A Case of the Giggles

I'm not sure why this is so funny, but Andrew seems to be laughing at EVERYTHING this morning.

Christmas in Atlanta

We had Christmas at our house this year.  It was easier than packing Andrew and his half-of-a-car of supplies and driving across several states.  Sam's mom and step-father came for a couple of days, followed by Sam's dad, step-mother, and step brother.  Sam's sister, Noell, was around for the whole time.

We had two full Christmas dinners, lots of presents, and good family fun.  A few photos of the festivities are below.

Noell, Sam, Andrew, Emily, and Grandma

Noell and Andrew

Andrew tasting a present.

Grandma got a new phone case with a photo of Andrew on it.

Grandpa Bill and Grandma with Andrew

Andrew playing with his new Mega Bloks.

Just thought this picture was cute.

Apparently, Andrew wants to do his own dental work.

Checking out his new frog.

Loving his dog, which he can ride or hold onto and learn to walk.

Grandaddy, JaJa, Noell, Willem, Andrew, Emily, and Sam

Grandaddy and Jaja with Andrew

Eight-month photos below

Andrew's 8-month photos have been added.  Sam is nerdy and always dates the monthly photo posts to coincide with Andrew's actual birth time.  You can see them by scrolling down, or using this link.

Christmas Photos

We built a little impromptu photo booth on our first floor in order to take some Christmas-themed photos with Andrew.

Since some of the Christmas cards haven't been delivered yet, we're not going to show that photo yet, but we'll show some of the others that we took.

We also took Andrew to see Santa Claus a few weeks ago.  He loved meeting the big man, and didn't cry at all.

Andrew is a genius!

At eight months old, Andrew pooped in the potty!

 . . . . or he was straining while in the tub, so I held him over the potty so I wouldn't have to scrub the tub out.  Either way, I see a full Ivy League scholarship for this one.

Eight-month Photos

Andrew is now 8 months old already!  It's becoming harder and harder to take good pictures of him because he has become so mobile and wants to move around.  But, a few of the best ones are below.

The Evolution of Standing

Andrew is now fully standing.  He does need to hold onto things to balance, but he no longer requires us to help him stand up.  He does that all on his own.  In fact,  it's hard to keep him sitting down any more.  The evolution from first trying to pull himself up to being able to stand fully on his own was less than a month.

November 11: He's trying to pull himself up.  He's been doing that for a few days, but still hasn't managed to figure it out how to fully stand up.

November 24: He's now able to pull himself up to a standing position, although he's still very unsure of himself.  The end of this video evidences how unsure.  But don't worry, as with all of Andrew's falls, he cried for about 5 seconds, then wanted to play some more.

November 27: In just three days, he has become much more confident on his feet.  He's not shaking around as much, but he still has to work to steady himself.  Unfortunately, it doesn't last, but he's taking the falls better!
And yes, he's wearing the same jammies from the previous video.  I promise you they were washed in between the two days!

December 4: He's now a fully standing machine.  He will stand at his musical table for an hour at a time, going in circles around it and playing with all of the buttons.  Since this video was taken less than a week ago, he's gotten even better at it.  We put velcro on the bottom of the legs, which sticks very well to the playmat, so the the table can't slide out from under him.

He has also started standing in his crib when he decides that that's the right thing to do at the moment.  Emily went in to get him one morning, and found this:

That day, the crib was lowered down so he can't lift himself out or anything like that.

Periodically, Sam goes through the overnight videos.  The scene below has become much more common.

Who knows what this means?  Will he be freely standing on his own in a month?  Will he be walking?  Stay tuned!!

Andrew's Favorite Things

There are a few things that really make Andrew lose it in laughter.  Here are a few of those...

Rubbing his stomach with a rattle toy.

Bubble wrap.  If it weren't dangerous for babies, we'd be going and buying a roll of this stuff!

Bathtime.  Andrew has graduated to the big-boy bathtub and is loving it.  He loves to lay down and just splash.  And, as evidenced by the photo below, he really loves his bath toys.

The Teeth Keep Coming!

Andrew made a liar out of Sam, and now he's made a liar out of me.  He now has THREE teeth breaking through on top.  I can't wait for them to come in so I can get a decent picture of them.  In the meantime, he's working on standing.  He uses anything and everything to pull up on.  I had to lower his crib mattress today because he was a little too close to climbing out for my comfort level.

I took this video tonight to showcase Andrew's two favorite pastimes - standing and laughing at mommy.  Sorry it's so shaky. . . . . I was trying to film with one hand while giving him my other hand to steady himself with.

Baby Gate

We have finally installed a baby gate.  Andrew's not quite mobile enough to need it yet, but it's not a bad idea to have it ready and to get used to it.

Andrew wanted to check it out.