Max, Max, Max

Well, life is great, and we are loving Denver! I really do plan on posting some stuff about our new place and our fun new area, but so far I've been having a hard time collecting the footage. It's not easy stepping outside and taking a picture of the front of your house, you know?? But hey, there's always the Max Attack to talk about. After all ... he is 8 months old now!

So, onto bragging about my adorable, crazy little man. He is so so SO much fun. I seriously want to freeze him right now and not let him get any bigger. Ever. We are such pals now! He loves crawling towards me and then climbing all over me, and he looks for me to comfort him when he bonks his head about 15 times a day. He is so good when we are on our errands and I have him in the baby bjorn or just on my hip (he gets sick of the cart after a few minutes). When we're at home, he is into everything. Just as a curious baby should be! He is obsessed with cabinets and drawers, and I let him destroy the tupperware/dishcloth cabinet several times a day. One of my favorite things (besides playing with him, of course) is just watching him explore on his own. He never ceases to crack me up! Such a little character. He still loves jumping in his jumperoo which is great if I need to get a quick shower in. (And boy does he jump! I need to post a video ....)

So let me show you what I mean by adorable:
And what I mean by crazy:
He is really loving his bink these days. He is always finding one and sticking it in his mouth.
Using his walker like a big boy:

Yeah, stairs are completely second nature to him now. He will be up a flight and back in a bedroom before I even realize he's left the kitchen.
The only picture I have of him sleeping (except for when he was a newborn of course). He's still in his pack n play but his crib is arriving SOON!
Unfortunately he rarely wakes up happy ... but he usually cheers right up once I rescue him from his cage.
Knocked over his activity table. What is that look, anyway?
Joe and Max watching football before we bought our new couch and tv (our landlords left us this one). Max is looking at his favorite book: Things that Go. He will actually sit quietly and calmly on your lap for a few minutes if you read this to him, which is a small miracle. I love it so much :)
Carries his weight just like a little man - right in the gut.
He has this cute little side pose he is always doing:

Clearly busy doing baby work.
Max loves his finger food! I stopped trying to feed him with a spoon since he didn't seem to like that very much. But he seems to like all the finger food I've given him. Here's his routine:

First - stare at mom.
Second - stare at food.
Third - reach for and grab food. (Sometimes I'll have two different things on there but he's sick of both of them so I add a couple of pieces of a third kind of food. He knows just what to go for and keeps grabbing until he gets the new stuff.)
Fourth - shove in mouth. Even though he doesn't have the pincer grasp down yet, he is still pretty successful.
Fifth - take a drink. Max loves water!
I love when he looks at me and his face lights up. Is there anything better??
My favorite pal:
Seriously, I would freeze him if I could. No doubt. Here's a few other facts about 8 month old Max:

* Sleeps through the night!!! (10-12 hours) We had to sleep train him once we got into our house, but it really wasn't that bad. He was ready. (And I was VERY ready.)
* Has a lot to say. He doesn't say dadada all day long like he used to, but just makes a variety of sounds. A few ba's and ma's, and a lot of 'rar rar rar' (it's not a perfect r sound, but that's the best way to describe it).
* Does really well in the car on all our errands. I think he secretly likes having some downtime to crank up the tunes, take a ride, and just chill, since the rest of the time he is go, go, go.
* Still isn't a great napper (60 mins. or less). But I'll take the night sleep!
* Has started standing and today he TOOK HIS FIRST STEP. Seriously. He stood for a while, took a step, balanced for a few seconds, and then was down. If he's not walking by 9 1/2 months I'll be shocked.
* Loves playing with cords and door jams.
* Primary foods are small, soft pieces of apple, sweet potato, grapes, and carrot, bread balls, and puffs.
* Is always getting hurt (but nothing too terrible yet). He cries but always stops after just a few seconds.
* Is a frickin stud. (This is Joe's contribution to the list.)

And that's our kid. In case you can't tell, we're still crazy about him.