Mark 8 months old

These are all pics from Julia's Second Birthday Party Bash! Mark was such a trooper and allowed me lots of freedom so that I could host and entertain our little guests!

*Mark is army crawling now! I love to watch him go from one side of the playroom to the other totally by himself...Julia does not like it so much because Mark is very curious about her toys, so we are working on sharing and taking turns!!!

*sits up totally unassisted! This has helped me tremendously because I can plop him wherever I am and as long as he has a binky and a toy he is so happy!

*tonight was his first bath in the entire tub, not the baby tub within the tub. He had the whole tub to play and sit up and grab toys...and he LOVED it!

*eats whatever he gets his chubby little hands on! I have to watch out for this one...he seems to be insatiable at times...and really doesn't want spoon-fed food as much as he wants to feed himself and hold onto a cracker...so he gets ritz crackers, saltine crackers, pretzel crackers, graham crackers...along with all his fruits and veggie jar foods...he finishes an entire jar with each meal!!! So he has cereal and a fruit jar in the morning, a veggie jar at lunch with puffs and crackers...and more cereal at night with fruit or a veggie jar or Pastina and veggie jar...the great part about this is that Mark nurses less now, which also gives mommy more freedom! (which means I get to play with Julia and Mark more...and clean, and cook!)

*watches Baby Einstein and Baby Faith videos...and is glued to them! (I totally remember Julia doing this)

*Squeals when Daddy walks in the room after being at work all day...cries when mommy walks out of the room at any given time...yup, mama's boy!

*Talks! We have no idea what he is saying of course, but even Julia takes notice when he goes on and on and on, she looks at me and says with pure astonishment, "Mark talking?" Sure is, sweetheart! I'm sure he's saying how happy he is to spend the day with such lovely company :)

*Favorite spot to be is on mommy's hip, or in front of his baby mirror/piano toy that lights up and plays music.

*No teeth yet...but drooling lots and loves to chew on everything.

*Wears a size 2/3 shoe and is starting to wear 12 mos. clothes (6/9 mos still fit of course...but he is getting so long!)

Lord, Thank you for a son. What a blessing it is to have a daughter and a son and love them both so much. I pray for Mark as he grows to have a soft heart and a teachable way about him. I pray he is sensitive to his sister's needs and is sweet and kind. I pray he obeys us and honors us. I pray he loves you with all his heart, mind, soul, and strength.