My Little Man

Every time I put Winston in his highchair I think he looks so silly because he is still just a tiny, little guy, but he looks so grown-up sitting all by himself. I know I've mentioned this half-babe/half-boy phase before, but I can't get over it. It is so fun, so silly, so cute, so the best!

 

 

 

 

 

This was a very unintentional photo shoot; W is just very photogenic and everything happened to be white this morning :)

 
This week W had another little tooth pop up, but unlike the last time this tooth has been quite painful for our little man. He has had really high fevers and a hard time sleeping and eating for the past three days. Luckily, as long as his mama or daddy is holding him, there are no tears or fussing, just extra shnuggles. Monday morning I had to run to the market and poor W had to come with me. He was being such a good sport, sitting in the cart quietly, but he was looking really sleepy and kept yawning so I scooped him up and let him rest his head on my shoulder. About two minutes later I realized he had fallen asleep. I don't think he has fallen asleep on my shoulder since he was about two months old. I felt so bad for him, but at the same time I loved comforting this sweet, sleeping babe.

He's doing all sorts of big boy things now (i.e. he says mama and dada, he gives kisses, and he's adding some movement to his Hitler wave), but this week I've been reminded that he is still my little baby boy. Oh, and squishy-baby shnuggles are the best!

 

I love a baby in a white onesie! It's so adorable :)

9 mos

21.5 lbs (still) & 29.5 inches

As of today, Winston has entered the fourth quarter of his first year and I think it's going to be a doozy. This little man is everywhere! I can't tell you how much joy Tyler and I get from watching him develop his motor skills. I'm going to keep this post short because last month was out of control, but I will list a few new things about him that we love.

1. He lets go of things and stands on his own all the time- it's his new favorite trick.
2. He walks around furniture and behind his walker, but hasn't taken any unassisted steps yet.
3. He still loves to clap other people's hands together (including his sock monkey, Churchill's), but he won't clap his own hands yet.
4. He loves Churchill and gets excited to give him shnuggles.
5. Bathtime is the best. Splashing is the best.
6. He knows to smile for the camera and kind of has a cheesy camera smile. So does Tyler...
7. He likes it when I chase him around and tickle him from behind.
8. Playing on Mom & Dad's bed is very cool. Especially when we 'throw' him against the pillows or bounce him...
9. ...bouncing is very important. He bounces when he's standing and sitting, always.
10. When we lay him down in his crib he makes snow angels super fast and smiles from ear to ear. I have no idea why.
11. He communicates by saying 'eh' for everything, though it most often means 'Where did it go?', 'Look at that!', and 'Can I have that?'
12. He waves, but only like Hitler.
13. Strawberry yogurt solves all problems.
14. He's eating a lot more table foods now and has figured out that it's important to swallow a bite before you take another one :)
15. I wish I could describe all the faces he makes. He's very expressive now.
16. He likes to explore his own room and I'll often find him pulling all the books off the shelf or rummaging through his toy basket on his own.
17. He thinks it's really funny when he's upside down on the floor.
18. He loves to give us love bonks- bonking foreheads together when we say 'I love you'.
19. He talks constantly as he crawls around and is very good at D and T sounds.
20. Oh, and that measuring cup he's holding in every photo? He discovered it about two weeks ago and hasn't been seen without it since. It's the only thing he's ever crawled around with and the only thing he cries about when you take it away.

St. Paddy's Day

 

We celebrated the Irish yesterday with green waffles and gold coins. W's never had a waffle before, but he didn't hesitate to just grab that thing and devour it. He also tried to eat a couple of gold coins whole, but I fished those out of his mouth :) I did give him a coin unwrapped, which he quickly discovered was much better. Yay for St. Patrick's Day!!

(sorry I take so many photos, but I just love everything he does!)

Park Days

I couldn't get enough of this little lumberjack at the park today-

 

 "Look guys, no hands!"

Quick Photo Update

 New favorite game- chatting with himself in front of the oven. And I've decided a baby doing grown-up things (aka standing) is pretty cute because he just looks so tiny next to all our big furniture.

