Eight Months

George is eight months old today!

Playing with bubbles

He's finally too big for naps in the bouncer chair--so sad to see him outgrow this one, it was such a lifesaver in the early weeks and months!

Playing peek-a-boo

Teething on sensory balls

Such a happy little guy!

Teething on Lazare le Chat in his gnome jammies

We went to Liverpool for Valentine's Day Eve--Richard had read about these new Beatles statues, so he surprised me with a visit to my favorite city to see them!

George loved Liverpool and he got lots of attention--he was very smiley with a waitress at Cafe Rouge (she wasn't even our waitress, haha), the employees at Cath Kidston, and other customers at Patisserie Valerie.

Extending the hand of friendship to Biscuit

She really is very tolerant of him, even though he's getting awfully grabby these days

This teether bib that Santa brought him in his stocking is so clever--it's a drool bib with a plastic teether sewn in to it on the corner. He loves it!

Pulling socks off is another favorite game

On a day out in the posh bit of Leeds, Park Square

Being charming at Park Square's Starbucks

Day out in York--family selfie with the Minster

Having lunch at Trinity Kitchen--Chicago Rib Shack has the best burgers! Lady Diana used to take William & Harry to the one in Knightsbridge--I love that!

First time at O'Neill's after his first swim!  (Richard and I used to go swimming & then go for a pub meal at O'Neill's or the Victoria next door, so it's a bit of a tradition for us). We couldn't take pics of him at the pool, but he wasn't all that keen on it anyway--I think it was too cold for him. We'll try again in a few months and see how he does!

Happy Valentine's Day!

He got a lovely wooden fire engine from Grandma--he loves taking it apart!

Now that I'm on the floor playing with George so much, Biscuit's been nicking my spot on the couch!

George has also outgrown his Paddington Bear coat, much to our dismay--it's so cute!

This week, my students have their first assessment due--I saw most of them during my office hours on Monday, but there were still a few who needed to sort out paperwork before the due date, so I scheduled them for Wednesday and brought George along.

He did so well! He played on the floor for awhile while I saw students in the morning, then we met Richard for lunch, and then he had his usual afternoon nap in the Ergo, so I was able to see students and get some emails done with him asleep on me! It was brilliant!

A trip to Costco means new boxes for Biscuit to sit in

Still loving his porridge for breakfast

He's getting very good at picking up blueberries and they (usually) make it to his mouth

In York we found another cute Miffy rattle

George is getting so fun these days--still very smiley but now he's so much more interactive and playful! He loves playing peek-a-boo and taking apart his wooden train set and fire engine. He loves his books and is getting very grabby, which makes it tough to turn the pages. We've also had to limit him to board books at the moment, as he doesn't let go of the pages easily!

He loves mealtimes and we're always trying out new and different foods--this month he's tried rice cakes with peanut butter (no allergies, thank goodness!), parsnips, toast, blueberries, fish pie (loved it), pasta stars with ground turkey tomato sauce (didn't like that one), lamb & squash puree, and peaches. At nursery he had pureed sausage and mash--it was a big hit!

He's very close to crawling now, rocking on his hands and knees, scooting backwards and spinning himself around on his tummy. Just over the past week or two he's been very clingy and cuddly--it's endearing, but it does make it hard to get things done! If I need to do dishes or laundry, I put him on the kitchen floor with a toy--if I leave him in the living room (as I used to), he'll cry until I come back in the room. Thankfully, he's just as cuddly with Richard, so I get to hand him over when Daddy comes home from work.

This month's firsts:
First encounter with bubbles
First time swimming
First visit to O'Neill's Irish pub
First trip to Liverpool
First Valentine's Day
First piece of "art"--a Valentine's Day heart he decorated at the church creche
First tooth (sort of--it's not emerged enough to get a photo yet, but it's finally broken through!)
First day at work with Mommy (but hopefully these won't happen too many more times!)