The golden baby age

We have hit the "golden baby age".  Almost seven months and this kid is awesome.  He giggles and babbles and yesterday I caught him sharing a toy (passing it back and forth with his uncle) and he gets peas and avocado all over his face and pretend-coughs to talk and moves backwards and pushes up on his hands and knees and rocks and even pretends to be bashful around strangers by cuddling into the crook of my neck.  Those early months of crying, crying, crying- I wasn't sure this day would ever come, but it has.  But it did!  We went to the bookstore yesterday and Lane pulled all the baby books off the shelf and made a big crash and I cracked up while trying to put them back as he was chewing on one of the covers (we bought that one).  We went to his cousins' birthday party last weekend and he didn't even flinch when a balloon popped and he played with everyone who put their hands on him and he didn't cry, not even once.  I feel like we have survived something, getting to this place where he is finding some independence, where we can set him down for a few minutes at a time with some toys in a playpen and take a bite of dinner.  Where we can relax with him in our laps before bed without actively shhhing or rocking and he just hangs out and cuddles.  My baby has turned to gold.