Standing Man

Graham has learned a new trick. A couple of weeks ago he started pulling himself up on his toy basket, per the pictures below, however now he has figured out how to pull himself up to higher places...like his exersaucer. We've even seen him transfer from the toy chest to the couch. He doesn't show too much interest in cruising yet, although he will take a step towards me if I coax him to. He loves to stand and is getting much braver. Although, this is the one time I've wished we had carpet rather than hardwood! We've had several head banging falls. He always recovers quickly and it's his Mommy who seems to be more upset!

Where's Graham??

Graham has a couple of larger stuffed animals that we keep lined up on his dresser. When he gets up from naps he always looks at them and smiles. He showed a lot of interest in them yesterday, so I let him sit among them. Here's a couple of pictures, they turned out awfully cute!

More Bathtime Fun!

Eight Month Pictures

We had decided to do 4mo., 8mo. and then one year photos of Graham. So, this past week I (Willa), took him in for his photo shoot. He did a great job. He lit up as soon as he saw the first flash of the camera. Maybe those 1600+ pictures we have from just since January would be why he's so familiar with a camera, but he sure seemed to know what to do. We got a lot of great shots. Here are several of those pictures. I settled on purchasing the first four shots, although there were lots others that were very cute!

Garage Sales

We had been wanting to get an activity table for Graham. He's been showing more and more interest in standing and pulling himself up. However, neither Eric or myself wanted to pay full price for one since they are used for such a short time. One of my friends told me about garage sales in her neighborhood and that she knew of two families that were getting rid of all of their baby items. So, Graham and I set out to check out the garage sales. We found this activity table in VERY GOOD condition for only $5!! Graham has enjoyed playing with it ever since. He gets so excited to be able to stand and play!!

Life as an Eight Month Old!

Here is a day in the life of a growing eight month old baby boy:

6:00-6:15am - wake up (or at least be allowed to get out of my crib!)
6:30am - nurse
7:00am - breakfast, which consists of 3T cereal & 2oz of fruit
8:00-8:15am -begin nap (I have to stay in my crib for at least an hour...I'm learning that I might as well sleep!!)
10:30am - nurse
11:00am - lunch, which consists of 2-4oz of veggies & 2oz fruit (this is a new meal for me and I LOVE it!!)
12:00-12:30pm -begin nap #2 (time depends upon wake time from first nap..once again I have to stay in my crib for a full hour minimum)
2:15pm - nurse
3:30-4:00pm - begin nap #3 (this nap is the only one I don't have to stay down for an hour, I usually only sleep 45 minutes)
5:00pm - nurse
5:30pm - dinner (I now eat a lot...3T of cereal, 2oz veggies, 1oz meat & 2oz fruit followed by an ounce or two of breast milk in a sippy cup!!)
6:30pm - bath
7:00pm - In bed sleeping!!

You might ask what I like to do during my wake time, well...I like to read a lot! My two favorite books right now are Baby Einstein's Mirror Me & Ten Little Ladybugs by Melanie Gerth. I can read those books over and over, smiling with every page turn! I also spend lots of time crawling. I like to chase after Sam (the cat), follow mommy into the kitchen and get into new things...like cords, diaper bags, or anything else left in my reach! Mommy does flashcards with me everyday, I'm learning numbers, the alphabet, colors, animals and shapes. I always pay close attention while she's teaching me. I may not understand everything yet, but I'm learning! I like to spend time in my exersaucer & at my activity table. I love to sing songs. Mommy picks one song each week that we sing everyday. Last week was Jesus Loves The Little Children and this week is Zacchaeus. We also sing Jesus Loves Me before every nap, as it helps me know it's time for my nap and to settle down.

I'm currently wearing a few 9month outfits, but mainly wearing my 12month clothing. I weighed in at 19lbs when I went to the doctor on June 3rd. I currently have my two bottom teeth and am really working on cutting my top four teeth. I've ran light fevers & have had a few times of extra irritability due to this, but all in all I'm handling it all right. It's no fun to cut four teeth at once though!!

