I had him on my back doing dishes yesterday, and we were listening to random mp3s. Free Fallin' by Tom Petty came on, and he started clapping his hands. He clapped through almost the whole song! It's so fun seeing what kind of music they like. For Libby, her favorites are Nirvana and Jet. Reagan likes hip hop and rap (God help me), and when she was younger, Limp Biskit, Kid Rock and the Chili Peppers. William seems to stick with Alternative and Mainstream rock, but he tends to mimic the tastes of his parental units. Ari likes the classics....Hendrix and Pink Floyd, and apparently Tom Petty. He's a much more mellow guy, that is for sure. We had to find the Tom Petty cd in the changer to see if he liked it. He didn't seem to care for the older stuff as much, but he nursed to sleep listening. Good times. :) He is a joy, but he is missing his sibs, especially Libby. He couldn't settle last night, and was awake until 1:00! He usually is happier and calmer once a tooth finally breaks through.

Mothering is such a great job, because it always feels like a challenge or an experiment. I don't mean that in a bad way, just that it's way more exciting than people give it credit for being.

Ari has his third tooth, on the bottom left, right next to the first two. Now if he would only sleep...

couldn't be all the coffee I've been drinking, could it?

I can't keep the floor clean enough for this child. He's always got something in his mouth. This morning it was a rock! How did a rock get into my house?

Ari woke me up at 4:00 a.m. to play. He sleeps really well most of the time, and I wouldn't mind the sleep deprivation if I knew I'd get a nap today. We have the Dish Network people coming this afternoon, so I probably won't get one though.

It's ok. He's such a doll baby. He entertained himself for an hour and then decided he'd go back to sleep. I'm wide awake now though, in that zombie-mom way.

His new thing is to "wink". He scrunches his face and blinks both eyes. If we wink at him, he "winks" back with that goofy face. He makes us all belly laugh.

Two nights ago, he was playing in the living room when I heard him grunting. I looked over to see him face down in a laundry basket, his little feet up in the air, kicking like crazy. He'd pulled up to the basket and fallen in! The big kids and I couldn't help but laugh, and that made him laugh. That's when he started making the goofy face. He has us rolling, and he liked that. He's been doing it ever since.

Last night we had lentil soup for dinner. I strained some for the baby, and he gobbled it up! I finally had to cut him off. He was getting too tired to chew, and I was afraid he'd choke. He'd managed to drop lentils under his gigantic bib and required a complete wardrobe change. Such a fun guy!

Aristotle is 8 months old. He was an unexpected and happily received surprise. Now he is crawling all over the house and putting everything he can find into his mouth. With a 2 year old big sister, he can find plenty. He sends me into panic on a daily basis now, rushing to retrieve something I thought I had already cleaned up from his little fingers or mouth.

He just started eating solid food. I tried some purees with him when he turned 6 months old. His older sister had loved mashed banana and baby oatmeal. Ari, however, clenched his mouth closed, squished his eyes shut, shook his head, and batted the spoon away with his monkey arms. He wasn't upset about our efforts, simply amused by us trying to put the cold mushy stuff in his mouth. Once the spoon moved away, he'd get a goofy look on his face and laugh at us because we were obviously just very silly!

He decided to try solids about a week and a half ago, after discovering a piece of abandoned peanut butter sandwich on the floor. Of course I panicked, babies aren't supposed to have peanut butter until they're at least two years old, older if there's a history of food allergies. He was so very pleased with himself though! I offered him banana chunks instead of mashed, and he was thrilled. Aha! Mom can be a little slow on the uptake at times. After that, we tried steamed apple chunks, and then he decided applesauce, pureed peaches and baby oatmeal really weren't too bad either. He still prefers the chunky stuff though. Carrots passed the taste test with flying colors. Today we will give green beans a try. They were a perennial favorite of the older sibs.

The boy is just a joy. Even when he's fussing over new teeth, he can manage a smile. He loves pat-a-cake and the itsy bitsy spider. He's even started 'singing' along when I change his diaper. He starts clapping and waving his arms like a madman when Blue's Clues or Dora the Explorer comes on TV.

Aristotle is a scientist, just like his daddy. One needn't have a college degree to be a scientist, just curiosity and bravery. My boy is curious! He watches everything we do with total concentration. He's also very brave. He's already tried to scale the stairs and climb onto too many moving objects to mention. He surprises us daily with new things he's learned.

The little guy is determined to walk way before I am ready for him to stop being a baby. He's been crawling and pulling up for weeks. He's got good balance and a sturdy stance, and he's been letting go with one hand. He even let go with both hands a couple of times, balancing for a few seconds before sitting down. The other kids walked at 9-10 months. I won't be surprised if he breaks their record. He is free to take his time though.

My heart already breaks every time I pick up my big boy. I miss my little baby. He is still cuddly and so affectionate, offering big slobbery kisses every time I hug him. I just know from experience that this time goes by too fast. It seems to be going even faster with him. He comes crawling for me, and visions of a little boy with a baseball hat and a teenager with his first car flood my brain.

Holding on and letting go, the constant tight wire act of a mom.