He's Crawling!

It's official: I'll never rest again. He's mobile now, and - let me tell you - he is one busy kid!!

He started crawling last Friday. Nana and I were moving some furniture from room to room, and we'd put him down to play with toys in the living room. When we came in to check on him, he was in a different spot than where we left him (not too far, but far enough!). Nana sat on the floor in front of him and called him over - and here he comes, on his hands and knees, just like the pictures in the baby books!

I cried.

I cried because I was happy (it was one of the most beautiful things I'd ever seen!), and because I was sad (what happened to my tiny little boy?!).

But, above all, I am so, so proud of him. He is just amazing! Every day I think that he can't get any more wonderful, and that being his mom can't possibly get any better - and every day I'm wrong! I feel like all I've done over the past seven months is fall more and more (and more and more) in love with this kid! I look at him and think "wow - you're mine. I get to keep you!" and I just can't wrap my head around it. I'm somebody's mom...

What is he going to think of me when he's 10? 15? 25? What would it be like to have me for a mother? What is he going to remember fondly from his childhood, and what will he try to forget? Those are questions that I don't let myself ask too often - they make me scared! Instead, I just try to focus on the next thing coming: Which cream do I put on this diaper rash? Should I feed him peaches or pears for breakfast? What is he going to be for halloween? Those are much safer questions!

Okay, that was off topic. But the point is that he is growing up, and it scares the bejeebies out of me!

He's pulling up on everything - pants legs and dogs included. He's learning the word "No" (and doesn't like it!). If we take a toy away, he looks for it, and sometimes cries. He learned to sip from a straw on Saturday (although all he was doing was sipping up the water and letting it all run out of his mouth and back into my glass - but baby spit makes things taste better, right? I really do love being a mom!).

We moved the books into our living room, so we sit and read together a lot (he'll chew on one book while I read another one out loud). He's still mesmerized by the animals, especially the horses. If he's unsure of a situation, he'll look to me for cues - if I smile and look excited, he'll decide that he's okay after all (I try to use that to my advantage when he falls over and cabonks his head, and about half the time I can convince him that it really didn't hurt all that badly). His favorite toys this month have been plastic containers - cups, bowls, spoons - and especially lids. Go figure. The toy of the week is a plastic bag (a thick zip-up plastic bag that comforters come in, not the thin grocery bags). Nana got a balloon for him from the grocery store and that was a big hit, too - he chewed on the ribbon, swatted at the balloon, and ended up getting so excited that he pumped his little arms up and down, causing the balloon to hit him in the head repeatedly.

He's still talking up a storm - lots of "mama"s and "da da da"s. He gets really into whatever it is he's trying to say, and he'll laugh and talk and laugh and talk and raise his hands up in the air, clasp them above his head, smile a HUGE smile, and then crumple over and laugh like he is the funniest person he's ever met. He has just been in the best mood this week - I think mobility agrees with him!

I'll try to get some pictures up soon - you would not believe how big he's getting!