby toys that she's too old to play with home with us to west virginia. and by "let" i mean that we put them in the car during her nap time so she wouldn't see!! also traveled to louisville and to nonna and grandads (where he spent more time splashing in the pool!)

schedule: his schedule is exactly where i've been trying to get it!! he is finally sleeping all the way through the night with no feeding. he goes to bed around 7:30 and wakes up around 7:30 a.m. I'm loving it!

least favorite thing: this one's hard. usually i can find something to complain about, but with his schedule being so good we're feeling pretty well rested and happy these days. i guess my biggest hate right now is his change in diapers since the solid foods started... not so pretty. we've had a few blowouts that have required 2 adults to clean up!! totally gross.

etc: david and i are in the process of buying a new car. as much as i love to shop, this is one kind of shopping that i despise. i like my current car alot, but being in west virginia during the winter, we really need 4wd, so we are trading in. to make it even harder, david and i of course want different things and have different car priorities. we'll see how this goes!!