Among other things, this Anthon's life this month has included sitting up, TWO teeth, feeding himself, graduating to the high chair, baby talk, and much more. I'll let the pictures do some of the talking...
Sitting up:
What theeeeeee!!!!
It is still THE weirdest thing to go into Anthons room after a nap or during the night and see him sitting up in his crib.
He's been sitting up more and more often, whether it's when he gets excited about something, is waiting for me to give him something, or just looking around.
hahaha. But that face. This is mostly the sitting he's been doing for the past few weeks. However, as of two days ago, he started sitting all the way up and balancing without any hands! He teeters/sways back and forth a little bit, but he's getting the hang of it. I could watch him figure new things out all day; it's so fun to see his brain work and learn these crazy new things.
Okay, pause for a cute story. This morning, I was in Anthon's room reading to him and just playing on the floor with him. He sat up like this--so, look at this picture, but visually insert a board book under his right hand (and carpet beneath that). hehehe. He just slidddddd right down onto his tummy. He had a confused look on his face like, 'Wait...what is happening...Wait...must move hand!...wait....I'm committed to this lean....oppp...oppp....and I'm down...'
Adorable.
It's also pretty cute when he is (purposely) transitioning from a seated position to his tummy army crawl position. He hasn't exactly perfected it yet and does somewhat of a slow motion face plant as he puts his chest to the ground and then tries to wriggle his legs out from under him and to behind him. It's the cutest thing you've ever seen. And, it's slow motion, so the face plant part really isn't bad :P
Feeding Himself:
These are some of the pictures from of the first time Anthon fed himself. When I started giving him little cereal pieces and such, I initally just popped them in his mouth. He has since kind of figured out the whole "thumb and forefinger" thing (ish), but it was SO cute to see him pick up the cereal in his fist, and then attempt to get at it through his hand. haha. He started out by pretty much just putting his whole fist in his mouth. It was adorable.
Those dang fingers just kept getting in the way!
Success!
I haven't gotten many pictures of Anthon up in the crawling position (mostly because it never lasts long when he does it), but lately, when I show him I have food for him (side note: the kid LOVES food.), Anthon will get up on all fours, rock back and forth a little, and make tons of excited noises. Then, he it's like he realizes he can't actually get any closer to the food this way, exciting as this raised position is....So he plops himself back onto his tummy and returns to his favorite army crawl. And man, is he getting fast! He'll zone in on something, whether it's a toy, the shoe rack (a regular occurrence), or food. I've got to move fast if I'm going to beat him to whatever he's going for.
Baths:
When my mom visited, she introduced Anthon to a life with belly baths. Which, lets face it, is SO much more fun. He is all over the place these days, sliding from one end of the tub to another, turning himself around to get to toys at either end. He's played with the drain as water drained, the flowing water as the tub filled, and tons of toys in the tub. His go-to right after I put him in on his back (and he flips almost immediately over) is to knock the baby wash off its shelf and into the water. Not sure why, but man, he loves that baby wash bottle. He then proceeds to chase it all over the tub and suck on it for however long he manages to capture it.
High Chair:
The last week or so, Anthon's Bumbo chair has come with him when I try to lift him out of it....hahaha. For those of you who aren't familiar with those chairs, that is due to an increased circumference in his thighs (tee hee). So, I figured it was about time to get him in the high chair. It was a double win, because, now days, if I'm in the kitchen, he's army crawling around the kitchen floor and at my feet, just wanting to be a part of it all. The high chair puts him up at my height and means he can nibble on something to keep him doubly entertained :)
check out those teeth!
Pretty cute kid, right?
Tell me about it.
Pause for a joke.
I just went to make myself some food and left the fridge door open while I grabbed some sandwich meat really quickly. While I was doing so, the fridge fan/motor kicked on. I thought to myself, 'Man, that fridge just looses its cool so easily!'
Pause for laugher. Or not. I didn't realize I was being funny until after that thought completed itself. Then, I thought, hey--someone else should hear how funny that was! Thank you, for being my someone today.
Pool:
We had our first trip to the pool recently! The water was a bit cooler than we expected. And the time we went was a bit closer to nap time than we had anticipated....but it was a fun time anyways! Anthon loved looking at all the people there and his surroundings in general; we love new experiences :)
I couldn't keep myself from snapping a picture of Matthew getting Anthon dressed for the pool. I came around the corner to see this naked little baby (and baby bottom) sitting on his dad's lap as he tried to put his swimming diaper on. It was adorable. Something about a naked baby.
