Joel

He has a farm animal puppet glove on his head. Gabriel put it there and told me to take a picture.

The top half while sitting in his new jumper.

And the bottom half. Wow.

I love this picture.

Joel (a.k.a. The Pudgelet) had his first big belly laugh last Sunday. We finally got Gabriel's Bozo Bopping Bag blown up from Christmas (!), and every time he punched it and it wobbled back and forth Joel just squealed and laughed with delight. Which of course made Gabriel belly laugh too. It was so darn cute! Joel can't take his eyes off of his brother if he's in the room.

He has his first tooth that's finally broken through on the bottom. I'm thinking another one is one the way the way he's gnawing on everything in sight. He's starting to communicate more with little noises (and big loud noises too). He is such a sweet and affectionate baby and loves to be kissed. He's trying to kiss back but all he can do is lunge at your face with his mouth open.

I think he may be days away from starting to crawl. This morning I found him in his crib on all fours for the first time. Usually he's just propped up with his arms and his legs are straight behind him. Then later at my mom and dad's he started rocking back and forth and my mom said, "Uh oh. He's about to take off!" All of a sudden my floors seem even more full of pet hair then they actually are with the thought of him sashaying around the house face down. Ugh.

His days of being a little helpless baby are over, which makes me a little sad even though it also makes things much easier. At least he still has that baby smell. I wish I could bottle it. I could take it out and remember these wonderful days even when he gets the sweaty boy smell.