Sweet Sleeper

Surrounded by Stuff

The Sun's Back In Austin

The photo we're sending to the Gerber modeling agency

That poor water bottle didn't have a chance

Family Photo: Casual Dress

Kay and Ava come to Austin over MLK weekend to help Jack celebrate his African American heritage

Jack with Grampy and Gimpy

Nekked Boy

Media Card Corrupted

Above you'll see the pictures I took this weekend when Kay, Ava, and G&G Becker were in town. Oh wait. Actually you'll see the message left on my camera after they left. Imagine cute pictures of Jack with everyone. And one video of my dad scraping--and then licking--every last bit of chocolate frosting off the cake plate. With a knife.

Eight Months Old

Well, Little Man, you started your eighth month out with a bang. Literally. This morning, after a Code Brown, you were on the changing table, in a fresh diaper--BUCKLED IN--and I went to wash my hands. When I came back you were on the floor. And the strap was STILL BUCKLED. You were crying, but as soon as I picked you up you calmed right down. Then a few minutes later you were your flailing, happy self. I took you to the doctor and she said you were just fine; babies are resilient. The irony of this is amazing, considering yesterday's post. Regardless, DON'T DO IT AGAIN, PLEASE. And please don't tell anyone about this incident, as I don't want to be disqualified from the Mom of the Year Competition. I suppose I could run for Most Improved later on, but that's not as highly sought after. In any case, I'm so sorry I wasn't in there to catch your fall.

You had quite a month. You officially have 2 teeth, which makes for a very cute smile. You went on your first long road trip--fourteen hours to Omaha for Christmas. You were a champ, only crying for about 25 minutes total each way. You had quite a time in Nebraska, and met about 450 relatives (slight exaggeration). At one point on the way home, we were stopped in a parking lot enjoying a McRib sandwich, and you sat on your dad's lap and played with the steering wheel. You seemed to enjoy that quite a bit. Or maybe you were just sick of being strapped into your car seat for hours at a time. Either way, you were happy.

Soon after we returned from Omaha, you got a nasty case of croup. Three nights in our bed and two days of steroids later, you cleared it out of your system. Just so you know what kind of parents we are, we sold our New Years Eve tickets to a Rockin Rollerskating Party with an Awesome 80s Cover Band. But you're worth it. I will, however, not hesitate to bring this monumental sacrifice up later in life if and when I need to.

Skillwise, you didn't do much this month. No offense. You're not really close to crawling, although I wouldn't want to crawl around here either with all the dog hair on the floor. Perhaps you'll just go straight to walking. Doesn't matter to me. You've attempted a sippy cup, and although the picture above seems to show otherwise, click here to see a video of your actual sippy cup skills.

You are "talking" a lot more and smiling more than ever, as usual. Keep it up, kid.

I look forward to seeing what next month will bring. I've enjoyed being home with you these past couple weeks. I love you eight times more than I did when you were born. If that's possible.

xoxo Mama

Freshly Showered (Jack is too)

The reason for the straps on the changing table:

La-Z-Boy