8 Months

Want to hear something scary?  Jase is fully mobile!  It seems like it took forever, but he finally learned to crawl!  For awhile, he did this weird scooting move that enabled him to get where he wanted to go, but now that he's figured out crawling, there's no stopping him.  Even after he got moving, it took him a few days to fully realize his capabilities.  But once he did... Well, we've been baby-proofing like crazy around here.  So, I'm guessing if you're reading this, you probably want to know what my little dude has been up to in the past month, so let me tell you a little bit about Jase at 8 months old:

• He suddenly hates getting his diaper changed, or getting his clothes changed, or pretty much anything that prevents him from moving around the room like a madman.  Except for eating.  He still loves to eat.
• If I mix carrots in with lots of other stuff, he might actually eat them.  Sometimes.
• He has learned how to open cabinets and drawers.  His favorite game is to open and close them.  Over.  And over.  And over again.
• He is still the happiest kid I know.  Even when he's teething, I frequently get asked, "Is he always this happy?!"  Yes, yes he is.
• If anyone around him has food, he MUST have food, too.
• He now has four teeth.  The top two are still slowly making their way down, but they are actually through his gums, so I count it.  
• His LOVES peek-a-boo.  Sometimes I don't even have to hide, I just look in the opposite direction, and he's still surprised when I turn around.
• His giggle is still the best thing in the world.
• He can fully pull himself up on furniture (or mama's legs, or daddy's arm hairs, or anything else that happens to be within grabbing distance), and will even take a few wobbly steps to either side. 
• He holds my fingers and loves to walk around.  I swear, he's practically running.  As long as he's holding on to my fingers.  The look on his face while he does this is totally awesome too, it's a combination of "Wow, this is so cool!" and "Man, I freaking rock!  Look what I can do!"
• He is still his mama's best friend, and everyone around him thinks he's the best thing in the world.  And they're totally right. 
• He knows how to feed himself now.  And I'm pretty sure that's the best thing ever.  At dinner, he sits happily in his high chair with some food from my plate, and Mike and I get to eat a nice, (somewhat) quiet family dinner.
• He's pretty close to being able to climb the stairs.  Which scares me.  A lot.

I love that I get to be home with him every day!  He makes me so happy.  We took him to the zoo this month, and it was super cute.  He absolutely freaked out over the rhinos, he thought they were so cool.  He also loved the otters, but he didn't get what the big deal over the giraffes was.  We're hoping to take him to the aquarium sometime soon, I think he'd really like seeing all of the fish!

And here's the little dude!