8 months old

....and I still look like a truck ran over me - but boy am I happy. I do get dressed up - but not often when we start taking pictures of the little guy close to bed time. We realized that we needed to take a few to celebrate his 8 month birthday. After this, he went back to working on crawling...baby steps as they say!

Rhys enjoying a hot summer day

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Originally uploaded by shemoney

Rhys is showing off his Popeye look. We do think one eye is slightly bigger than the other. In any event, here is another look at those sweet little teeth. More seem to be on their way! (Thanks to Sheila and Patrick for taking such cute pics of Rhys at the Bucktown Arts Fest!)

Creeping forward

Dom caught a few seconds of Rhys's crawling attempts on video. I especially like the exhuastion at the end.
(I swear, we really do put clothes on him.)

Me Do

After many attempts, Rhys was able to get the bottle into position for just a few seconds. He now has a sippy cup he likes to chew on and his new favorite past time is taking sips of water from my or Dom's cup. Soon enough he will move on to finger foods. I think we are ready....right?

Yoga baby

One thing - besides sleep - that I miss is taking yoga classes. Despite my best efforts, I have been thwarted either by a desire to sleep when given a free hour or by just other life events.

Rhys, however,is practicing all his yoga moves. Currently, he is trying out yet another yoga position - the plank. It is only a matter of time before his next trick is true locomotion!

Here are the elusive teeth

Finally...and I guess there are only 20 baby teeth? I should have looked up my facts. If any of our few but very bright readers knows for sure, please do let me know. You can also see my entire set of adult teeth recently cleaned - thanks Dr. Omar.

Peas Please

Last night Rhys asserted his independence - from peas. For the first time he realized that he didn't have to exactly take in whatever it was on the spoon. Peas were on the menu last night and after one bite and spitting it out, he shook his head at me and refused to open his mouth for the peas.
I tried again - same thing.
I tried a trick....some prunes and oatmeal...then followed by peas. Peas out and trap door shut.
I think this is just the beginning.
Since I don't have this on video, enjoy a photo of our sweet sleeping baby instead.

Cousins

This past Sunday Rhys met his second cousin, Conor (and Conor's parents), for the first time. I am so pleased Rhys has another cousin now to grow up with. Visiting my cousins was always a highlight for me every summer -- so I hope that we can continue that tradition with Rhys.
Rhys and I flew to Hartford, Connecticut to visit my mother and stepdad in Wilbraham, Mass. Rhys enjoyed spending time with his nana and papa and visiting the Emily Dickinson house and museum, Smith College, Old Sturbridge Village, and more! There is so much to do and see in that part of the country that we will be sure to return soon.