Oh, and I took him today for pool trip #2! :)
He liked round two even more. I think it might have to do with the practice he's had in our bath tub the last little bit.
Life without shoulder straps:
Anthon loves walks as it is, but he has always pulled his shoulder straps tight from trying to sit as far forward as possible so he can see everything going on. Don't get me wrong, sometimes he likes to kick back reclined with his feet up on the cup holder.... But depending on his mood, I swear the kid could leave marks on himself from pulling so hard forward. haha. So, I thought, for a change, we'd just clip his waist strap.
As you'll observe, he was a fan. I don't think "edge of his seat" really does his position justice. Take into account that his seat was fully upright, and he's still that far away from the back of his seat. I spent half of this walk taking pictures of him, I thought it was so cute. Oops.
Anthons favorite things these days:
Being outside..
If he's fussy at all, it just takes walking outside with him. Typically, I just hold him and walk out by the water to look at ducks and whatever else we happen upon. This is also part of our pre-nap routine to help settle him down.
Food of any kind...(on our plates or for him, either way...)
His basketball. He actually shoots hoops with Matthew; it's pretty cute.
His blanket. When he wakes up from a nap, we usually leave it in the crib. Sometimes I let him keep it for a few minutes. He'll army crawl his way to some toys and suddenly realize he left his blanket! haha, he army crawls back over to get it. He'll also drag his blanket behind him in one hand while pulling himself forward on the floor towards something interesting with the other.
Or...sometimes he just reaches, willing a toy to come to him. ;)
Being a part of whatever I'm doing. He'll entertain himself for a few minutes, but, ultimately, he wants to be doing whatever everyone else WITH them! :) ...I usually put him in the baby carrier when I vacuum or on the floor in whichever room I'm in. haha
Shoes. Not just any shoes, but dirty shoes. I managed to get him to move on to something else. But, take notice that it's not the clean looking shoes he wants to pull off and suck on...
make-up or any little bottle things of stuff
Mom's keys. One of the free packs I got of baby stuff from a pediatrician office had a teether keychain in it; it's the only teether he really likes/uses. I've also determined that the teether is for mom's too, since it's often how I hold my keys when I've got a baby on one arm and an armful of who knows what in the other.
Haven't tried any other flavors of this yet. But, oh my gosh, he gets SO excited every time he eats these. When I ask him if he wants another one and shake the case they're in, he does that, 'happy, up on all fours rocking back and fourth' thing and then squeals after he sees me actually pull out one of them. Or just happy excited noises, you get the idea.
He also LOVES to smile at strangers. At the grocery store, library, street, pool. Anywhere, really. He's just a happy baby and people love him. Can't say I blame them. As far as smiles go, I think some of my favorite times are when I go in to his room to wake him up from a nap; he is always soooo happy to see me and it makes my day every time. His other happiest time is when Matthew gets home from work. Actually, this brings me to my next point...
Matthew:
First off, he rocks the farmer tan, doesn't he ;)
Secondly, how could Anthon NOT love a dad who sometimes takes an extra five minutes to leave the house simply because he's stopped at the window knocking on the glass and making faces at him in the window?
Needless to say, Anthon is a lucky boy and I'm so lucky to have such a helpful, playful, handsome husband to raise our boy with.
Life is definitely funner with Matthew around :)
8 month photo shoot:
Kind of a bust...but I was already three days overdue, so I was set on getting some.
caption, anyone?
those little toes kill me
He only likes to sit up when it's not forced... can't say I blame him.
That faceeeeeee!
Today's post-nap photo op:
You can't make up these faces. haha, he really is so much fun.
And, in other funny business, thusly reminding you that Matthew and I actually do exist, which you might not know from this flood of Anthon pictures...
Growing up in a family of five kids, there were many memorable rituals. I don't know that ritual is the right word...but we'll go with it.. One in particular I remember is going to pour yourself a bowl of cereal, only to find that there was barely anything left in it. Most often, the perpetrator was avoiding needing to smash the box and put it out in the recycling bin.
These days, I sometimes enjoy a small bowl of cereal as a snack, which leads to me leaving fairly empty cereal boxes on the shelf. Poor Matthew has, on multiple occasions, fell victim to this offense. There's nothing worse than getting your heart set on a big bowl of cereal and finding out there's barely enough for 1/2 (or 1/4) a bowl. It's kind of like craving cereal and then realizing you have no milk...
To "right" the wrong, this week I left him a note. haha, I guess it's not as good as making the box disappear all together...but, it's something!
haha, thanks for reading, (or, in many/most cases, skimming ;) all! We're happy and loving life with little man.
