eight months.

the duder is eight months old!  he's cuter and more lovable every single day.  i adore this boy.  

physical: our big guy is thinning out a little bit.  he is still super dense and roll-y, but he's starting to get more boy and less baby in the face.  still just the two bottom teeth.  we see the urologist in a week or so, so i'll get a weight update, but i'd think he's got to be 21-ish.  drooly as can be.  

likes: food.  emme.  cuddling.  nursing.  rolling.  sitting.  food.  laughing.  tickles.  reading.  such a happy kid these days.  did i mention he loves food?  singing.  

dislikes: hollis can get frustrated with trying to go from lying to sitting, but i found him sitting up and grinning in his crib this morning, so i think he's about got that mastered.  really, there's not much he doesn't like except diaper rash.  ha.  

biggest achievement of the month: new consonant sounds!  he's saying lalalala and occasionally some other sounds (maybe ta and da?).  he's doing tons of experimenting with noises right now, so that is super fun.  

biggest challenge of the month: the diarrhea/diaper rash fiasco of 2013 was a big challenge.  he hated it, i hated it.  it was rough.  but our relationship is stronger for it.  haha.  

nicknames: the main one right now is my duuuuuude.  also, emme calls him lil bro, which is adorable.  a frequent phrase around here: "be easy, lil bro".  

sleep: yesssss.  i wouldn't say we're in the clear, by any stretch of the imagination.  but, we have successfully achieved several full nights of sleep.  as in, going to bed at 7ish and waking up after 5.  this morning it was 6:30.  my life is beginning to resemble something i remember instead of a crazy salvador dali painting.  

temperament/personality: sweetest little boy of all time.  he just wants to love on everyone.  he's so smiley and giggly.  

eating: oh man can my kids eat.  i love it.  hollis is taking after his big sis in the food department.  he eats it all, now.  and i mean shovels it into his mouth with authority.  we've crossed into the place where when he's "hungry" he wants food, not nursing.  it's bittersweet, but i'm thrilled - especially with his love of fish, eggs, and veggies.  

motor development: lots of strides this month - especially in the last few days.  he's getting up onto all fours and rocking and scooting backwards (crawfishing).  he's rolling like a champ and pivoting everywhere.  he sat up independently this morning, so i'm guessing we are moments away from that being a core skill.  he's diapering while standing when at school, so i'm about to move his operation to the bathroom like we did for emme - probably in another couple of weeks.  crazy how fast all this stuff happens. 

pictures to come! 

august.

every month goes by in a blur it seems and august was no exception.  we had my birthday, vacation, the kids' school closure, and emme's first dentist appointment - in addition to all the random other stuff that happens every month anyway.  i've been terrible about photographing things these days.  i'm never the one that picks up the real camera, but i used to be much better about snapping with my phone and at least grabbing the point and shoot every once in a while.  that's a goal for september - be better about capturing the day to day.

here are a few shots i did manage to grab with my phone.

beach vacation.

i read a funny piece the other day about how traveling with little children is not vacationing....it's going on a trip.  saying it like that sounds really cynical, and i guess it is.  i have no desire to diminish the delight of seeing my kids experience new things, or the sort of general joy that comes just from being out of the routine.  i will, however, not understate how difficult and un-vacation-like many portions of traveling with small humans can be.  

we took the kiddos to destin, florida for a week on the beach.  my parents and brother came too.  in my head, i was expecting a vacation full of naps on the beach and reading a zillion books and catching up on 8 months without a whole lot of sleep.  this trip was not really that.  the weather was questionable, the gulf had lots of seaweed and was rough, my mom's back went out, hollis got diarrhea and subsequent INSANE diaper rash, and our little family of four attempted to sleep in one room - a logistical decision i will never repeat if possible.  there were great moments - eating gumbo with family and friends, watching my brother and ek color for hours, creating sand domes for emme to stomp on.  but i was up around 5 or 5:30 every morning with hollis and lived in a twilight sleep, terrified that one child would wake up the other.  

so.  many lessons were learned and i feel certain that our next trip will be - if not a vacation, a little bit smoother than this one.  

iphone photos are all i've uploaded so far.  we didn't take very many pictures, but we have a few that i'll post soon.