Double Digits!!

Nicholas is now 10 months old!  He really looks like a little boy now and not a baby - it's amazing how much he has changed over the past 10 months.  Here is what he's up to... 

Sleep:  Most nights Nicholas sleeps all through the night.  His bedtime is 8pm and will normally wake up between 6 and 6:30.  His morning nap is usually 2+ hours and afternoon nap is around an hour long.  We are very thankful that he goes right down and doesn't have to be rocked to sleep, etc.  Hopefully this trend will continue (knock on wood). 

Nutrition: Nicholas accepts pretty much all food.  Just the past weekend, we let him take bites from a banana and some potato and he seemed to really like both.  He still eats Stage 2 gerber, but eats two packs for dinner and one for lunch.  He loves Cheerios and Gerber yogurt melts, which has really improved his pincher grasp.  We also introduced him to the teething biscuits that make such a mess.  Again, he is quick to put pretty much anything in his mouth.     

Developments: Nicholas continues to stand really well, letting go for several seconds.  Recently he has started to pick up his feet while standing at the Leap Frog play table.  He still has no desire to crawl, but has his own way of getting to his toys.  When sitting in his crib he can pull himself up on his knees, but can't quite get all the way up. Nicholas has now added "dada" to his vocabulary and most recently been saying "nana" alot. 

Cute Quirks: He has started making this kissing/fish face and also sticks his tongue out like a lizard.  We think that he might be teething because of this and also because he sticks his finger to the side of his mouth.  Nicholas continues to suck on his two fingers upside down (always his left hand).  It is just the cutest thing!!

This past weekend was spent in Mobile to visit Gigi and Pawpaw and for the Azalea Trail Run.  Saturday morning we headed downtown and were really surprised at the amount of people down there.  Luckily we were able to park at dad's office, otherwise we would have been stuck in traffic forever and I might have missed the start.  To make a long story short I finished the 5k six minutes ahead of my goal of 37 minutes.  It was great and I would like to run another one or maybe even upgrade to a 10k.  The way home from Mobile was a long one because Nicholas did not sleep one wink.  Luckily we were able to keep him mostly occupied with Baby Einstein, toys, etc.  

This Sunday will be his first Easter!  I can't wait to see my little man in his Easter outfit!  Before we know it, he will be turning one - man that is just hard to believe! 

Holy Mega-Mansions Batman!

Last weekend, Gabe surprised me with a quick getaway to a bed and breakfast in Brentwood, TN for our anniversary.  This was my first night away from Nicholas.  All in all I have to say I did pretty well, although it was weird to wake up to silence rather than a baby chattering/fussing.  Mimi and Pop said Nicholas did just fine except he wasn't quite ready to go to bed when Mimi put him down. 

Our whole bed and breakfast experience was interesting.  The owner was sweet, but kind of creepy.  It felt like you were staying at a strangers house (which I guess technically we were).  We ate breakfast with the fellow visitors and was served a "three course" breakfast.  It was ok.  After all was said and done, we decided that we are hotel people.  However, it was nice to get away for a little while. 

The highlights of the trip (besides picking up Nicholas on Sunday) was the dinner we ate Saturday night.  Gabe had researched this wonderful restaurant in the area Mere Bulles.  He ate filet mignon and I had a shrimp and pasta dish.  Everything was delicious!  Finally, apparently Brentwood is the Beverly Hills of the South.  On the way to and from dinner we passed homes that were easily 15000 square feet!   They just kept going and going!  I told everyone that one home had as much square footage in their front porches than we have in our house!  We decided to drive around and check these out in more detail.  I pulled a sales sheet on one that wasn't near the size of the "big" homes, but it was still over 8000 square feet and selling for $1.8 million.  There was even a 2 acre lot for sale for half a million!  These places were HUGE!!  Gabe had to wipe the drool off my chin.      

E-V-E-R-Y-B-O-D-Y Clap Your Hands!

Nicholas recently discovered how to clap his hands.  It is too cute.  The pictures below are a combo of "talking" to daddy and clapping.  Even though it doesn't look it, I promise he wasn't mad.  We are still working on waving and bye-bye.  He has also taken razzing to a whole new level.  This started about a week ago and this time the razzing involves him drooling profusely and spitting.

 

The funniest thing recently was when we introduced mashed potatoes to him the other night.  His faces definitely rivaled those of the green bean episode months ago.  I guess that texture just isn't what he's used to.  Good times!

