Valentine's Day

Ryan and I celebrated V-day early by spending the Saturday before at the Waldorf Astoria spa for a couples massage and then dining at the Bull and Bear restaurant. It was divine! We definitely needed the time away and had such a fabulous day reconnecting.

Since we have a new Valentine to celebrate with this year, we spent the actual holiday at home with takeout and a family dinner. It was a different kind of divine and I loved being with my two sweeties.

Earlier in the day, Nathan and I got to attend a very sweet party with our breakfast club friends at Fallon and Brinkley's house. Nathan made "Bear Hugs" for his buddies (little bags of Teddy Grahams) and got a whole treat bag to take home.

It was organized chaos with ten little babies and their parents scattered around Fallon's living room. We haven't played with so many babies at once and it was a lot of fun!

Nathan surrounded himself with all the ladies. Smart boy!

He was incredibly interested in getting a hold of Brinkley's hair bow so he could taste it.

We managed to get all of the babies sitting and general looking for a group photo. I'm not sure how we did it but I am sure if there was a camera pointing the opposite direction the grownups would have looked pretty ridiculous trying to get all of their attention!

Nine Month Well Visit

How were we already back at the doctor's for Nathan's nine month check up?! He is growing too fast!

Ryan got there a little late so I missed snapping shots of all the measuring and weighing but I did manage to capture this sweet, silly boy as we were waiting for the doctor. He was intrigued by the paper sheet and proceeded to rip it all up as he explored.

The solids and finger foods have been agreeing with our bubs and he has shot up in height to 29" (between 50-75%) and weighs 20 pounds (between 25-50%). I am honestly surprised he doesn't weigh more - one, because he seems so much heavier lately! and two, because this boy LOVES to eat! His head was 18" round (50%) so I guess he's on track with that one.

Look at that belly!

He only needed a small toe prick to check his blood and his iron came back low after two different tests. The doctor thought he could be coming down with something and I initially agreed because N had a runny nose but now I'm thinking that was from new teeth. Some of the top ones are starting to show themselves and the doctor said they aren't too far away. No other cold symptoms yet. We go back in a month to check on the iron levels and hopefully by then they'll be where they need to.

Runny nose aside, we have a healthy, growing boy on our hands and I am so thankful that he is thriving!

Nine Months

Nathan, you are nine months old!

You continue to be such a happy boy and so goofy. I often hear you cracking yourself up! You talk up a storm and always share a smile or giggle with Jax, your best bud. It melts my heart when you put your head on my shoulder and give me a hug, whether it's from sheer exhaustion or just being sweet. You're practicing "kissing", too (open mouth and all). We always get comments on how attentive and alert you are. I'm loving all of this personality shining through!

You are mastering finger foods and would prefer to feed yourself than eat any of my purees. You love shredded chicken, cubed cheese, pasta and yogurt melts. We're still exploring this new world and I am sure you will continue to be an eating champ! You still get four bottles a day but we're going to start tapering the quantity down a bit as we build up to more solids. In the meantime, you reach for any cup, straw or mug you see, always wanting a sip of what we're drinking.

You love to swing, whether it's at home or at the park, and you light up when we are outside. We go on lots of walks and you are so chill in your stroller. You also love your blocks - to eat and throw. All of your other toys make pretty equal rotations. We try to read but you are more interested in tasting the books than looking at the pictures. You're a speed demon in your walker and we have to watch our ankles because you'll run right into us!

Separation anxiety has hit you hard and it breaks my heart that you get so upset if I'm not within view. It makes it really tough to leave you with your Lolly when Daddy and I have date night! Hopefully this is a quick phase and you'll be more comfortable without me so close soon (although I say it and I'm sure I'll be sad when you don't need me as much, too).

You've slowly started showing a breakthrough in crawling and can wiggle and twist backwards. No forward movement and no real getting on all fours but you'll do a mean push up or plank. You have excellent posture when you sit and you're getting much better at standing while holding onto things, too. Occasionally you may cruise a bit but not too much yet.

Most nights you sleep pretty well, going to bed between 7:30 and 8 and waking up between 7:15 and 8 in the morning. If you do wake in the middle of the night, you are usually able to get yourself back to sleep, which is so nice! Your naps have gotten a lot shorter in the last month, some lasting only 30-45 minutes, but you're still taking two a day and for that I am very thankful.

I feel like we've hit a groove and we are quite the pair spending our days together. I love watching you grow and am so thankful to be with you for every milestone and memory. I love you so much, Bubba! (another of the many nicknames you've acquired)

xoxo

Month Nine Stats:

Weight - 20 pounds (I could have sworn it was more from how heavy you are to carry!)

Diapers - size 3 during the day, size 4 at night

Clothes - some 9 months, some 12 months, some 6-12 months

Super Bowl XLVI

Our new house is perfect for hosting parties! We invited a whole crew over for Super Bowl Sunday and ended up with about 20 adults and 7 kiddos to watch the big game. It was a full house but so much fun!

The night before (a little last minute) I made festive pennant banners to hang around the house. Some footballs and some team colors, which conveniently are also handy for Memorial Day and the 4th of July. We set up a buffet table in the dining room and had both TVs going so people could mingle between rooms.

Nathan had lots of buddies come to play. Unfortunately, I was trying to be fancy and had my camera on manual without realizing it, so the first few pics I took of him and Parker were super dark but I had to include these cuties anyway!

The family room was a bit chaotic with all the little ones throwing toys and playing but they all did so well together and everyone seemed to have fun.

We attempted a group photo (minus Baby Annie, who was having a bottle) but as with most baby shots, it was a challenge to get everyone happy and looking. Nathan wasn't very happy with his friends getting into his personal space and cried for the whole shoot.

Look at that sad little pouty face!

I was too distracted to take any more photos but I swear adults attended the party, too! We had lots of fun seeing friends we hadn't seen in a while and catching up with everyone. I honestly didn't even watch the game or the great commercials because of all the hostess duties but I'm glad we had such a great turnout and  I'm excited for future parties in this great house!

Lately

I feel like the whole month of January just flew by and I was so bad about posting that I figured one good catch up post could suffice for now. It was one of our slower months compared to the hustle and bustle of travel and holidays, but we still managed to stay busy!

Nathan has been practicing the art of crawling. He can pull himself up into a plank and he'll shimmy and scoot backwards but he hasn't quite figured out the mechanics to move forward. It frustrates him to no end when he's trying to get to something in front of him.

He's been practicing other new skills, too, like standing and feeding himself. He is getting really good at standing while holding (or leaning) onto things and he is becoming better with finger foods. Most of it even makes it into his mouth now!

 

We've seen a lot of friends and had lots of playdates. When we're not at breakfast club or Gymboree, we like going on walks, playing at our house and meeting our buddies at the park to swing.

And we love getting together with our breakfast club friends! Most of our time together is spent at the park but we also love going to each other's houses to hang out.

Of course, one of our favorites right now is spending time with Jax. We take her on walks, play with her in the backyard and play fetch with her through the halls. Nathan gets such a kick out of her and I love watching the two of them become best buds. It's the cutest!