Whoever's a Big Boy, Please Stand Up

Today is Jack's 7 month birthday, and I love this age! I'm sure I'll find new favorite ages for various reasons as we go through the years, but he is such a good buddy to bring places. Don't get me wrong, I miss the cute newbie baby that slept in the car seat while we did everything, but this stage offers so much more interaction and opportunities for laughter. Jack and I went grocery shopping this morning, and he loves being freed from the car seat for the shopping cart. I probably could have gotten him in this thing a little sooner than I did, but he's been spending shopping trips in the cart for about 2 weeks now.
In other super exciting news, Jack has learned how to pull himself up from sitting to a standing position on his own in his crib. For the past few days I have been holding his hands, and he has been pulling up with a little bit of assistance from me. Yesterday we both sat in front of his crib, and I showed him a few times how to pull himself up using the bars. He made a few unenthusiastic attempts and was not successful. However, I put him in the crib today sitting next to the side and patted my hands on the side of the crib. He grabbed onto the bar and TA-DA...he stood up all by himself. He was so excited and proud of himself! This picture is the third time where I had my phone ready to snap a picture quickly.

Then he stood there for a second looking down at Izzy on the floor.

Once I put him back on the floor, he just wanted to attempt this new skill over and over again. He kept grabbing onto my pants when I stood next to him trying to use my pants to pull up. He was able to get up to the balls of his feet in a squat position, but he would lose his balance and fall back down.

I think tonight I'll be raising the crib bar just in case he feels like practicing when he should be sleeping. It's probably unlikely, but better safe than sorry!!