11 Months

Mr. Arch, 

It doesn't appear you did that much this month. And I don't think I forgot to write it all down, but there's really not much to discuss. I guess there's fewer items but they're all pretty big deals. This month we got a ton of good pics of you (before, during and after your bear photo shoot). 

Swingin'!

 

"Stay right here Arch!"

Not pleased to be staying right there.

I'd much rather stand thanks mama! 

Cute as a button.

You are pretty much waving on command now (when you feel like it of course). Sometimes you wave for "bye bye" and say "buh buh" and have the right inflection. But lately when I say "hi" to you you immediately start waving. It's a fun new trick for sure! 

You are saying "mama" and "dada" quite a bit, but we're still working on making sure they're associated with us. You're definitely intentionally saying our names and not just babbling anymore though so that's exciting. 

You have discovered your tongue which is pretty funny. You stick your tongue out all the time and try to grab it. And think it's funny when we stick our tongues out. You want to grab our tongues too. Unfortunately you are also spitting SO MUCH now. 

Spitting and drooling...the new normal!

Your first Halloween was pretty underwhelming. You go to sleep right after Trick or Treating starts so we decided not to participate at all. And then left the lights on...whoops! Only one person knocked on the door before we ran around and turned out all the lights. You were a chick. I was going to put a magnet on you so you were a chick magnet. But you honestly only had your costume on for maybe 5 minutes. You didn't feel well and we were trying to get to the zoo so I was happy we only spent about $5 on it. 

No thanks mama.

How is he not thrilled to be wearing those tights?

Finally, a smile!!!

You went to your first Grand Nationals at the beginning of November. It was crazy to think that a year ago you were inside me and I ignored my body and ended up in pre-term labor with you right before Thanksgiving. I just couldn't believe that you were really there with us, and almost a year old. You had a good time and did so great being carried around and wearing your ear protection underneath Lucas Oil. 

Some day you'll have more discreet ear protection like mommy and daddy.

First family pic under Lucas Oil. 

Fun with Daddy after the performance before heading home with Mommy.

You now HATE getting your diaper changed or clothes taken on or off. It's a serious fight for every single diaper. To be honest it's really frustrating and annoying, so hopefully you grow out of this phase soon!!

Dressing you is such a pain!!

And, finally, perhaps the biggest news of all: you slept through the night for the first time on 11/19. When I say slept through the night I mean that neither of us had to go in. You did wake up a fuss a couple times but then laid down and put yourself back to sleep. As I'm writing this I think it's been over a week and I haven't fed you in the middle of the night once. Daddy has had to go in maybe twice to rock you. And the past two nights you haven't even woken up and fussed!! Your Daddy and I are not sleeping through the night yet which is the irony of it all. But it's been almost 15 months since I slept through the night and I honestly have to relearn how to do it. We're so close though! It's very exciting. :) So proud of you little man!!

And then there was one...how is that possible?!?!

10 months

Arch-ba-garch,

We are calling you that all the time now. I have no idea why but it's really all the time. Your 10-month pics were also a little crazy but you were in a good mood so we got lots!

Hands clasped. Gearing up for your bear pic. 

You still fall over every time. But now you think it's hilarious!

And sometimes you'll just hang out on the bear. :)

AND, you can just pick yourself right up and keep playing!

You finally sit yourself back up after lying down. The first time you did it you were crying in your crib and super angry that we hadn't gone in to get you. You just pushed yourself up and were so surprised you stopped crying to look around. Then promptly threw yourself back down! But you're a pro at it now! You can now get around wherever you want and sit up like a big kid. You're just so mobile I can't believe it.

Sitting back up! Your turning radius is pretty big, but at least you get upright!

You have two more teeth on the top, and no sign of the next two on the bottom. I am hoping once you get those next two on the bottom we'll get a break to just get used to having 8 teeth.

You think standing is just the coolest. It's all you want to do. Sitting down is officially for babies. You'll also "walk" if we hold your hands. It's not pretty, and it takes awhile, but you get pretty excited about it. You like your little walker toy but haven't quite gotten the hang of using it to walk yet.

One handed!! Shortly after I took this pic you fell over and pulled the whole thing on top of you!

You went to the Mason band contest, which of course is where it all began. You were so sick. Another big first for this month--your first fever and HORRIBLE rattley cough. We took you back to the doc a second time and got an inhaler but never ended up using it. We had to at least make an appearance at Mason just to say you were there. And then the sun came out and I had you all bundled up and you started dancing to the music so we stayed. Even though it was late and we wouldn't get home till after bedtime. It was pretty amazing to be where your daddy and I used to warm up for band contests and where we had our first date and got engaged and then to have you there. Sometimes it just doesn't even seem real that you're ours.

Standing with you next to where your Daddy and I used to warm up before performing at Mason
(over 10 years ago!! Ahhh!!!)

In this video you were dancing at Mason. So adorable! 

You have started waving (backwards, like the pediatrician warned me). It's hilarious. You end up waving at yourself which you think is funny. You are also saying "woof" a lot. We have no idea why. We don't own a dog. And you seem to be associating "woof" with waving--you do them at the same time a lot. You definitely have no idea what "Woof" or waving mean but when we get excited that you're waving you do too!

You also got to meet your Auntie Christine from Texas for the first time. You had so much fun with her! :) Uncle Josh and Aunt Steph also came down to visit which was really nice.

Snuggles!!

Aunt Steph!

Uncle Josh and Aunt Steph

Josh and Steph brought you a t-shirt with a cape!! And Christine brought you a super cute superman shirt--they must think you're a little hero or something. :)

Always just studying Uncle Josh!

