What's been keeping us busy: Joshua crawling (videos)!

So the other major thing that's been keeping us on our toes and becoming more fun (albeit time-consuming) by the minute?  Our little guy is now officially mobile!

Here's a video I took a few weeks ago, while he was still trying to figure out how to position his knees to get proper traction and forward movement.


Two days after that video was taken, he was a full-fledged crawler.  Here's a video I took last week, when he turned eight months -- you can see how his new-found mobility wreaked havoc on my attempts to take his tiger comparison Joshua Watch photo.  :)


Even though this second video is less than a week old, it still looks so awkward and slow compared to how Joshua crawls now... It's incredible how quickly he picks things up and grows and develops!  He still hasn't figured out how to turn while crawling -- he'll stop, pull himself up to sitting, pivot on his bottom, and then start crawling in a new direction.  But I bet he'll figure out this last little step within the next few days!

It's also been fascinating watching his personality as it emerges under these new circumstances.  He's definitely a strong-willed and stubborn wee lad -- I'm afraid he comes by that honestly through both his parents.  :)  Now that he can propel himself around the apartment, he's decided that his favorite toy in the world is the power cable to our laptop.  Followed very closely by the DVD player, and then the cable hooking up our computer to our TV.  And really any electronic cords and cables.  We'll tell him no, redirect him, put him back in the very middle of the room -- and without fail, he'll look around, figure out how to reposition himself, and then very determinedly start crawling his way right back to the cable we took him away from.  Sigh.  Time to figure out how to teach/train/discipline an eight-month-old...

It's so much fun playing with him, though.  I mean, it always has been, but now there's this whole new world of movement and mobility.  He's so pleased with himself when he can get to where he wants to go.  And he's so inquisitive -- he'll crawl all over the apartment just to be able to personally inspect every bit of carpet fluff and every chair leg he can propel himself towards.  Such a strong and smart little guy!

Added bonus -- all this burning of energy means he's been napping and sleeping really, really well lately.  :)  Here's hoping he keeps this up!