Well, while we wait for me to have time to update my site like a good little blogger, here's another gratuitous photo of Andrew. This one was taken on the occasion of his turning eight months old (a little over a week ago):

Andrew is crawling now... but, mostly backwards. Yesterday saw him finally begin to make "forward progress" in the crawling department. Lately, he's been much more interactive with his environment; playing with toys, grabbing whatever there is to grab, and so on.

Just as Alex did with Nolan when they were at that age, Nolan (at three and a half years old) has suddenly started showing Andrew all sorts of affection. Rather aggressively.

One of Nolan's favorite things to do is give Andrew a nice big hug and kiss... while Andrew is sleeping. Until he is no longer sleeping. When Andrew is awake, Nolan likes to give him a biiig hug, and then pull him down onto the floor. Then, he gets up and moves on to something else. Lately, one of the most common phrases you'll hear at Casa Rousselle is "Gently, Nolan! Gently!"

While it *is* inconvenient to have Nolan waking Andrew up from naps, I have to say I'm happy that he has started to interact with Andrew with such joy and enthusiasm. For a little while there, Nolan didn't seem to know what to make of Andrew.

Alex, at six and a half years old (in fact, he hit "six and half years" exactly just a couple days ago), is very much stepping into the role of Big Brother. He's helpful when it comes to the little things -- running to get wipes or toys for Andrew when we ask -- and enjoys taking time out to play with his baby brother. Alex looks out for his brothers, and that makes me more pleased than I know how to express.

As you can tell from the photos, Andrew's hair is coming in a bit thicker than his brothers', and also a little bit darker. While many people comment that Andrew's face looks even more like mine than his brothers did when they were babies, I suspect he's getting his hair genes from his mother -- which is all to the good, given how thick and healthy her hair remains, and how fine and thinning my hair has been.

We've also belatedly started Andrew on solid foods. Like his brothers before him, Andrew shows little interest in eating, but seems quite content to grab food and smear it anywhere he can reach... most often, his face and aforementioned hair. Is this common with kids, or just *our* kids?

That said, with "short" blog entries like this, is it any wonder I'm finding it hard to get the time to post items that are more in depth?