One of the crazy things this month was that you decided you were done with bottles. You usually get 2 bottles at the sitter and at the beginning of the month I had to throw out 8 ounces in one week. Which is super painful to do with the liquid gold. So I decided we were done with that. You now get a cup and get to drink your milk out of that. It's getting better. You just want to play so much and get so distracted. It's ridiculous, but you're a little boy on the move. All of this was super stressful for me. I was worried you were trying to wean. And if you're not having milk you have to have formula for another couple months and we weren't about to come this far and go that route and spend all that money just because you're distracted and stubborn. So there was a good week or two where you made your mama freak out quite a bit. But we powered through and things are going well again. We're a good team little man!

9 months

Sweet boy,

Your list of firsts on my phone get more monumental each month. You are on the move and your 9-month pics were all over the place. This is about as good as it got.

Showing off those standing skills!

You have two more teeth (your top two!).

I'm pretty sure you've signed "milk" a couple times. You at least know what the sign means when WE do it. And you know what the word means too. You are a smart cookie!!

You like some bigger kid toys and have started to randomly show interest in toys we've had lying around for you but that you didn't quite "get" yet.

There have definitely been some "mamas" lately and I think they're legit directed at me/about me. It's hard to tell because you're "talking" all the time but it's becoming a bit more pronounced.

Me and my bug!

You ate your first big-kid meal: scrambled eggs, whole wheat waffles with butter and some cottage cheese. You loved it!! I think you mostly loved feeding yourself. You were such a big boy. From now on we're definitely going to make you meals where you can feed yourself. There was literally NO whining this entire dinner. Apparently your daddy and I are just too slow when we feed your little impatient self.

One Friday afternoon I took you to IKEA for the first time!! Your daddy and I LOVE IKEA. I wish he could have been there with us, and I was super nervous to take you by myself because it's so huge if you had a meltdown it would have taken an hour to get out. But you were perfect. Hardly made a peep. There's so much to look at and lots of people. You loved it--especially the warehouse part. You did eat a little cardboard from a package I gave you to hold and play with but didn't seem to be too worse for wear.

This place is HUGE!

I'll hang on to this for you Mom.

After lots of trying and fake outs, you also finally pulled yourself up for the first time. In the bathtub. While I was giving you a bath by myself. I cannot think of a more dangerous time or place for a big "first." But we all lived and you were so proud of yourself. That also pretty much ended the bath though--you only wanted to stand up from then on!

It was kind of like this. Except you were IN the tub, and wet and slippery.

But look how proud of yourself you were afterwards!

And finally, you went to your first band contest in Kettering. I was hoping your first would be a local contest in case things went terribly, but you showed me once again that you are laid back like your daddy and just go with the flow. I have so much anxiety about taking you new places or your schedule being messed up. Or what I'll do if you act like a baby and have a big meltdown. But you're always showing us what a big kid you are and how flexible you can be. It makes us so proud of you! You loved the band, spending so much of the day with your daddy, and eating Chipotle for lunch for the first time. Thank goodness you loved Chipotle--you get to stay in the family now! :)

Getting ready for your first band performance!

First Chipotle! It has become a favorite. :)

You also wanted to sample Daddy's hair at Chipotle. It was not to your liking. Definitely hilarious !

Just a baby and his most favorite guy on a beautiful day. 

And finally, you got a SWEET hat from your grandpa at the competition! 

8 Months

Little Man,

I am SO BEHIND on your monthly updates. I'm only doing this for the first year. Then it's just general awesomeness from then on. This is a lot of pressure buddy! At least I keep notes in my phone for each month so I know what the heck you did.

You just wanted to play. No tolerance for bear pics this month!

Goofy little kid.

So you got a big boy car seat this month. It's basically a small tank. You were so over the pumpkin seat, and had been for a really long time. You have been doing really well with it. Such a big kid. You did lick and smell both sides of your car seat when you first got in it. Which was really weird and funny.

You got your first two teeth (the bottoms!). Unfortunately you are not one of those babies who just wakes up one morning and magically has more teeth without making a peep. It was a little rough (why do they always break through overnight??) but you're doing much better with it now.

Teeeeth!!

We took you to the zoo for probably the 4th time and you were FINALLY awake for it!! You saw at least 5 animals before you fell asleep. It might have been more but you wore your sunglasses and we couldn't see your eyes. It was adorable and tons of people stopped to look at you and comment on how adorable you were.

Too cool for school.

You've started giving hugs (at least they seem like hugs). Sometimes when we get you in the morning. A few times when your daddy has picked you up from Michelle's you've been so excited you've given him hugs. :) It's very adorable!!

You are also a mobile little man. You have started crawling. You are army crawling like a maniac. You are surprisingly fast at it!!

We had our first big parenting fail. I guess we should be happy it took us 8 months to have one. I was playing the piano for you and you were in the living room playing. All the sudden you started crying--I mean really crying. So I went over and you had the computer cord for daddy's computer wrapped around your hand. I thought maybe it was too tight and hurting you, but then noticed the end was all wet. And that it was still plugged into the wall. And you kept messing with your tongue. So I figured you'd put it in your mouth and gotten shocked. Whoops.... We looked it up later and apparently it's equivalent to licking a 9V battery.

You are starting to eat puffs finally and love them. It's nice to be able to give you something to snack on or keep you occupied.

You LOVE your blocks! It makes us very happy that you want to play all the time with a toy that doesn't have batteries and make noise. We hope that you want to play and use your imagination more than anything when you get bigger.

You laugh and smile and giggle all the time, but recently you've started scrunching up your nose and snorting when you think something is REALLY funny. It's pretty adorable, and of course always makes us laugh too.

And, because you're on the move, we had to get you a baby jail. You liked it at first, but now you're not so sure. But you're just so fast. And we need some place to stash you when we're trying to get everything together to get out the door in the morning.

You are so much fun little man!! We can't wait to see all the new fun things you're going to do in the next couple months.