9 Months*

*This should have been posted in mid July. I know, I know...

Reed, you are NINE months old! I know I say this all the time, but you are growing up too fast! Just a few more months and you will be ONE!!

You are quickly shedding your babyness. You have started crawling everywhere. It is a really cute army crawl. First you were pushing with your feet and rolling, then you got up on your knees and rocked for a couple of days and then you took off! I try not to put you in white too much because your little belly drags the floor and shows me how dirty the floors are, even after I've just mopped. Ha!

You are also pulling up on furniture, toys, whatever! You have two teeth that came in within a few days of each other (on the bottom) and I think you will get some on top soon!

Look how big you are!
I could only get a couple of decent ones with the bunny. You just won't sit still! I remember when the bunny was a little bit bigger than you. That's definitely not the case now! You are wearing size 3 diapers but we are about to move up to size 4's. You are wearing some 6-12 month clothes but a lot of them are 9, 12 or 18 month sizes. You are able to wear several things of Will's and it tickles me to see you in them because you fill them out in length but they look a bit baggy in the sides. I guess your brother stretched them out!

The tear duct in your right eye is still blocked and draining lots of gunk. Dr. Rogers was thinking it would clear up by now but it hasn't so we will go see an opthomolagist next month. You scratched the outside of your left eye the day we took these pictures, so both of your eyes are

pitiful!

But Dr. Rogers was pleased with the rest of your development. You are pretty much on track with other babies your age and it is hard to believe you were a preemie!

You weighed 22lbs 2 oz (75th percentile)

Your length was 28.25 inches (50th percentile)

Your head circumference was 18 inches (?)

You are such a delight to be around! You usually sleep from 7:30 or 8:00 to when daddy wakes you around 6:30 to go to Ms. Honey's house or between 7 and 8:30 if we can sleep in. One Saturday you slept till 9:35! Will was at Gigi and Poppy's house so Mommy and Daddy slept till 9:35! It was blessed! You are taking 2-3 naps a day ranging from 45 min to 3 hours depending on what is going on.

You take four or five 7oz bottles of formula a day. Dr. Rogers said your iron was good and we could switch you to whole milk but I want to make sure you are eating more table food first. You usually have 2 containers of baby food at lunch and 2 at dinner and you are really starting to enjoy puffs and other finger foods. Your favorite baby food is pretty much anything orange. You tolerate peas and your dislike green beans and bananas. You ADORE Earth's Best Wheat teething biscuits but make a HUGE mess with them so I am selective about when I give them to you. You really seem to like yogurt, too. When I get it out for you Will usually asks for some so I give him the first one and you throw a fit while I stir your yogurt up.

You love to play! You are starting to play peek-a-boo with a blanket and you love getting into Will's toys (which he cannot stand!). You adore Ms. Honey which I am thankful for. You do ok in the church nursery but have nearly been kicked out a few times for crying. I think there is just too much stimulation in there for you to go to sleep and you get very cranky! There were several Sundays when I came to get you and you were in a room next door asleep in Mrs. Korbi's or Mrs. LaDonna's arms with the lights off.

You are saying "Hey!" sometimes and babbling mama and dada. I can't wait to hear you talk! You seem very reserved about people you don't know and are so joyous around those you do know. Even though you can't talk yet, you are able to communicate well. I know immediately when you don't like something because this is what you do:

You seem to be a little dramatic and a put-on but at least I can read you! When Will steals a toy from you or you are tired or hungry, you cry. But you also get over it very quickly!

I am so proud of how well you are doing just nine months from coming into the world! I love you very much and enjoy your sweet cuddles and the way you touch your little fingers to my face. Happy 9 month birthday, sweet boy!

Love,

Mommy

Aunty Em

The weekend after we went to the beach my brother Sam and sister-in-law Emily came to visit. Oliver was not in tow this time which was sort of strange. He was visiting with his Aunt Tressie and baby cousin Adley, so I feel pretty sure he was having a blast!

They brought Will some belated birthday gifts and he was so excited! Aunt Emily read his new book to him and his cousin Alex.
Can you oink like a pig?

Alex can!

Can you chomp like a gator?

