As I write this, Aidan only has another 48 hours to 7 months old. Around 9:30 on Sunday night the little guy will be 8 months old. Time flies.

Some days if feels like yesterday that he was curled up in a little 8 pound ball on my chest sleeping peacefully. Other times it feels like years ago that we took that early morning drive through a snow storm to meet him for the first time. No matter how small a box we keep him in at night though, he keeps getting bigger.

I don't see Aidan in the morning most weekdays. He and mommy are off just about the time I wake up so I have to wait until I come home from work to see him. His pictures are plastered over my office walls and on the desktop of my computer but I never realize how much I miss him everyday until I come home and see him smile at me. He's often in the foulest of moods when I get him. Its close to his bed time and he's cranky so I have to play the clown just to keep him from whining but I wouldn't have it any other way. 

I feel like this 8 month birthday is a little different from the others. We're not just marking it by how much he's grown or some new reaction he has to us. Its as if this birthday marks a real transition. He's not a little baby anymore. He's no longer satisfied with a smiling parent or a finger to gnaw on. He needs to explore and with his new found mobility he's doing it.

I would not be surprised one bit if, in the next 4 weeks, I had to write a post about how Aidan walked on his own for the first time. He's standing now. Not just one of those, I-prop-him-up-and-he-wobbles-while-hanging-onto-a-table-for-10-seconds-before-falling kind of stands. Nope, he's standing himself up and quickly.Truthfully, he doesn't need much help from stationary objects either, he just doesn't know that yet. He's also walking around his crib and pack'n'play. Its only a matter of time before he realizes he doesn't have to crawl everywhere.

I thought I would be a little sad at this transition. Our little baby isn't there anymore. He's being replaced by our little boy. But, I'm not sad. I'm excited. He's more fun everyday. He's showing interest in things that's a little deeper than before. He investigates new objects and systematically destroys them. He still laughs at the same tricks but now he anticipates them. If I count to three and toss him in the air, by the third time he's giggling before I get to two. That little brain in there is working and we have to fill it. I can't wait.