Three fourths of a year.

Well, well, well. I have found myself describing my littlest guy a little differently than I did just one month ago. I find myself saying, "He's a MESS!"..."He's ALL boy!" ... "He sure is BUSY!" It's my nice, positive way of telling other Moms that he is totally wearing me out. They seem to understand the terminology - especially Moms of boys.

The good thing is, aside from being totally on the move, he is still amazingly even-tempered, and pretty much along for the ride. He is especially tolerant of his brother's antics, clumsiness, and overall rough treatment. Most of the time he just looks at me like, "Aren't you going to DO something about him?"

It's really been remarkable how quickly he has gone from crawling to pulling up to standing holding on with just one hand. I have a feeling he will walk sooner than we think. *sigh* We got him this push toy and although he likes it, I think he "gets" that we WANT him to do it, so he lets go and tries to find something we DON'T want him to do.

For example, in this short two-minute video he gets into the electronics three times and the steam cleaner hose twice. You can see what I mean by rough handling as Jack repositions him a few times.

(Disclaimer: I don't usually let Jack move him this much, but someone's gotta hold the camera.)

If he does this enough times.... he ends up like this:

That's right... contained. I love the expression on his face here as if to say, "Great. Not this thing again."

"Look Ma! No teeth!" The other major change since the 8-month update is the massive amount of drool dripping off this kid's chin. His outfits or bibs are soaked most of the time. He gnaws on his toys, fist, spoons, and constantly sucks on his bottom lip to soothe his sore gums. Jack did the same thing at this age, and seeing him with that lip tucked in brings back so many memories. Now, the MAAAAJOR difference is... Jack was NOT still nursing at this time. That's all I will say about that. You Moms who breast-fed your babies through teething know exactly what I am talkin' about.

His laugh is totally contagious and he expects a tickle fest at every diaper or outfit change. He is a total Houdini during diaper changes and (sad to say) we have officially hit the age to start discipline. Of course, I just mean using a firm voice and pushing those chubby hips down into the changing table to prevent him from diving off of it.

Jack seemed totally surprised to hear me use a firm voice with Davis. To be honest, I think he kinda liked it. It's almost as if he was saying, "See Davis, that's how she talks to me too. You better just get used to it." I have to use that same firm "Davis, NO!" when he spits out his baby food and laughs. Yeah, not funny. As soon as I correct him, I hear the parrot behind me in the kitchen, "Davis, NO! Mommy said no spitting!" ... followed by, "Thanks, Jack, but I will handle it. Remember, you are only responsible for Jack."

We are about to say goodbye to the beloved (and I DO MEAN BELOVED) infant carrier. His toes are officially over the edge although he is still shy of the weight limit. I wish I could whisper to him to tuck his legs in to make it less obvious, but realize that very soon I will be carrying him everywhere we go.

[This would be okay, except that his favorite activities while being held include pulling the straw out of my SONIC drink, flicking me with Diet Dr. Pepper. I mean, water. ahem. He recently shoved it back into the cup, puncturing the side of the styrofoam, creating a sticky soda fountain out the side of it into my grocery cart. There I am, totally sucking on the side of a Route 44-ounce huge cup looking even more like a soda-addict than I usually do while he is laughing and hitting my arm.]

He pulls my necklace, tugs on my earrings, and loves to slobber up his hands really well before touching my glasses lens. This is in addition to the bra strap pulling, shirt sucking, back arching, and constant attempts to reach down and pull Jack's hair. He'll get better with time. Right now, he is in the carrier most of the time when we are out. I know he'll get used to it and I may just have to leave my soda in the car (gasp.)

He was getting so big that when I received these adorable pajamas from Emily (Evan) in the mail, I held them up, immediately determined they were mis-sized and would fit him NOW. They were so soft and cute, I just had to put them on him. Well, sure enough, they were huge, but he wore them the whole night anyway.

Here is our problem-solver in action. I have to resist the urge to help him, and frequently have to remind Jack not to do things for Davis that he can do for himself. You can hear my excitement when he finally figured out how to stand up without dropping the toy.

It's been so much fun seeing this side of his personality emerge. He is rough and tumble, adventurous, and fearless. He loves to be swung in the air, jostled, and wrestled with. He splashes in the tub, makes loud noises, and attempts numerous mad dashes for the electronics, dog water, and treadmill throughout the day, every day. No matter what, though, he does it all with a huge open-mouth gummy dimpled smile that I can hardly resist.

In three short months we will celebrate his first birthday and send Big Brother off to Kindergarten. As sad as that is, I am truly looking forward to the time alone with him to be his first teacher. It's completely starting over with the daily learning routine, just like I did with Baby Jack... beginning with the very first lesson:

"Books are for reading, not eating."