The boys enjoyed spending time with their Aunty Em!

*It is funny to me to look at Alex and Will side by side. Alex is 20 months older than Will and they enjoy playing together. They are first cousins and look NOTHING alike. And they are both wearing size 3t gymboree shirts here!

I can't keep up

Life is happening and I can't keep up.

On the blog, that is.

I have missed Reed's 9 and 10 month posts. And he has 5 (almost 6!) teeth. And he is crawling like a big boy and pulling up and cruising the furniture.

Will is daytime potty trained. Still has occasional accidents but he's spoting some Buzz and Woody or Lightning McQueen or Elmo undies everyday now.

Reed is outgrowing his infant seat so we just got convertibles for him.

I've tried new recipes.

I'm still working. Brad's still working his hiney off. We got to go away for the weekend together a week ago.

I rented a rug doctor to clean our carpets. Will definitely do that again. And possibly soon because the boys have had hand, foot and mouth disease since Friday. And the carpet has taken a beating.

Will is at his Gigi and Poppy's for the evening so it's just me and the little guy. Maybe I can do a few actual posts with some of the pictures I have taken since July. Hopefully I can get at least a few done this week. Wish me luck, because I can't seem to keep up!

Photoshoot, Take Too Sweet

Reed is a mama's boy for sure, but Gigi got some good snuggles in while I took pictures.

These are Will's feet. That's the only part of him that made it in this post!

I love this of my baby boy. He was mesmerized by the sand.

I love this shot, too. I like the sand glob falling down from his hand.

Mmmm...gritty!

Photoshoot, Take 2

Do you know how difficult it is to get a decent shot of 4 people?

Especially when two of them are ages 2 and under?

And the wind is blowing our hair? Oh well, we tried!

But reduce the number by 2 and it gets a little easier...

LOVE this one of Will. Even though he is burrying my lens brush in the stand. Still love it.

I was getting him to smile by telling him to say hey to his daycare buddies. I think he was yelling "Kayla" here.

This little sweetie just gets me every time he smiles.

Can you see the water dripping from the shell?

I probably took almost a hundred of him playing in the water. He loved it!

This is possibly my favorite from the day. The sunlight broke through the clouds and was so buttery warm and glowy. I made Brad get out of the way. He was nervous stepping away from Will but the momentary danger was worth it. I mean look at this! I only edited this by cropping it. If I could bottle light like that I would be rich! I think I will crop it a little more and have it printed on canvas.

It was hard to choose which ones to post because I took a few hundred. Of course a lot of them are not great and I should delete them but that is so hard for me to do! I would probably post all of them if it didn't take so long to upload a set to blogger. I have a few more to share of Reed. then I can move on.

Photoshoot, Take 1

Orange Beach Day 3

Saturday morning we had a leisurely breakfast and then a not so lesiurely time getting ready to go to the pool. Suiting up and getting sunscreen on 2 little people can be a challenge! But we made it and Will thouroughly enjoyed his time in the water.

I went Friday and got him arm floaties and a pool ring to use instead of his life jacket which was too tight. He loved them!


He had a blast swimming with Daddy. He did not want me at all!

Little Reed didn't have a choice. He seemed to like being in the pool.

After a little while it was time to go get cleaned up so we could go out to eat lunch.

Can you see Reed's fin on top of his hood?

The beach was just steps away. Many places in the area had double red flags but our condo only had one.

While Brad and I got showered and dressed, Gigi got Reed hopped up on caffeine!

Then we took in the gorgeous views from the balcony.

Will refused to be in a picture with us.

We headed to Tacky Jacks for lunch. The service was less than stellar but the food was good!

Reed wasn't too impressed. He thought his carrots tasted the same as anywhere else. :)

Will enjoyed his sweet tea with a bendy straw.

And he also enjoyed his 'ba' and sitting by Gigi.

We had to wait awhile on our food so Poppy drew a portrait of Will.

And Gigi entertained us by putting on Will's hat.

After lunch we took some pictures on the front porch of the gift shop.

I love this one of my boys.

But this one is the sweetest. They are smiling at their daddy (I think) and Will is holding Reed's hand.

After lunch it was nap time and then pictures on the beach...