Parenthood.12

Baby Leopard in his stroller--a magical place that calms him down anytime and gives Francisco and me a chance to talk to each other.

8 months: Baby Leopard now gives kisses by opening his mouth and sticking out his tongue and licking you. 

He's becoming very fun to play with: he giggles hysterically when ​you tease him with a toy, but don't let him grab it. 

He's crawling everywhere. Our house is not babyproofed, so it's tough on us. When he sees a pile of cords (of which there are many in our house), he starts panting and takes off toward them as fast as he can. 

He still reminds us of a puppy: he follows us around, and looks up at us expectantly; then he finds a shoe and chews on it for a while. 

​He's getting teeth #5 and #6. These ones are taking a toll more than any previous teeth. Sometimes he just looks at me and scrunches up his face and starts to cry. 

He is an avid eater: we have his high chair (and all our meals) on the porch, which is a pretty good place to make a mess, if you're going to do that. ​

​I'm pretty sure now it's safe to not be dairy-free anymore. I think that the baby only got over his allergy by my feeding him yogurt. In retrospect, the main problem with being dairy-free is the learning curve--what you can eat, what you can't, what sort of foods make sense to cook (for me, the answer was roasted vegetables and many massive pots of chili). But it is nice to eat M&M's again. And goat cheese. And ice cream. I think I may prefer the almond milk now, though. ​

I think that Baby Leopard must be the happiest baby that ever lived (besides when we're putting him to sleep in his crib, during which he turns onto his stomach, rotates himself to face the door, and cries, "Ma-ma-ma-ma-ma," for hours on end). He wakes up and smiles and claps in the morning. I love his new-found ability to convey his happiness through clapping--it's great to have the beginnings of communication.