He's got skillz

Little Jamie is pulling himself up on things.

Un-un-un-un, I can hardly believe it.

Today he played with the cat scratching post.

Meow, meow Schtinky-do!

(That's what I've been calling him)

SIDE-RANT:

"Kids or cats," I grumbled the other morning as I put the offending caterwauler outside at O-dark thirty.  One or the other is always waking me up in the wee hours.  Sometimes I feel like I just can't catch a break.  When one of the usual violators [of my sleep] is zonked, someone else decides to disrupt my zzzz's with whatever-who-knows.  Mrar!

And this was yesterday!

He pulled himself up into this position.

He was laughing hysterically at his brothers, and

smooshing his face into the mattress.

Based on the baby calendars, Diego didn't pull himself up into a stand until he was 9 months old.  Truen was 8 months.  Schtinky is 7 months.  Yowza.  It makes sense, but I'm still a little shocked.  He has loved being upright, standing and stomping, since he was 2-3 months old.

He is also "commando" crawling, getting from point A to point B by pulling with his arms and pushing with his toes.  He is getting up and rocking on his hands and knees and getting up on his hands and feet like a little bear.  I am amazed.  He's already mobile.  !!!  I plan to put up the baby gate on the stairs tomorrow.

What else?

Schtinky-do!

Little JAMIE

• Loves rolling around on the bed right before bedtime, with little coos, mostly face-down and smooshing his face into the sheets
• "Dances" when we whistle or sing, be-bopping by shaking his head back-and-forth
• His favorite activity is holding onto my pointer fingers, standing and stomping in front of me, smiling happily
• Wiggles all. the. time.
• Laughs gleefully at his brothers
• Does full-body lunges and head cranks to be able to see what his brothers are doing
• Turns head to "Schtinky" and "Stinky" (whoops)
• Gets very happy and excited to see his Dada
• New thing: spreading arms akimbo with fists clenched, mostly in the highchair, face tipped upwards with a huge grin
• Sometimes still tenses up when visually overloaded -- he scrunches up and gets so stiff it is like holding a doll (this was extremely common at 2-3 months . . . I couldn't even walk with him facing out or up/down the stairs)
• Bites and pulls my nipple at the end of nursing when he's getting bored or frustrated (yeeeouch!)
• Is getting his first tooth (the same one that Diego is losing): lower front left
• L-O-V-E-S the cats
• Easily rolls out of his wrap (the swaddle), even with his arms down
• Wakes up at 7:00 AM like clockwork
• Has started taking a long morning nap vs. long afternoon nap (new to me -- both his brothers were long afternoon nappers)
• Totally has tan lines in his fat rolls
• Loves to pull hair -- I swear he's going to give me bangs with how much hair he gets ahold of and breaks off
• Snaps my right bra-strap and pulls Blaine's chest hair when we are holding him on our hip
• Will repeat "ma-ma-ma-ma" and "da-da-da-da" (though not reliably)