Finally, he is starting to say Mama more - especially when he is fussy.  I love hearing him say Mama, but not when he's fussy :-(

9 Months Old!

Since Nicholas was gypped out of a 9 month birthday, we will just consider today his birthday.  This morning was his 9 month check-up at Greenvale.  He is 28 3/4 inches long and 19 lbs, which puts him in the 75th and 50th percentiles.  I was surprised by this, but Dr. Whitaker says this slow down in growth is completely normal.  We are so very thankful that Nicholas has not been sick a day in his life, not even so much as diaper rash.  I'm not going to completely contribute his good health to nursing, but I definitely think it is a huge benefit that I am still able to nurse.  Besides the nutritional benefits, Gabe and I estimated that we have saved at least $1300 from not having to buy formula (we actually still have the formula that was given to us by the hospital). 

Growth:  Even though his growth seems to have slowed a bit, Nicholas already easily fits into 12 month clothes.  He is wearing size 4 diapers and probably will remain that size for awhile.  His hair is also getting longer and thicker. 

Nutrition:  This past month, we have introduced lunch and water at lunch and dinner.  He is still trying to grasp the concept of the sippy cup, so we took out the filter from the cups to make the water flow a little better.  He seems to like water.  He still enjoys just about all food we give him except for one recently that had some meat in it.  We also occasionally give Nicholas some Cheerios and Gerber yogurt melts.  At first he would cough after swallowing it, but I think he's getting used to the texture.  With 4 teeth up top and two on the bottom, he could definitely crunch some food.   

Developments:  Nicholas is now standing really well while playing with his Leap Frog play table, even going a few seconds without holding on to anything.  When sitting in his crib he tries to pull himself up.  The most recent development is his ability to go from sitting to the crawling position without taking a nose dive.  Granted there were a few head bonks, but he's getting better and better at this by the day.  Nicholas is much more talkative this month compared to last month. His vocabulary includes "ah", "ba", "ma", "na" and "da" (although we haven't really heard "da-da").

Cute Quirks:  Nicholas constantly flicks his wrist with his hand in a fist.  If he would just open up his hand, he could wave bye-bye like we've been teaching him.  One that makes us laugh is when he is laying in his crib (either protesting to go to sleep or when he just wakes up) he will lift his legs in the air and then slam them down on the mattress.  It's so loud that we can hear him in the living room without the monitor on.  The cutest quirks are when he scrunches up his nose or sticks out his lower jaw like a bulldog when he's happy.       

Nicholas has also started to react when certain things don't go his way - like if we take a toy away that he's not done playing with, etc.  Granted he is mainly a laid back baby, but he does have his irritated moments. 

So the saying "9 months on, 9 months off" as far as getting the baby weight off didn't apply to me.  Of course I haven't exactly done much to get those last 10 pounds off.  Apparently my desire to fit back into my old clothes wasn't enough incentive to exercise, so several weeks ago I decided to sign up for the Azalea Trail Run in Mobile.  Granted this is just a 5k run, but at least this got me started and motivated to get back on the treadmill (on a regular basis). 

Happy 9 Months Little Man!

The most horrible sound...

is that of your 8 month old grinding his teeth!!  And it is loud too!  I know this is (hopefully) just a phase since all those teeth have come in, but ugh this is not a fun phase!  Hearing that noise makes us cringe every time.  We try not to overreact so we don't inadvertantly encourge him to continue doing this, but it's hard not to react.  Our friends the Spanicks and Perrys can attest from hanging out the other night, that this is a horrible, horrible sound.  Oh please let this one pass quickly!!

Giggles and Grace

I have worked our church's children's consignment sale - Giggles and Grace - since before Nicholas was even in the womb. I LOVE LOVE LOVE this sale and highly recommend it to those with little ones (especially little girls - it seemed like there was twice as much girl clothing than boys).  We have definitely racked up over the past several sales and did so again this week. Unfortunately I did not find a good umbrella stroller that I was hoping for, but I did stock up on some great things for around $80.

My bargains included:

• two pairs of shoes - Crocs and Nike tennis shoes that I knew daddy would love
• a new Baby Einstein DVD - can never have too many of these
• a cool basketball goal toy - it's never too early to start
• a Leap Frog play table for Mimi and Pop's house
• loads of clothes

I'm going to check out the Trussville Methodist sale in two weeks.  For new moms or for those expecting, you can sign up to shop early.  Hopefully I can find some good stuff there too!

This week Gabe and I decided to lower the crib mattress and remove the bumper pads.  Although Nicholas cannot sit up from laying down just yet, when he was sitting in the crib recently he grabbed the slats and was trying to pull himself up.  Better to be safe than sorry...

Happy Valentine's Day!

Hope everyone had a wonderful Valentine's Day! Aren't my roses just beautiful!?! My valentine did a wonderful job picking those out!

I thought I would also share some picks from Nicholas' first real snow experience. I'm thankful that we didn't have the blizzard experience that the Northeast has experienced, but it was nice to have our few inches of snow.

Socks as gloves - they worked great!



You can see those top teeth coming in.




Swinging in the sunroom. Much warmer...


"If I can just grab that big ear..."


"What did I do?"