Crawling, Cruising, & Walking- Oh My!

9 Months... Can he stay like this forever?

 The little light of my life! I know I'm biased, but his smile will just melt your heart! 

This month has brought about many developments for this little man.  He is now pulling up to stand in his crib.  We dropped it low months ago just to be safe, so he had not attempted standing in it until just a few weeks ago.  I went in to pick him up from his nap, and there he was with the largest, proudest grin on his face!

He is also beginning to crawl "normal."  He finally realized it doesn't hurt so much to keep his knees up, but standing and cruising is still his method of choice.

Unfortunately, Brooks had his first real fever last week :(  It got up to 102 degrees when I decided to call the doctor.  Come to find out, he had a double ear infection... poor guy!  Don't worry, he was back to 100% in a day or two.

Here's Brooks in his game day attire!  He was representing both teams playing that day... Go Dawgs and Go Braves!  He is also sporting his new kicks!

Here is our sweet boy Munson, Brooks' all time favorite thing!

 Thanks for reading all about me!  Come back soon!

Ignore my awkward morning hair- it's finally starting to grow!

Slow down!!!

I am beginning to realize what people meant when they said, "trust me, you don't want him crawling/ walking yet."  Getting anything done around the house is getting more and more difficult.  In the weeks earlier, Brooks would chase me into the kitchen, but he has now become more adventurous.  He takes off for any place in the house, especially if Munson is there. 

He has gotten pretty fast with his "Brooks crawl," and is getting more stable on his feet too!  Brooks can stand for almost a minute by himself and when steady, he can take up to 6-7 steps before falling!

He loves to use the walker around the house, and he is now pulling up on everything!

His "mama" is perfected now, and I am pretty sure my entire family is ready for him to take on a new word!  It does warm my heart when I go to pick him up in the morning and he says "mama" with a giant smile on his face!

Here is Brooks with 2 of his cousins, Braxton and Brody!

Speaking of smiles... Brooks contagious smile has not faded.  He has been a very happy baby so far and his smile is just infectious.  Everywhere we go people tell us he has the best smile :)

New this week, daddy had surgery!  Enjoy this picture of what Tim's leg will look like for the next 3 months!! It's a race to see who is walking first: Brooks or Tim :)

A Mover and a Shaker!

Brooks is officially 8 months old!  I know we are always saying that "time flies," but I never dreamed the last 8 months would go as quickly as they have.  Brooks is now on the move!  He does a quite entertaining crawl.  Tim and I (and his teachers) like to call it "the inchworm."  He gets into a crawl position and then pushes himself forward onto his belly and repeats.  In addition to crawling, he loves to walk!  He will walk holding my fingers, pushing the walker, and even take a step or two on his own.  He runs for Munson... he already loves that dog!

 Such a happy boy!

Brooks still loves to eat, and his repetoire is much larger now.  So far his favorite seems to be fruit and yogurt puffs.  At school he sits with his friends while they all eat their puffs, its so cute!  He is beginning to be able to pick up food and put it in his mouth, although he still misses half the time.  New foods this week include spinach, strawberries, and yogurt.  He has just about had every fruit and vegetable and we are beginning chicken and turkey.

Since I am back to work we have been working on getting his schedule set.  The child still won't nap much at daycare with all his friends there (I can't really blame him).  But he falls asleep before we leave the parking lot every afternoon!  This mommy is trying to adjust to not spending everyday with him.  It's more difficult now than it was in December (he's not just a sleeping, pooping baby anymore). 

Family Portraits

We went ahead and took advantage of Brooks' ability to sit, without crawling and had family portraits taken.  I am very happy with the way they turned out, and I am excited to try and make a collage wall in my house (if you have any helpful hints let me know).  The hard part is going to be choosing which photos get displayed, but I'd say that's a good problem to have!  Thanks to Angela Wilson Photography for a job well done!

Luckily we went ahead and took the pictures, because my little man is now on the move.  He does an army crawl at the moment and is not very interested in staying on his knees.  Whenever he can grab onto something he pulls right up to his feet.  We are at the frustrating time when he wants to move so quickly and easily, but it's still a struggle! 

He is, however, standing independently.  He can hold onto something and stand for a very long time without help.  When he isn't holding anything, he stays on his feet for about 10 seconds (long enough to realize no one is holding him up).  He loves to hold my hands and walk around the house!

Another important milestone- first word :)  He is now saying "mama," although it comes out with his tongue hanging out of his mouth.  It's the word I have worked on with him the most (of course), so I'm pretty sure that's his intention! I have it on video, but once again can't figure out why it won't upload!