When you’re pregnant, everyone tells you how fast it goes. And, you nod your head numbly because who hasn’t heard that a million times. Seven months in, Luke has left the newborn stage far behind and is creeping up on toddler-hood faster than I care to admit. I honestly feel like he was a little baby for about a week.  Just this week he pounded through several major milestones and is looking more and more like a big kid every day.

Monday morning, as I was getting ready for work, Luke and Eric were hanging out in our bed. Watching me move back and forth through the room, Luke kept saying “ma, ma, mama” until I finally was finished and went to pick him up. We weren’t ready to mark it as the first word until late Monday night after we laid him down and we heard him calling “mama” from his crib. Talk about tugging on your heartstrings.

He’s also cruising through our living room like a small soldier on a secret mission. He’s army-crawling so fast that Foxy, our cat, has taken permanent residence under the bed. Fortunately, all of this extra exertion has led to some better sleeping for us all.

My personal favorite, though, is the very slobbery kisses that are now bestowed upon me by my little man. Thus far, he’s not sharing them with anyone else and it feels like amazing payoff for 9-months of heartburn and two hours of laborious pushing. 

I know that he’s going to keep getting more fun the older he gets but I really wish I could bottle a little bit of him at this age with his giggles, tiny teeth and chubby baby arms that wrap so tightly around my neck.