8 months

Okay, does anyone know why blogger always uploads my pictures in reverse order? Is that supposed to be helpful somehow?!?! I don't have the energy to rearrange, so here goes.

William is 8 months old now, though he thinks he's ready for pre-school. I don't know why kids always want to grow up so fast. He crawls well now on all fours. He pulls himself to standing and tries to let go (that usually ends badly, but he's persistent). He has cruised a few times along things and like to take steps while holding my hands. He seems to really mean me when he says mamamama now (it might be in my head, but I've had a few witnesses agree with me on this one), and he says "babababa" when we're leaving and opens and closes his little fist. He doesn't do that every time, though. He gives me the sweetest kiss-bites. He still loves to eat--especially scraps off my plate. He loves to play, and laughs readily and often. He is lightening fast at putting small objects in his mouth. If anyone needs to find something that exactly the right size to choke on, give me a call; Will can find it. You might have to wait for it to pass, though. :)
He is still mostly bald. Darryl's grandma always used to say you can't grow hair and brains at the same time. He's still not sleeping through the night, but he's on his way. He usually just wakes once in the night to feed. It seems like every time I get ready to cut him off, he starts teething, or gets a cold, or something else that earns my sympathy and convinces me to put it off (after seeing it in black and white, it seems pretty obvious that I'm making excuses. I think the real problem is my lack of full commitment to letting him cry himself to sleep for a few nights).

Here are some pictures of our 8-month-old:

Eliana is kneeling in this picture. They are not really the same height.

Here is Eliana striking a pose. She didn't want Will to have all the fun!

This was Eliana's attempt at a posed smile. Hee hee!

The monkey shot. And proof of Williams oral fixation (I guess it's not technically "fixation" when you are in that stage of development)

The picture I intended to be first. I love this kid!