10 MONTHS OLD!

I usually have great, dress-in-semi-cute clothes pictures for his monthly birthdays. This month, I failed. 

 It was a busy week and this sweet boy was also having tubes in his ears. I knew the 17th was his monthly birthday and had thought that the previous weekend but then when the day came, I totally forgot. 

 Until we got home, after work and daycare. 

 With our stained clothes and worn out from all the playing. 

 But it didn't matter. He is still my super cute, all-over-the-place, wild, loving, sweet boy! And he is TEN MONTHS OLD! That means we only have two more months until the big ONE! 

 I know everybody says it but it seems like yesterday that we were leaving the hospital on a football Friday night with our screaming little boy. 

 And now look at him. 17.5 pounds (yes, still small) and 26 inches. He's still in size 3 diapers and 6-9 month clothes. Most of the 9 month clothes are still a little big. 

 He's eating solid food now. No more purees. Mostly, he loves cheese. He eats things like cheese ravioli, pieces of cheese, blueberries, yogurt, applesauce, carrots, sweet potatoes, goldfish, bits of different fruits, mac & cheese and he loves black beans. He will eat pretty much anything but meat. I have tried to introduce chicken multiple times with little success. 

 He is still taking 3-4 bottles a day and usually wakes up once at night for a bottle. He is loving daycare and is almost the oldest boy in the classroom. His teachers want him to not walk for awhile so they can keep him longer :) but he is on the move with his walking toys. He also loves to rearrange the kitchen chairs. 

This boy is into everything and just does not stop. I have a daily struggle between wanting to say "NO" on a continuous basis to keep him safe from everything and wanting to foster his curiosity and help his little brain learn. He is such a smart little boy and I've found myself saying that it's okay for him to play in the water of the dog bowl. I mean, who's he hurting? :) (I don't let that happen often - too much mess!)

He is learning so much from daycare. He came home on Wednesday and started clapping. I was in shock. They clap a lot at daycare but it was just so fun for him to start doing it all of sudden. So now we do lots of clapping :) 

He is just so much fun right now. We enjoy him everyday and make it a point to spend as much time as possible with him when we get home from work. I love to watch his active little self. And I love to watch him and Brian play. He is all boy but still so sweet. He has started saying 'ma-ma-ma-ma...'. Oh, he is has my heart! 

Happy monthly birthday sweet boy! You bring us so, so much joy and we know how blessed we are to have you. 

9 Months Old!!

Yep, this sweet boy is 9 months old!

I try to take monthly b-day pictures in the morning before we leave for school. 

Usually I have to get Daddy to act up behind me to get some smiles. Andrew learned fast to crawl away when I break out the camera.

These turned out really good though. Those two bottom teeth have really come in! He is breaking through about 4 on the top too!

This has to be my favorite! This sweet boy has moved into size 3 diapers. He is 17.5 lbs and 25 inches. He is finally in the 1.1% for his length - exciting!

After we got back from Galveston, he had an ear infection for a good four weeks. We went to the doctor's office three times, were on the three different antibiotics and then it finally cleared up. Only to then have an enlarged spleen and liver because of the infection! So we had to have blood drawn and an ultrasound done. Luckily, everything is back to normal but that was a miserable few weeks. 

Andrew is now crawling on all fours, no more army scootin. He eats breakfast at daycare (rice cereal) and then some pureed lunch (usually sweet potatoes, mangos or peas & carrots) and then gets a snack of yogurt and applesauce. For dinner, it just depends what we have. Sometimes it's cheese and avocado, more purees, rice cereal, mac & cheese....

He also loves his push toys and he loves to push the chairs in the dining area around. His favorite toys are usually the tupperware in the kitchen or the dog bowls. He is in 6-9 month clothing. He can wear 9 month onesies but everything else that is 9 months is just too big for him. He can still fit into most of his 6 month clothing as well. 

