summer is here - memorial day weekend!

we decided link needed a pool. he loves it. LOVES it. and i do, too. dang, it's already soooo hot. my car registered 107 at one point today. wow!

so the pool was a hit. now...for food. my gosh, this kid can eat! most days he takes about 34 oz in a bottle, juice/water in a sippy cup, plus cereal or oatmeal, three jars of baby food, a whole lotta "puffs" and anything else he can get his hands on. he loves veggies, fruit, any type of bean, rice, tortillas, whole wheat pancakes...you name it, he likes it. let's just say that he is serious about his food. evidence - below. not an uncommon site around our place. ;)

and in other fun news, another friend was born this week! this is seriously the year o' the boy around these parts. so fun, our friends, chris and courtney had their baby boy, wade this week. so, sweet. and we are so excited! that makes two more boys born in our neighborhood this month!! link has a lot on his plate teaching these boys the ropes. :)

the great 8

today our boy is eight months old. curly blonde hair, big blue eyes, and an AMAZING amount of energy, laughter, and smiles.

link-ers, i can't believe you are transforming so quickly right in front of our eyes. you are growing like a weed, and suddenly this tiny, quiet, little bundle has started to become this crazy-fun little boy. you are loud, all over the place, eating more than any child i know, and cracking us up with your endless love of movement and being in motion. you are definitely our child. :)

you make your dad and i so incredibly happy and we are the best versions of ourselves because of you. we love our family and are so blessed to be your parents.

rockin' the pop colla' and visor

he likes to call this his "blue steel"

meeting his new friend, jules cashion fine

LOVES this truck. pushes it all over the house :)

so happy!

baseball, and ohmygoodness where'd my baby go??

bless his heart. he made it all 12 innings, but in the ninth he had to take a little break. and in the end, yet another win for link. he is 3-0 in the win column for sporting events. all fun games and big wins!

ALSO - no one warned me how quickly he would go from a scooting, little innocent crawler to becoming speed racer himself (one week?!). and the pulling up is out of control. i can't leave him alone for one second because he is pulling himself up on everything! and here i thought he would be happy with his new found sense of freedom. no. now he just crawls to the nearest object and pulls himself up. and the problem is, he can actually do it. most of the time he just cruises along the edges of the couch or chair he's attached himself to, which is fine. but sometimes he goes up to flat cabinets or dressers and with no edges to hang on, then he lets go, turns around and tries to walk. and WHAMMO, he hits the floor. every once in a while he gets an actual step or two in, but he's kind of freaking me out. it seems like this is all happening to soon...any way to slow them down, or do i just need to buy him a football helmet to protect his head?!

the approach

the lift

puuuuulllll...

up!

cruisin' the world

whew! i'm exhausted. clearly he is not. ;)

impromptu photo shoot

he woke up with the curls OUT OF CONTROL cute today, couldn't resist. (this is for you, grandparents...to the rest of ya, sorry!)

our big boy

so we got link his first big-boy car seat last week. his head was about to fall over the top edge of the newborn car seat and his feet were squished into the seat as well, so we finally gave in. :) he LOVES it. he loves being up high and able to see out all the windows. this was after an afternoon of running errands, and he was still all smiles!

one of his fave spots, my little corner in our living room, on the couch, right by the window. he loves, loves to watch the pups play in the afternoon. this is also the spot i make most of my blog posts, from my laptop, looking out at my garden and roses. i guess he has taken notice, because he loves it and loves to hit the buttons on my laptop, too!

an afternoon at the arboretum with dad. we had so much fun. picnic, stroller time, and link got to play with his dad...he was thrilled!! he loooooooves time with daddy.

and this weekend, we had a b-day party for our friend, tommy in arlington. we decided to make a night of it and stay with hunny and papa, too. papa and link at dinner, pre-b-day party....adorable. i think papa is thinking he might want to try one of link's puffs. and all the while with a steak in front of him...how mean. haha. :)

and on a slightly different level, linkers with michael irvin. the guy has his past, and link seems to be showing judgement here, but i have to say he was a true gentleman. he even said, "god bless you," as we walked away. sweet. :)

all in all, it was a great weekend. oh, and i knew we had this crawling thing started, but was nearly in tears when link, while standing at his little gym, decided to take his hands off and TAKE TWO STEPS toward me before crashing into my arms - and then attempting the same motion for the next thirty minutes. suffice it to say i am happy this was a one-off deal for now. i'm not ready for walking!!! :)