Gabe- Eight Months

Two-thirds of his first year have already passed.

This is the month that Gabe began to M.O.V.E.  He is officially a crawler, and a pretty fast one at that.  And my shadow- wherever I go, Gabe goes.  And getting the nugget to hold still for this month's photo shoot was next to impossible.

He has also learned how to climb a couple of steps (OH NO!).

He crawls, scoots, and for fun and relaxation, practices yoga.  Downward Dog is his favorite pose.

But this boy is not one to be held down.  Almost immediately after mastering the crawl, he decided that he'd rather be up on his feet.  So the boy pulls himself up on everything.

Walking by Christmas, much?

Some of Gabe's current favaorites:

Eating.  We eat banana oatmeal, rice cereal, PUFFS, teething biscuits, and baby food of every fruit, vegetable, and meat variety.  He's also trying a few things from my plate.  Scrambled eggs, baked beans, mashed potatoes, peas.  And when he's really sad about something, Jason sneaks him a mini chocolate chip from the pantry.  You know, because sugar makes everything better.

Playing.  With everything that isn't his.  His current favorite is the dog bowls.  He likes to push them around, bang on them, and flip them so that they make LOUD clanging metal noises on the tile floor.  He also likes the vacuum cleaner, which is in a perpetual state of being out to play.  It has a home in a closet upstairs, but with a baby and three furry pets, I vacuum so often that I find it a hassle to even bother putting it away.  I DO try and at least wind up the cord, but sometimes he gets to it before me.  Also, he thinks the dog crate isn't a bad place to hang out.

Mama.  He is entering a mama phase.  Last night, he was whiny and fussy for no particular reason that I could gather.  He crawled over to where I was sitting, and tried to pull himself up.  As he is always pulling up on something, I thought that he merely wanted to be up on his feet.  But that didn't stop the whining.  J suggested that he might want to sit with me.  I scoffed at the idea, because the nugget is a mover and a shaker, not a cuddler.  But as my ears were on the verge of bleeding due to the whininess, I gave it a whirl.  And wouldn't ya know it?  The boy stopped crying.  It appears that he just wanted to be with me.  My heart melted a little, even as I realized that I had just caved to a whiner's whim.  But oh, well.  I do what I want.

Laughing.  We are now at the point where we can make him laugh with just a look.  My, oh my.  I adore that sound!  A baby's laugh is quite possibly the sweetest sound on earth.

He may also be an evil genius, hatching evil plans with one eyebrow raised, based on some recent photos.  Time will tell...

Evil genius or not, we'll love him either way.