Sometimes when he sleeps is lays across the crib and he just looks so big to me. It is like he grew into a little boy over night. He is still so much fun and great when we take him out. He loves to people watch. I don't know where he got his social skills ;) He is still waking up once a night, at least. It's not terrible for us since we are used to it but it will be nice when he decides to start sleeping through the night. He just doesn't get enough calories during the day to last all night. 

He is such a sweet boy and we are so blessed to be his parents. We love him so much and even more each day. His one-year birthday is creeping up and I am so excited for him and can't wait to see him grow and learn!

8 months old!

This little munchkin is 8 months old! Time goes by so fast but it has been so much fun! He is at the age now where he has a great little (big!) personality and is so much fun to play with. He is starting to crawl on all fours (see previous post) and continues to scoot everywhere. He is also pulling up on things and people. He loves to play on the floor with Brian - he just crawls all over Brian :) 

 He loves going to daycare and plays so well with the other kids. Some mornings I stay for a few minutes and watch him interact with the others. It is so neat for me to see him in that environment. He is practically climbing out of my arms to go play and so he doesn't even realize I'm there once he starts playing. My favorite part of the day is when I get to pick him up. He recognizes me immediately and usually scoots right on over to the gate so I can pick him up. When he get home, he gets to playing again until bath/bedtime. 

 He is eating lots of yummy food now. He usually eats rice cereal at daycare for breakfast. He won't eat it at home. Then for lunch I send something that I've made. Lately, it has been butternut squash, green beans, peas and carrots, banana and avocado. I also send yogurt and applesauce mixed for snack. He loves puffs for his snack too. He has really done so great with eating foods considering that he started out kind of slow. His teachers say he loves eatin' time. He knows when he gets in the highchair that it's time for food! :)

 We have been swimming several times this summer and he will get his first beach trip next week! I can't wait to see his reaction.

 He is just so much fun to be around and is generally happy. Really the only time he cries is if he is hungry (he really lets you know it's time to eat. Definitely my child!) or if he is tired. 

He hasn't been to the doctor (thank goodness) since his ear infection but I am thinking he is around 17-18 lbs. He has definitely grow longer. I told Brian the other day that I could really tell that he has grown length-wise. We'll see what his actual growth is next month. 

He still only has two teeth and is in size two diapers. He is wearing 6 month clothing. I have moved the 6-9 month clothes over to the "wear" section but most of them are just too long on him. He should be able to fit into them soon though. 

He is so interested in the dogs right now but they don't want him anywhere near them. It is humorous to watch him chase them around (all while scooting) and the dogs just don't want him to touch them. He has also figured out how to pull up on the stairs. Looks like we will be buying gates very soon. We've already put the plug protectors in. 

He is so curious and I love watching him figure things out. We are so lucky to have such a happy baby and we truly enjoy spending every minute with him!

SEVEN Months Old

How do I even have a SEVEN month old?!?

(look at that belly!) 

 And a fast-growing one at that! He has started scooting and is babbling more and more. I look at early pictures of him, when we brought him home from the hospital, and I cannot believe the changes and growth that has happened in 7 short months. I love this little boy more than words can even say.

 Here are some stats. They aren't terribly accurate since we haven't been to the doctor this month (thank goodness).

Weight: 15 lbs

Height: hopefully he's grown an inch :)

Diapers: size 2

Clothes: 3-6 mo, 6 mo

Activities: scooting, banging on everything, talking

Has two teeth

Such a big boy! We love watching you grow and develop your own little personality. I don't want time to go any faster but I do enjoy watching you learn new things. You have done so much in the past month that I can't imagine what you are going to do in the coming weeks. 

We love you booger!

28 years young, right?

My birthday was Saturday. We got up and took some family pictures at JCP. They were running a special for the month of March so we got some cute pictures. Then we went to Chuy's for my birthday lunch. It was a great weekend! I got many birthday wishes and I feel so blessed. I look forward to what the next year brings and can't wait to spend it with my little family!

Here are some cake pictures. I was looking rough, already in my pjs but here they are:

 Birthday wishes...