Things That Are Fun (when you are eight months old)

• Walking. (Duh.) Holding on with both hands, he can go fast. Holding on with one hand leaves the other hand free to carry a prize, or touch something that looks interesting. He can cruise around the furniture or push around one of his walkers and feel all independent. Crawling? Who needs it. Walking is where it's at.
  
• Peek-a-boo, in various forms. He "hides" on his own, or I cover him with a blanket and he pulls it off, or I cover myself with a blanket, which he is starting to realize he can pull off.
  
• Pulling all the tapes (yes, we still have tapes) off the TV stand. Also, sticking his hand in the VCR. Also, it turns out our new DVD player will slide around on the shelf if pushed.
  
• Opening cupboard doors. And closing them. And opening them. And closing them.
  
• Chewing on his beautiful wooden toy box. *sob*
  
• Eating pieces of lint that I didn't even notice on the floor. Guess it's time to vacuum.
  
• Pulling all the books out of his book basket. And chewing on them.
  
• Reading Pat the Bunny with Daddy, now that he "gets" it.
  
• Daddy. Daddy is totally fun.
  
• Banging on stuff with other stuff.
  
• Paper.
  
• Rocking. As in, sitting on the floor, rocking himself.
  
• Sitting on his rocking horse. He hasn't mastered rocking it. Actually I think that's because he doesn't realize it's just supposed to rock back and forth. For some reason he thinks it's supposed to take him on rides all around the house. Don't ask me why he thinks that.
  
• Chasing the cat.
  
• "Petting" the cat. I don't think the cat thinks this is fun.
  
• The cat's favorite toy (a ball that rolls in a round track).
  
• Thrash-dancing. Especially effective when done while holding the baby gate. (Video to follow.)
  
• Eating.
  
• Splashing and playing with floaty boats in the tub.
  
• Typing. Daddy is trying to teach him his name on the Commodore 64.
  
• Talking on the phone. Ever since he talked to Aunt Sandra on the phone a few weeks ago, no one can talk on the phone in his vicinity without him attempting to chime in. If he happens to be in your arms at the time, he would also like to chew on the phone cord. We have been making use of speaker phone recently.
  
• Talking in general is fun. He can make all kinds of sounds, from grunts to high-pitched squeals to words in some language that I don't understand. It is very entertaining to be mimicked.
  
• His tongue. Not sure why, but lately he has been sticking it out and grabbing it with his fingers.
  
• Touching your face with the fingers that he was just using to grab his own tongue.
  
• Outlets. At least, they look like fun. He points them out several times a day.
  
• Getting his picture taken. He's becoming quite the ham for the camera.
  
• Walking some more.