Long time and nothing to read

I'm sorry for not keeping everyone updating with David's progress. Honestly, I'd rather be playing with him than on the computer and when he goes to bed-I eat dinner and go to bed myself. So I left off at the end of June and it's now almost the middle of August-yeesh, where do I begin....

David has had a lot of firsts over the last month and a half. So I will just fill you in as best I can.
JULY
1. First ride in the baby swing. Dave and I went out to dinner while a coworker friend watched David and she had him outside in their swing while her son blew bubbles at David. Apparently, he just giggled and giggled. Wish I could have been there to see it. It was nice to 'get out', but I just kept thinking of my little guy.
2.Uncle Tim finally held David. He was now of a substantial weight for Tim to bounce him on his knee. I feel for Ruth if Tim waits 6 months to hold Baby Stine ;)
3.David 'jumped' on the trampoline at my aunt's house. He was too tired to enjoy it..he nearly fell asleep while my sister and I bounced him. We may have to try that again.
4. He began getting up on his hands and knees. He isn't crawling, but I think he really wants to get moving. He keeps one leg bent at the knee so his foot is in front of other knee. As soon as he stretches out-he goes DOWN! He just hasn't quite figured it out.
5. Daddy and Mommy decided it was time for him to start sleeping through the night. He is 7 months old for goodness sakes. We did the 'cry-it-out' method. I think I did just as much crying. The first night he cried for 30 minutes straight and we then went in his room every 15 minutes there after. We picked him up, patted his back, did not say a word and put him back in his crib. I think this first night was harder on me than it was on him. When I laid him back in the crib he gave me the saddest face I've ever seen and began screaming again. Of course, then I started bawling again and ran out to Dave in the hallway where he was waiting to give me a hug and some encouragement. Luckily, just after an hour he fell asleep. Each subsequent night the length of crying diminished by 20 minutes. So by the 4th night-no crying. For the most part if he wakes up now he is able to put himself back to sleep. It sure feels great to sleep 8+ hours a night. It definitely was not a fun process, but worth it in the end for all of us.
6. I took David to the park and decided to take my chances with sitting him in the sand. I thought he might enjoy feeling the sand in his little puffy hands. He did and to my amazement never once tried to eat it! What is wrong with this kid-don't they all eat dirt? Not that I want him to, I was just so surprised and so were the other mom's at the park. It doesn't appear to be a fluke either--we have gone back multiple times and no sand-eating. What a smart baby!
7. We had a family dinner at a local Indian restaurant where David sat in the restaurant-provided high chair. He looked so darn cute. My baby is not such a baby anymore. He also enjoyed some mashed carrots from my plate and some other Indian food I don't know the name of.
AUGUST
8. David had is first OREO cookie all thanks to his Aunts, Krystal and Kelly. It was terribly cute to see chocolate all over his chubby cheeks, but seriously. He is going to have a hard enough time with sweets if he is anything like me, do we really need to start this early?! I really don't mind, but I'm not going to make a habit out of it.
9. David was invited to his first birthday party for our neighbor girl and had a caricature done of himself. The resemblance is a little off, but the artist definitely got the ears right!
10. David loves kids and bouncy balls. He is so entertained by other kids. I hope that means he will be an easy going guy and have lots of buddies. David squeals whenever a ball is bounced in front of him. We finally purchased 2 for him this weekend. Poor guy had to chew on tennis balls-that's all we had!
11. David is now feeding himself. Not cereal, but little puffs that dissolve quickly in his mouth. It's so cute to watch him maneuver those tiny fingers and the concentration! He generally puts 4 fingers in his mouth too, but he gets the food in there.

Dave and I are expecting our little guy to skip crawling. As I said before, he has a hard time keeping both knees under himself. He scoots around in circles on his tush or if he is on his tummy he will push himself backwards. I discovered this new trick by leaving him in his bedroom for a moment and when I returned, he had backed himself into the closet! He has recently started pulling himself up on furniture too. Not quite to standing, but up on his knees. He loves to stand if we prop him up on something and would hang out like that all day if we let him. Any way you look at it-David is a mover. I liked it when he was in the same place as when I left the room, now it's always a surprise. He is such a special little guy and SO happy. He is always smiling. Every day I feel so blessed. I am both excited and sad that he is almost 8 months old. The time has gone by too quickly, but I look forward to the other 'firsts' David has yet to conquer.