He was not as impressed as his mama was:

Look how cute he is when he’s napping!

When he’s not doing push-ups with his dad or trying to stand up on the dining room table, Joe enjoys yelling and drooling. Simultaneously.

Joe’s not breaking any records in upper-body strength (he might get that from me), but he could kick down doors with those little legs of his!

His new favorite thing is standing up on tables. He needs some help with balance, of course, but he gets a kick out of seeing me eye-to-eye on the changing table, or surveying the kitchen from high up on the counter.

Tonight he was so excited about standing up on the dining room table, I thought he was going to break away from Patrick and run laps on it.

Joe celebrated his 7-month birthday among friends yesterday. All three of us went for lunch at a friend’s house, where all the babies in his play group were gathered with their parents.

He also discovered a new least-favorite food (spinach) and a new way to make him laugh (tweak his nose and say “noooose!” in a high-pitched voice).

He seems to be working on yet another tooth. We haven’t located it yet — but judging from his grumpy attitude this afternoon, it’s coming!

Two days ago, Joe was drooling even more than usual and chewing on his fingers a lot. I offered him one of my knuckles, and as soon as he got it in there, I felt something sharp scraping my skin. I pried his mouth open and got just the slightest glimpse of a tooth coming through.

Today it’s finally grown enough to photograph:

Click here for a closer inspection.

Our boy is growing up!