I promised myself that I would not start this post with “I can’t believe Jacob is already…” and it’s so hard not to! Because I can’t believe how fast time is flying! (Okay that totally counts as saying that. I lose.) He is so big! Josh and I look at him sometimes and say “okay he’s HUGE! What happened?!” I suppose we’re feeding him well! [Go breastfeeding!]

He changes so much, so quickly, and is learning so fast. It’s incredible to watch his mind work. I feel like I no longer have a baby. He crawls like crazy! The technical term is “creeping” which I don’t love (it sounds creepy…hehe) because what he does is crawl on his belly, using his arms and legs to propel him. It looks rather like swimming. He follows me all around the house, which is adorable, but of course sometimes frustrating. He will find me, wherever I am. For instance, lately when I take a shower, he crawls into the bathroom, and then grabs the shower curtain, pulls it back to he can see me, and gives me his brightest smile. He finds anything and everything at floor level and grabs, hits, or eats it. This is dangerous and keeps me on my toes! While he’s great about playing independently, I can’t exactly get more done now, as I have to watch him very carefully. He is not afraid of crawling on the tile or hardwood, either. He just motors along, happy as can be. I have invested in a floor steamer to sanitize the tile as a response to this stage. 🙂He also follows me around in the walker. I sit him in it and give him some crunchy cereal to grab and eat while I make dinner, and he follows me around the kitchen (and down the hallway if I presume to think of leaving the room!) and grabs my shirt and tugs at it, smiling winningly. He is always underfoot, but he’s so happy and self-contained I can’t really get too mad. The increased mobility has led to some head bumps. He will occasionally drop an item on his head or bump that noggin into a door or piece of furniture while scooting around the house. He makes a very sad face but receivers quickly. His first actual bump on his head (one that left a slightly raised bump, that is) came last Saturday while I was at my cousin Erinn’s bridal shower, and was a result of baby hitting daddy’s tooth with his head. Of course he was fine!The sounds are increasing in volume and veracity these days!  He often says something that sounds just like “mama” and imitates me when I say it, but I don’t count this as a word because he’s not using it as such…he also says “dada dada” but I’m applying the same rule… He yells SO LOUD and it’s hilarious and awesome. He looks really proud of himself when he does it. My favorite of all is his soft, whispery voice when he is “talking” or babbling to me in the morning. It is the sweetest sound I’ve ever heard. A new little habit is this happy bouncing thing he does. He will climb on me and then bounce up and down, sometimes bouncing into my face. When he sits in his high chair he’ll bounce away like he’s just having the best time. Speaking of high chairs…he’s using his regularly, and we have started to eat a family dinner at our dining room table along with our sweet boy. He is also using high chairs at restaurants and completely entertaining himself with some cereal or chunks of fruit. This is such a relief for me and has made life a lot easier! He has mastered the pinscher grasp and can feed himself. He’s drinking from a zippy cup (messily, but he can do it!) and can hold it himself, although he doesn’t really understand how to tilt it when the water gets low. He is eating like a champion. We have yet to find a food he won’t eat. He has had edamame, beets, banana, papaya, mango, avocado, peas, and lately whole-wheat bread and cheese! He LOVES cheese. He loves to eat the bread as well, but he is so excited to feed himself and doesn’t realize how long it takes to gum up a piece of bread, so by the end of his tray of bread chunks his mouth is absolutely stuffed, which is hilarious.He is understanding object permanence, that is, the idea that things can be here one minute and gone the next, which means he LOVES peek-a-boo. In fact, my cousin Charlotte had him shrieking with joy when we were in Palm Springs. He finds it hilarious when you hide, or hide his face with a blanket (which he will yank off and smile at you as though he’s winning a prize).He crawls around with a toy in hand, and likes to bang that toy into other things and listen to the sound it makes. Does this mean he’ll be a drummer? Not sure, but it’s very funny. Today he crawled into my closet with a wooden shape and banged it on the door, the wall, the ground, and a shoe. He is a swimming baby! I got so many comments in Palm Springs from people who couldn’t believe how he moves his arms and legs in a swimming motion at this age. He splashes his face and isn’t phased in the slightest; he just wants to splash and frolic. I will post videos of this later this week; it’s so cute! Josh hung the swing from Jeff and Linda in our front tree and he loves to swing (are you seeing a theme here?)…I think his hair is starting to grow! It seems like it’s getting longer on top. How exciting. He really yanks at mine, and I think he’s going to be happy to have some of his own. 😉He has been all about mommy lately. He wants to see me, crawl to me, follow me, climb on me, and a dance on me. It’s very endearing but also difficult. I want him to remain his happy and outgoing self. I work with him everyday to have independent play as much as possible so that he will be content on his own. While we’re still loving our baby wearing, it’s good to have some play time on his own as well. He does great with entertaining himself!He is in constant motion. In fact, for the first time it was very difficult to photograph him. He smiles for the camera, but he won’t sit still! I sit him up and he immediately flops to his belly and crawls (very quickly!) away. He was giggling and crawling non-stop while I tried to take these. It felt like wildlife photography. I couldn’t even bribe him to be still with a toy, he just wants to MOVE. I am so excited to continue to watch this boy grow and learn. He teaches me something everyday (and I know what you’re thinking – not just patience!). He is so sweet and happy and a joy to be around. He has a smile for everyone he meets, and genuinely loves life. It’s contagious!