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.

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.

“It was great,” he said, “A real rush.”

Okay, just kidding. But Maddox DID roll over from his tummy to his back twice. I had to help him onto his stomach – he can get onto his side using his legs, but doesn’t quite have the arm strength to completely flip over. When he’s on his stomach, he props himself up on his elbows and away he goes.

In the midst of all his teething woes, it’s so great to see him delighting and surprising himself when he learns something new. Lately, we’ve been taking him out when he’s fussy because he gets so interested in everything around him that he forgets to be upset. You can see the data streaming into his mind – he looks around with big eyes and just stares and stares, taking things in.

So, we’ll leave the barrel-rolling down waterfalls for a few years (or, hopefully, forever) and keep giving Maddox new input to keep him happy. You can tell he’s ready to start running all over the place to collect more information, and he’s just willing and willing his body to catch up. =)

He’s gotten pretty good at aiming, he just doesn’t have the muscle control to keep his hands in place very long yet. It’s wild, though – I can remember learning how to ride a bicycle one-handed, and how to do a round house kick, and how to raise an eyebrow (I still can only raise the right one, the left one is just uncooperative), but I can’t remember learning to use my limbs. It’s cool to watch Maddox practice and practice and then to see it just kind of click.

There’s a little smile, and then he notices Mom filming him, realizes he’s not being held/fed/adored and bursts into tears.

It doesn’t last long though – I rewound the mobile, and he’s happy again:

And here is our little monkey with his little monkey – thanks Aunties Cass & Tess!

Today, he learned to sleep on his side. Yes. He is clearly a genius.

He can also push himself up so his head will peek at you. Very adorable, although he makes these little frustrated sounds when he does it. This is because he can scoot with his legs and lift with his arms, but he hasn’t figured out how to do both at once and actually get anywhere yet.

We figure that once he starts moving around, he will be unstoppable. We will have to get a bunch of cord covers for all our wiring. Luckily, Mom likes hardware and power tools, so this should actually be pretty fun.

Right now, he’s sacked out from eating, so I’m using the time to write a post. It’s also funny how quickly you get used to getting things done in between taking care of the baby – everything else is suddenly secondary.

It’s kind of nice, though – we’re both finding that we get a lot more done these days, because it’s impossible to procrastinate. If you don’t do it now, in this open time slot, you might not get another one!

Image credit: cord covers.