Gah! Our little man is TEN months old already!

....WHERE has the time gone? It is insane how fast it goes.

"Don't worry if your formerly voracious eater suddenly turns up his nose at lunch. As his growth (finally) starts to slow, his appetite will decrease as well. One thing that definitely won't decrease is his desire for discovery, which can lead to some serious climbing. Keep in mind, though, that babies learn to climb up long before they learn how to get down, so be on the lookout for potential spills or strandings. In other news, chances are your baby is now able to get what he wants by pointing. He may also be able to stand alone (for a second) or even walk unassisted (the chase begins, Mom!). You (and/or your baby) may be ready to wean (or not) so make a plan (though be ready to revise your timetable, perhaps more than once).

Some pretty weird behavior problems may pop up around now, including head banging, rocking, rolling, teeth grinding, and hair pulling. While no one's exactly sure what's behind such (generally nonhazardous) behaviors, they may simply be a way of blowing off steam and are often triggered or increased by stress. What else is baby up to? He may be biting you or Daddy or his big brother — definitely a habit to nip in the bud. He may also become fearful of things he never feared in the past, like the vacuum cleaner or your neighbor's pooch. As for you and Daddy, now's a good time to build a united front when it comes to discipline as your baby's desire to do his own (possibly dangerous or hurtful) things will only grow as he does. You'll no doubt get plenty of opinions on spanking and determine that physical punishment is never an effective way to discipline a child."

-whattoexpect.com

** Random thought.... after much discussion with our pediatrician and each other, we decided to get Andrew a flu shot. He had the first about two weeks ago and the next in another 2 weeks. He had no symptoms or reactions and it made us both a little more relaxed. This article is what helped us decide.

Basically, we had his 9 month appointment and after talking to the Dr, we decided to hold off on the shot. Later that day we decided to get it, made an appointment for less than a week away and then he got sick. He had a super runny nose and a cough for over a week and that combined with the article and Dr.'s thoughts and also that we were starting music classes with Andrew made us know it was definitely the right decision for us. **

What is new with Andrew:

• He is regularly pushing himself up to sit up.
• Exploring boundaries.... mainly doors and the stairway gate.
• He tried for maybe 2 or 3 days to pull himself up to stand without any luck and BOOM this morning there he was standing up in his crib playing with the framed photo of himself. Now he can hardly go 5 minutes without standing :)
• Feeding himself EVERYTHING and loves it!
• Swimming in the bathtub. Sitting is no longer an option.
• TEETH! He has his two bottoms, his top left is coming in well and his top right is soooooooo close to popping out!
• He is becoming social! I am so glad because I am such an introvert. But thanks to these music classes we've been taking him to, he is getting more adventurous. The first class he stayed right in front of me, wanting to crawl into my lap and stay there. The last class was today and I had to drag him back once or twice to participate in the songs cuz he was rolling around on the floor, hanging out with the other tots.
• That being said, he took some of his first LEGIT crawls yesterday!!!! They were tiny but he is getting it! Huzzah!!
• It is so neat to his personality coming out. He definitely is bashful but SUCH a little charmer/ flirt. He is a people watcher and observer to the extreme and is so very patient and focused. I just love every single thing about him and think he's perfect in every way. And of course I am not biased at ALL on that ;-P

We bought him a toy truck that plays music and he loooooves it. We weren't going to get it until Christmas but we have a super secret thing goin' on and we needed it for that, haha. More details on that to come later.

We have all the thanksgiving. Fall decorations up but I am soooo eagerly awaiting the day after Thanksgiving so we can put up Christmas decor!!!! Our new tree is sitting in it's box in the living room as we speak.

How hard is it to find kid's books on Thanksgiving? We ended up searching 5 stores and finally Barnes and Noble had I think TWO that were holiday appropriate. Yikes! But it's cute and has facts in the back so whatevs.

Getting excited for the big holiday! We have ham, green bean casserole, cheesy potatoes, and pumpkin pie on the menu (and actually we bought turkey specifically to make turkey salad sandwiches for leftovers the next day on homemade buns. The perfect meal after decorating ;) We also are planning on lounging around, going for a walk and watching the big parade! We're loving coming up with new traditions for our family come the holidays :)

Alright well I guess that's all for now. Food post to come within a day or two here, cuz God knows I could talk about food forever lol

TTFN! <3

Andrew at 9 months

**I wrote this last week but due to things I will discuss in the next blog post (writing it now) it's posting got delayed until now...

