Giggles + The Grump: Somebody Feed Me!!!

Hello, ladies. Sorry to have kept you waiting...

Well, here we are again, way behind in our updates. We thought it would be so easy to keep up this blog and write about the children; we were mistaken. Huge props to those that have kids and can keep up a blog. Besides making us laugh, making us crazy and keeping us on our toes, the kids have been keeping us pretty busy, so we haven't had much time to write about "little buddy," aka, LT. LT has grown up so much in the last couple of months--physically, emotionally and mentally--we thought we'd post some updates about our little man.

With all of the growing he has been doing, the most incredible thing for Jess and I to watch has been the development of his little personality. For better or worse, there is a lot of Daddy in there. He is one of the most determined babies we've ever seen, and will stop at nothing to get whatever he has set his eyes on--something to play with, but usually to try and eat. LT is generally serious and at times even a little salty--we like to call him our "little old man." If he's unhappy, he'll be sure to let everyone know. He's developed quite a set of lungs and has learned how to put them to good use. Like most babies, he can be demanding at times, so Mom doesn't get much of a break during the day.

Despite his general seriousness, he has started to laugh a lot and now enjoys being tickled. LT never laughed much when he was little (to the point where we were actually a little worried), so it's been such a relief to see him crack up a lot. He's got the sweetest little laugh, so we try everything we can think of to get it out as much as possible. Along with the laughing, his babbling has started to pick up over the last month and his "talking" seems to be getting better every day. He's great with the "da da" sounds (which I like to think counts as his first word), but has been getting better with "ba," "ga," and "wa" sounds as well. Much like LC, we're both convinced that one day he's just going to start talking in full sentences.

Singing for his favorite audience

Sleeping is still not his strong suit. He gets one good nap during the day, but then generally only goes about 20 minutes for the second nap. This leads to the inevitable "wall" around 5:15, so the evenings are a little rough at the house. He's not 100% successful at sleeping through the night, and the early bed times usually mean an early wake-up. Thankfully, he tends to go back to sleep after a little milk and some love. Although, there have been plenty of 4:30/5:00 wake-ups where he won't go back to sleep and demands to be played with. Good times.

At least he's usually cute and pleasant in the mornings

After months of watching LC walk and run around the house like a champion, LT has officially decided that he is too good to sit on the floor. He recently figured out how to sit himself up, and is quickly mastering the art of pulling up on things. While he can sit and be entertained with a toy for a little while, he grows angry fast and demands to stand and "walk." Jessica or I will hold him up by his hands and stand behind him as he begins to "walk" around the house. He absolutely loves this and you can tell by the look on his face that he feels so proud. One of our nicknames for LT is "the beast," so the holding and walking process gets tiresome after a while. When Mom or Dad has to take a break, we get berated with a lovely "how dare you stop" scream from the little guy.

The wanting to walk started about a month ago...

And now he's starting to "run" very determinedly wherever it is he wants to go...

He's not even eight months old, so he's still pretty wobbly, but we're terrified by how quickly he seems to be grasping the concept. Once he's physically able to walk, it will be game over for all of us in the household. LC has already taken to saying "no LT walk," which leads to us trying to explain that it is inevitable. We've been working the angle that they'll be able to play together when he can walk and she seems a little on board with that idea.

LT has mastered the four-point stance, along with the back and forth rocking, but hasn't gone beyond that with crawling. He seems into it if we have him on a bed, but doesn't seem to be interested in crawling on the floor. We've had LC try to "teach" him how to crawl (which they both love and start cracking up over), but he doesn't seem to be that motivated. I think he realizes that walking is the way to go, and is saving himself for that. While the crawling and walking will happen at some point, it's the pulling up that has us most worried. Given his size, strength and determination, we've already begun taking another look at the house for injury points once he starts moving around.

Tearing apart LC's play kitchen

After a few weeks of impressive drooling, LT bottom front two teeth finally came through. He looks cute when he smiles with just the two teeth, but seems happy that he can now use them to chew food. Given that he still likes to gnaw on fingers (or noses, ears, arms, shoulders...whatever), we've had a few bite marks left on Mom and Dad. The drooling has continued and he's been getting unhappy about his mouth, so we're guessing that more teeth are on the way.

The arrival of the teeth worked out nicely with us wanting to move beyond just milk and simple blended baby foods. Ever since the introduction of foods with more substance, LT has become less satisfied with just "baby" food. We've moved on to small pieces of fruits and veggies (huge fan of bananas), meat (loves turkey) and of course, Puffs and Mum-Mums. He has yet to encounter a new food that he dislikes; he eats everything we put in front of him and loves every new food that he is given. Hopefully this trend will last, but we're doubting it. He went quickly from the "rake" maneuver to the "pinchers" and has become quite good at picking up his own food. He's still a little off on the hand-to-mouth transfer, so we still end up with some pretty messy dinner times. He's mastered the two-handed sippy cup grabbing, so we've been giving him water in those instead of milk bottles; he seems very pleased with himself when he uses them, although he still likes to throw them on the ground and watch us have to pick them up.

Formal lunch at the Biltmore

Breaking out the Puffs and Mum-Mums caused a slight relapse with LC, so she has now been demanding "baby Puffs" and "baby crackers" with every meal. While we've limited LT to veggie Puffs only, I think LC remembers additional flavors as she keeps shouting "new Puffs, new Puffs!"

About to enjoy her "special treat"

Waiting patiently, perhaps psychotically, for his turn at the ice cream

LT has become much more interactive, which has become a lot of fun for everyone in the house, with the possible exception of Annabelle (LT still has a thing for hair-pulling). Now that he can sit up on his own, he's able to play with toys and be around while we're playing with LC. He absolutely loves LC; he watches her with huge eyes and smiles at everything she does. This is super cute when she is doing something good or sweet, but worrisome when she is acting badly. She still isn't 100% comfortable with him being around all of the time, especially should he accidentally touch her, but she likes that he can "talk" to her and share in some of the same toys. Despite her bad moments, she is becoming a wonderful big sister. She's started to bring him toys, give him kisses, help with bath and bed time, and generally be concerned about his well-being.

A typical day, back when he was content sitting and playing

Buddies

They are either having a serious "push pop" discussion, or plotting something...

While this has been a tough stage for Mom and Dad, the "morph" stage has been a lot of fun--it's a new discovery daily for LT and watching him figure out his world is absolutely incredible. We can't wait to see what the next couple of months have in store has he starts to leave this stage and enter the "stand and cause havoc" stage.