9 months old

The kid is 9 months old today. We started off our morning by going to the dr's appointment, a well baby visit for the 9 month landmark. He is 17 3/4 pounds and has a head circumference of 18 inches. Can't remember his length exactly... I had husband bring the camera in to make a few snapshots (a 9 month birthday - hello!!) of the dr visit. The doctor was pretty weirded out by it when husband took a few pics haha... so, we put it away. He was running a slight fever so the polio vaccine was postponed for another time. His iron was checked and was 12.2 which the nurse said was excellent. Anyway, the Dr said the kids looking and doing good! But he does still have a slight ear infection in the right ear. So back onto antibiotics for that...



Afterward, husband was off to the art museum for school so the kid and i went to a special lunch at Oasis:) He dined on hummus and avocado. We are working on finger foods but he isn't very interested. We cut up bits of banana for him and he just pushes them around - never even thinking to put a piece in his mouth. We show him - oowww, yuummm, look abram! see! do this! no, he won't. we try to put the chunk in his mouth - he shakes his head no. so today at Oasis, i basically just shoved the food in and he did eat it finally.

Tonight, we had pictures made at Sears - they are on order. I was disappointed with the pictures to be honest. Abram was so in awe of a new place and just looking around, he wouldn't smile much. but we got a few good shots and ordered some prints. That wore him out. He did eat a couple bites of pizza dough but was basically a worn out zombie after the photo shot. We're praying for a good nights sleep for him! So far, its not going well! haha... I've gone in twice and husband once. fingers crossed!!

Happy Valentines Day

We managed to go out to dinner for valentines! we rarely go out to dinner anymore - we usually go to lunch if we go. So this was a special treat. Husband picked one of my favorite places!! Lemongrass Thai Cuisine - LOVe it. And its kid friendly so abram went along to celebrate the love day with us... He really enjoys sitting in the high chair instead of his carrier, and staring at everyone - the waitresses, other customers, kids, and grabbing at everything he could possibly get his hands on. We snapped a couple pics while waiting on our food.





He was all dressed up in his little sweater. The mohawk hairdo is dying down a little bit but still there. his hair mainly seems to just be growing in the middle and a wee little bit in the back. no side action going on! In some pictures, the hair has a reddish color to it but not in person. so not sure where thats coming from. Anyway, great valentines day out! Yummy Thai food - husband did good. The kid had to settle for carrots even though he's really starting to want whatever i am eating. grabbing for it, crying for it, etc. I told him - green curry is too spicy for you kid! he still wanted it! I said - you're carrots are homemade and organic! He still didn't care:)

more details

The kid isn't quite as fascinated with his deep voice rumble noise he was obsessed with for awhile - see video below for the actual. he's moved on now to '"mmmmm...... mmmm..... MMMMM..... MMMMMM...." quite cute! course, after an hour (or what feels like an hour!) of mmmmmm it does loose its appeal a bit, at least to me haha. We had a snow about a week ago and managed to get him in his plaid snow suit - first time in this one! we just stood on the deck w/ him because he wasn't feeling the greatest but i was determined to get him in that suit!! obviously, our winter has been a joke this year - very cold - but little snow to speak of. so with this snow we took some pics on the deck...




then the next day we decided to take the dogs out and the kid too! our first hike together!! We have a hiking backpack for the kid and he Loved it! I put him in with husband wearing it and he just grinned from ear to ear! We had a camera but not the digital - just the manual one that i'm no good at so i only took a couple pics. as you can see we had him bundled up really well. but he did NOT like the mittens at all - so we ditched those in the car. he was much happier without them.



Sammy and Nelly had a ball and it was nice to get them out. I've been feeling horribly guilty that we just haven't had the time to do that with them so it was nice... and they got the mud to show how much fun they had. it was bath time when we got home for sure! It was a great day and we're hoping to get out there a lot more in the future since we all had fun. We limited our time that day because it was later in the day therefore getting colder the later it got. Beautiful day!!

His Newest Noise

The kid makes a variety of grunts, sputters, and cries but this low deep grunting is now his favorite it seems! And he responds when we do it back haha... great fun we have here:)

Friendship Award

Somehow i discovered Julia's blog, Our Simple Life, and we're now blogosphere friends i guess you'd call it. Her blog documents all the random crazy acts of her kids, the fun stuff of her life on acreage in california and other funny, interesting posts! check it out if you have a chance! She passed the friendship award onto me (thanks Julia!) and i'm finally getting around to passing it on myself!



It is the Friendship Award which means:

"These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers. Deliver this award to bloggers who must choose more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award."

So I pass this award on to these friends that I know thru blogging:
1. Michelle at My life
2. Vicki at Sanfords on the Move
3. Mountain Woman at Red Pine Mountain
4. Shari at The Daily Hammond

Okay, so the first two i don't know JUST thru blogging but, most of the people i blog with i know thru other connections like my friend michelle and my sister vicki! but we're also blogging friends so i figured it works. And i definitely feel we're even closer because we're able to keep up with each other online in the midst of distance and busy lives. And the last two i did meet online and love following up with them when i get a chance! Thanks for the award Julia. I definitely enjoy our online chats!!

The Latest

sometimes i get into posting pictures and forget to write down what the kid is actually doing. there are so many little things (and big stuff too) that i need to jot down for even myself because i know it will go so fast i'll easily forget!

