A few videos

I take videos every single day, but rarely get around to posting them on here.

Here are three of my favorites right now. 

In the first one, after bath time, I was trying my hardest to get Cal dressed for bed.  He popped up and shouted "SHAKE YOUR BOTTOM!" while, well, shaking his bottom. He thought this was absolutely hilarious.  I have NO idea where he has heard that before-- I can promise you I do not walk around the house telling people to shake their bottoms.  I do, however, do some crazy zumba moves while cooking dinner... but I am usually fully clothed during those episodes.  After this video, he ripped off his diaper and did a MUCH longer, much more elaborate dance, which I am not going to post on the internet.  Just trust me when I say it's about the funniest thing I've ever seen. 

The second video is sweet Andy playing peek-a-boo with a blanket.  He does this every night after baths and it startles him each and every time he does it.  And it cracks him up.  This is the perfect example of the sweet nature of this little boy! He is so content hiding from himself and then finding himself again! haha!

And the third video just shows you how the technology works in our house.  Cal can work the iPad better than most adults.  He can navigate youtube, facebook (grrr), and all of the apps.  But put him in front of a computer and he is lost....

Boys will be boys!

By the end of the day, the boys are pretty sick of me and pretty ready to see their daddy.  Daddy plays a whole different way (usually it scares me to death, but whatever-- the boys love it).  I had my camera out the other night for a little play time:

Can't you just see the love they all have for each other?  I'm so glad I had my camera out to capture this little impromptu wrestle match!

Andy: NINE month update!

Preface: I have found it VERY difficult to update a blog with a certain 2 year old who is refusing to nap. Hence the absence...

Andy turned NINE months old this week and once again, I can not believe he is already that old!  My mom and I were chatting about his first birthday last night-- it will be here before we know it!

Andy is changing every day, it seems-- and this last one was a big month for him!  He started crawling..slowly at first, but now he loooooves this new freedom and he will take off if he sees something he wants.  It's really cute-- he will spot something he wants and then he gets so excited to go after it, he starts sort of "revving" up like a car would and then he takes off after it!  It is ADORABLE to watch.

It did not take him long to start pulling up, either.  He will pull up on anything now!  If we are laying on the floor, he will come right over and start pulling up on us.  We had to remove everything from the coffee table, since that is his new spot to pull up.  I have a silver tray that sits on the bottom shelf of the table which normally holds some of the boys' books.  Andy grabs hold of that thing and flings it across the floor.  I have since baby proofed a bit more.  He is also fascinated by electrical outlets...seriously.  Loves to go over to them and inspect them.  Lovely!

Speaking of pulling up, I went in to get Andy from his nap the other day and he was standing in his crib peering out at me.  That night, when he woke up for his nightly visit (sigh), he was standing up in his crib SO excited to see me come in.  He is just so proud of himself!

Andy is still a really happy baby and he smiles constantly.  He LOVES his big brother and Cal can really get a good belly laugh out of him.  He is always looking for Cal and will start cracking up when he sees him.

We had his nine month well visit a few days ago. It was a well visit, but she heard a little rattle in his chest so we ended up doing a nebulizer breathing treatment while we were there.  He just has a nasty cold...  Here are his stats at 9 months:



Stats:
Weight- 21 pounds, 2 ounces (50th percentile)

Height- 29 inches (75th percentile)

Head circumference- 46.5 cm (75-90th percentile)

Eating:
I have been holding off on feeding Andy any real foods lately since he still does not have any pearly whites.  He has been crushing the baby food and eats at least 2 jars for lunch and again at dinner.  I have not found a kind he doesn't like!  He gets mad if you take too long feeding him-- he will let you know you need to hurry it up!
A friend of mind suggested a few little things to try with him since he is eating so much baby food.  I started him on puffs and he reallllly likes those!  He grabs them by the handful and shovels them into his mouth using the two fingers he normally sucks on. hahaha! I also gave him some ground beef, since that was a favorite of Cal's.  I was nervous about him eating without teeth, but the boy will chow down!  He doesn't care one bit that he is gumming everything! He literally shovels food into his mouth.

I am down to nursing 3-4 times a day (plus once during our nightly visit....).  I am about ready to start weaning down, but we are going to Mexico soon and we are taking the boys-- we figured we would continue to nurse until we got home... that way we didn't have to worry about him eating/drinking something bad while we were there.  Also, that way we can wean to whole milk.

Favorite Toys:
Andy likes most toys and is easily entertained by lots of things.  However, that sweet little nugget will flap his arms and fly across the floor for a basketball!  We have several balls around the house, and he likes a football, but there is a basketball that he just loves chasing around the house.

Sleeping:
Andy take a short morning nap (usually around 45 mins- an hour) and then takes a great afternoon nap (usually 1:00-4:30 ish).  I usually wake him up from his morning nap... if he sleeps too long in the morning, I have a hard time getting him down in the afternoon, and I need the boys to nap at the same time so I can get things done (do you hear that, Cal?!?!?!?!).  He goes down right at 7 and usually will wake up around 3 or 4 for a little visit.  Once I change and feed him, he goes back down great.  Last night, he woke up around midnight and then slept until 7 this morning.   Last week, when he had the cold, he was waking up several times a night and would NOT fall back asleep!  I was getting up with him several times a night.
I know.... you are thinking I am in sane right?  I was such an advocate for crying it out and now here I am getting up every night with my little buddy.... he has just gotten SO loud when he's crying... when he wakes up Cal from screaming, then I have BOTH of my little friends to deal with.... it's just easier to go snuggle with Andy for 30 minutes. 

(side note: I wrote this yesterday and last night he slept from 7 pm until 6 am and then went back down until 7:30...not to jinx myself....)

Sippy Cup:
I have been trying to give Andy a sippy cup with water in it.  I am not sure he fully understands how it works.  I can't figure out if he is actually getting any or if he is just drooling it down the front of him.  At any rate, he loves gnawing on it!

That's about all going on right now!  We are crazy in love with this little nugget and he makes me incredibly happy every single day.  He is SUCH a sweet boy and I am blessed to call him my son :)  Happy nine months, Andy!