8 months

It doesn't matter how much we tell him to stop, Barrett just keeps growing and growing. And learning. I love watching him make connections. The other day he started playing with the doorstop in the kitchen. He liked the "booiiiiiing" sound it made every time he hit it. So he kept hitting it over and over again, as Aunt Lindsey put it, like a cat playing with its yarn ball. I'd never seen him play with ANTYHING so intensely.

At 8 months he is very confident with his crawling, and he's starting to find himself in trouble. I guess we have some more baby proofing to do! He loves exploring the house, playing with his toys, playing on Mommy and Daddy's bed, and eating. Always. He loves to eat! I guess he needs fuel to keep up with all his activities!

Here are some of our favorite 8 month pictures. These were so much easier BEFORE he could move! (We had to give him a slinky in order to keep him still!)

Things I Don't Want to Forget:

• how close he is to saying "Dada" and meaning it. He recognizes Matt as "Dada," and he says "dadadadadadada" repeatedly. So it's just a matter of time.
• he can say "dadadada" "bababababa" and something that sounds like "hey" and "yeah," but he has no idea what any of it means.
• how he always opens his mouth so wide to brush his little teeth, but then chomps down on the toothbrush so that I can't actually brush his teeth
• he anticipates the end of a bottle, and starts kicking his legs when he feels the end is near. And then there is crying ... until he gets distracted by playing with the bottle.
• how he splashed in the pool the first time he went swimming
• how he splashes in the bathtub and plays with rubber ducky and the whale
• because he won't lean back to wash his hair, Daddy just dumps water over his head. Barrett pauses, rubs his eyes, and then gets back to his toys. (With his hair all over his face.)
• how he loves to sit in the corner of the couch to drink his bottle
• they way he laughs when we roll on the floor, and the way he tries to catch us! (Thank you Uncle Kyle!)
• the way he sticks his tongue out ... ALL the time
• how his curly hair drives me kinda crazy, but I don't want to cut it because we will probably loose those curls forever!

Extra pictures with Mommy and Daddy: