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.