Little Little Bean

Maksim sitting in his clean laundry basket with Mr. Kangaroo.

Chewing on Mr. Lion.

Moving right along.  It's been interesting with the Little Bean.  I'm not sure how other six month old babies compare, but our boy is just funny.  It's like he knows what's going on around him and if he wants something out of reach, he'll crawl around until he gets to the destination.  He's developing at a good rate.

We have a big blanket covering our living room area, perfect for the Bean to move, explore, and enjoy his freedom.  He never fails to shock me (in a good way) - the Bean is starting to crawl.  His lifts up his butt, then his arms, and then falls forward.  He does this several times until he reaches his toy.  He also gets from point A to point B by rolling over multiple times.  He is extremely mobile.  His babbles and laughter make me so happy.  

Playing baby boy.

He is eating more solid foods now too.  We stopped giving him fruits since we don't want him to get used to sweets.  We're pro vegetables, so he gets a lot of those pureed: yellow squash, zucchini, and we'll try asparagus soon.  We also started him on rice cereal.  He loves it and he can't seem to get enough.

Look at the big boy eating sitting at the dinner table with the grown ups. :-)

The pets are also unbelievably with him.  They watch from afar but never getting too close to hurt him.  They sniff him and walk around him.  The most motherly is the cat.  If Maksim is left unattended for a nanosecond, Jean-the-Cat is right there at the edge of the blanket with utmost concern.  We have such an awesome little family.

Maksim's Babushka (grandma) also visited for a weekend before heading back to Ukraine.  Once again, her stay was too short but we're looking forward for her (and hopefully Papa) to visit soon.  

Babushka's cake, from Maksim.

Andrey, Maksim, and Mama.

My Mom and Dre's Mom.

Don't even ask where my picture is with my mother-in-law.  I've grown so grotesque since Maksim was born that I've become an eye sore.  Please wallpaper all the mirrors with newspaper!