Month 7: Picking Up Speed

And I'm not kidding. The first 6 months were a casual walk in the park compared to the incredible rate of development Daniel seems to exhibit daily. Hourly. Minutely.

I guess the biggest change is his energy level - he is absolutely all over the place, all the time. (And that's even without the "official" crawl...) But there has been a dramatic change in his willingness to "sit still" over the past few weeks. It's not a bad thing - it's tons of fun, and he's so strong and coordinated, he can do all kinds of fun games. But I will admit that restaurants are becoming a little more difficult. And bath time. And Mommy's nap time. :)

The army crawl is upon us - it's hilarious, and pretty efficient - but definitely not the graceful knees & hands thing I know is right around the corner. Up until now he's done a pretty amazing job of barrel-rolling to get from place to place. The day he got really good at it, he barrel-rolled right into a coffee table leg and had a big red line that went from his forehead down his nose and onto his chin.

He's also become very aware of us being in the room - if we leave, he expresses his displeasure. The same thing with being held - he's a little monkey, and monkeys want to play up in the air, not on the ground with toys. It's a strange dichotomy - I LOVE it when he cries for me, or reaches for me, or throws himself around my ankle so I can't walk away. No question there. But I also don't want him to be spoiled, so I know I can't indulge every little whine. (But while I attempt not to indulge him, I can secretly feel needed and loved, right? :)

Daniel enjoyed a two-week visit from his Gramma from Texas - lots of play time in the park, on the living room floor, and out and about town. Including a 4-hour visit to the local Urgent Care when Gramma broke her little pinkie toe. Not fun at all, but we all still worked in as much (immobile) bonding time as possible for the time we had together. It's always fun for us newbie parents to watch an experienced parent in action. My mom knew all the tricks of the trade - how to make "homemade" toys of empty crystal light containers, some packing tape and a bouncy ball: the result? A toy that Daniel MUCH preferred over his store-bought items. She showed us the miracles of straws in restaraunts (it's like feeding iced tea to a little bird!) and the 20 minutes of entertainment a simple spoon will provide.

Next week we're headed out to San Diego for our first family vacation since Daniel's birth - I'm excited and a little apprehensive about traveling with him, but he's such a good baby that I think we'll be fine. We rented a big beach house for the week - about 10 steps from the ocean, and on the other side of the house, about 15 steps from the bay. Not a bad set up at all :)

Stay tuned for the inevitable adventures to come...