 We can't take enough baths around here. As soon as I pull W out of the tub, he crawls right back over and pounds on the side to let me know he'd like to get right back in. And I think those rosy cheeks indicate he'd already been in there for long enough :)

 W loved playing with Pa (and trying to play with his glasses) when he came to visit us last week.

 I still can't get over the swaddle hanging out of his mouth when he sleeps. He is just so darn cute!!

Monica came to visit us too! Good thing W likes her because I think we'll be seeing a lot more of her soon... :)

Playtime

Lately Winston has been super active (aka loopy) right before bed so we've been having a lot of fun and giggling nonstop. This is what that playtime looks like:

 

 

 

That's right- it's all a blur! You can't hold still when you're having this much fun! In the last photo W is actually standing by himself, though you might not be able to tell. He's been letting go of things on his own more and more and can balance himself for several seconds before he falls.

Tonite I did manage to get a couple of photos that aren't blurry. I discovered that W now knows what to do when I say "Smile!" Twice tonite he stopped what he was doing, looked up at the camera and gave me a huge smile when I said it. I can't believe how much I love this babe!!!

We Heart NASA

 

Over the weekend Tyler and I took W to see the space shuttle Endeavour in it's new home here in California. I mean, I took Tyler to see the space shuttle :) And maybe I really wanted to see it too... Anyhow, we loved checking it out. To me NASA is so historic and iconic and American and I love every bit of it. While wandering around under the shuttle Tyler and I both found ourselves lamenting the fact that we did not choose 'astronaut' when it came time to check off a career. What was I thinking? Oh yeah, that I wanted to be a mom and my son would be an astronaut. We're planning on it :)

 Daddy & our future astronaut

 Mama & W

Tyler & I thought the tiles covering the shuttle were pretty cool & they each have their own identification number of sorts.

 Yay!! W putting his hands up because he's having so much fun :)

The museum has a plan to put the shuttle on display upright along with the launch boosters in the future, so I guess we'll have to come back when that happens.

"To infinity, and beyond!"

Sunday Afternoon

Cookies & milk? No thank you, I'll have my blanket & milk :)

8 mos

21.5 lbs & 29 inches

 Winston was very contemplative this morning and wouldn't give me many smiles... until I put the camera down. But I'm just looking at his crossed feet anyways :)

Winston is 8 mos old today, which sounds soooo very old for a babe. Somehow I feel like once you're 8 mos old you might as well round up to a year. And while I love my little man growing up and learning new tricks, there is something sad about your baby turning one- he won't be such a baby anymore :( I know I still have four months to go, but I hope they go slowly.

We've accomplished quite a bit in the last month: Dubs is crawling everywhere! He follows me from room to room and is happy exploring every little nook and cranny he can find. He's started eating meats & dairy (yogurt is a fav) & finger foods. We've packed up the play mat, the swing, crib bumpers and more. He got his first haircut. He can pull himself into a standing position on his own, and did so in his crib for the first time this morning. He still goes to sleep on his own and sleeps through the night. Basically, he is growing up so fast and loving every minute of it.

There is so much we absolutely love about him right now, so I just decided to list it all. The list is very long, but I want to remember everything about his cute little personality.

