Over the past few weeks Avery has been working on pulling himself up the bottom two stairs, reaching the bottom landing. He finally had success in a grand way.
Earlier this afternoon he climbed up the bottom two stairs to reach Lindsey. Then just a few minutes before bedtime, he started climbing in pursuit of one of Commodus’ toys. Each time Avery got a step closer to his target, Lindsey moved it up a couple more steps. Several minutes later, Avery summited the stairs and sat proudly with Mommy!

On Sunday we took Avery to Washington Park in Seattle. He went on a swing for the first time. He was also kind enough to pose for some eight-month pictures with his parents. Here are our faves.

Naps usually start with a few minutes of fussing before Avery settles into a slumber. This afternoon the crying persisted. When we went to peek in on him we found an unhappy little boy sitting up on his knees, clinging to the crib rail. After the photo-op Lindsey plucked him out of the crib, and I proceeded to lower the mattress. The top rail will be a little harder to reach for a while.
I guess we shouldn’t have been surprised to find Avery in such a predicament. He’s also been trying to climb up the stairs. He reaches with his arms and pulls himself up, but hasn’t figured out how to boost himself onto the first step yet. Instead he bounces on his knees in an effort to propel himself. It’s very entertaining to watch.
Help! I’m up and I can’t get down!

I wonder if Avery will take after his ultra-geeky, software engineering, always-on-the-computer-Daddy? So far it looks like he enjoys typing on (and tasting) the keyboard. I was telling Lindsey how this keyboard was one of my favorites. It held up through many late-night college programming assignments, and even lasted a few years beyond college. Eventually it wore out and was stashed in the closet until the other day when it became Avery’s toy. I think he likes it.
When Avery’s not typing he’s been busy:

• Slithering around (still)
• Going to playgroup with Mommy
• Trying to catch Commodus
• Eating lots of food
• Exploring everything
• Splashing in the bath

We ran out of candy just in time for Avery’s bedtime routine. He spent his first Halloween passing out candy with Mommy and Daddy. Commodus stayed upstairs behind the recently installed baby/pug gate, barking every time the doorbell rang. Between trick-or-treaters, we played on the floor with Avery. He’s scooting around pretty quickly these days. He gets up on his hands and knees, but his knees slip out from under him when he starts moving.
Avery has become quite the little eater. He enjoys anything we feed him and has Lindsey’s appetite. He’s also starting to figure out the sippy cup and tried peach puffs this week.