Toothy Grins and Crab Crawling

I finally got a great picture of all Michael's teeth! He is becoming such a ham, normally all I have to do is take one picture with the flash and then he is staring at me grinning, waiting for the next "photo opp"!

Here he is hamming it up during snack time in his bumbo seat.

The water lover that he is, I fill up the tray in his walker with water and let him splash away...I think it's time to get him a pool!

Lovin' the water, again! In the kitchen sink this time!

Last weekend we went over to Yaya's house and the kiddos all got to play. Michael enjoyed his time with his cousins...especially when Wesley was sharing his goldfish with Michael!

The boys are so cute - Michael is in love with Wes...Wesley thinks Michael is pretty okay, too! He is still a little boring since he can't walk or get rowdy yet, but they are pretty cute together.

This past weekend Wesley even said "Michael" while handing him his sippy cup! It was so cute!

Once again, loving the water! He got to take a bath with his big cousins and he had a great time!

Michael is getting very brave with his walking abilities! He has figured out how to pull himself up to standing using most any object (including the cat - I've got to get a picture of that one!) and once up he is quite the daredevil, as shown here where he is turning circles while balancing against the coffee table!

Hamming again while helping daddy load the dishwasher.

Here he is playing on the floor with the cats - this is usually what leads to him using the cat as a standing tool, however I think he got distracted here posing for pictures so I couldn't catch it.

Look at the little ham!

What a cutie...

Finally, as mentioned in one of the last postings, Michael still does not like the grass. I have found that if I put him on a blanket and he is able to crawl to the edge and touch it at his will, he does better. In addition to that fact, he was sick with a cold all last week and has been on antibiotics which have given him a horrible diaper rash. So today I decided to let him crawl around on the blanket outside without a diaper to try to air out the rash.

He really enjoyed the fresh air, and picking at the grass from the safety of the blanket.

But when he got tired of being on the blanket...he had to figure out how to make it to me on the patio without touching the grass. This took some improvising on his part and debating on the best route to take. Finally, this is what he came up with...

The Crab Walk!!!!!

It was the funniest thing I have seen in a long time...I have never seen him do this before, so I truly think he figured out the best way to cross the grass with the least amount of contact possible! The rest of the evening he was doing this around the house...he has figured out the newest mode of transportation!

Summertime!

The end of the school year came so quickly. Sheniah has had a wonderful year in 6th grade. Her grades have been great and she has made some new friends and had a great year. She decided to participate in the talent show. She sang "Love Song" by Sarah Bareillis. She did such a wonderful job...she has such a beautiful voice. I was so proud of her for participating, for being so brave! And not only did she get up there and do it, but she did so wonderfully! It is nearly impossible to get pictures of her on stage, but I do have the entire performance filmed! Jackie and Maria came to cheer her on, too. It was a lot of fun.

A few short days later was the Awards Ceremony. Sheniah received an award for participating in the spelling bee as well as being a member of the Math 24 group. They competed with many other schools and Sheniah was an alternate for them.

She also received an award for being on the A/B Honor Roll the first 3 semesters of the year (since the last semester wasn't over yet). For this she got a medal! Here she is with her friend Chelsea who also received this award.

And just a few short days later she was off to Grandma's and her daddy's for the summer! She's only been gone less than a week, but I miss her like crazy and can't wait for her to come home!

While she was with mom they went around downtown Grand Junction and took some great pictures of the sculptures done by all the local artists. Sheniah really enjoyed it, and took some great shots. Here she is with a giant buffalo...

and here she is reading with a little girl. Mom said the sculpture was so intricate there were actually words in the book...pretty cool.

Finally, Michael is over 9 months old now! I can't believe he is going to be having a birthday soon! We went to the doctor last week for his 9 month check up. Here are his most recent stats:

Weight: 17# 14oz (20th percentile)

Height: 28 1/2" (20th percentile)

Head: 48 1/2cm (97th percentile!)

So, he's still a little guy with a big head! In all seriousness, though, they are a bit concerned that there may be too much fluid around his brain and that is why his head is so big. However, they are very encouraged because developmentally he is right on track if not advanced. We are just going to be keeping an eye on his development over the next few months and perhaps resort to a catscan around his 1 year check up if there is still any concern.

Otherwise he is a brilliant, beautiful little boy. Although I have tried to see if his head seems unusually large, I just can't see it. He seems so perfect to me, and I think if his head were any smaller he would look disproportionate.

He now has 4 teeth - top center two and bottom center two. The first bottom (left) came in on his 7 month birthday, the second bottom a month later on May 3. The top two came in rapidly after that - the first (left) on May 17th and the last top just a couple of weeks ago on his 9 month birthday!

Here is a big, toothy grin...

As you can see, he enjoys his toys more and more if he is free to stand outside them and play with them freely! He has learned quickly how to sit down gracefully if he feels he is falling...

and although he can get up on all fours and crawl normally, he still prefers the speed of the "Army Crawl"...

I think he is just preparing for the police academy!