Blessed Beyond Measure: Baby Life Week 35: We Have an 8 Month Old!!

This week started off with a pretty lazy Saturday morning (just the way we like it), but then it got a bit more exciting, while staying quite relaxed. At lunch time, we headed over to Panera, where we had lunch with Christina and Jerry Ort and Sarah Smith. It was nice to catch up with them and to get to meet Christina & Jerry's baby girl Tali (Natalia Tulip)...who is an absolute cutie!! We drove to Panera separately, so that Eric could take Asher out for a bit, while I enjoyed a bit more time catching up with our friends and then enjoyed some alone time at Kohl's. With our purchases of Eric's shoes and our new vacuum the previous weekend, I had $30 in Kohl's cash that I could spend, plus I had a couple of gift cards that I was given for Christmas. It was so weird (& wonderful) to have some time outside of our home to myself. I didn't really find too much that I liked, but I did find a new pair of jeans (I'm pretty sure I haven't bought myself any new jeans in at least 3-5 years!), and a couple of plain color shirts off the clearance rack. I also found a pair of Michigan jogging pants on the clearance rack that I REALLY had to push myself to walk away from. I really don't NEED any more lazy/comfy clothes, but I do love my Michigan gear! :)

Daddy & Asher enjoying a morning nap together.

Video: These days, Asher is becoming a serious Momma's Boy. He cries when I put him down and when I leave the room. He wants to be with me pretty much ALL THE TIME. Honestly, I love it (for the most part), but it does get a bit overwhelming some times. For Eric, this is strange. He is used to being the one that all the kids love, and although Asher does love to play with his Daddy, he still is often known for leaving Daddy when Momma comes into the room. This video is the aftermath of just that. These days, Asher also comes to me when I call him and then tries to climb up onto my lap. Love that boy!

On Sunday, we were able to enjoy a wonderful family nap in the afternoon, and then Eric went down into the basement to work on fixing up the foundation walls (so that they *hopefully* will no longer leak). That meant that Asher and I got a few hours to play together before bed. While we were up in his room playing, he started crawling...for real! He has been army-style crawling for about a month now, but hasn't figured out how to move on his hands and knees. He would get himself up and rock back and forth and then let himself back onto his belly to move around. All of a sudden though, he got up on his hands and knees and crawled across the room. It is so exciting to witness him making such great strides in his development. I am so thankful for my healthy, active little guy! After doing it a few times, I went and told Daddy what he had done. Then, I went and got the camera to try and get it on video...

Video 1: For the first video, Asher decided that he had had enough of the crawling and went back to the army-style move (which another book calls "creeping).

Video 2: This time I got him to do it the right way! :)

On Monday night, Eric started to feel yucky, which continued all day on Tuesday. It was probably just a case of the flu, but the doctor did do a few tests because he thought it may be his appendix. When I got home from work on Tuesday night, Eric was a nasty, pasty green color. That was also the same evening that we got another fairly big snowstorm. Eric is pretty much always the one that does the outside work (mowing, snowblowing, etc.) Thus, since he was out sick and I had a baby to take care of, our driveway was going to remain unplowed all night. When our neighbors found out that Eric was sick, however, a bunch of them came over and plowed out the drive for us! We are so blessed to live on such a neighborly street! :) That evening, the snow continued to come down and we got probably another 4 or so inches of wet, heavy snow for a grand total of 10-12, I am guessing. Since Wednesday is my day off, all of the snow and the mild winter temperature made it impossible to pass up the opportunity to enjoy some time outdoors with my kids. We went for a walk/sled ride around the park. Both Asher and Emma loved it (at least until the end when Asher's face was wet and cold).

Asher all bundled up and ready to go.

Happy boy enjoying his ride.

The kids, or as my friend Christina said, "Emma the sled dog" and Asher! :)

Inspecting a snowball...next winter will be lots of fun!

Chilly cheeks!

Video: Our Snowy Sled Ride/Walk

The rest of that day was spent relaxing as a family (Eric had taken another sick day) and getting some things done (Asher took a 3 hour nap after our walk outside!!).

On Thursday our boy turned 8 months old!! I can't believe that we are already 2/3 of the way through his first year. He will be a toddler before we know it! He is now crawling on his hands & knees, babbling all the time (& saying mama and dada once in a while) and pulling himself up on things. He is also working on self-feeding and learning to pinch food with this fingers and get it into his mouth. He will need to continue practicing this though, as LOTS of food ends up in his highchair or on the floor. I believe that Emma does not mind this one bit though. Finally, while I was taking his 8 month pictures he sat himself up for the first time all by himself, and quickly became a pro at it. I know that he is no different/better or more talented than any other kids his age, but I just can't help watching in awe and being one proud mama! :)

Asher standing. He has the strength part down, but needs to work on the balance.

He has a goal in mind...troublemaker!

Goal Achieved!

In order to keep him near the calendar this month, I bribed him with puffs! :)

This is a frequent view I get these days...Asher climbing up me.

He reminds me of Cookie Monster here, as he enjoys his puffs.

Playing with Daddy.

He loves to nibble on his toes whenever they are not covered with socks...the rest of the time, he loves to chew on socks (with or without his toes inside).