Moving and Shaking

I should probably be doing about 100 other things right now, including (but not limited to) sewing, costume-gathering, planning the wedding, researching for the move, etc. etc. amen... But Orion has developed so much in just the past week I felt the need to report on his advancements!
He went from scooting around, being rather frustrated with his lack of crawling ability, to moving about the house quite fast on his hands and knees. He slaps his hands down with purpose as he navigates the room. His poor knees are pretty torn up, too, so we started using the baby legs (legwarmers) to pad them while he's out and about.
We went from 'keeping an eye on him' to 'batten the hatches' in one day's time. He was capable of crawling and pulling up, but not so quickly or intently that we had to concern ourselves if we turned away for a moment. The very next day, it was time to baby-proof the house. While I was in the kitchen, it took him 10 minutes to: discover the cat door and that he can get out through it, pull up on and open the kitchen cabinets, and turn on the stereo receiver and pull all the wiring and other electronic paraphanelia off of the entertainment center.
We gated off the kitchen entirely, and blocked the entertainment center with those big foam linking pads that most folks with toddlers have (or wish they did). We already jettisoned the coffee table, and most of the other hard furniture has been padded with pillows in case of a fall/head-bump. Plugs are covered, wires removed or hidden... And daily he's still finding things that we need to see to and get out of his reach. He's enjoying it thoroughly!
Another great aspect of his crawling around is that when he's unhappy, he can now follow us around screaming instead of doing it from one place. This is pretty funny to watch, though I imagine it's not really less frustrating for him. Apparently learning patience is still a ways in the future for him!
We're still working on introducing him to solids. He seems pretty grossed out by all of it, but we're getting there. He does seem to enjoy oranges and pickles, and the other day he went to town on a pita chip (which I wasn't comfortable with due to the choke hazard, but he gnawed on it with gusto!) We've been modeling the whole bite/chew/swallow routine for him, which fascinates him. He loves putting his finger in my mouth and scratching at my teeth. I think he'll get it here soon, and probably all of a sudden, just like with everything else.
On a down note, he's also become very pissed off during pretty much every diaper change. I suppose he's just too busy to enjoy being laid out on the changing table, even for just a few minutes! He screams through them and even makes moves to get away, rolling over and kicking... Can we start potty training yet???
And that's the baby news today!

Look Who's a Big (Little) Man!

Orion gets cuter every day, I swear. I know I'm biased, but just look at those cheeks! So smoochable!
He's officially crawling now, though rather slowly. He can sit up quite well, and he can also pull up to standing - he's even beginning to 'cruise' just a little bit, pulling himself along and taking very hesitant steps. The only position that really stumps him is lying flat on his back. He's like a turned-over turtle! He's not quite sure what to do, and will lay there flailing and upset until I give him a hand up to sitting. Occasionally he will figure out that he can roll over and then get to crawling or sitting from that position, but he hasn't discovered that it's always going to work!
We're still experimenting with new foods. He loved soft-boiled egg yolk the other day; today he thought it was gross (but a lot of fun to play with!) His intake of goat's milk has gone up quite a bit, as the pediatrician told us to increase his calories at our last visit. He still nurses a few times a day - and he still loves those pureed fruits! I've been teaching him to eat some soft fruits and veggies, like peaches, avocado, and banana... He's getting used to it. He looks at me like I'm totally crazy, but he does enjoy playing with the food bits. He gets more baths these days, too, as you can imagine! He was covered in egg yolk this morning. So silly!