Ticklish. The dr said it takes a few months for this to 'kick in' on a baby and with the kid, its definitely kicked in. he is SO incredibly ticklish which we find great fun and so does he. when he gets a little fussy i sometimes tickle him to cheer him up. sometimes this works. and sometimes it does. and when it doesn't, he still laughs while also crying. and then gets a puzzled look like, why am i laughing? i'm sad! he must get this ticklish trait from husband. i'm ticklish but husband is incredibly ticklish all over!

Bouncing. He started this while sitting on our bed one day. I place him in the middle while i clean up, get dressed, brush teeth, etc. and he realized if he pushs with his legs/feet a little bit, it will bounce his butt. so he's a fulltime bouncer now. on our bed or in his crib, he immediately gets to bouncing! and he also does it while on the floor or his mat in the kitchen but tires of it faster in those spots without the springs underneath to make it more fun. he also has realized he can move forward a bit by doing this and reach something a little easier. Smart cookie!

Illnesses. Since starting daycare, he's often got some cold like symptoms, ie runny nose, cough. But recently its been a bit more serious like a high fever and a viral infection, which resulted in a rash. yikes. He was diagnosed with his first ear infection on monday, Feb 2:( He was very fussy over the weekend. we knew he had a viral infection but thought it had run its course. apparently not and it was back to the doctor. husband took the day off to be with him and take him to his appointment. He's on the mend now.

Reaching. Not only is he reaching for anything in site, he is so easily distracted by something he wants too. while nursing, if he spots to tv remote, my cell phone, house phone, the dog, he's popping his head up and going for it! Makes nursing a bit more challenging! He's also reaching for what he wants and falling over himself to get it. he's had a few face plants, yikes! i feel really badly but he was uninjured and its bound to happen as he begins to explore and try to be more mobile. Oh and he loves to reach for the dogs. nelly specifically because she always right there. sammy's tail was wagging near the kid just yesterday and he was reaching but the tail kept moving. he just couldn't get it!! I promptly told him no of course, to which he grinned and tried again. at what point do i start discipline? ha. i thought now but it does NOT seem to register. well see!

Sleep. we have good nights and bad nights. a good night he goes to bed and is asleep by 8pm. he sleeps soundly till 1am, where he wakes up, nurses, then back to bed till 7:15am. a bad night, he goes to bed easily at 8 (always) and is up again at 10, midnight, then usually again around 3:30. These days its hit and miss. a few good nights and we think we've turned the corner. then wham, bad nights resume. but hey, its better than all bad!

Eating. until recently he ate whatever i gave him. but a week or so ago, he refused a food for the first time. Peas. he'd had them before but somehow, someway, he decided, No, i don't want peas! mouth shut. head turned. he looked back at me. i put the spoon back on his lips, again. he grunts, puts his chin to his chest as if to say, I said NO mom. fine. so yet another banana. he loves bananas.

Teething. Still JUST teething. sigh. no teeth. not that i'm desperate for him to have chompers. but desperate for teething to be over. its been making his nights so restless. so for his sake (and yes, my own too!) we hope the first one or two come through very soon!!

Crawling. Nope. still just rolling around and bouncing. he will spend a brief amount of time on his belly and then plp - roll onto his back or side. He just seems content with these things so we aren't concerned. and still enjoying him being stationary! not chasing him all over the house. we realize its a whole new ballgame when he becomes mobile and thankfully we aren't there yet.

Communication. He's always done this wrist thing. I've thought about how to explain it but really can't. he flips his wrists up and down is the best i can explain. but now he does this and makes an "uh uh uh" sound. not crying just a slight whine noise maybe. its become his communication to say many things: pick me up, i'm done being in my high chair, i'm tired, i'm excited, and if he's staring and something and doing it, it means, hand me that! so we are usually able to figure it out haha... i do a few signs with him (all done, eat, kiss, milk) but they seem to go in one eye and out the other.

Around We Go Activity Center. He has this activity center that he plays in (i'll try to post a pic at some point) that he loves. there is a seat he stands in that can go around the center base where the play pieces are. so he can walk himself around this circle. when we first got it, months ago, he could barely reach the play pieces in the middle. had no idea how to walk around it or even turn the seat. But now, he is a rockstar in this thing! he often does laps around it for fun. and stops and turns to the middle and plays with the piano. the fish. the boat and anchor set. chews on whatever he can. yesterday, i sat by the coffee table near it, and he was on the other side playing with the fish. he saw me sit down, immediately walked around to my side to see me. and grinned. Too Cute.

Vaccines - i've gotten a few emails from a few of you wanting to know what vaccines we have gotten thus far and what we will do in the future. i'll try to post that this weekend if possible.

Photography Class

Husband is taking his second photography class at West Chester U this spring and project one he decided to do the kid in black/white pictures with a black backdrop. We have horrible lighting in the house so i was light holder, baby mover, baby poser, and balancer ha. husband was photographer. I guess my job was easier but sure didn't seem so:) at 8 months old the kid is mighty fiesty! nevertheless, we got some great shots and i'm so anxious for him to do more. Three of the best are posted on this page in the sidebar and on the header. And my last favorite two are here -

The kids back....



and his cute little footsies...