Jace-- 8 months

Jace, aka our "cuteness" (Hals' pet name for him), is now 8 months old! What? How did that happen!? It's crazy to me. Here are a few pictures and some updates on our handsome little man.

*Jace is a Mama's boy. He fusses and squawks when he sees me until I hold him. This is a recent development. He loves Devin too, but he seems to want me when I am around. Awwwww. I love it. It makes me feel special that he knows me and that he wants me. Makes every mama happy.

*Jace swinging for the first time! He loved it. Don't worry about the high water pants- its a common problem around here. They aren't that bad, though, just slightly bad.
*Speaking of clothes, we are in 12 months and bigger. Ummm....yeah. No comment.
*Weight wise- He hasn't had any appointments lately, but I think he is between 22-23 lbs. according to our scale.

*Jace's favorites include: his best friend the binky, graham crackers, his sister, his exersaucer (he loves to jump up and down in that thing...), baths (he is quite the splasher), and his music toy in his crib.
*This music toy is a stuffed animal that plays music when you pull down on it (thank you Middleton 4th of July parade 2010!) It hangs in Jace's crib and he loooooves this thing. Nothing can soothe him quite like it. At bed time and nap time, he works his way over to his toy and secures his little hand on it so that when the music ends, he can just yank to start it up again. Sometimes Devin and I hear him early in the morning (before we care to be awake) playing his music over and over again. He is quite content just listening to his toy.

*Jace's least favorite things: being hungry......ummmm, that's about it. He is generally such a happy boy.

*Jace eats anything and everything we will offer him. He still eats baby food and rice cereal, but really prefers table food. He loves oatmeal, bread, crackers, fruit, avocados, noodles, etc. He didn't used to like bananas, but now he eats them just fine.
*Jace has his two bottom teeth and his two top teeth are about half way down. They are cute, cute, cute. It's amazing how little teeth can change their appearance!

*Jace got this Simba stuffed animal from Grandpa and Grandma Strobel and he loves to cuddle with it when he sleeps. Nevermind that it is larger than he is.

*Jace understands the command "clap!" and he is getting better at actually clapping (sometimes). He thinks it is very funny when he manages to do so.
*No crawling yet for this boy. It is funny how babies are so different. I remember Hallie at this age was rolling like crazy, clear across the floor in order to get where she wanted. Jace does not do this. He rolls once or twice, but doesn't use it as a transportation tool like Hallie did. He is much more content staying in the same place for a long time. He likes to roll onto his stomach and just stay there.
*Jace overall has a pretty calm temperament, but he will also let us know when he wants something. He is such a fun boy. I can't imagine life without this little man. He is everyone's best bud in the house. Life must have been much bleaker without him 8 months ago!

And just for comparison's sake, here is a picture of Hallie ( she's on the left and Sadie is on the right) at the same age. It is definitely apparent that these two are siblings. The genetics in it are strange to me, though. Most people agree with us that they do not look like Devin or I. However, they must have been cut from the same cloth as they really resemble each other! They both have such fair skin, blonde hair, and bright blue eyes (both Devin and I have brown eyes). Odd.

Happy 8 months to our cutest Jacer.