Christian at 8 Months

His sweet face! Can't believe it's been 8 months (today)! He's getting SO big!!

(Really. He is SO big -- it's killing me to carry this kid!)

Here he is practicing his new skill...standing/cruising.

This next section is meant to be like a flip book. I was too lazy to make a slide show or anything else. So -- here is Christian getting into the laundry -- literally.

"Look at me, Ma -- I'm standing -- AGAIN!"

"Mmm, smells great! I love fresh laundry!"

"I think you know what I'm thinking, Ma. I can't help myself!"

"Wahooooo -- wait a minute. This isn't so comfy. Hey -- you with the camera. Get me out of here."

"Ahh heck. one more smile for the camera."

"Now seriously. Get me out of here."

Wow, Christian has been developing by leaps and bounds lately! Last week, as I was rinsing dishes and loading them into the dishwasher, Christian was crawling around the kitchen (on the search for anything life-threatening no doubt), when he took interest in the open dishwasher. He started grabbing at the door, and the next thing I knew he had pulled himself into a kneeling position. Surprised, I congratulated him. He had never done that before. I continued rinsing dishes, only to look over next and find him standing by the washer clutching a knife (from the washer) and wearing a very large grin.

This kid doesn't stop. He is not interested in sitting. He still doesn't even sit very well, actually (meaning, he still flops over sometimes). He just has no interest in remaining stationary. I'll sit him down (which is really hard to do in the first place because he always sticks his legs straight out and won't allow himself to be seated), and then about half second later he's gotten himself down to the ground to go exploring again (and, of course, stuffing dangerous objects into his mouth as fast as he can). Getting him to hold still long enough to change his diaper is a true feat! (And just forget about trying to change his diaper at church.)

It is clear that walking is his goal. Now that he can stand, he will race over to the couch, pull himself up with ease, and start "cruising". He is very happy and proud of himself when he is standing tall. He looks SO little to me still, though. It seems very unnatural for my little infant (in my mind) to be standing and trying to walk around. I guess he takes after Andrew -- from what I hear Andrew was walking (and very shortly thereafter -- running) at 9 months. I would not be surprised to see Christian walking by next month. I thought Kate was an early walker at 11 months. Man. (Hmm...just checked earlier blog posts and realized that Kate was cruising at 8 months, too. I guess he's not that far ahead of her!)

Christian is generally very happy. He gives big sweet smiles, and will often (when he's getting sleepy) lay his cheek against mine, and we'll just sit there "cuddling." Despite his love for exploring, he still loves to be held, and he will almost jump out of my arms in excitement when I pick him up (if he's been crying for that). He loves to yell (happily) and bang his arms on the ground while kicking his legs up and down. It's really funny.

He sleeps all night long now, which is so wonderful I can hardly stand it.

He has two bottom teeth with no sign of others.

He lets me feed him for a few minutes before wrestling the spoon away from me so he can play with it. It's really not a fair fight -- the kid is strong!

He loves his big sister, and he will even tolerate her cleaning between his toes (a compulsion of hers -- she has to clean out her toes after taking her socks off before she can do anything else. Now she has to clean Christian's toes, too. Not sure how long I will let this go on...) I will come into the living room sometimes, and Kate will be smacking his chest and stomach way harder than I think she should be. I start to scold her, but she'll respond, "He likes it!" And sure enough he'll start laughing hysterically. Who can argue with that. She is always watching out for him and making sure he doesn't put (too many) little things into his mouth.

Christian makes a great travel/errand companion. He just loves to get out of the house and rarely complains. We were in the light section at Lowe's the other day, and I think he thought he had died and gone to heaven.

I would be posting more pictures, but since my computer crashed a few weeks ago I don't have Photoshop set up on my computer (and am having problems getting it to install). But he's a beautiful, beefy boy -- and oh do we love him!!