8 Months!

(There will be a follow up post of all video!!!)

Okay, he's really closer to 9 months old now, and I could barely get an in-focus picture because this little bubba does not stop moving for one solitary second.  But here he is in all of his 8 month glory!  Yes, he has food all over him.  It was my only hope of getting him to sit remotely still.

Oh hi mom!  This is the smile I ALWAYS get when he first sees me.  

You want me to pose?  Okay, how's this face?

Okay, I'm getting skeptical... how long is this going to take?

Bo-ring!  I'll eat my buckle.  I have a little bit of a buckle addiction to be honest.

Bbbpppllllll!  That's what I think of this!

Dude.  I'm outta here!

• He still likes to eat... lots more foods now.  He generally does not want you to feed him and only wants to eat things he can pick up on his own.  Independent.  Stubborn.  (must get that from his father... wink, wink.)
• He still doesn't like to sleep...well, naps are great now.  He goes to sleep like a champ at 6:30 and wakes up for the day around 7am.  But some nights there is still lots of resettling and he still nursing once in the wee hours of the morning.  I'm okay with it.  I'm rolling with it.  I'm savoring the sweet moments nursing.  I'm asking God what He has for me in this, what he wants me to learn (thanks to some advice from a wise mama of 5!)
• I know all the pictures of him are always all smiles...but don't be fooled.  That's only because he has my undivided attention.  He has a constant middle of the road fuss that you will hear non-stop unless he is sleeping, being held, being entertained or getting into something.  I'm going with the theory that he's HIGHLY intelligent and therefore needs stimulation or else gets bored.  That will serve him well in life.  However, I'm fairly certain it will give me many a gray hair in the near future and I'm willing to bet big bucks that I have my work cut out for me when he goes even more mobile!
• Speaking of mobile.  This boy can army crawl like nobody's business!  He's always one the go.  He wants to get into EVERYTHING and will!  He's constantly exploring and spots something new and undiscovered in seconds!
• It's harder to diaper this boy than it is to wrangle a greased pig!  Talk about squirmy!  Especially when his sister is around.  He LOVES his sister.  He can hear her a mile a way and contorts himself to be able to see her.  She can make him giggle and smile like no other!
• He talks a lot...lots of babbles, coos, noises, sounds, giggles, belly laughs, squeals .. fusses and cries.   
• He has more hair than Ella did when she was two and he weighs more than she even dreamed of weighing when she was one!
• He WILL not keep ANY bib on.  The child is Houdini.
• And he is a genius.  He just signed "more" for the first time today at 8 1/2 mo old!  
• He is a true boy joy who's giving me a run for my money but has completely run away with my heart.