7 Months and mobile

Things are going well around the Arbuckle household.  We have been staying constantly busy, which has been the case for the past 7 months now.  I can’t remember a time where we had a weekend with no plans.  Not that I mind, since I enjoy getting out of the house and doing things.  But on Sunday nights, I scold myself for wanting to always be on the go.  Usually Mike and I decide to not make any plans the following weekend.  Then by Wednesday or Thursday, our weekend is generally booked solid. 
 

One of our many adventures included going to Arrington Vineyards this past Saturday with our family. We had such a great time, minus the mosquitoes and getting rained on at the end of the night.  We always enjoy spending time with our family, and we got lots of yummy food to munch on while we were there.  The sunset was gorgeous.  Bryson seemed to enjoy himself a lot also.  It was his first picnic.  Because the blanket on the ground was not on a smooth surface like he’s used to, he wasn’t able to crawl around.  He would scoot a little, then give up and roll on his back to play.  For once we weren’t chasing him around when he was on the ground.  



Our view at Arrington

Bryson is moving like crazy now.  Everywhere he wants to go, he gets there quickly.  He will get on his hands and knees and rock back and forth.  He gets this look of extreme anticipation, like he is wondering why he's not going anywhere.  Then he leans forward and takes off.  He doesn't full on crawl on his hands and knees, but he will army crawl with speed I've never seen before.



Mike gave him a mohawk

He still thoroughly enjoys his food.  I tried to give him those Gerber puffs that dissolve, but he wasn’t sure what to do with them.  He would grab them, squeeze them, drool on them, then try to shake them off his hand when they would get stuck from the drool.  This reminds me of when cats get something on their paw and they try to shake it off rapidly.  It goes something like that.   Then when he thinks he dropped it, he gets surprised that it’s still on his hand.  He looks at it like “hey, you’re still there!”.  Then the process starts all over until it finally ends up on the floor.  Aspen loves that part.   He has eaten a few puffs now because I will put them in his mouth so he can understand where they go.  They get stuck to the roof of his mouth for a few seconds before they dissolve and he makes the funniest faces.  His eyes water and excessive drool immediately follows.  If this is what all finger foods will result in, it should be interesting.

Bryson has officially said his second word.  No, it’s not Mama.  I’m hoping he will learn Mama next, but I’m not holding my breath.  He said bobo.  You may be thinking “Bobo?  That’s not a word, so it doesn’t count.  That’s just babble.”  Wrong.  It’s a word in our house.  That’s what we call Aspen’s toys that are those long, skinny, soft animals (picture below).  Those are her favorite kind of toys.  If we tell her to get her bobo, she knows which ones to get.  Anyway, Bryson has become attached to one of the bobos.  Although I can’t understand his fascination with this specific one, it’s the UT bobo.  I suppose it’s because it’s orange, and he equates all orange things with Auburn.  After all, he’s just a baby, so he doesn’t understand there are many varieties of orange – Auburn orange, UT orange, Florida orange, etc.  So I strongly believe he sees the orange bobo and assumes it’s all about Auburn.  Yep, that’s exactly what happens.  Anyway, he can have a floor full of his toys, and he will make every effort to crawl to this bobo.  This holds his attention for quite a while, unlike some of his other toys.  Last Saturday, 9/24, he stole the bobo from Aspen (as usual) and started saying “bobobobobo”.   I thought he was just babbling, and then he looked at it and said “bobo”.  I asked him what he had, and he said it again.  I was super excited.  Now if only he could say Mama.

Speaking of toys, his other favorite is his turtle that lights up and plays music.  I will agree that it’s a pretty cool toy.  The legs must be quite tasty, because Bryson chews on them constantly.  

At daycare, Bryson has become quite the ladies man.  There is a girl in his class named Hope that is 2 months older than him (not that you could tell, because Bryson is the same size).  They love to play together.  His teacher says they hold hands sometimes when they play, which is so sweet.  Then the other day, Bryson met a new girl named Julia from another class that was a month younger than him.  She was all smiles when she was playing with Bryson.  He kept giving her sideways looks until she grabbed his foot and tried to steal his sock.  After that, he couldn’t stop grinning at her either.  I’m glad Hope wasn’t there to see this interaction.  Bryson would never hear the end of it.

Bryson and Hope

Halloween is coming up soon, so we have been wondering what Bryson should be.  One of my friends lent us a dragon costume to see if Bryson would fit in it.  He wore it like he was born to be a dragon...the cutest dragon in the world. Mike and I thought it would be funny to get Aspen a dragon slayer costume so she could chase him around, but apparently they haven't created one of those for little dogs yet.  Maybe soon...

Because Bryson is growing at rapid speed, he is almost ready for his big boy car seat.  For some reason I thought his current car seat would hold him until 27-30 pounds, so I thought we still had a while to go.  Then my parents came over and pointed out that it only sustains 22 pounds.  Fabulous.  Bryson is about 20 pounds.  I was clearly mistaken.  So Mike and I are going car seat shopping on Saturday.  Of course, we have no idea what we are looking for or which ones are the best, but I’m sure we’ll figure it out.  Babies R Us, get ready for a million questions from us!!