Scootin', Tootin', and Laughin' up a Storm

Annnnd we're mobile everyone! I wouldn't say William is crawling, but he scoots himself around to get what he wants. He can't go very fast yet so don't expect him to travel far for anything. He does it the opposite way that most people have told me their babies started scooting though. He has no interest in the army crawl - its more like a reverse army crawl. He gets his arms in the army-crawl position, but then stuffs his face in the ground, shoulders down, and butt up as high as it will go. Then we scoot! The farthest he's gone is about 3 feet I think, but he is SURE proud of himself once he raises his head and realizes where he is. Just a few short weeks ago William thought he needed to lay on his belly and have all limbs in the air in order to move. Its amazing how quickly they learn. Here is another Goddard picture of his old form of crawling...I'll have to try to get a video on here of him actually moving. Its a sight to see :)He also has a new fascination with his toots. He thinks they're hilarious! Anytime I hear a toot I no longer have to wonder if it was Austin, William, orr Layla because Austin will look at Layla if it was him, William cracks up if it was him, and no one budges when it was Layla. I'm not sure if the toots are really that funny or if he just likes his laugh because he really seems to enjoy laughing!

His favorite time to laugh is right before bath time, which has been the case for a month or so. We take him in his room, lay him on his changing pad and get him undressed for bathtime. At this point we tickle him a little and he laughs a LOT. It has been so fun to see (hear) his laugh evolve. Now he has the normal huh-huh-huh-breath-huh-huh-huh sort of rhythm, and the breaths are precious. Its like he thinks he'll never breathe again. Every night we worry we're getting him too rowdy before bedtime, but after he expels all of his energy in the bathtub he is ready to calm down, take a bottle, hear some stories and go to sleep.

We seem to rotate between the same books at bedtime, but we try to have some variety. He really likes the pictures in Oh the Place You'll Go and he loves all the board books that he can grab onto. Right now we are in the middle of reading the Bible for about the 5th time. Its the kids version, and honestly I really like how simple the stories are. There have been a few stories that we've read when one of us has said "ooooo so THAT is what it means?" or something to that sort.

On Monday when I picked William up Miss Elise said, "Well, I think William is officially in the spoiled baby category". She explained that he would not allow the teachers to leave his side all day without throwing a fit or taking him with them. He didn't sleep much, didn't eat much, and just wanted extra attention. She said its common for them to have a week or so of rougher days around their mid-year birthday, but yesterday he was back to normal. Hopefully it was just one day for him :)

Tonight I think we'll let him try eating peas. So far he's had sweet potatoes, bananas, butternut squash, and applesauce - and has really liked them all! I'm a little worried about the bitterness of the peas, but I guess we'll see. This weekend I'll have to go get some peaches or other new fruits for him to try. Maybe avocados - he sure liked those in my belly! That may have been me though, it was hard to decipher back then :)

I can't think of anything else monumental that happened this week. He had lots of fun pulling toys out of the toy bin, rolling all around the crib in his sleep, holding the spoon as we fed him, and just being a happy little baby. He loves his Nancy cat (he's warming up to Layla, no interest in Reagan), loves splashing in the tub, is fascinated that he is able to move around to get things, and he loves, loves, LOVES his daddy. I know children go back and forth on their favorites, but right now Austin takes the cake. Its like William idolizes him! Its a pretty incredible blessing to be able to watch the two of them stare at each other with amazement in their eyes - that's enough for me!