He is crawling around like nobody’s business. Tonight, I was taking a bath while Jon was watching Maddox, and I heard a little noise near the bathroom door. Moments later, a cute little baby face pops up beside the tub and peeks in at me.

Being able to move has made Maddox a lot happier. He’s wanted to be on the go since the very start, when he’d sleep best in the Bjorn. He’s fast, and pulls himself up to stand in seconds, whether it’s dangling from the stove handle, climbing into the dishwasher racks, peeking over the tub or pulling himself up to snack on the cheerios on top of the ottoman.

He’s also a stew fiend, and he loves spaghetti. Fresh grapes and blueberries are also popular and we just bought some vegetable mixes since canned peas aren’t very exciting.

Since he’s decided that he wants to sleep in his bed and to wean himself, we’ve gotten into a good bedtime routine. We’ve been doing dinner, a bath, a bottle and then books. Then we tuck him in and he falls asleep around 7:30. He’s very good about not fussing when we put him down anymore – something we couldn’t do without severe baby protestations for the first 8 months of his life.

He’s had a couple colds, and teething continues to be troublesome. He has at least 6 teeth, and I’m sure that more are growing in but not showing yet. We’re both laid up with a light cold and cough this weekend – poor Dad’s been taking up the slack which Mads and I rest and eat grapes and Motrin.

Hopefully, tomorrow will be better, since the weather is gorgeous (50s!) and it’s my favorite time of year – when the winter weather starts to let up and everyone comes out to play. If we’re doing better, we’ll all go out to play a bit tomorrow!

Perhaps we should postpone our spring trip to the arboretum indefinitely.

Then just a day or two ago, we had actual, legitimate, sustained crawling! Including a 90 degree turn – very impressive.

At the same time, Maddox also learned how to stand in his crib. It definitely takes some getting used to, to come into the nursery and see your baby standing and looking up at you.

Leanne has done a great job babyproofing the house, although I’m still getting used to the fact that you can turn around and – whoops – baby is pulling down your laptop.

He was a very good sport while I folded.

He did, however think we had too many clothes.

He thought maybe he had a better use of our time & our laundry basket.

And after a little convincing, we were on our way.

Yay!

Hooray!  Maddox’s doctor says that Maddox can start having finger-foods like egg, deli meats and bread, all cut up small.  In fact, with the exception of foods like honey, chocolate, peanut butter & citrus fruits, Maddox can have whatever we eat.  It is a whole new exciting world.

He’s always loved Gerber pears, peas and applesauce.  His first consistent finger-food has been Graduate Puffs.  They’re not bad – kind of like really poofy cereal.  They’re almost the texture of Funyuns, but a lot tastier.

He pops them in his mouth to chew, but sometimes does not remove his fingers before starting, which can’t feel good – he’s on 4 1/2 teeth now (the newest one is top left, next to the middle two teeth).

But, he gets there in the end, and is thrilled to have something more interesting to eat.  I’m a little concerned about all the additional energy these foods will give him – he’s already scooting all over creation and I can only imagine that this will mean he’ll be bouncing off the walls regularly.

Come to think of it, I’d better get some baby-proof pads for our ceiling as well, just in case.

*Quick correction: Maddox actually has cut 6 teeth – I noticed another one on the right side of his top two teeth.  Yay, let’s get ‘em out so we can stop teething!

One of the many reasons I love Jon is because of his mad technological skillz.

I’ve been wanting a video monitor for awhile, since I worry about Maddox’s safety when he’s sleeping in his crib.  The chance of anything happening is slim, even though (as you can see) Mads requires a fair amount of baggage before making the trip to dreamland.  But I’d rather be safe.

Not wanting to spend $200+ on a video monitor that our child would probably use to sue us at age 10 for breach of privacy, Jon set up our old Dell laptop in the nursery and created an internal connection so we could watch our sleeping baby to our hearts’ content, but so none of the registered sex offenders in the area could tune in.

In any case, it’s wonderful to be able to check on Maddox while he’s napping, and it will make me feel a lot better at night.  And it’s great to know that I should avoid Storey Avenue at all costs when taking neighborhood walks this summer.  Two great advances at our house all in one weekend.  Tremble, world.

I’ve got a feeling, the crib is going to be one of those items that will always be tied to my emotions.  I cried in the store when we bought it, because the model crib was so dingy with horrible Ikea blankets tossed over it, even though it was safer than all the gussied up cribs I’d seen at department stores or baby-centered stores.  And tonight, it is so poignant when I think of how quickly baby’s growing – these past 8 months have flown.

I imagine when we make it into the “bed” model, with the side taken down, I won’t be able to believe that it’s already time.

Before we get carried away, I’d like to state that at this very second, Maddox is snoozing next to me in his puppy dog pjs and is not really in any danger of going near a crib in any form.  And when he does sleep in his crib, some of the sentiment will be displaced by the knowledge we’ll have to lean over pretty darn far now to heft our 20 lbs of adorable baby butt out now.

But still.  How can something so wonderful just keep getting better and better?

Even while sick, Maddox has still maintained his cheerful outlook and continues to delight us with his new skills.  Last night, before bed, he repeatedly lifted the sheet, hid underneath it, and snapped it down to play peek-a-boo.

Not only is Maddox engineering his own games, but he’s finally at the stage where he has wants as well as needs, and what he wants is to express his opinion about what he needs!  After peek-a-boo, we finished reading “Baby Animals” and he waved it in the air until I understood that he wanted to read it again.

Maddox has always clicked the light switches off while I’ve changed him.  It keeps him busy during this indignity, and is a good way to learn cause and effect.  Yesterday, he surprised me by turning the lights back on, which is a first!

Another wonderful milestone is Maddox’s speaking.  He now consistently says “dada” and “baba,” and I think it’s pretty clear that “dada” is the first word.  Lucky Dad!

We’re at 3 1/2 teeth now, with the 1/2 coming in quickly.  It went bottom right, bottom left, top right, and now top left.  And, the one next to his bottom right is making an appearance.

Maddox continues to laugh when others around him are laughing, and nothing delights him more than giggling madly with someone.

Finally, our days of sitting together and cuddling are numbered – Maddox has a Lion walker, and he’s been pulling himself up into a standing position.  He’s already mastered scooting around backwards, and I think he’s decided that this is an inefficient way to move compared to the way Mom and Dad get around.  If we think we are tired now, ask us how we feel in another 8 months, after chasing Maddox around the world for awhile.

Having a baby is fascinating.  We are so lucky to have Maddox in our lives.