Ack! He's Crawling!!!!

Well, just 3 days shy of turning 7 months, our little guy learned to crawl. While Andrew came home very much on target developmentally, despite my worries, he's still following the same pattern that most of the children adopted internationally I know. It's like once they get home, have the attention, love, support and security, they go through the normal stages of development lightening fast. I've been able to watch it first hand now with both of my children and it's truly amazing.

At 7 months and home for 3 weeks, Andrew has gone from only being able to sit up using the support of both arms/hands to crawling and pulling himself up on the couch. He had only been bottle feed and wasn't thrilled when we introduced the spoon. Now, he eats cereal and baby food from the spoon and is finger feeding himself some Gerber puffs and cookies. He primarily said "Ahhhhh" in different intonations and now is in that fun stage where it's a whole bunch of consonant vowel combinations. I especially love when he gets slightly disgruntled, like when I make him lie still during a changing and he says things like "ya-ya-bun-ne-ne!"

While the developmental milestones are wonderful to see, I think seeing the comfort level grow is my favorite. Andrew is blessed with a pretty laid back personality and I can't complain about our transitions. Still, I can see him become more relaxed. He smiles more, esp. at his grandparents and uncle. He seems more content to just "be" sometimes and not always moving and exploring. He snuggles in closer when I hold him, relaxes more in my arms when I feed him and accepts sleep a little more quickly at nap times. Still fights it like a champ at bed time, but we'll get there.

I have to admit, our new normal is coming along nicely. Here's a photo I recently snapped of the kids together. I just love it!