The Army Crawl

My life is about to radically change. James has started army crawling. I was hoping to put off his mobility for a little while longer, but excited to see him grow, too.

The Car Cart

This happy situation lasted until James thought it would be fun to lean into Maggie and bite her on the arm and stomach. So much for keeping them contained!

8 Months

Last Thursday James turned 8 months. Haven't weighed him lately (but my right bicep is sure looking awesome from all that carrying), but he's in nearly all 12-month clothes now. 9-month pants and onesies still fit, but the arms and legs are a bit short. 12-month jammies are maxed out! I love my little man in his jammies. So cuddly. He is not crawling yet, but rolls all over and pushes himself backwards. Loves to play with his toys sitting up, but sometimes gets excited and throws himself backwards - so he sits with a pillow behind him to keep him from cracking his skull open. This month he's really started to wave at people, for "hello," "good-bye" and basically to get your attention. Mr. Spaid is definitely my (Melissa's) child. His volume goes to 11! Has discovered his outdoor voice and utilizes it OFTEN! The boy will not stand to be ignored or put off; I can't wait for him to understand the concept of patience - everyone's ears will appreciate it. Especially in the car in the afternoons when I'm stuck in the carpool line. It's rough!

He tricked me into thinking he was going to sleep all the way through the night at the beginning of the month. Slept through the night for about a week. Now he's back to up once or even twice at night. I'd ignore him and let him cry it out, but James is quite strong-willed, it turns out. I'm pretty sure if I let him go he'd cry from 2:30 until 7:00 when it's actually time to get out of bed. So, pretty much every night I get up for a middle of the night feeding. It's not that bad - he cuddles with me before I put him back in his crib, so I get a little extra love in there.

James will still eat pretty much everything I've given him in the way of solid foods, and we are working on thicker/chunkier textures and seasonings and flavors now. Any foods we eat that aren't highly allergic he gets a little bit of at dinner, and he really likes it. He's not quite at the point where he can feed himself chunks, but is getting better at pinching puffs between his fingers and getting them to his mouth. One of his favorite things is a strip of bread, or chunk of roll. Those 8 teeth are quite fun to use, I think. We are working on a sippy cup, but haven't had a lot of success with it yet. I think I need to get a different type.

And, we discovered this month he as a HUMONGOUS underbite (think a bulldog's jaw). His bottom teeth come completely in front of his upper teeth with space to spare. I sure hope that self-corrects, and now I wish he sucked his thumb like Maggie, it might actually have corrected the problem. Oh, well. Head-gear at 12 anyone?

Here are his monthly boppy pictures. Such a happy little buddy!

See! So happy!

And here we introduce his lovey, Allistair the Alligator. And James' sucky-lips and doe eyes. He sucks on his tongue when he's tired, or cuddling with his mama, or holding something soft. Like Allistair. He's SO sweet with those eyes and lips. Makes me melt every time.

Halloween 2011

Tyler and I headed up our church's Fall Festival this year. It made for a very busy October for me, but it was a lot of fun. Tyler and I went as the King and Queen of Spaids. The playing card fronts were made by his mom when she and John were first married, so there's some history there. We were joined by a bumblebee fairy and Charlie Brown. I didn't want James in a hot costume, and Charlie Brown was good and easy.

Zaylie and Maggie.

The King and Charlie, waiting for the Great Pumpkin.

Parlor Tricks

James learned a new trick at the fall festival!