First snow

Technically, you could say this was Graeme's first snow last year:

This year, he loved experiencing it with his Dad:

See that top tooth coming in? It looks super adorable, but Graeme has started grinding his teeth now that he has some on top and bottom. It makes my skin crawl to hear it. I shove a teething toy in his mouth when I can, but it doesn't help much. It's worse than nails on a chalkboard!

He had a great time at first... until he felt that the snow was actually quite COLD!

Yeah, not so much. Take me inside, guys.

All better now.

BTW, do any other parents accidentally memorize the silly songs your baby's toys play? Just me then? Graeme has this first aid kit that plays a little song that ends with "All better now!" and I can't hear that phrase any other way. It's like how you can't just SAY the alphabet. You have to sing the song. Trent and I also find ourselves wondering about the kids (or adults with freakishly childlike voices) who record those songs for the toys. What a weird gig.

What a beautiful boy.

Grow, baby, grow!

This is another post I've been avoiding for a while, because I don't even know where to begin. It feels like my blob cherub of a baby has turned into a big, strong, boy overnight! Here are a just a few of the milestones that he is racing through at the speed of light: (is he shaving yet????)

First of all, my almost-eight-month-old is already cutting his fourth tooth. You can see his first two tiny chompers in this photo taken last month, but the top teeth coming in now must be doozies because he is clearly in much more pain. Which means less sleep for mommy and daddy. There was one glorious night of ten hours in a row last week, but we can't seem to duplicate it.

Believe it or not, he started crawling almost two months ago. He got so quick that I could barely stop him before he got a fist full of cat food in the kitchen. Yum-O. In a matter of days, Zoe was trained to jump up on a desk to eat and drink.

He is pulling up on anything and everything. The crib, the piano bench, the toilet (ew), the crib. (which we recently lowered... aaaaaaand, backache.) He can also stand just by pushing on flat surfaces, like the dishwasher. I have actually seen him let go and remain standing for a few wobbly seconds before he lands on that squishy diaper butt. He will also try to climb up our legs and reach to be held. I admit, I love it. I know our days of holding him are numbered, so I'm trying to make the best of the clinginess. However, it makes it that much more difficult for him to be "entertained" when I am attempting to do anything remotely useful, like cooking. Or putting away laundry. Or trying to get him to go down for a nap. Oh, how I miss the beautiful 2-3 hour naps.

My very favorite new development is his ability to really PLAY! He chased me around the ottoman of the rocker in his nursery the other day, laughing his little head off. Peekaboo and other general hiding games are a blast. Since I'm not so much of a baby person, this is what I've been waiting for! I mean, there are definitely some things I miss about those newborn days. Again, with the naps. I hear from most veteran experienced parents that it doesn't really get easier as they get older - just different challenges to face. For me, I really DO think it's easier. Every day that I learn more about his little personality makes it easier and more fun to be his mom.