A look into our world

In other news, I had my 9-month well-baby checkup today, and it went great. Since I had Rotavirus last week, I've lost some weight and am down to 19.6 lbs., which is the 40th percentile. But I'm still up there in the 90% percentile for height! - just over 30 inches. Dr. Weeden wants us to come by next month for a weigh-in just to make sure I'm keeping my weight up. Nothing to worry about, he said; just wanting to check in. He said that since I have upper and lower teeth, I can start eating "table food" in small bites. Up until now, my gag reflex has been quite strong. I'm kinda funny with textures. So whenever a cheerio gets to the back of my mouth, I gag, and throw up, which kinda scares my parents. After my appointment today, Mommy was determined to get me used to pieces of things. So we came home, she sat me in my high chair, and gave me lots of cheerios to practice with. With the first few, I gagged a little bit, but then I decided that I kinda liked this new method. I drank like a pro from my sippy cup, and was picking up my cheerios and putting them in my mouth like a champ! Mommy was very proud of me. I wonder what fun foods I will get next? I'll keep you posted!

My Daddy and uncle Tim's best friend Jacob came into town this weekend and got to spend a few hours with us on Saturday. He has a little boy, Ethan, who is 14 months old, and Ethan is about to have a baby sister, Sadie, anytime in the next month. Ethan and his mommy, Kelly, couldn't come and we missed them. Since Jacob has a baby and is a pro at changing poopy diapers, he volunteered to change mine. It was some fun guy time...

It was so fun to finally meet you, Mr. Jacob! Thanks for playing with me, and showing me how to ride that horsey really fun.

Here I am playing with my music toy. I like to crawl right up to it, get on my knees, and start playing the music.


"Hi Mom!"

Mommy was doing the dishes the other day, and she looked like she needed some help. I thought to myself, "I'm just the guy she needs!" Good thing Mommy has me around.

I have some very neat letters on our fridge, and lately, playing with them is one of my favorite activities. I crawl from the living room into the kitchen, right up to the fridge, and begin taking the letters off and dropping them onto the floor. Sometimes I like to see if they taste any good - they're okay.

Dad and I got some special hang out time the other day, so we played with my train. I do love my train, and I'm a very good shifter! It's especially fun when Mommy or Daddy pushes me in my train and says, "chugga, chugga, chugga, chugga, choo-choo!"

Dad likes to get artistic with his angles when he takes pictures.
Here I am practicing my sweet face that I think, if I play my cards right, will get me whatever I want...And Mommy couldn't resist taking this picture of me during my nap yesterday. This is one of my favorite ways to sleep - on my tummy with my legs scrunched up to my tummy. It's so comfy!

Wow, it has been quite the week here at my house. Last Wednesday I got sick, and I mean really sick. All weekend long I was sick, so when I wasn't much better on Monday, Mommy took me to the Dr. He said I have Rotavirus. Mommy says it's to icky to explain on my blog what Rotavirus is, so if you don't know, then you'll just have to look it up and see for yourself. But I can tell you that we are having to borrow a steam cleaner to clean our couch, cause I messed it up a few times.

Under normal circumstances, I'm not what you would call a "cuddler", much to Mommy's dismay. I just think, why waste your time sitting still when you can be moving and exploring? It's beyond me. Well, this weekend I didn't have much energy for moving and exploring, just cuddling. Even though Mommy was very sad to see me sick, she enjoyed the cuddles.
Mommy and Dad went to a special conference this weekend just for them, so Papa and M'laine got to come stay with me overnight! M'laine is a nurse, so Mommy knew I was in great care being sick. Papa and M'laine were lucky to get lots of good cuddling this weekend! (plus a few other things they weren't expecting).
They even showed me how to hold my bottle all by myself! Thank you so much for coming to take such good care of me, Papa and M'laine. I had a great weekend with you. Come back soon! I'm starting to feel better today. Not 100% back to normal yet, but doing better. Thanks to everyone who prayed for me.

Here is my cousin Jamey's puppy, Norah. We are taking care of her for a few days, and she is a very sweet puppy. She and my puppy, Bella, are best friends (well, best cousins, I guess). She already knows the ropes with a baby in the house, so she sits there nice and sweet while I "pet" her. This picture didn't capture it, but I was laughing and playing with Norah - I thought she was so funny! We will miss her when she's gone - Norah, please come play with us again!
Each day I discover new and exciting things in the house. Yesterday my new thing was to crawl to the front door and look out the window. There's lots to see out there; this way I can keep track of what's going on in the neighborhood.
Mommy caught me doing this this morning - crawling towards the dog food. My cousin Jamey went through this phase (may still be in this phase?), and Mommy's not really looking forward to having to "deal" with me wanting to try Bella's food. I don't know why not; if it's good enough for Bella, it's good enough for me!
And here's the most exciting part...I am pulling myself up! Mommy came in to check on me when I was supposed to be taking my nap, and this is what she found. Now almost every time my parents lay me down, I like to stand up and talk for awhile. Mommy says I'm not quite as good of a napper as I used to be. Why would I want to nap when I could just be with people all the time?

