10 mos

22 lbs 6 oz, 29.5 inches

I can't believe how big my little man is now. When Tyler and I go in to peek at him sleeping every night (yes, every night because we are creeper parents), we are amazed at how big he looks in the crib. I remember when we first brought him home from the hospital and he looked so silly in that crib- just a tiny, little bean in the middle of it. We love all of the sweet things he's doing now though, including walking... almost! Here are some of the highlights:

1. He LOVES playing peek-a-boo and has figured out how to cover his own eyes with his hands. And when we toss a blanket over his head and ask, "Where's Winston?", he likes to make you wait for a few seconds before he pulls the blanket down giggling.

2. He talks constantly and often uses hand gestures. He will come stand up next to me and then just talk and shake his hands all over the place for a few minutes at a time. He also growls a lot :)

3. He took eleven unassisted steps today! Previously he had only taken four steps at a time and always when he wasn't really paying attention. This time I could tell he was very focused on his balance and he immediately turned to me with a huge smile when he finally fell over.

4. He now has four teeth- three on the bottom and one on top. Yeah, we know that's weird. His other front tooth is soooo close though and I wouldn't be surprised to see it in the morning.

5. He LOVES his daddy. He gets the biggest smile on his face when he sees Tyler and then gets upset if Tyler leaves the room. He also loves it when Tyler swings him up over his head, tickles him, chases him, etc. They're best friends!

6. He has started to enter the "let me empty every container I can find" phase. He is soooo busy around the house all day, just walking along the walls and furniture picking at every new thing.

7. He's started to figure out how everything works, i.e. opening and closing doors, putting toys together, bending his arms to get out of the carseat, etc.

8. Instead of crying (unless he has a good, hard fall) he does a high-pitched yelp sort of thing. It makes me laugh and I'd take that over crying any day.

9. He is such a sweet little shnuggler! He gives me kisses and love bonks all the time and he'll come over to me several times a day and just rest his head on my leg or shoulder for a minute.

10. He does this funny thing when he really into something- he tightens his whole body, makes a serious face, and holds his hands up karate chop style, while grunting. It's hilarious and I have no idea why he does that every time. He also has a really awesome serious face :)

11. He enjoys bathtime, cheerios, bike rides, the mirror, walking around our bed, his swaddle, playing in the car outside of his carseat, waving, walking on the couch, playing with keys, swinging at the park, and a lot of other things...

We are still convinced he is the most perfect babe ever and he is just so handsome! Oh, and his chubby thighs have thinned out quite a bit :( Sad, but I think the cheeks will hang around a little while longer!

P.S. We took photos at the temple today and I always forget how awesome temple landscapers are :) Everything looked and smelled so pretty!!

The Beehive State

Our flight home and the only photo of the trip; my b.

Over the weekend we all flew up to Utah to for a little fun with some friends. We made the rounds and visited with friends in Springville, Provo, Lehi, Salt Lake and Ogden. Here are the highlights:

• W took three unassisted steps at the airport right before we boarded the plane. He did that a few more times while we were in Utah, so it's only a matter of time now...
• W was a pro-flyer again and was glued to the window during take-offs and landings.
• We stayed with our friend's the Killpacks (they are awesome), and W LOVED their dog, Prez. W followed him everywhere, wanted to touch him constantly, and giggled whenever Tyler played tug-of-war with Prez. We need to get a puppy :)
• We got to meet baby Reese, the Killpack's very squishy baby. She is so, so cute!
• We met up with Alex (Tyler & Nick Killpack's old roommate) for dinner. He's always fun to visit with :)
• Tyler got to visit with two of his mission companions he hasn't seen for a few years and remembered how much he loves those guys. Hopefully it won't be so long before we see them again.
• We visited our friend's the Gees and their baby, Dottie. She's just as cute as her photos and I think W may really, really, like her...
• We made a trip to the BYU bookstore and Tyler promised we would only leave with one book... we left with five. Although, I may have picked three of them :) It's okay to be obsessed with church books, yeah?!
• We had lunch at Cafe Zupas.
• We met up with Alyssa and Jillian, my pals from London, for breakfast. I seriously LOVE those girls!
• We took a nap one morning while W napped and it may have been one of the best parts of our trip :)
• On Sunday one of W's two front teeth cut through. Yay for teeth!
• We stopped in to see the Jones' who used to be in our ward here in L.A. I love talking with them and we really do miss them over here.
• Ever since W was a newborn I have always done this thing to him where I tap my forehead to his and then tell him I love him. For a little while now he has been initiating the 'bonk' with Tyler and I and we always tell him we love him when he does it. While we were visiting the Gees W crawled over to Dottie several times and tapped his forehead to hers! Later that night he did the same thing to Reese. He is such a sweet boy!

We spent quite a bit of time lounging around the Killpack's home just chatting with them. We're so grateful for their hospitality and friendship. It was definitely a nice, quick getaway for the weekend.

The Weekend

We spent the weekend watching General Conference as a family. I love, love, love the talk Elaine S. Dalton gave, 'What e'er thou art, act well thy part.' It seriously made me so happy and I love her! And I love being a woman :) And I also loved David A Bednar's talk. Really the whole conference was amazing!

W's favorite part was listening to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Can you tell?

Easter Weekend

We packed in a lot of family fun over Easter Weekend. On Good Friday we drove out to the Underwood Family Farms for the Easter festivities. I've heard so much about the awesome Underwood Farms since we moved to L.A., but this is the first time we made it out for a visit and it did not disappoint. We checked out all the farm animals, took a tractor tour of the farm, and Winston and I shared some fresh produce. Afterwards we headed to the Reagan Library to tour the original Air Force One. I learned a lot about the Reagan administration and we saw a bit of the Disney exhibit as well.

Saturday we went to Tyler's basketball game in the morning and then we visited the Annenberg Space for Photography to see the War Photography exhibit. There was some pretty heavy material, but the photos were amazing and it was really interesting learning about the impact of photography on war and the roles of photographers in the military today. In the evening we went out for Mexican food and then came home and read the Easter story in the bible together before shnuggling up to a movie.

Sunday we woke up and found that the Easter Bunny had paid us a visit! Then we all got to go to church together (yay for seeing Tyler on Sunday!) and afterward we headed down to Palos Verdes to have Easter dinner with Tyler's dad and his wife.

By Sunday night we were all a little tired, but very very happy!!

 Hanging out with dad on the farm

 W loved the tractor ride- he stood up and watched the tractor pulling the wagon the whole time

 Still loving the ride

 

 The Easter Bunny brought W a toy since he doesn't really eat candy yet. He and dad also got matching ties :)

 Just woke up and already very busy

 He's still getting the hang of this, but he loves that the balls rattle

Handsome

 W seriously LOVES his daddy

 Easter Fam

 Some bunny loves you!

Happy Easter!

Checking out the Easter bucket Papa & Grandma Lynn gave him

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!!!