Ronan is 8 months old!

Ronan turned 8 months old a few days ago. We can't believe that time is flying so fast. This last month Ronan became a steady sitter and could now pull himself up to a sitting position. By the end of the month he could get into a crawling position and inch himself around a little. We're sure he'll be crawling for real by the end of this next month.

It's really exciting to see Ronan's personality shining through more and more each month. He has his crying moments when he's really tired or sick, but for the most part he's a really happy, smiley baby. People in public are amazed by the sweetness of his smile. He loves staring at strangers until they look at him, flashing them a huge smile that fills his face, and making them smile back at him. He laughs out loud when Brielle is doing something that amuses him, like playing catch or dancing around in a new princess outfit. Brielle is also enjoying him more, since she feels like she can actually play with him and make him crack up. He also enjoys games and laughs in anticipation of us doing something he finds amusing. He really seems to love music and moving around to it.

While 7 months old, he took a long car trip to Bandon and a long plane flight to Florida (pictures will be posted soon). He did really well with traveling, partly because he's so social and loves seeing new people around him. Amazingly, he didn't cry on the plane once. The most challenging thing is that he's in a phase now where he's compelled to grab at anything around him and try to put it in his mouth, particular objects that he perceives to be forbidden, like cords and remote controls.

Physically, his blonde hair is getting longer and sometimes stands up in the middle of his head. He has two new teeth on the top, bringing the grand total to four. We don't know his height/weight stats because he doesn't have another pediatrician appointment until he's 9 months old.

Ronan can be pretty talkative. Sometimes he babbles using several different letter sounds, and sometimes he just makes one long, loud vowel sound as if he's enjoying just listening to his voice. Unfortunately he likes to do this when he first wakes up in the morning. He's a cuddly baby who loves giving hugs and the occasional wet, open-mouthed kiss.