Wow, Grandparents are the greatest! I not only got a box from Papa and M'laine a few days ago, but another box came in the mail for me, and this one was from Grandma Lou and Grandpa Jere! This one started out much like the other one...great bubble wrap! I think Grandparents know that babies love bubble wrap the best :)
Then came my special Valentine's Day card...
Then a really neat and big Noah's Ark book with some other bible stories in there, too! I really love the big pictures in this book.
Then some fun bath toy stackers that I've already enjoyed a few times...
And finally a fun outfit for the spring! Thank you so much for my special Valentine's box, Grandma and Grandpa. I love you!

Last night was so exciting! When we got home from our busy day, there was a box addressed to me waiting for us. It was a special Valentine's box from Papa and M'laine!

Mommy helped me dig right in. First, we took out the bubble wrap on top. I really liked that part :)
Next was a sweet little stuffed animal. He tasted quite good, too.
Then came the tissue paper! It was my favorite part (Mommy says go figure!) It was red and it held another special treasure...
A book! I'm hoping M'laine will read me my new book when she comes this weekend.
And then there was one more little surprise in the bottom...a lollipop! The wrapper was quite fun to suck on...I was a natural! Daddy said he would help eat my sucker for me. Maybe next year I can finally eat my own suckers! Thank you Papa and M'laine for my special Valentine's box! I love you.

Here I am playing basketball. I have "accidentally" made a basket twice, but my normal is to pick up the ball and put it to my mouth to chew on for awhile. Then I use the hoop to pull up on my knees, and I love watching the flashing lights on the backboard!

I also love playing with my train. I'm getting very good at twisting the part on the front, pulling the handles on the sides, and using it to pull myself up as well.
And here I am standing! This is on of my favorite toys - it plays so much music! I am very good at pulling the handles on this as well, and opening and closing that green lid on the side. This toy keeps me busy for awhile. And it is also a great help for standing!

The other day I decided to go over to Bella's toy basket and take her sweater out of it and flip the basket over.
Then I thought it would be fun to use it to stand!
This is one of my favorite things in the house to crawl to and touch. I have all kinds of toys to play with, but sometimes a guy just needs a little decorative bird house to play with :)
It might be hard for you to tell in this picture, but I am using Mommy's legs to help me pull up and stand!

Today I found that I have a box in the living room with all kinds of toys in it! Sometimes the coffee table kind of hides my toy box, but today the coffee table was in a different spot. While I was exploring the living room, I crawled right over to my toy box and pulled up on it, just like this. I'm glad I finally found my toy box - this will probably come in handy for future playing-days. Even though I'm a good crawler now, I still like to stop and do my push-ups every now and then. It keeps me in shape - push-ups are good exercise, you know.

Now that I know how to crawl really well, I've been exploring the ins and outs of my house. These pictures are of me entering new territory - the kitchen! Did you know that if you slap your hands on the tiles it makes a really loud noise? Try it sometime; it's great fun!

Today after church, Mommy put me down on her bedroom floor while she took off her shoes. When she came back from putting them away in her closet, she found me crawling towards the baby in the mirror! I was smiling really big at him and touching him and trying to chew on him. He just smiled right back at me; we had a great time! That's a sweet baby in that mirror. Maybe I can play with him again after my nap...


Here I am all dressed up and ready to go to church this morning. M'laine got me some really cool church clothes, so this morning was the perfect occasion! Aunty Sarah got a picture of Mommy, Daddy, and me at church this morning, so as soon as we get that from her, we'll post it too. I had such a treat this morning when Mommy picked me up from the nursery...she had Miss Leah with her! (Leah is Uncle Tim's sister), and when we walked back to the worship center, a whole crew of people were there from El Dorado! (that's where my Daddy grew up). Mrs. Vicki and Mr. Bill (Tim's parents) and a whole bunch of other people were there...just to see me! (Well, they might've been there to praise Jesus and to hear Daddy sing, too, but I'm really the main reason:) ). It was fun to see the El Dorado crew up here in Northwest Arkansas!