"You Are Now Entering The Land Of Bumps And Bruises"

I've always heard people say how there is no manual on how to raise a child or what to do when you bring them home. Now that I'm living in this world, I can actually say that this is not exactly a true statement. I've been reading my "What To Expect The First Year" book diligently almost as if it's my bible of parenting. Now I will admit that it has led me astray a couple of times but with Google in my back pocket there is literally nothing that I can't find an answer to.

In the eight month chapter I stumbled across the sentence, "You are now entering the land of bumps and bruises," and I picture this like master parenting god announcing out of a bullhorn to all of us clueless idiots. It made me nautious at first but as I ease into this new fairytale land it has been it is quite funny. Sammy set off on all fours weeks ago and that has very quickly moved on to climbing, scooting, cruising, and climbing some more. No major accidents but we've already taken a few nasty spills that have left some serious bumps and bruises but they were all worth it. Watching him conquer each task is always a joy. He discovered the stairs a couple of weeks ago and with in minutes was in the middle of the staircase on his own. After getting half way up he looked to the top and the look on his face said nothing but "Oh Shit!" (of course only if he knew that word). He looked down to make sure I was there, then smiled and laughed and went on to the top.

He has also started the non stop babbling and grunting. This week he has begun to waive buh-bye on purpose when you ask him to. He grunts usually when he wants what you're eating or wants more. We're working on signing still but they haven't clicked yet. We'll see how long I stick that out. His favorite toys these days seem to be anything but toys. Remotes, make-up, dishes, trash, etc. There is a pile of empty cardboard boxes and water bottles and junk by his playpin and I had to explain to the parents as teachers rep that it wasn't trash; those are my son's toys. That probably didn't look so good but he loves nothing more than to crunch a water bottle like 86 times and then bang it on the floor. The other evening he scoped out the diaper box and now uses this as his new walker. I'm considering just collecting the diaper boxes and making a playhouse out of them for his first birthday. He'd probably like better than anything I spent money anyway, so what's the point right? I'm just "Keeping it classy San Deigo".