Anderson is 8 months!!

Anderson turned 8 months last week & I have been trying since then to get his monthly update picture. It has not gone well. 42 pictures, 6 signs, 3 outfits & a week later, this is the best I could do.

This is what most of them ended up looking like-a blur of giggliness. That, of course, is not a bad thing.

I thought a change of scenery would yield some better results.

Anderson started school!! Ok, so it's Mother's (Noni's) Day Out, but it is pretty official! Look at his name on a frog! Like a real student! Those are the names of all of his little friends on the other frogs. With his teacher! He looks very confused because he fell asleep in the car & he woke up being held by someone he didn't know having camera flashes in his face. He also looks adorable, so that makes up for the confused expression. Aunt Cole made his onesie-it has a little a on the pocket! He is the youngest one in his class because it is 8-12 months right now. He actually turned 8 months on the 1st day of school. They will stay together (friends) all year & then move up together next year. While I dearly love my own infant, I cannot imagine a more terrifying job than being trapped in a room with 8 of them. Thank goodness there are people with more patience than me.

Anderson at 8 months: He is definitely losing interest in the baby food situation. He has started eating little finger foods- fruit, cheese, cheerios. The carb pieces are the biggest hit. Finally, some proof he is related to me. He weighs 18lbs 13 oz and my current nickname for him is "Cheesy Beef". I cannot exactly remember the origin, but I think it was stinky-stinky cheese-cheese gordita-cheesy beef. I need to stop because he is starting to respond to it.

We took him to the eye doctor, thanks to Aunt Paula who told me about this free program for babies (infantsee-everyone should use it!), and found out he has a cataract! The doc wasn't too concerned, just told us to keep an eye on it. Is it wrong that I was secretly hoping for a patch? My perfect little pirate....

He is pulling up, cruising on everything! He is so mobile & basically has access to everything now so there is lots of chasing. Also, I am pretty sure Santa is going to bring the boy a real toy box because the canvas box I bought to hold blankets is not quite the same.

He is always so helpful. Organizing the fridge shelves while I put up the groceries.

He still is a great sleeper at night. I will thank you once more, crying it out!! He goes to bed about 7ish & is up about 6.

A couple of things about this picture. First, my cousin, Shannon, had the genius idea to make a set of keys with just blank keys from Wal Mart for her son & I totally stole the idea. He seriously loves them. Second, how cute are the orange shoes? They are little loafers that were Lily's first. We like to keep our Vol allegiance in the family. Third, you will notice the changing pad is gone. It actually left us a few weeks ago & could've been gone even sooner. Changing his diaper is the most exhausting part of the day. I have to stretch going into it or I am sore for days. We quickly realized that no amount of distracting (even with the keys) can keep him still. I have to basically put my knee on his chest to hold him down for diaper changes & that doesn't really happen on a changing pad. On his first day at school his teacher said she realized quickly she has to change him on the floor. I think the fact that his 1st ever "teacher comment" was about his energy is a little more proof that he got my genes.

Aunt Manda sent a present (it was a few weeks ago) & he LOVED the box. Played with it all night. He also liked the things inside of it, but the box was the big hit.

Anderson has become really obsessed with Brandon. They play all of the time & Brandon can get him to laugh better than anyone. If he didn't love me the most, I might be a little jealous.

Well, it's a good thing I got the cabinet lock thing. Obviously, it is really working well.

Here is a little video that proves again his undying love for Brandon & shows his FAVORITE pasttime-playing on the bed! He loves to do this. Please note that I do not make my bed. While this makes my mom cringe (she loves to make a bed), I think it works out well for Anderson.