You must be growing up because you're already 8 months old.
You must be growing up, because you are starting to act like you might want to crawl. You can balance on your hands and knees and rock back and forward. Today, while I held your knees and hand in one place on the carpet, you lifted your right hand to grab a toy. And just tonight, for the first time, you pushed up onto one knee to get something out of reach.
You must be growing up, because even though you only weigh 14 lbs and 1 oz and you're only 25 inches long, there's still nothing too tough or too big to take on.
You must be growing up, because you call for attention by grunting, whining, yelling, saying "mama" or... well, we call it the "Danny Dance." It looks something like sitting and kicking your legs and extending your arms to the side and grasping into the air while saying "Hooh! Hooh! Hooh!" It's pretty funny.
But it's really funny when your Grandpa Shaun does it!
You must be growing up, because you have a new way of listening intently to sounds in the room.
You love Toby (our dog), and the strings on my sweatshirts, although when I pull them out and give them to you, you are no longer interested in them. You love being naked and taking baths. You love pulling your toys out of your toy basket and you play with them for a good 30-45 minutes uninterrupted. You love squash, sweet potatoes and all fruit, and you love other kids.
You're still the happiest baby on the block. You eat breakfast, lunch and dinner at traditional times, plus bedtime milk. You still only have two teeth. They peek out at me when you give me your toothy grin. You eat 8 ounces of food in addition to your milk. And you must be growing up because you're picky about what you want to eat.
You suck a pacifier or your thumb to calm down and sleep. You take two naps a day and go to bed between 7:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m.
You must be growing up because you say Dada and Papa and Tata when you're looking at your Daddy. You must be growing up because you complain when you don't like something. And because you get a twinkle in your eye as if you know something I don't.
And you must be growing up because Every. Single. Day. My heart spills over with how much I love you.
P.S. All of you photography buffs out there who are drooling over the set and wondering what studio we went to... well, you won't believe this! We were staying with our friends, Jon and Charmian, where they were house-sitting over the weekend. The owners of the house are artists and these photos were shot in the bedroom of their college-age daughter. Her bed is white and her walls are painted sky blue with clouds on them. Were were headed to church, happened to be dressed in coordinating colors - it's actually ridiculous how often we do this by accident - and the lighting was perfect. Jon grabbed his camera and ordered us into the bedroom. We basically played and laughed with Danny for 20 minutes while Jon kept clicking. Pretty amazing, huh!?