You're such a busy boy these days.  It seems to only be getting busier.  In big news, you are standing up with the aid of something to pull on all by yourself.  I find you often in your crib, either sitting up, or standing up, waiting on me to come get you, or playing quietly.  You pull up in your playpen a lot, which is sentimental to me because when we first got it, I pointed out to your Grandma that you will probably learn how to pull up in there.  I couldn't have been more right.  We got you a walker this past month, and you have been moving all over the place!  You like to trap Bocephus in the hallway and laugh at him endlessly.  You also like any chance to explore all by yourself.  And you are FAST in that thing!  I put you in it, and I have to jump out of your way!  It's come in handy for a couple games of bumper cars with Sophia as well.  But with all this pulling up and aided walking, you also walk along using furniture!  You've taken a couple of confident proper crawls, but have yet to master balance by yourself to take some steps.  But I'll look up and you're across the room from where I left you by grabbing a hold of whatever furniture is close by and cruising.  I'm thinking you're going to leave crawling behind before you start walking.  You army crawl and roll to get to where you need to go, but you get endlessly frustrated and really prefer standing up to being on the ground.

We made another long trip with you!  Our first trip was by car to Washington DC, but this trip was by plane to Syracuse, NY!  Flying was going to be a challenge in terms of what we could pack, and also getting your ears through take offs and landings.  You did really well on the shorter jogs from JFK to Syracuse, but the longer flights from JFK to Jacksonville really didn't suit you too well.  On the flight up you did just fine, but on the way back, because of the hour, it was hard getting you to stay asleep in my arms.  You're very much used to your crib, and had quite a few sleeping problems while we were there.  Once we got to our destination though, you were quite the charm.  You got to see Uncle Kevin and Cousin Timmy again, and this time, you were a lot more interactive than when you saw them last in February.  Just goes to show you what happens in a few months.  We surprised your Great Grandmother!  The last time she saw you, you were still in my belly.  She delighted in meeting you, and playing with you with her telephone and her kittens.  You got to pet her horses, too.  You got to meet your Grandpa Young for the very first time!  He really took to you and liked holding you.  You took his hat a couple of times from him.  You got to help out while your Daddy helped work on Grandpa's house!  Yes, he's building it with his two hands!  You got to meet plenty of relatives at your Aunt Teri's house.  We had dinner and breakfast the next day there.  She provided us with lots of treats for you, and gifted you with some new clothes, even a Syracuse hooded sweatshirt!  She showed you the wind chimes hanging from her trees, and you were completely enchanted.  We also got to go to Aunt Lorie's house to meet all of Grandma Williams' side of the family!  You got to hang from the monkey bars while standing on my shoulders.  You seemed pretty impressed with yourself.  You were on your best behavior there, and LOTS of hands got to hold you that day.  You really enjoyed spending time with Elizabeth, or she enjoyed spending time with you :wink:.  We got to see so much countryside while up there.  Your Dad and I decided to try and make it a yearly trip to go up and spend time with everyone there.

You managed to wave this week!!  We surprised your Grandma Crawley at work, and when you saw a familiar face, you waved at Barbara!  It was really neat to see you do something in a group of people you have never done before.

We got to play with a grown up cup this week.  I got plenty of pictures as I took the top off your sippee cup and let you experiment with drinking from a big person cup.  You managed to get quite a bit in your mouth considering how much of it wound up in your lap, in your seat, and of course, on the floor!  It was completely fun to see how you handled it both filled with water, and empty.  You enjoyed not tumping it over right away.  Instead you seemed to understand how to "drink" out of it, just couldn't get how fast the water comes out.  It was a fun filled day.

We play a lot more together than we used to.  Now I have to use your much shorter nap times to get the house done, because when you are awake, we are interacting and playing together.  We have lots of fun during our days.  Daddy joins in when he gets home from work.  You now say DaDa with consistency, and you both play together in the evenings.  He even gets you from your crib these days when you wake up. 

You're eating a wide variety of foods.  We even found out you like mangoes and plums!  You also enjoy a combination of squash and corn!  We're working on introducing meats and getting more grains in your diet.

You're growing up right before my eyes, my little bug.