8 Months

Will turned 8 months old today. He has changed so much in just the last month. He is now keeping Mom and Dad very busy chasing him everywhere, and he is into everything! Although he is Mr. Squirmy now, particularly wearing me out for diaper and clothing changes, he is still just a delight to be around. I am always looking for every opportunity to spend time with him. We really are so blessed to have such a happy baby - and coming home to his smile everyday is more than I could ever ask for.

(I finally have my computer up and running so I have some video I can finally share...)

1) Crawling is by far the biggest change. It seems his speed and agility in crawling increases exponentially each day. He can now navigate obstacles with ease, make a beeline for Mitiz's catfood, move from the living room to the kitchen to see what I am dong in no time flat. Whew! Its fun to see him start to be able to "choose" where he wants to be and what he wants to do. Mitzi is a bit alarmed by this change. I think she was content for him to grab her tail once in a while because she could get away. But chasing Mitzi is quickly becoming his favorite game.

2) Two teeth! I have tried to get a picture of them but haven't been successful yet. Will cut his two bottom teeth at the same time. I think he is on his way to cutting another one too...

3) His favorite noise to make right now is "tah tah tah". He does it in this kind of stage whisper. Its so cute. He has said "ma ma ma" and "da da da," but has not associated those sounds with anyone yet.

4) Did I mention Will likes to get into everything? I think he gives the daycare workers a time every day. They had to put up a gate between the "fun" room and the crib room because Will was going back into the crib room and pulling the trashbags out of the container. He also apparently gets excited and crawls after any baby that has a bottle, and will try to "steal" another baby's pacifier! Its pretty funny to hear that now, but I hope he behaves himself as he gets older! :-)

5) Speaking of pacifiers, my fear of having a 2 year old in the grocery store with a plug in his mouth seems to be alleviated. Will used a paci so much that I thought it would be impossible to get him away from it -- but he really did it himself! He rarely has a paci in his mouth during the day (and never does if Mommy is around). I give it to him for naptime and bedtime -- its kind of nice because it "signals" that its time to go to sleep.

6) I count my lucky stars that Will is such a great sleeper. The past week I have had to wake him up at 7 to get him ready for school and yesterday and today he slept until past 8!! I can't believe it! He really goes to sleep pretty quickly - within about 5 minutes after story time. Unfortunately, he refuses to take naps at daycare because there is just too much noise and excitement for him. I really hope he will grow out of that because he takes 2 big naps at home on the weekends. Yesterday, he slept from 2-5:45!!

7) His favorite games are peek-a-boo (hands covering your face work just fine), keep away (as in moving an object as soon as he is about to grab it and moving it to another place in front of him), and chase (when someone chases him while he is in someone else's arms).

8) Will loves, loves, loves water!! Swimming has become his new favorite thing. We've been to Grandma and Grandpa's pool twice since the beach. The second time, Will's eyes just lit up with utter excitement when he saw the pool. He loves to splash splash splash - especially at bathtime.
Yesterday, Will went to Clare's 2nd birthday at Saluda Shoals' water park. I was amazed how much he absolutely loved sitting under the misting water. I hated to hear the park closes next weekend already, but hoping to go back there next week with Daddy.

Ah! I just love this boy...