One baby, twice blessed

A few weekends back, we took Luke to a Hindu temple for his very first visit. Actually, it was not so much a temple but rather a double wide trailer sans air conditioning that is functioning as a temple until the real one is built. The temple, once built, is actually quite interesting - it is going to be in the shape of a lotus which is the national flower of India. Notwithstanding the not so ideal conditions, Luke really enjoyed his visit. He really liked the priest who performed the blessing ceremony and really enjoyed looking at all the colorful decorations. We cant wait to take him again.

Now that he is doubly blessed, he has accomplished some terrific feats. He can army crawl his way across a room, sit up with stability and pull himself up. His new favorite pastime is to sit in his toy box or a laundry basket and pull himself up using the sides. Rich is busy child proofing our house. He has also taken to feeding himself now. The experts say that we should let him do it as it encourages independence. The experts are not home to clean up the aftermath of independence. We have taken to stripping him down to a diaper so that no more clothes are ruined. I cannot believe that he is 8 months old already.

Working his way across a room commando style

Sitting in the laundry basket But not for long!

Result of self-feeding

He is also a very vocal and happy baby. We had a crazy story about that too....we were at dinner with our friends Christie and Jonathan the other night. They were nice enough to accommodate us and meet us at 5p in a family friendly restaurant the Luna Grill in Shirlington. We were really enjoying ourselves. Luke was very happy to be with Christie and was squealing with delight. At the end of the meal, while we were paying our check, this lady comes over to our table and proceeds to tell Rich that our baby is really loud and that his squealing was hurting her friend's ears. She wanted to know whether we could do something about it like giving him a bottle. Rich was very calm and handled it very well. Although he was getting angrier by the second, he calmly but firmly told that we were just leaving and did not address her ridiculous concerns.

Seriously, I am all for making sure that you control your children, but come on!! Firstly, Luke was squealing with happiness. He was not crying in any way shape or form. Secondly, he is less than 8 months old. He does not really understand when we say shhh. Third, it was a Saturday night in a restaurant where practically every table had a child! We decided that she was just a miserable woman who never came across a child before.