• When he eats yogurt he savors every bite, swirling it around in his mouth with his tongue.
• He loves turning the pages as we read books and knows what books are. When I ask him if wants to read a book he looks at them and crawls over to them. He would read all day if I'd let him.
• He makes noise constantly as he crawls around exploring (i.e. smacking his lips, growling, blowing raspberries, etc.)
• The first time he had finger foods he picked up a piece in his fist and then was confused because he couldn't see it anymore and started looking all around him to find it, while keeping his fist clenched around it. Now, however, he is a pro.
• When you offer him something he really, really likes he doesn't take it right away. He first shakes with excitement and smiles really big for a minute and then grabs it.
• I love his little noises! He recently learned to click his tongue and does it all the time. He also thinks it's really funny when mama does it.
• He is always so proud of himself when he learns something new and gets the biggest grin on his face :)
• He randomly will stop what he's doing and throw both his arms up over his head with a huge smile when he's having fun. He does this a lot when he's in the stroller or sitting on our laps.
• He is sooooo good in the car. Perfectly content to play, chat, or sleep no matter how long we're in there.
• He has quite the repertoire of raspberries- slow & quiet, loud & slobbery, short bursts, steady w/ humming, etc.
• He freaks out (in an excited way) when he sees the home phone. He loves it when I call people and put them on speaker phone and usually stares at the phone doing his 'I want' sound repeatedly until we put the phone away.
• He still loves the color red.
• His 'I want' sound- sort of sounds like a high-pitched grunt over and over again.
• When he's happy he spins his feet around in circles constantly. When he's super excited he does the same thing with his hands so all four propellers are spinning at once!
• Now that he knows how to stand up on his own, he loves it a million times more than before. He would much rather stand up and then sit down over and over again than play with toys right now.
• He loves bathtime and finds it very relaxing. I know, because he inevitably pees about 60 seconds in every time :)
• He understands no. When he's going for something he's not supposed to and we say no he'll stop and look at us for a minute, and then move onto something else.
• He is very interested in the vacuum and chases it around when I vacuum.
• He is very ticklish, especially at night. You are guaranteed a silly smile if you tickle the back of his neck.
• He is a very busy little boy. Always moving!
• He loves to bounce, bounce, bounce!
• We have his birth announcement photo as our screen saver and he always gets excited when he sees it. Good thing that's the one I just printed to frame in his room :)
• He loves to play in front of the mirror. He also has a small cloth book with a mirror on the front and when he looks at it he presses his face as close as he can and stares at himself.
• Going to the market takes us nearly twice as long as it used to because we get stopped sooooo many times by people wanting to stare at W. His eyes literally suck people in. And of course those cheeks are the most kissable, squeezable cheeks ever! Just the other day a homeless man asked me if W could stay with him to keep him happy, and a couple of hours later a woman asked me if he was for sale. Weird, but flattering :)
• He is still obsessed with his swaddle. He sometimes drags it with him when he's crawling around and will go searching for it just so he can shove a corner in his mouth and suck on it for a minute. When I pick him up after a nap he always gives me a little shnuggle and then looks back in his crib and waits for me to give him his swaddle. He literally cannot sleep without it.
• When he's just sitting (while reading books or riding in the stroller) he crosses his feet. Nothing is cuter than crossed, chubby baby feet :) 
• He gets super excited when he sees Tyler and always reaches for him.
• When he's excited he often puts his tongue between his teeth and inhales rapidly- kind of sounds like hissing.
• The way he moves his chubby, little fingers is just so cute! He is very precise with his pointer and thumb when picking up foods and when picking at buttons & tags. He also does things subconsciously- like softly tapping his pointer on dad's knee while watching people at church or flicking the back of dad's neck all during our hike last Saturday. And when I nurse him he always has one hand twirling my hair or grazing my lips & cheeks.
• He loves little kids. He gets really excited when he sees them and often reaches for them.
• He still loves singing songs, especially 'Open, Shut Them' and 'Patty Cake'.
• He loves when daddy throws the blanket over his head to play peek-a-boo and will sometimes pull the blanket up over his face himself.

 

Happy when he's moving

 

Loves those books

Look at me! I can stand!

P.S. We ran into Jamie Lee Curtis outside the pediatrician's office yesterday and she gushed over W's eyes and cheeks. She was so nice and just kept saying what a beautiful babe he is. She also told us we have the best pediatrician. Awesome!

Weekend Snapshots

We celebrated President's Day weekend with the Cheesecake Factory, a hike, playing/watching basketball, Cafe Rio, church, Ticket to Ride, a growth spurt, Jamba Juice, a few errands, lots of giggles, a family jog to the park, the NBA All-star game, finger foods, a movie, and lots of friends. Busy and awesome at the same time :)

 Daddy & his little man

Enjoying the ride

 Some of those giggles I mentioned

 Watching the game with Daddy

 More giggles :)

 Valentine's flowers from my Lover

 Finger foods & a very messy babe