Bouncy, bouncy, bouncy, bouncy

Maddox recently figured out how to jump in his Johnny Jump Up.  We've been putting him in it for awhile, but he use to just swing back and forth and in circles.  A few weeks ago he started jumping in it.  He thinks it's great fun.

Happy Halloween!

From Monkey Maddox and Family <3

Pumpkin patchin!

We took Maddox to his first pumpkin patch yesterday.  The weather was gorgeous but not very Fall-like.  We enjoyed being outside, anyway.  We went to a cute little pumpkin patch here in the city.  There was a medium size selection of pumpkins and a cute little place to take pictures.  Next year, though, we are going to go to a really pumpkin farm with a petting zoo and hayrides.  We thought we would save that fun for when Maddox is a bit older being that it is 1.5 hours away.  Now, some pumpkin patchin' pictures:

Big boy jeans and serious conversations

Maddox and I have had some very serious conversations lately.

"Really, mom?  Blowing raspberries is so last month."

Very suspicious...

It's getting cooler here... and by cooler I mean low 70s/ high 60s (brrrr!).  I couldn't pass up the opportunity to put Maddox is some of his cute jeans. 

Man, this kid is cruising all over the place these days.  He's pretty good at pulling/ pushing himself along with his arms and legs.  Still no signs of a true up-on-all-fours crawl.  But why waste time learning how to do that when the current method is so efficient? 

Silly monkey!

Maddox's 8 month stats:
Height 29 1/4 inches (95th percentile!)
Weight 16lbs 10oz (10th percentile)

Our boy continues to be tall and skinny.  :) 

Maddox wants to say "huuuunh" (that's a direct quote).

We had some fun with the camera today.

Bed head.. check out that hair!

Pulling up to see what's in the laundry basket

Ham!  Thanks cousins Courtney, Catherine, and Andrew for this super cool shirt.  :)

Two teeth!

Mama complained there weren't any pictures of her and the baby.  Thus, this picture.

Hi Mom!

Maddox at 8 months

Maddox turned 8 months on October 4th.  Here are some of his new developments:

1. He has four teeth.  Three of them came in at the same time, which is very uncomfortable for a little boy.  He handled it well, though.
2. He is turning into quite the snuggle bug (see pictures below).
3. He army crawls and is getting quite good at it.  He use to have trouble on the wood floor if he was only wearing a diaper but that doesn't seem to be the case anymore.  He's learned out to lift his belly off the floor ever so slightly to keep it from getting stuck.  So much for that baby proofing technique.
4. He likes to shake his head and will do it in response to any kind of head movement we do.  We refuse to believe he has already learned the nonverbal for "no". Rather, when he does it, he's just dancing.
5. He likes having this teeth brushed.
6. It seems like his favorite food is oatmeal.  Especially oatmeal paired with some kind of fruit.  
7. He can only sit on his own for a short period before he gets fed up and gets onto his belly and starts scooting.  I'm starting to wonder if he'll ever learn to sit up or if all of his energy will be focused on moving moving moving.  
8. He's curious.  And determined.  Half of me loves this combination.  The other half is terrified.  
9. He'll share his pacifier with you.  But then promptly take it back.
10. His hair seems to be getting lighter and lighter.  I look back at his newborn pictures and can't believe how dark his hair was when he was born, almost black.  It is definitely a golden brown now. 
11. His eyes are a pretty greenish brown.  

Just loungin... a lazy Sunday afternoon

Laundry baskets make great toys!

"Ok, seriously guys... lemme outta here..."

 He has become a snuggly little guy.  We've been rocking him to sleep for naps and bedtime.  These pictures are from today:

This is the most comfortable position EVER

Next nap, a few hours later... Papa and baby having a comfy snooze

 Baby laughs??  Yes, please!

And finally, Maddox doing what Maddox does best (playing and general cuteness):

This and that

We've just been doing our thing.  I've been busy, busy, busy with school and Luke's been busy, busy, busy being a stay at home dad.  But we're loving every minute of it.  :)

Sitting up!... with a little help.

We really like these pajamas.

Hardcore baby!

Best buds

This is how you know he loves you, he attacks your face.

Speaking of pajamas, Maddox is almost too long for 9month footed PJs.  We'll be moving into 12month soon.  Oy.  And speaking of being super long, he's almost too long for his infant car seat!  Luke and I have started looking over our options for a convertible car seat.  We want to keep him rear facing as long as possible and a lot of the convertible car seats are designed to keep babies rear facing until at least 2.  And then they can be used forward facing until about 65-80lbs, depending on the seat.

Maddox will be 8 months next week.  That doesn't seem possible.

I've started thinking about his Christmas presents and have a few really fun ideas.  I'm pretty sure Luke and I will get him this fun tunnel and ball pit.  I'm excited about all of the upcoming holidays.  We are definitely going to take him to a pumpkin patch this month.  :)

Oh!  And in other big news... we now have not 1, but 4 teeth!!  His second bottom and two upper middle teeth came in at the same time.  The last one is just breaking through now.  Poor little guy.  He handled it pretty well, though.  So well, in fact, that we knew the bottom one was coming in but didn't know about the top ones.  I caught a glimpse of them yesterday and was completely surprised to see one of them almost completely through.  He's a tough little cookie.