Two-Thirds

 Our little man turned 8 months old on the eleventh: two-thirds of his first year is behind us and I can hardly believe it.  This past month was delightful.  Liam was fantastic with all of our holiday traveling and the accompanying changes to his schedule.  He was sweet and loving to family members he hadn't met yet, he tore paper off of his presents with interest, and he charmed us with his adorable expressions when he saw what was underneath all that wrapping paper.  It was all so fun.  I know I already posted quite a few holiday pics, but here are just a couple more:

Our little fam on Christmas morning - Liam was way too interested in the stuffed moose on top of the box to look at the camera

This kid's facial expressions kill me.  I can't wait to someday hear the words that accompany the faces he makes

At the very beginning of Liam's 8th month he figured out how to get himself up on all fours.  I assumed that meant that crawling was right around the corner, but as of yet the best he can do is propelling himself backwards by getting up on his hands and knees and then pushing himself back with his hands.  He's figured out how to move his hands in a crawling motion, but his knees don't follow yet.  The last two weeks have brought a little more fussiness than usual, but I think it is just some frustration that he isn't as mobile as he would like to be.  Two days ago he made another big stride, though, and got himself from his stomach back into an upright sitting position.  I love this pic of him in action:

  Baths continue to be a source of great joy for Liam, and even more so now, with some of the fun new bath toys he got for Christmas.  Aunt Abbie got him an awesome boat with a paddle wheel that works and lots of little fish that float in the water and he LOVES them.  Every time we go in the bathroom to get a bath ready he gets really excited and bounces up and down in my arms ... until I turn the water on.  The noisy water always kind of freaks him out, so pre-bath time is a funny combination of giggles and reaching for his toys while keeping a death grip on me and trying to stay as far away as possible from the roaring faucet.

Another fun development this month has been Liam's growing love for our dog, Jack.  He has never really minded Jack, but this month he's become very interested in everything Jack does.  He gets excited when I tell him we're going to let "puppy Jack" inside, and he nearly lunges out  of my arms trying to pet him.  Jack has loved getting all this new attention from the little person who so abruptly intruded on his life 8 months ago, and they have become quite the little buddies.  The day I took the picture below Liam was busily scooting backwards across the living room when Jack walked in the room and looked at him, walked back out of the room, then came back in carrying one of his bones which he promptly dropped right in front of Liam.  By the time I got to my camera Liam had already scooted back a good 8 inches, but they were literally nose-to-nose for a few seconds.  So cute.  I had thought that once Liam was to the scooting/crawling stage I'd have to get a gate so I could keep Jack corralled to another part of the house so he wouldn't squish the baby, but he is so sweet and gentle that it hasn't been a problem at all.  Occasionally, Liam gets a little startled when Jack tries to "share" with him by dropping his giant tug rope or one of his bones on him, but I figure Liam's early attempts to show kindness to our next child probably won't be that different.

My boys & their toys

Here are a few other new things from the past month:
  On Christmas Liam's 5th tooth cut through, and his 6th one (which was on the brink FOREVER) finally broke through on the 11th of this month.  So now his adorable toothy grin involves two sweet bottom teeth and four on top.
  Eating solid foods is going okay.  We've now introduced chicken to Liam's diet, but he's not a huge fan.  He continues to not be all that excited about anything besides his cereal, squash, sweet potatoes & lima beans.  He will eat most of the other veggies I try to give him, but it's a bit of a chore.  He LOVES using his sippy cup to drink water, but we can't use the spill-proof insert yet because he hasn't figured out how to suck on the spout hard enough to get any water out, so unless cup usage is closely monitored we end up with this situation:

  This Monday, the day before his 8 month birthday, Liam gave his first noticeably intentional wave to his Aunt Abbie as we were leaving my parents' house.  He always sticks his arms out and twists his wrists a lot, just a funny quirk he has, so it has been hard to tell if/when he's attempting to wave.  On Monday, though, he raised his little hand way up in the air so there was no mistaking his intention.  He has been delighted with this skill and has spent this week waving to EVERYTHING.  Josh, Jack, our friends,  the windows, the front door ... it's pretty adorable.
 I know he's still pretty young for this, but it also seems like he's getting really close to saying some words.  He pretty regularly mimics "da-da-da" sounds, and does so more when Josh is around.  He also will often make an "h" sound when I'm encouraging him to say "hi", and he has another sound that is really close to a "j" sound that he makes when we pet Jack and I repeat his name over and over.  Either way, he's very verbal and makes tons of different sounds, both talking and crazy noises, ALL the time.  My favorite sounds are when he first wakes up and whispers a lot, or when he's about to go to sleep and he sort of sings.  Too precious.
  A less fun development this month has been the onset of a bit of separation anxiety.  Liam has always been a bit of a mama's boy and prefers that I hold him, but the last few weeks when I've dropped him off at the nursery at church he has started crying wailing as soon as we've gotten to his classroom, in anticipation of me leaving him there.  He's also gotten a bit more opinionated - sort of yelling or just being kind of whiny when he's bored or doesn't like what we're doing.  I am both intrigued and a little nervous about his personality (and sin nature) beginning to emerge more and more.  But how could anyone be too nervous about this tiny man?

The 8 Month pic with Puppy

   Even though I feel like this infant stage is flying by way too quickly, I can't wait to see (and hear) what the coming months have in store.  Liam is such a fun little person to be with and I can't wait to get to know him better, as he grows in his ability to express himself.