Nine Months

Eight Months

Getting new furniture has put a bit of a snag in the ability to compare from month to month, but hey! new furniture! PJ had to hold on to Kieran for this month's picture because he (Kieran, not PJ) just would not sit still. He started crawling a week before he turned eight months, and he is all over the place. His major obsessions are the tv stand, where he likes to open and shut the doors and pull things out of it, and pulling himself up to stand at whatever he encounters. Unfortunately, this also means we have entered the phase of bumps and bruises, and he has already had three or four bruises on his forehead.
It's amazing to see Kieran hitting all these milestones, to watch him exploring and learning. I must admit, it's also a little sad. He's still a baby, but my baby is growing so fast! There has been nothing that has brought home to me so acutely the swift passage of time, the sense that I'll never have this time again, as this child has. Makes me want to quit my job and just live each day, exploring and experiencing. Anyone know of a job that pays you to explore and experience? Either that or a money tree.

Best Toys EVER

A Guest Post by Kieran Laughner

1. Keys
2. TV Remote Control
3. Cordless Phone
4. Spoons
5. Dad's ID Badge for Work
6. Dad's Watch
7. Magazines and Catalogs... actually, paper in general
8. Coffee Mugs
9. Glass Bowls

Seven Months

Apparently, I doomed myself with that post title about time flying because the sixth month went by faster than any of them yet.

Things My Dog Has Eaten Since The Baby Was Born

1. Butt Paste

2. a clean diaper (he'd love to get at the unclean ones)

3. innumerable puddles of baby spit-up

4. a loaf of homemade bread

5. Butt Paste (again)

6. a gallon-sized Ziploc bag of Christmas cookies

7. half a stick of butter

8. two cookies stolen from my 3-year-old niece

9. two bottle nipples

10. two breast pump valves (one of the membranes showed up later... if you know what I mean)

Anyone wishing to adopt a slightly used dog may apply via the comments.

Time Flies? It's Frickin' Supersonic.

Okay, so here was 5 months:

And here's 6 months:

He's finally in his own bedroom and getting up maybe three times at the most - watch, now that I typed that he'll get up six times again tonight! Twice he's even slept all the way through the night... I almost feel human again! He's rolling all over the place, though usually only in one direction, and he's got two (two!) teeth. And, oh yeah, he eats oatmeal, peas, winter squash, green beans, and tonight we're adding sweet potatoes. You can get him to giggle, but he's a tough crowd - don't be tryin' the same thing more than twice, mister.

A while back, I had been writing a post in my head about all the things either I didn't expect or no one told me about motherhood. That's where most of my posts are: written in my head in the middle of the night and lost in addled sleep deprivation. And who has time to reconstruct ideas by the light of day? Even now I'm thinking, "Do I sit here in these snatched moments of nap time," (alas, usually quite short), "and write or do I practice personal hygiene and go shower?" Okay, I'm going to compromise and do a little of both.

Anyway. So I wouldn't change anything - except for that whole thing where PJ and I both have to work the American work week - but, oh my god, the guilt, the jealousy, the rage... I really didn't expect the rage. If anyone is still looking at the blog, you're probably wondering now, and these all deserve long posts of their own - but I'm going to give them all short shrift right now. Under the heading of Expected But Unprepared For Anyway? The love.

He also plays peek-a-boo: