11 months!

Holy moly, our little man is almost one whole year old.

"Chances are your baby has developed an uncanny knack to get a hold of things he shouldn't have and get into places he shouldn't go. If he hasn't already done so, be prepared (with video camera on perpetual standby) for those first few steps as your child makes both physical and verbal strides this month. He loves games — especially those that involve pointing — and his interest in books will grow exponentially as he begins to comprehend more and recognize familiar pictures. A few things not to be concerned about: bowed legs (almost always normal and temporary); parental nudity (he doesn't care if you're naked as a jaybird as long as you're there!); and hitting milestones later than his peers. Remember, every baby is different and they master different skills — like standing and walking — at different ages. Children learn best and build confidence when you let them learn at their own pace, but if you're truly concerned, check with your pediatrician. More things to ask the doc: dietary questions, such as restricting fat and cholesterol in your baby's diet, and the best ways to ensure he gets the nutrients he needs. As for you, Mom, take a hint from your baby and get a move on, whether you're struggling with post-pregnancy weight or not. Regular exercise will not only help you shed pounds, it'll boost your mood and help you sleep better at night. Now who wouldn't want that?"

--whattoexpect.com

He got tired of my photo shoot REAL fast lol

Andrew is crawling on his hands and knees about half the time now (still army crawling the other half), pulling himself up on EVERYTHING and doing the downward dog pose every so often. One of these days that kid is gonna up and walk away and my mind will be blown.

He has 5 teeth now, the 6th one is workin' it's way out. He is taking it in stride though, almost 6 teeth in less than two months and he's been as happy as can be lol.

His meals are getting chunkier! Slices of steamed carrots, cottage cheese, halved blueberries, chunks of salted avocado.... and this just in-- Graham Crackers! He's chompin' away like a pro.

Naptimes have changed a bit, we typically have a meal when he wakes up, a snack two hours later, and then he goes down within an hour of the snack.

....UPDATE... today we did three hours until a snack and then a quick cuddle, diaper change and down for a nap. It worked great and he passed out the second he was in his crib both times!

We're going to hopefully get in some outdoors play time this week, maybe try to go to a park or something for the weekend. We also have tickets to see the Rockettes Holiday show this Saturday! Yay! I've met a Rockette but never seen them perform live, haha!

Other than hangin' out with the little man not much is going on. I've been TERRIBLE at the whole working out thing lately. I worked up the gusto to do yoga on Sunday but that was about it. Gonna try to do some stuff tonight/ do another round of yoga tomorrow morning.

Well, that's about it! Here's some pics :)

TTFN! <3

Gifts are slowly being wrapped.... these are all Andrew's! They all contain clothing haha! Really mostly for me, but I figured he'd like the tissue paper, right? ;)

Hanging out in front of the Christmas tree-- he's been SO good about leaving it alone!

Mama/ baby time :)

Eight Months Old!

Good Lord does time go fast!

"Gone are the days when your baby would stay where you plopped him. Most critters are ready to roll…and scoot, creep, crawl, or cruise (though not crawling yet isn't worrisome as long as your baby is reaching other important milestones).  The typical eight-month-old is off to as many corners of the world as he can reach and playing like a madman once he gets there. (One result may be a pretty messy house, though there are ways to contain the chaos without constraining his spirit.) His vastly improved dexterity, ability to focus, and language skills make playtime more exciting than ever. Expect plenty of baby conversation and possibly a distinct "ma-ma" or "da-da" in the coming weeks. And while his comprehension is still limited, your tiny troublemaker will soon get the meaning of the word "no" as he hears it (a lot) over the next decade or so. Baby signing may help bridge the communication gap between the two of you, so if you're interested, now's a good time to get started. Another exciting discovery around the eight-month mark: the genitals, which seem to provide endless fascination whenever they're available for self-inspection. That's normal, as is utter exhaustion for Mom as you try to cope with action-packed days and (possibly still) sleepless nights. Make sure to take time to recharge your batteries; taking a break and clearing your head is good for you and, therefore, good for your baby."
--whattoexpect.com

...and you can probably guess I have been neglecting housework and therefore neglecting the blog. And you would be right. But I'm back!

New developments:

• Andrew just recently (literally only for about a day or two) has begun using consonants in his babble which is so fun to listen to! It's really sounds like a little language now rather than cooing! He did indeed say "da-da" a few times at the end of August but has tormented the aforementioned dada by never again uttering those syllables. 
• We decided to never again give him squash. While he didn't have any glaringly obvious reactions, he did have a more rash-y face and and spit up more than usual. Oh an projectile vomited on daddy's jeans. So we figured we'd cut our losses and the squash for a while.
• He likes beets! And looks like some sort of cannibal or vampire after eating them with the juice all over his face. HOWEVER, we are now giving this a two day break like we did the squash because he developed a reaction on his neck and tummy-- which is how the strawberries started out :-S
• Still no crawling but he is MUCH closer. And if you put him on his hands and knees he will try to move forward before falling on his face.... Standing is getting a tad bit more solid. But rolling remains his method of transportation. I set him down and next thing I know he is across the floor on his tummy pulling books down from the shelf-- thank goodness we baby-proofed when we did!
• On that note.... the really awesome gate we purchased for the top of the stairs came out of the wall!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! D-: We need to remember to go to Home Depot to get some stuff to fix that. Sad day.
• Sitting has become very good! He can maintain it for longer periods of time and if when he is reclined or laying down has pillows or something, he can elbow his way up to sitting :)
• Andrew has become very comfortable in the pool which is great! He has learned to splash and has a ton of fun doing that, we also are in the midst of trying to teach him how to blow bubbles and kick his legs. He does not even remotely get it, just stares at us like we're idiots.... but someday! He also enjoys kicking back in his inflatable car and letting us swim him back and forth in the shade.... he even fell asleep last time and slept through daddy carrying him home!
• He definitely enjoys a good mess making at the high chair. He has a white wall next to him that he likes to paint and is even starting to try to get food on his spoon and try to stick it in his own mouth (we give him his own spoon to hold while we feed him to get him used to the idea).

A quick recap of our daily schedule:

9am

Andrew is either fussing, screaming or just chatting away to his stuffed animal friends . We go get him (usually he is on his tummy or sideways or upside down in his crib). Change him from an overnight disposable diaper into a cloth diaper and dress him for the day (he pretty much lives in onesies unless we leave the house).

He gets 8 ounces of hypoallergenic formula and then we play for an hour

10:15am

Oatmeal time!!!!

11am

Andrew is either rubbing his eyes/ getting fussy by now or after another 10 minutes he goes down anyways. We change him and put him down for a nap in his onesie with the mobile on.

1pm

The sleeping baby has awoken!!!! Time for another change. This time we go to the highchair for 7 ounces of formula, a bowl of broccoli, spinach or carrots and as much water as he will take. Then we play. If daddy is home we will often go for a walk or swim around this time as well. 

3pm

Time for another nap!

5pm

Up for a change, 7 ounce sippy cup, veggies, and water. This time we usually are more active-- doing stuff on the floor, reading, going on the patio, etc. Plus occasionally get to say hello to Granny.

7pm

Down for a short nap

8:15pm

Up for some play time/ tummy time

8:35

8 ounce bottle of formula

8:45

Warm cloth all over the baby face/ neck full of crumbs, formula drippage and drool. He just LOVES this part.

9pm

Change into disposable overnight diaper and PJs, kisses, eucerin on his face, and to bed with his stuffed bear and elephant :)

September 1st marked ONE YEAR of life in Florida!! Crazy to think we've been out of the frozen Tundra of MN and into the Palm Tree laden Tampa Bay! We've definitely enjoyed it! Made a few really good friends and still meeting some new ones. 

We are planning a playdate with Plum Mom's Club next week which I am apprehensive about since I am a total loner but am forcing myself to go to because it would be great for Andrew to have some structured time to socialize with other little kiddos. They also have a program called "Stroller Strides" on that site which is a really neat program for soon-to-be moms, new moms, etc! You bring your baby in your stroller, walk little stretches and then stop at checkpoints for exercises! They also do kid-friendly activities. It sounds pretty cool so I am working up the courage to give that a shot too. 

October 5th we are going tailgating! My mother works at USF and they have a tailgating party for alumni, students, staff and families so we're going to go have some food/ meet some people and then you get to watch the Bulls game! Time to shop-- Andrew just NEEDS a tiny Bulls jersey! Muahahaha ;-P

....On that note. Online shopping is DANGEROUS. I have placed 5 orders in the past few days. Granted, one was very cheap and something Jesse and I both needed, 3 were necessary to start our dance classes (Oh yeah BTW we are doing adult ballet classes starting this month with a friend Jesse works with!)-- it could have been one but we forgot some stuff and then an item got cancelled... bleh. And the last was a major moment of weakness. Old Navy's last day of the baby sale (30% off) and an additional 15% off at checkout. I am weak, what can I say? But how can you turn down this, or these, or these????? I have a problem. Oh hey by the way, Old Navy has a 20% off sale now until September 18th! Go check it out!! Seriously, Old Navy has upped their game and I like it!!!!

We were hunting for a three bedroom the past week, and ended up deciding to stay at our community but the only available 3 bedrooms were lower level, and they all felt claustrophobic-- we've been spoiled with vaulted ceilings. So, we are staying in our 2 bedroom until November 2014. Hopefully then we can move into something more practical for our needs. 

Lastly, I don't know about y'all but I am in major Autumn mode. It sucks big time that there is no evidence of fall outside, but oh well. Gotta make up for it inside, right??? Haha! Hubby is not too crazy about the whole decoration thing so we only do some colored leaf garlands, pumpkins and pine cones scattered around. We also get the appropriate candles for the season, haha! Right now though we only have apple cider so this weekend I am planning on hunting now another candle or two. And perhaps a bit more decoration, shhhhh. Hubby works overnights all weekend so maybe if I put them up while he sleeping he won't notice. Tee hee :)

...Also darn Starbucks and their deliciousness. I am craving a Pumpkin Spice Latte. BAD.

Our travels/ playing catch-up

Well I have never been much good at coming BACK from a trip I must confess... and you can probably tell from the length between this and my last post, haha!

The MN trip was wonderful! Tuesday morning we left for Orlando. We flew with Delta, and had a great experience! The kiddo had a bottle during take-off and slept through the landing (otherwise he was up and playing or napping for short periods).

We went straight to ACE for our car rental. We had reserved an economy car but the lady, upon seeing the amount of luggage we had, said there is no way it would all fit. Now, it wasn't a huge worry for us because other than two long drives we wouldn't be in the car with them for long... but anyhoo, we said we'd make it work because that's all we could afford. We took the shuttle to the car and found ourselves standing in front of an SUV. I looked left and right, slowly edged closer to it and then said "I don't think this is right." Haha, turns out they upgraded us free of charge! What a wonderful surprise-- it made the whole trip more enjoyable and otherwise they were so great to deal with. I highly recommend using ACE next time you need a vehicle! :)

That day we saw a college friend, her boyfriend and mother, as well as Andrew's godparents/ aunt and uncle. After the three hour drive north, we ended up at my aunt's place in the country- a 280 acre expanse that everyone calls "the farm". We had a great time catching up!

The next three days involved running to and from Duluth. 

We went on the scenic railroad,

had a picnic by the liftbridge,

visited my old job (an awesome toyshop called J. Skylark),

visited Betty's Pies (where the hubby and I had our first date),

did some dance rehearsals

and spent a lot of time with our besties, Nicole and John :)

Saturday was a day to relax at Jan's with my side of the family. My cousins have a kid about a year older than Andrew so it was a lot of fun seeing them interact, and great seeing everyone/ feeling at home with everyone. Growing up, the place was my grandmother's. She had all the get-togethers, planned the holidays, and really made everything feel right and normal. She passed away a few years ago and the effect was almost immediate. The family get-togethers became more and more rare, but everyone lives far away and now with us kids getting married and tarting families/ the aunts and uncles getting older, it's getting harder in general. So long story short, it was great to feel back-to-normal with the family even if just for a day <3

Sunday we traveled down to see Jesse's family. We had Andrew baptised at the church Jesse grew up in and it was a beautiful day/ experience.

The 112 year-old baptismal gown that my great-grandmother and I both wore

His parents had a pot-luck after so everyone could meet Andrew, and that was a lot of fun as well, it had been too long!

Monday and Tuesday we spent time with Jesse's parents, visited Andrew's great grandfather (his only great-grandparent),

saw some friends, and had a dinner with his parents/my mother/my aunt/ my godparents, so that was a lot of fun as well!

Wednesday morning we left for the cities and took off for home. Again the munchkin ate through take-off and slept through landing (he slept about 1.5 of the 3 hour flight).

The drive home felt so long but it was great to get back to our beds!

It has been over a week since getting home and I am the tiniest bit ashamed not everything is unpacked. Our bedroom is somewhat of a disaster and I have not been motivated at all to keep up with my cleaning schedule. I am not good at this ending travel thing.

In other news, Andrew amazes us every day. He handled spinach like a champ, is finally liking to drink water throughout the day, has started imitating our "kissy" faces, and actions (today I lifted up a flap in a book with my pointer finger and then dropped it and he copied me exactly), or bending down with such a serious look on his face, extending a finger and making his new train wheels go round and round. That kid is gonna be way too clever for his own good (and probably a lot of trouble for us haha!)

The 25th was my GOLDEN birthday! We had a nice day relaxing, going to church,

watching movies, eating some yummy food and my favorite ice-cream cake. Also "Andrew" (AKA daddy) got me this adorable card...

doesn't it just melt your heart?? <3

The 28th was our two year anniversary! We swam, picnicked, relaxed, tried a new recipe, went dancing, watched the video of our wedding for the first time ever(!!!!), slow danced while we watched our first dance as husband and wife, and drank a lot of moscato wine.

It has been quite a full month for us!!!!

Next month *should* slow down a bit. We have plans for some dinner dates, some dance classes, a day at the zoo, a playdate event for Andrew and hopefully some beach time!

Well that's all for now, eight-month blog to come soon! OH! And P.S.:

Andrew starting to learn to crawl!!!

And P.P.S.:

And was happy about it!!!

Andrew experienced Lake Superior!!!

<3

TTFN!! <3