FL Fun

We spent 6 nights in FL to ring in the first week of February. It goes without saying what a welcome escape it was from the long winter. The three of us rented a small beach cottage on Longboat Key, taking beach walks, enjoying nighttime bonfires, buying and grilling local fish, but mostly just enjoying uninterrupted togetherness. It was cold in FL (honestly), but it didn't matter. We were together and we had a blast.

Graham also went swimming for the first time, which he loved. Thank you to our cottage's neighbors, two almost-parents who were our age, invited us over for wine, and generously allowed us to swim in their heated pool. Graham played with, and of course ate, sand for the first time, too. Ick. Here are some pics of our trip, with the full album here.

Baby in a box

He liked it in there. Maybe a little bit too much.

Give to me the camera! Now!

Another video for your viewing pleasure...

Nighty-night, sleep tight...

Our bedtime routine: bath and books! And just look at those yummy, yummy fat rolls on that little boy's arms. LOVE those!

Troublemaker in the making

Graham has figured out how to get into things and it's fun to watch as he learns cause and effect. Whether it's dropping something over and over again from his high chair (and watching mommy or daddy pick it up), opening and closing drawers, or pulling books off a bookshelf, he is fascinated with the new skills he's discovering. He also likes to pull toys out of his toy baskets, then put them back in. Yesterday he figured out how to open and shut—again and again—our kitchen cabinet doors. Looks like it's time to childproof!

Videos: Trying sooooo hard to crawl

Graham is trying so hard to crawl these days. Whether he's asleep or awake, he's doing his best to try and figure out how to lift that heavy belly up off the floor. What he's doing now though is a bit more like floor swimming. He throws one arm waaaaay out in front of him, then the other, like he's doing the front crawl, on the floor. But he's getting better and better at this every day.

We have discovered that one of the best ways to encourage him to scoot forward is to place a toy or some other enticing object a few feet out of his reach. He loves anything he's not supposed to play with, like our shiny cell phones or the camera, so putting one of those on the floor in front of him is the best enticement. See videos below.

Yo! I'm 8 months old!

And the adventures in food continue. I'm a pro at downing applesauce, but my new favorite thing to gnaw at with my two tiny teeth is mom or dad's apple. That cool fruit feels so good on my gums and tastes good, too. An apple is the best teething toy ever!



One of the best tips we've read about feeding a baby involves clean-up. Graham hates having his hands wiped. So instead we put a bowl of water in front of him. He splashes his hands in it and thinks it's the most fun ever. We're happy because it cleans off caked-on spinach, oatmeal and whatever else is crusted between his fingers. It works brilliantly. Watch the video below and see for yourself!