"Listen up, Mom, and you'll start to hear emerging baby speech patterns -- and get ready to be very impressed as your genius-in-training is soon able to follow a simple command (e.g., Give Mommy the cup).  He's also become quite the mimic, mirroring your facial expressions and echoing your sounds. Your little smarty-pants may now be able to roll a ball back to you and drink independently from a cup. Now's a good time to reassess your feeding routines to ensure you're establishing healthy eating habits, such as minimizing sweets and salt and maximizing veggies, fruits, and whole grains. Don't be surprised if your formerly easy eater becomes a choosy customer; remember, there are plenty of tactics to tempt picky eaters, so stay patient and keep trying. Another potential pitfall at the nine-month mark is a change in baby sleeping patterns, as some babies are ready to ditch at least one of their daily naps while others decide they're ready for playtime instead of bedtime at night. Stranger anxiety may emerge, as well as a firm attachment to a (desperately-needs-to-be laundered) transitional object. As for you, this could be a perfect time to join (or start) a playgroup. Your little one is quite the social animal now and you could probably use an empathetic ear (attached to a mom who knows exactly what you're going through)."
-whattoexpect.com

"I'm NINE months old?!?"

"AWESOME!"

...Well, he is doing a lot of the mimicking and understanding things! He hasn't had sugar yet so no sweets to monitor. We are really trying to wait at least until 2 years to introduce sugary things. So far his only real food aversion is chicken but I think it may be a bit dry so he can't swallow it as well. If you mix it into his potatoes he is fine.
No change in sleeping patterns, he is already over his stranger anxiety (it ended days before our trip home in August). No object attachment, still loves his naps...........

He is doing quite well learning to share - if you ask for something he will give it to you pretty quickly and though he does looks concerned for a few moments he soon gets bored waiting and finds something else to do. He definitely does get a big smile when he gets it back though haha!
He is getting to be a fussy man when you aren't feeding him anymore but I think that's the biggest thing we need to work on right now.

Andrew had his follow-up from his circumcision this week... he is healing great and our pediatrician says it looks perfect so nothing to worry about there! Also the pediatrician says our little man is doing great ALTHOUGH he has now dropped below the 25th percentile for weight and MAY have lost 4 ounces in the last 3 months (records showing he was 19.6 at 6 months.... in September he was 19, and at this appointment he was around 19.2) so we have been instructed to "fatten him up" haha! We now have to put butter into his chicken and formula into his morning oatmeal to give him some more calories. We have another check-up next month to see how that is working.
Unbeknownst to us, he already cut his two bottom teeth!!!! We thought MAYBE he was teething because he was slightly more fussy than usual (but his sleep schedule was a bit off as well) but nope I guess he was gettin' some chompers in! What a trooper. Looks like his top two teeth are about to pop out as well.

Jesse's mother came to stay for a few days before a conference down south here and we had lots of fun! Saturday evening she arrived, Sunday we had some additional relatives over for a visit and lunch, Monday we had an appointment and went out for wine tasting and trying out a new restaurant, Tuesday was an appointment and signing up for some music classes and Arabian Nights- kind of like Medieval Times but maybe a little cheesier. It was a lot of fun though, Andrew seemed to enjoy it too!

• Andrew is eating more just steamed vegetables than always pureed foods. 
• He is getting good at chewing/ biting off pieces of food
• He is drinking with a straw
• He has drunk out of a water bottle and glass
• He is ALMOST crawling, still doing the army crawl full force though
• Has officially outgrown the walker. He now puts his feet against the side and leans way over so he almost falls out :(
• Has tried yogurt, bread, pork, mango, kiwi, puffs and cheese now.
• Staying awake closer to 2 1/2 hours at a time and napping is getting the same way.
• Is not feeding himself yet unless it is a teething biscuit or his milk but will grab your hand and pull it to his mouth to be fed.

P.S. did you know the age for forward-facing infants has raised to 2 years!?!? We just learned this!

In other news, We are doing some shopping this weekend - household items and food tomorrow and then clothing on Saturday (big huge sale days at Macy's and Old Navy!!) and then we are going to go check out a pumpkin patch/ family fall fest! Sunday we will finally be returning to Church and may be having friends over. 

"helping" with the laundry ;)

Always on his tippy toes

Have a great weekend!!

TTFN! <3

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.