It's time to get my game on

     This week, our sweet baby is all out crawling and moving everywhere.  We've started putting up barriers and having to use the words, "no" and "stop" more than I thought we'd use for an almost 9 month old.  For whatever reason, his favorite place to "play" is around Mark's work bucket and our DVDs.  We turn the coffee table on it's side to block him, but he still makes every effort to get into any of it.  He also loves trying to pull the laptop cords or any type of hanging string (like from the blinds). 
     Yesterday, he wore himself out at the school where I used to work. It was the last day of school, the classrooms were cleared out, and just a few students were left.  I said goodbye to the ones who left earlier, and then took my sweet Betty Lou out to my car to help me get his walker.  As I packed up a few items that I had left for the current teacher in the classroom, he was flying around in his walker.  The children were chasing him and he was having a GRAND ol' time.  He would run over their feet, they'd hollar, and he'd smile or laugh.  He got a little cranky when they got too wound up, but it just took a cracker to heal all fussiness.  I got out a quiet activity for the children to work on while just one girl stayed with Marcus.  Katherine was a great little mommy, guiding him around the children on the floor, telling me when he needed another cracker, etc.  When I was finally finished, he took a bottle and was wore slap out.  He took a good little nap in my arms while I caught up with co-workers as they ate lunch and marveled at his cuteness as he slept. 
     He's quite the social little creature, enjoying different people of all ages.  He's just started a little separation anxiety, but I try not to make it worse by sticking around when I drop him off at church or the gym nursery.  I check back within 30 seconds and he's already good again.  Obviously he's a mama's boy, but BOY does he love his daddy, too.  Last night, Mark gave him a bath and he splashed and laughed until he gave out.  He would splash with his feet, Mark would hollar and make a big deal out of it, and Marcus would just laugh and laugh (and I'm talking about those deep belly laughs).  I wasn't here to see it, but saw a video on Mark's phone when I got home.  It was absolutely precious.
     Speaking of videos, here's a video of Marcus crawling across the room.

We used an empty plastic bottle to motivate him to keep crawling.
It's one of his favorite things to play with and make noise.