Holding His Own Bottle!

Steven has never really showed any interest in holding his own bottle. It would get frustrating at times because I would be in the middle of something or have to do something right then but couldn't because he really needed a bottle.

He's held his own sippy cup for a few months now (although he also wants me to hold it for him at times!) I had wondered if his sippy cup handles would fit on his bottle, but it seemed so unlikely that I didn't try.

I finally tried it last week, and it worked! Now he'll hold his own bottle! Yay to that!!

At the Zoo With His Bottle

Another Tooth??

Yep, that's right. Today we cut our second bottom tooth! It's barely through, and it's hard to see, but I felt it. So many changes for one week! (And some, like getting up earlier, are not so appreciated!)

A Cruising and A Crawling

It's official--the boy can both crawl AND cruise! His crawl is a modified army crawl, but it gets him where he wants to be. He can't move too fast, but that'll probably change in the next week or so. One thing I just discovered is that he can't go backwards. I think I'll be spending a lot of time rescuing him from corners and dead ends :)

Steven is so proud of himself when he walks from his play table to the coffee table. He's doing it right now, and he has a huge grin on his face. He also goes part way around the coffee table. Pretty soon nothing's going to be safe :(

Loves His LeapFrog!

Up until this weekend, Steven was very content to sit and play with his toys. Not anymore. He wants to be moving. After I changed him this morning, I set him on the floor to play while I took care of the diaper. While he was wiggling around, he saw the LeapFrog table that I bought at our church's spring mom-to-mom sale.

Steven can roll over to get where he wants, but there were too many things in the way to do so in his bedroom. I ended up taking the table to the living room, cleaning it, finding batteries for it, and finally, standing him up to it.

It was an instant hit. Oh my, I've never seen him so excited about a toy! He stood there for a long time, turning the page in the little book, pushing the keys, leaning on the letters, and just having the time of his life.

This evening when my parents came over, I showed them his new table. As soon as I stood him up to it, he was so excited. When it started playing music, he actually started dancing! We were laughing so hard. When Mark came home, I showed it to him, and again, Steven just lit up when I put him next to it. He loves standing, and he really wants to walk.

He decided to walk along the table to get to the coffee table, and he was able to not only do so, but transfer to the coffee table and move a few steps down it too! He was concentrating so hard! He kept on looking at his feet while trying to get them to move. The best part is that we have it all on tape. I just might have to post it :)

Playing at the table for the first time.

Yeah, I'm cool!

So much fun!

So many things to explore.

Mom! Can't you see I'm busy!!

Yummy Crackers!

On Wednesday when we went to the zoo, I gave Steven his first graham cracker. After his initial hesitation, he started chowing down. Steven now LOVES graham crackers and gets excited when I pull them out.

The one thing he hasn't mastered, though, is portion control. He tries to get the entire cracker in his mouth. I only give him half of a square, but that is still a lot for a little mouth like his. He started choking on his cracker today, but I just watched and made sure that he got it taken care of :) I didn't really want to stick my fingers in a mouth full of mush!

Thank Goodness for Breathable Bumpers!

Several months ago, I took down Steven's bumper pads because he was starting to roll. However, he then started getting limbs stuck in the slats and was waking up too early for me. I heard of breathable bumpers, so I started looking for them. It was completely a God thing that I found them at a garage sale the first day I started looking. And they matched the room. And they were only $4.00!!

They came in very handy this morning. This is what I found when I went to wake Steven up.

What's Your Best Guess?

**UPDATE: Wow, Marie! She guessed his weight right on! Steven is 20 lbs., 3 ozs., which keeps him in the 50th percentile. That's where he's always been. He is now 29 inches (he was 27 at 6 months), which puts him close to the 75th percentile. I don't know his head measurement, but he's in the 25th percentile, and he's been there since birth.

His heart is great, and he's a healthy baby. He had blood drawn, which he didn't even notice! He did notice his shot, though :) It was nice because Mark came with us and was able to meet our doctor. He loved her just as much as I do!**

Tomorrow morning, Mark and I are taking Steven in for his nine month check up. Nine months!! At his six month check up, he weighed 18 lbs., 10 oz. and was 29(?) inches long. Any guesses for what he'll check in at tomorrow??

Imagine

“If only 7 percent of the 2 billion Christians in the world would care for a single orphan in distress, there would effectively be no more orphans.”
–Steven Curtis Chapman

Have YOU considered adoption?

Playing in My Crib

We are blessed in so many ways with how easy a baby Steven is. However, one of the things I absolutely LOVE is that he plays in his crib when he wakes up instead of screaming. He's been like this for a long time, and half the time he doesn't have any toys within reach. I guess he Just likes to entertain himself.

When Mark and I went in to get him after his afternoon nap, he was just jabbering away and excited to see us.

Playing Peek-A-Boo!

Steven's new (Carters) pj's that I got for $5,

and they have a pair of shorts that go with them too!

**Don't miss the other two picture posts below!**

More Cheerios Pictures

Tonight after we gave Steven some cheerios, I realized that he was sinking down. I saw him do this once the other day, but it wasn't as bad as tonight's. He finally fell into a splits position, but I didn't take a picture because he was crying, and I didn't what to leave him like that long enough to take a picture.

Eating My O's

Steven loves standing up, and a couple weeks ago, Mark started standing him up to the coffee table and giving him cheerios. Let's just say that it keeps him busy for a looong time! His coordination is really improving, so the majority of the cheerios make it into his mouth, but he still has times when he can't figure out where they went and they're stuck to the side of his face :) Steven always starts off very enthusiastically with two big handfuls; it's hilarious to watch!

Cheerios are serious business.

Yay! Cheerios!!

Can't you see I'm eating, Mom??

Standing up like a pro.

The ones that didn't make it in.

Time for the clean-up crew!

Hey, what are you doing??
I think we're going to video tape him this morning getting his cheerios. He's just too funny!

Playing in My Wagon

Yesterday, Mark installed Steven's bigger car seat in the car, and Steven and I played in his wagon. I think it's the only time he's been in his wagon without being in his car seat carrier. Usually I use the wagon to carry everything in the house when I come home from the store so I don't kill my back. Yesterday, though, we put him in the foot well (ours doesn't have seat belts like the newer ones), and I pulled him along the sidewalk around our house. He definitely likes his wagon!

He wouldn't look at me for a picture!

Still won't look!

Yummy cup holders!

Still won't look. . .

Getting closer. . .

(If you enlarge the picture, you should be able to see the tooth coming in on the bottom right!)

Finally!

On Monday, I picked up a nearly perfect condition trailer for the wagon (out of someone's garbage!), but our wagon does not have a hitch. I e-mailed Step 2 to see if I can get an attachment, and they told me to call them with the specific model info. for my wagon. I haven't done that yet (just haven't had time to go out to the garage and make the call), but I hope that I can make the trailer work :)

Playing in the Tub

At the Park With Mommy

This evening while Mark was out playing softball, Steven and I went to a local park. We've never really gone to a park before, and Steven was a bit unsure of it all at first. However, after I repositioned him in the swing, he decided he liked it.

There is also a splash park there, but it was past 8:00 p.m., we didn't have swim suits, and I had no intention of getting wet, so we'll have to try that out another day.

**Oh, and Mark won the first of their two softball games, which means they ended the season SECOND in the league!! (That's way better than they have ever done before!) They even beat the other team from our church--for the first time ever! Way to go, Mark!!