Hubby and I discovered a while ago that when you blow on my baby boy's face.....he makes fun noises.  :)

My little man ate a brutal cracker side ways.  While he attempted to fit the huge thing in his mouth, the cracker fought back.

I know it's hard to see, but he's got cuts on both side of his mouth!  Ouch!

One of the fun toys my baby boy was spoiled with for Christmas was this fun aquarium from his uncle.  My brother observed that little man always enjoyed looking at the fish when we were visiting my parents, so he got him his own fish....ones that never die and are approved for non-pet-friendly apartments.

And it has been a hit!

It has been kind of a strange winter and we haven't had much snow at all.  The past two days it snowed enough that we had an inch or so on the ground.  I decided it was time for little man to really experience snow.

Luckily he was easy to bundle up because his great-grandma Nadine bought him a snowsuit to help him brave the Idaho winter.

He was pretty excited to be outside at first.

Then he felt how cold the snow was...

After that I bundled his hands...(I just wanted him to feel the snow once before I did).  We didn't stay out for long, but it was fun.  I think I will try to take him out for a few minutes every day.  It helps ward off the cabin fever and it's fun to watch him experience the world.

Remember how much my little man loves camo?  His sweet Grams was at the store and found him some fluffy camo pj's. 

What a lucky, spoiled, incredibly loved, little baby!

Baby boy goes through phases where he'll eat solid foods, and then phases where he refuses everything except his milk.  Thankfully we've just entered another solid food phase.

Saturday while I was feeding him apple sauce, this independent little man grabbed the spoon from my hand and put it in his own mouth.  I was so impressed, I took a picture.

But of course that doesn't do a very good job of showing what he's up to, everyone has seen him chewing on a spoon before.  So then I tried to get a video but he just wouldn't cooperate (should have thought of the video first!).

Oh well, take my word for it.  This clever little boy is on the verge of feeding himself with a spoon.

Since I discovered that yeast breads aren't so scary and intimidating to make, I've been trying out a whole bunch of recipes.  Like this easy bread recipe!

Yum.

And as it turns out, baby boy loves bread.

My little man loves animals.  He is so excited every time we come across an animal.  The animals, on the other hand, aren't usually too thrilled to see him.  He did have a few minutes where my parents' cat tolerated him a few weeks back.

Maybe one day we'll get our little man a pet of his own.

My phone was starting to get full from all the photos and videos I take of little man, so I loaded them on to my computer.  I discovered a whole bunch of photos I had forgotten about.  Like these precious ones where little man is interacting with his daddy:

Poor baby boy has had a rotten cold.  So we have had a few pajama days.

Despite not feeling well, and being a little sensitive, our little man has still been full of smiles for his momma and daddy (over Skype). 

My sister introduced us to this video:




And now we do things like this:

He's so photogenic.

I just love this boy so much!

Baby boy shows no interest in crawling.  When he's on his tummy, he'll only do what I refer to as "the Superman."  He throws his arms out straight in front of him, and his legs straight behind him.  And when he does try to move, it's only with his arms.  But since he was very little (we're talking about 2 months, folks) he has LOVED standing.

So I decided he might enjoy holding onto furniture and standing on his own.

He requires a ton of supervision because he doesn't realize if he lets go...he'll fall (and not just down onto his bum...the child falls straight back, tipping over like a domino!).  But oh boy, does he love it!

He sings AND plays the piano.  Is there anything this baby can't do?  ;)

We got to Skype with hubby last night.  In the past when I've used Skype with anyone, little man hasn't taken much interest.  But tonight he was super excited to see his daddy and they played a little bit.

It made me so happy.  I want this time of separation to be as easy as possible on all of us...and I think modern technology like Skype and cell phones definitely makes it easier!

Oooh look, my second post today!  I wanted to introduce myself to our new neighbors today, so I tried out a recipe for Cinnamon-Swirl Bread.  It turned out really well and I had a few people ask me for the recipe, so here it is!  All the credit must go to Meagan Lovell, because I got the recipe from her.  Thanks friend!

Ingredients:
1 1/3 cups granulated sugar, divided
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg, beaten
1 cup milk
1/3 cup vegetable oil

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.  Grease and flour a 9x5x3-inch loaf pan.  Mix 1/3 cup sugar and your cinnamon; set aside.  In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt, and the remaining sugar. In another bowl combine eggs, milk, and oil; then add this to the flour mixture.  Stir by hand until everything is just moistened.  Pour half the batter into your greased pan.  Sprinkle with half the cinnamon mixture.  Repeat with the remaining batter and cinnamon.  Use a knife to marble the batter.  Bake for 45-50 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.  Cool in the pan for 10 minutes before removing from the pan.

Enjoy!

Hubby is working away from home again.  Little man and I are making the best we can of the situation.  No one can make our baby boy laugh like his daddy can...but this Mama is doing the best she can!

Someone enjoyed Mama's camera....

Our little man has been playing with his tongue a lot lately.  A few days ago he discovered that if he blew raspberries at his daddy....then daddy would blow them back.

What fun!

Baby boy has been loving all the time with family over the holidays.  He has gotten used to almost constant attention and now complains when he doesn't get it.  His nana is especially good at spoiling him with attention.  And he loves playing with/eating Nana's many fun necklaces.  Oh....

and apparently her shoelaces!

He's just so funny...and flexible!

Look who's eight months old today!  He's changed so much and is getting so big.