It's been a little bit since I added to this journal, but Paul II's progression is still great. On February 19th, just one day before he turned 9 months, he stood for about a half a second.

Paul and I were sitting on the floor with him and chatting. Paul II placed his hands on my legs and I figured he was going to crawl over me as usual. Instead, he pushed himself off of me and nearly stood all the way up. Then his father and I smothered him with kisses and exhaultations, of course.

He's tried to stnad like that on one or two other occassions as well, but he hasn't done it completely on his own yet.

He goes all over the house and "stands" on one knee and foot, bouncing to fully stand, but he never quite does it. I tried to teach him how to use the furniture to stand, but he insists upon standing in the middle of the floor.

Yesterday, I could almost swear he kissed me. I was laying on the floor with him and he leaned over and placed his open mouth on my cheek. I felt teeth, but he didn't bite. It was so sweet. Of course when I kept asking him to give me another kiss, he kept swatting me in the face with his toy. Paul was cracking up at that.

I still read to him and try to every day. All over his blanket are scattered his German baby books. His favorite seems to be Erdbeeren Sind Rot or "Strawberries are Red." It's probably because the pages are so colorful. But he'll sit on my lap and let me read him a few books at a time now. I love it.

Well, the little man has a nasty cold. He's been sick before, but I still hate it. At least his cough is juicy, which means all the fluids are breaking up. He's just so miserable though.

He won't go to sleep and he doesn't want his solids. So he's been getting plenty from the bottle and we've been knocking our heads against the wall when he complains all day. Well, even if he won't take his naps, at least he's sleeping at night and the humidifier helps a bit.

It was so beautiful two nights ago. I crept in to check on him and stroked his cheek as he lay sleeping. It was brief, but he gave me the sweetest, smallest smile. Just enough to show me he had pleasent thoughts in his dreams while I caressed him. My heart welled up with love at the sight.

One thing my husband and I constantly talk about is how much we love him and desperately want him to know it. Childhood tantrums will come and go, but when he is old and grey, we want him to look back and fondly remembers us and our love for him. He's the most precious thing in the world to us.

Today was wonderful. Paul II is still cruisin around like no tomorrow, but he took a new route. Instead of his usual path, past his toys and to the left side of the couch, he came to the dining area from the right side of the couch. That might not seem like much, but it means he's becoming more confident and curious with his surroundings. He's also checking out the hallway now, so I'll probably get a gate, since I can't close the laundry room door. Thankfully his room is the first one, so I might placed the gate between his room and ours, so he can play with the foam bloacks on his floor if he wants to. Also, he has a few toys and books on the bottom shelf of his bookcase.

It was even adorable when he changed his mind today. He came into the dining area again for a bit, glanced at the kitchen and decided he wanted to play with his toys again and crawled back to his big play blanket. He made a very conscious decision and I loved it.

The absolute best thing he did today, was eat a biscuit. I've been trying for a while to teach him how to hold a biscuit and feed it to himself. But he was like his father and lazy, so I always had to hold him for him. He finally understood today and did it for himself!

I called Paul I over and we just stared, big goofy grins on our faces. Once he had the concept down, he decided he loved that little cookie. He them proceeded to crawl all over and play with his toys, but never let go of the biscuit, sucking on it between playing.

I finally had to pry the soggy, falling apart cookie out of his firm grip when he began leaving a trail of soggy cookie all over. That prompted a bath a some more fun with his bath toy. It was wonderful as usual. I'm just so gosh darn proud of him.

Yesterday was an insanely busy day. It was hubby's birthday and I took the baby an hour away by train to Heidelberg to get stuff at their PX. What an absolute waste of time. Everything I needed they didn't have. The two gifts I bought for hubby, I could have bought here. So I came home with a bad attitude and a sore back. I carried Paul II in the carry sack the whole day and he's getting heavy. Then I had to get a birthday cake and dinner finished.

But one good thing came of it. Paul II's train ride. On the ride there, he fell asleep about half an hour in. It was so wonderful. I sang to him and his little blue eyes just stared up at me in awe. At one point, I must have blinked, because he was suddenly asleep. Cradling him in my arms, I couldn't get over how dear he looked. He hadn't fallen aslep in my arms since he was about one month old. It was wonderful.

Then on the way back he was so grown up. Since the train was pretty empty and I didn't have to share a seat with someone across from me, I placed Paul II in the opposite seat. He sat up well and like a big boy. Then he would turn to the window and place his little hands on the arm rest and stare out the glass. Sometimes I couldn't tell if it was the passing scenery or his reflection he was reacting to, but he was giggling and squealing like mad. It was so cool.

I learned today, I am never going to host a birthday party for my son with more than 4 or 5 pre-schoolers. I went to the library on base and read a story and did a craft with 30 of the little monsters. It was a nightmare. Fortunately my boss is only going to have me go once a month and I figured out how to make it a little easier next time.

It was pretty bad on its own, but then I had Paul II with me, as my friend was busy with a class until the story hour was over. So in between breaking up squabbles and making sure everyone had their supplies, which there weren't enough of to begin with, I had to watch over my son.

Well, since he's crawling more now, he figured all those kids would be fun to play with. It seemed like every five minutes I was bending down, grabbing him in the crook of my arm and plopping him back in his corner. I have never had such a mental drain in my life, I was THRILLED when it was all over.

I finally received a toy I ordered to our German address today. It's a Fisher-Price tub toy that sticks on the tub wall. Paul II was so excited about it. When I first started bathing him, I had to play with it about 20 times before he even noticed it. You pour water onto the toys and they spin, flip or dribble. Well, he decided the water wasn't working well enough and started spinning the cup on the lobster himself. He LOVED it. He would whack the cup and watch it spin, giggling like mad. Granted, the way he was giggling like it was the greatest thing in the world, was proof he was tired, but with a giggle like that, I wasn't about to stop his fun just yet.

I turned on the video camera and caught the fun on tape. He was so excited, he didn't even see the camera to give it a blank stare. Unfortunately, as cute as that clip is, I can't put it online for my family. Someone will report me for posting child porn, because that's how extreme people have become these days. He's almost 8 months old and nothing was showing on the camera, but he's a naked child.

I remember 20 years ago, when it was fine to take bathtub pictures of your child, as long as they were really young. Now, no one will develop any naked baby pictures and confiscate the film. Ridiculous. Oh well.

Tomorrow will be a busy day for us. He'll be turning 8 months and it's Daddy's birthday. So we have to catch the train to Heidelberg and do a little shopping at the big base. I want to get a good computer game for Paul's gift, as well as some things for around the house.