You continue to be such an easy going, sweet little dude. 8 months old and so, so fun!
We packed up the dogs and everything we own and embarked on a 3 hour drive to Eastern Oregon in the pursuit of sunshine and mountain water. We landed on beautiful Jack Creek, daddy setup our epic new standing-room two-br tent, and we settled in for a weekend of campfires, dirt parties, and games. You loved the wilderness, you kept on your nap schedule, slept through the night and were so happy to be around your favorites for an entire weekend!
We'll definitely be doing that again, but this time, we'll bring more soap!
I never have time to WRITE! And for that, I'm sorry. You are keeping us so busy lately, and with our first major bout with sickness, let's just say things have been better.
Good news is that even with a cough and runny nose, you still flash those two pearly whites on a regular basis. You are SO funny. You like to show off, as soon as someone walks into the room, you'll perform one of your many tricks: the first typically being CLAPPING. This is one of the cutest things you've done so far, and it's how you're communicating until you can figure out how to talk. You clap when you're happy and when we say "YAY" - your favorite is to clap WITH a big group of your friends. You're such a social little guy, I know you love me but what you really love is to be with your whole family. We've had more Humphries family events since you came into our lives, and for that we are all greatful. Your Grams and Gramps, Your uncle and his lovely girlfriend Allie, and Mom and Dad. We are your favorite crew, it's pretty adorable.
One of my favorite things lately is watching you with your Grandpa. You could not love him more - you're always smiling when he's around and he loves to play with you and crawl around on the floor wrestling with you. It is crystal clear that the two of you have a very special bond. One that I am positive will last a lifetime. You love your Grandpa so, so much. Melts my heart.
Speaking of wrestling, let's talk about trying to dress you. When I've finally got you dressed in the morning, I feel like I've just won a fight with a professional UFC fighter. You twist and turn and kick your legs. You hate laying on your back and find it so totally fun to wrestle around with me as I'm trying to dress you. My strategy of building bumpers with my legs has backfired as you now use these as leverage to pull yourself up. It's pretty entertaining and I can't help but laugh at how ridiculously difficult it is to get you to sit still. I love this about you 95% of the time, so the 5% while I dress you, guess I've just gotta make the best of it and laugh.
You continue to discover your voice. Constantly screaming and saying what sounds like itty bitty words. Daddy and I are vying for the first word. We're both constantly trying to coerce you into saying Mama or Dada. You say both of these words, but you haven't yet associated them with either of us. It's still pretty cute to hear a constant "mamamamamama".
Here are a few videos of our favorite things:
CLAPPING:
CRAWLING:
YO GABBA GABBA!!!
Here are a few pics of you recently. Sweet lil 7 month old dude.
You and Uncle Cam-0
We rarely get these sweet moments anymore. I had to capture this one. :-) it's my favorite
duck fan
Grandma's coaster at the BAR. Yep, we had a baby, in a BAR. (sort of)
Today marks the end of our sick weekend and I couldn't let the weekend end without doing at least one fun thing. So, we tried finger painting! You LOVED it! Mostly you just loved seeing what the paint looked like on your arms, hands, and tummy. So really, it was body painting, and you, my friend, are quite the artist! Even on the sickest of weekends you found a way to make me smile and laugh. Thanks, buddy.
This is your third and worst cold yet. Good news is: you handle it like a champ! Through coughing and runny + crusty nose, you are smiling and laughing. Such a happy, lovely little spirit.
Mama's pretty sick too, so thanks for being such a great and well behaved little guy!
Well, technically, you started crawling at 6 months, but since I spent the last few weeks chasing you around the house, I haven't had time to notify the blog!
What can I say? You are such an amazing little dude. The last 3 weeks you have sprouted up like a weed. You overflow with energy, determination, and loads of personality! You are a sweet and courageous little soul. You are curious and fearless, this scares us a bit, but we encourage it and love this about you. You blaze through all of your firsts like a freight train; as soon as you started crawling, you became obsessed with standing and walking. With sheer joy and excitement, you run on all fours toward a toy or your daddy. We've spent a bit more time around other babies recently, and each time we are amazed at the personality and courage you exude. Instead of getting scared or crying when you fall down, you just appear confused as to how you landed on the floor, and return to whatever you were after in the first place. Half of me wants to freeze time because you are SO FUN right now (in spite of teething), but the other half can't wait to see what kind of kiddo and young man you turn into.
I can confidently say that you have changed your daddy and I for life. We are both more loving, compassionate, and understanding people all thanks to you. I think we also have a newfound love, respect and appreciation for each other. Sappy McSapperson here. And no, I won't apologize for it.
Here are a few of your latest developments:
You smile when you see your reflection in the mirror - every.single.time (this is from the iPhone, which shows you your own reflection):
Your daddy is your favorite these days (though I know you're still a mama's boy).
You love your daddy so much:
- He has to do very little to make you laugh
- When he walks into a room, you take off crawling for him, even if he's heading for the bathroom
- He gets within 3 feet and you reach out for him to pick you up
- If he lays on the ground you crawl all over him
- Your favorite is when he lifts you high in the air like you're flying
You laugh when tickled or when we make belly bubbles.
You are crawling like MAD all over the house. We only put you in the playpen when we absolutely have to. (Here is when you first got started):
You took your first plane ride and you did (for the most part) pretty darn good. You are of course LOVING the sound of your own voice:
There are so many more moments that I haven't caught on film, but needless to say, you are SO FUN and we just love you to pieces. xoxoxo, baby boy. Thanks for making life so sweet and rad.
We have a lot of extended family who are so excited to meet you and for your first adventure we flew you to Idaho to meet your Great Aunt Marsha.
You two were just two peas in a pod, as expected. There is something so awesome about seeing one of my very favorite people in life meet my baby boy and fall in love with him. Two worlds colliding: my treasured childhood memories and this beloved new life we created.
We stayed at your Great Aunt Marsha's Saturday through Tuesday and you had quite the ball! Just like you love your Grandpa, you absolutely fell in love with your sweet Great Aunt Marsha. She truly is an angel sent from above, and I am beyond happy that you had a chance to meet this amazing person.
We didn't sleep a ton (since you are in the thick of teething), but we did our best and your Grandpa was gracious enough to take you for morning coffee every morning so mama could get a few hours of shut eye. It was so sweet, he sure is thoughtful and given the chance, he certainly will never turn down a few minutes to hang with you - which melts my heart daily.
Here's a ton of pics of you in your family's hometown: Jerome/Hansen/Twin Falls, Idaho!!:
PDX --> BOI
early morning walk in the country
Shoshone Falls
Matchy Matchy!
Great Aunt Marsha at the falls!
You LOOOOVE your cousin Chelsie!!
Dierkes Lake: Your Gma and Gpa's old stomping grounds!
I was pretty excited - your first time swimming!
You and your girlfriend
Like a fish in the water - you're a natural, dude
Flirt
Loving on Great Aunt Marsha in her Betty Boop PJ's!