I've started to give kisses. The first kiss I ever gave was to Becca Huffstutler on May 12th. Since then I've given many to Mommy & Daddy. I'm also becoming a talker. I get shy when we're out and about, but at home I talk a lot!! :) All and All, life as an eight month old is a lot of fun!! :)

Melting My Heart!

Today was a very special day for me as a Mother. My sweet little baby boy said 'Ma ma' for the first time. I've been trying to coax him to say it for several weeks, but no luck. Today I had just found an old Patch the Pirate Sunday School Song book and I was playing and singing the song "Wiggle Worm" to Graham. He was watching me during the whole song. I finished up, looked down at him and asked if he like the song. He replied with 'Ma Ma'!!! I obviously got very excited and asked if he would say it again...and he did!! Since then, not so much, but still...what a wonderful morning! :)

Vacation....Part Five!!

Sorry for the delay in posting the remaining pictures from our trip. I (Willa) came down with the stomach flu this week along with having one extremely fussy teething baby (his two top teeth are really working their way in). But, here are the pictures. We spent the last couple days of our trip in Sedona! It was absolutely gorgeous there. Everywhere you look you are reminded of God's magnificent creation! We enjoyed some time shopping, eating out, swimming, enjoying the scenery and Eric & I even went out on a date thanks to Grandpa Armstrong babysitting!!



A quick family picture before we left for the airport:

Graham & Grandpa Armstrong

Practicing his standing skills!

Check out this church....I don't know how much listening to a sermon I'd get done in this church as the front of the sanctuary faces out to some spectacular views!

Another picture of the church...

Getting a bath at the condo!

So happy to be out of my carseat after a 3 1/2 hour drive!! Although he wasn't happy to find out that he'd be going right back in that seat for a little longer!

Out shopping in Sedona

Vacation....Part Four!!

We went swimming a couple of times while on vacation. We had purchased a nice floatation device for Graham to use in the pool. Graham loves splashing during his bath times, so we figured he would probably really like swimming. The first time we went swimming we went to a public community pool. It was a very nice pool. Unfortunately they had their children's pool closed, so we had to use the lap pool. However, it wasn't very busy and we had plenty of space. Eric got Graham's floatation device all ready, and as we were getting into the pool a lifeguard came over and told us they were not allowed. The pool didn't allow anything that was inflatable, because that also means it's deflatable. Now, we're not the type of parents to just put our child in the device and push him away to the center of the pool by himself! However, we were definitely going to follow their rules. He handed us a life vest to use. However, the life vest was for children 50-90lbs!! Graham is just shy of 20lbs! Hmm...how is this safer??

Graham wasn't so sure at first. The pool was a little chilly, and he was a little scared. However he then started to enjoy the experience. He splashed a little and smiled a lot as we swam with him in the pool. After about 45 minutes he got fussy, and we decided to get him out of the pool. He instantly fell asleep on his Daddy's shoulder. Even babies get exhausted after swimming! :)


The second time we went swimming was at the Hilton Spa & Resort in Sedona. Graham seemed to enjoy this experience even more than the first time. The pool was also kinda chilly, but he settled in quickly. This time he could use this floatation device and he seemed to enjoy it. From the pictures you won't be able to tell that, because he was still adjusting to the new experience. He loved splashing and kicking his legs in the water. He also seemed to enjoy chilling in the lounge chairs!

Vacation....Part Three!

One afternoon we drove out to see the Mission San Xavier del Bac, which is just outside of Tuscon. The Mission is still an active catholic church, however it is open to the public to come in and see. It is a beautiful building on the outside and the inside was definitely interesting to see. Once again Graham was a real trooper. He definitely was thrown out of his regular routine, but he handled as well as could be expected! On this particular trip he slept through the whole thing...as you will see in the last picture. He usually wakes up when being carried around in his car seat, but not this time!