8 months!

Just after Thanksgiving, Austin turned 8 months old!  I couldn't resist doing a post with a slew of pictures from our 'photoshoot'.  Its getting increasingly harder to get good smiley baby shots now that he's slightly mobile (more on that in a minute) and just interested in everything around him.  But, sometimes the best part of trying to capture that great shot, is capturing all of the other expressions along the way!

This month Austin has definitely starting noticing very little things, and along with his new found pointer finger, he loves to explore every little speck.  Here he is examining a small black speck on the carpet.



He uses that little pointer finger to pull on zippers, yank on earings and necklaces, and best of all to pick up food!  We started with puffs, went to yogurt bites, and yesterday even some cheerios!  Its exciting to think that we're moving towards more solid foods and hopefully less formula.  At this point he drinks 3 full 8oz bottles, and then has at least 1 or 1.5 jars of food at lunch and dinner each with a few oz of milk.  He still hasn't quite figured out the sippy cup and mostly chew on it instead of drinks...but every once in a while he gets a good gulp.  His other new skill is using his voice.  We're hearing a lot more mumbling these days, and a very definite 'mom, momma'...although we know he doesn't really know what that means.  Its still cute!

Its pretty easy to get Austin to laugh these days.  And its pretty easy for him to get us to laugh.  Not sure if he's practing being a photographer like mommy and daddy or if he's trying to spy on us here:

He's also very fond of Julian.  I'm not sure if the feelings are mutual though.  Julian has been great and definitely tolerates being 'pet' by Austin.  Austin squeals in excitement when Julian walks by, and mostly is able to reach out and pet him without grabbing too hard.  Julian seems to walk away when he gets annoyed. 

Keeping a safe distance

Watching Julian walk by

Kitty friend!

As you can see, Austin spends quite a bit of time on his tummy these days.  He can managed to get down from a sitting position onto his belly.  He can also spin and move sideways quite easily to get where he wants to go.  He often gets up on his knees, but hasn't quite coordinated his arm and leg movement together.  We're not sure if he is on the verge of crawling, or just content with what he can already do. 

We had a fantastic month with both grandparents visiting!  We didn't take many pictures, but before Grandma Ellen left she remembered to get a few family photos:

It was quite a treat not having to take Ausitn to daycare everyday!  We're slowly easing back into the daily routine, but are excited that Christmas is just around the corner!