Michael pictures!

Life is very fun in our house! (Long Michael update to follow)

Here are photos from his 8 month old photo shoot I did tonight in our front yard. These were the only ones he smiled for, thanks to a neighbor who helped. I will probably take more tomorrow. I forgot to take pictures of him at 7 months, but otherwise I think I have a picture of him every month with his Tonka truck! This was the first month he could sit in it by himself and he enjoyed touching it and checking it out.

We are very happy Cousin Elizabeth was willing to lend Michael her walker. To say he LOVES it is an understatement! He figured out how to get around very quickly. He likes to chase the dogs and run laps around the house. I love it because I can get work done (such as child proofing the house).

He can army crawl everywhere and hints that he knows how to stick his butt in the air and crawl on his knees but so far he prefers to do it the hard way. He loves to be upright and have help walking, which is why the walker is such a hit. He has two little teeth and a third one must be one the way but I can't tell which one yet. His nose is running, drool is a-flowing, hands or toys constantly in his mouth... but no tooth. His first two took a while to come so I'm not overly surprised this one is taking it's time as well.

I am so lucky and blessed to have such a happy boy. Even though I think he's teething he is still a happy little kid. He has been more mellow lately, but still happy. When he gets cranky I feel lost- I rarely have to deal with that!

He prefers baby food but will often get mad if we don't share our meal with him too. I feel he has changed SO MUCH in the last two weeks. Size wise I don't think he's grown a lot but developmentally he's changing in leaps and bounds. He's at the fun age where he is figuring everything out. His closet light has a pull string and he's learning how to turn it on and off himself. He is starting to be interested in blocks. His toys have new meaning and depth to them now. You can tell he is soaking in so much more of his environment than he did before. I feel like our house now has the kid spirit in it. When he was a baby our home was nice and the air was sweet, but now it feels different because there is a playful little BOY running around. Our home has new life and I LOVE IT!!!

Here (hopefully) is a video of Michael chasing the animals around the living room. The dogs spend most of their time in this room so Michael does as well. He also loves the large fish tank. (Side note, the floor desperately needs to be re-finished! We pulled pealed off tile from the floor and the icky tar/glue is still there. Someday...)





Here is a link to a much longer video of him making his way through the house. It's not as interesting as the first one but you can see that he easily amuses himself for hours in this walker. (Have I mentioned how grateful we are to Nate & Sarah for lending it to us?!?!)

http://s267.photobucket.com/albums/ii310/cat52480/July%202008/?action=view¤t=StateFair077.flv

He doesn't talk much in either of the videos but there are times he is quite the chatter box. He is always talking about Joseph: "Dada, a dadadada..." He doesn't talk about Mama yet. *wink*

Thanks for reading this far- can you tell I miss adult interaction? Haha! Being at home is going well. It was an adjustment for both of us but with all the changes he's going through it is a VERY exciting time to be with him all day! Joseph is a wonderful, wonderful husband and father. He is great with Michael and is very willing to share care-taking duties when he comes home from work. As a couple we're doing fantastic and the adjustment of having another member in our family has only made us stronger.

I thank God every day for all our blessings.