Baby's First Christmas

This Christmas season, being baby's first, we decided to see how long we could make Christmas last.  So we celebrated Faux Christmas, Mini-Christmas, and Christmas Christmas.

Christmas number one: We made the long drive to Cincinnati to see my family.  My brother Scott, needing a ride home from school, drove up with us.  Unfortunately, J's new job prevented him from joining us on this leg of Christmas.  But we made it safe and sound, and the nugget got to enjoy some much needed time with Grammy and Grampy.  Aunt Laura was also dying to see the boy!  We had lots of fun visiting, and celebrating Faux Christmas.  A movie, followed by dinner at Carrabas for Faux Christmas Eve, then dinner at home and a sibling gift exchange on Faux Christmas.  Faux Christmas also marked Gabe's ten month birthday!

Christmas number two: Since J couldn't join us in Cincinnati, I brought all of our gifts back home.  My sister, being the absolute gem that she is, made the drive back with us, so that I wouldn't be all by my lonesome with a crabby baby in the backseat.  (Actually, he was only crabby in North Carolina...but that last stretch of the trip is a decent three hours.  Good times.)  Once we put her on a flight back to Ohio, our little family celebrated our own Mini-Christmas, and opened the gifts from my family.  This is where Gabe opened his very first present!  Turns out, tearing the paper was only fun for a minute, then he moved onto playing with some boxes, and finally ignored Mini Christmas altogether and went back to his toybox.

Christmas number three: On Christmas Eve, we piled back into the car and drove to New Bern to see J's family.  Everyone there was anxious to see the nugget, as well!  We spent the day together visiting and catching up.  On Christmas Christmas, Gabe gave his parents the gift of sleeping in.  The boy didn't wake up until 7:45!  When we made our way downstairs, everyone was waiting for us.  We dove into gifts and then spent a lovely day together.

It was wonderful to get to see and spend time with family this holiday season.  I'd say baby's first Christmas was a huge success!

Gabe- Ten Months (+ one week)

Double digits, my friends!  The boy is getting up there, creeping his way toward a year old.  And oh, what fun we are having watching him grow.

Q: Walking yet?
A: Not yet.  We thought that he just may do this by Christmas, but it looks as though he is not yet interested.  He can get anywhere he wants to- and very quickly at that- by crawling.  But he is on his feet all. the. time.  He pulls up on anything and everything.  He cruises along furniture, dog crates, and people.  Sometimes, while he's playing with a toy after having pulled himself up on one thing or another, he'll let go, and use both hands to play.  Suddenly, he'll realize that he's not holding onto anything, and he'll plop down on his butt.  Standing is happening frequently.  Walking, not so much.

Q: What is the nugget eating these days?
A: Less formula, more food.  He is really starting to lose interest in the bottle (great!) and wants to eat more real stuff.  He's a fan of all baby food, but really loves yogurt, applesauce, and Cheerios (oh, how he loves the O's!).  We've starting giving him more and more of what we're eating, as well.  He's got six(!) teeth, so he can handle it like a pro.  He appears to enjoy bananas (but struggles to pick them up and get them into his mouth), potatoes in any form, and small pieces of bread.  And we gave the boy some pudding- it was love at first taste.  He threw a mini-fit when the cup was empty.  The long and short of it?  He loves to eat.

Q: How big is he?
A: At his (much rescheduled and belated) 9-month appointment, he weighed 24lbs, 7oz and was 29 5/8 inches long.  He's BIG.  A chunky, long, giant of a baby.  He's wearing clothes sized 12-18 months, and even these appear to be getting a little "high watery" for my liking.  It's cold, and his ankles are beginning to peek out.  How can it be that a child who is still two months from turning a year old can possibly need clothes meant for babies 18-24 months?  Craziness.

Q: Favorites?
A: Right now, his very favorite is a stuffed duck that my mom knitted for him.  He loves that thing.  In fact, he loves it so much that he loved a wing right off of it.  Sometimes he crawls around, holding the duck between his teeth by its little orange beak.  HI-larious.

Other favorites are toilet paper, keys, the remote control, Roomba, cell phones, and the iPad.  Like father, like son?

Q: Does Gabe have any new tricks?
A: My very favorite thing- he gives kisses.  He now knows the word, so if I ask him for a kiss, he'll lean in, mouth wide open, and plant one on me.  He sometimes does this on his own, even when I haven't asked.  Occasionally, he'll put my face between his two tiny hands and pull me in for a smooch.  This usually happens when I pick him up from the babysitter or get him out of his crib after a sleep.  It makes my heart so happy when this happens.  It's like he's telling me that he's missed me, and he's so happy to see me.  The cuteness...

Non-stop fun around these parts!

Tis the Season

The holidays are in full swing! Posting to resume post-Christmas, once travels have ceased and life has settled down again.

PS- Happy 10 Months to my boy! His post will be belated, but happy day nonetheless!

Inappropriate Things Kids Say, Vol. 5

I wish I knew what happened in my classroom this morning. 

Five kindergarteners are sitting around a table, reading a book.  No one is even moving, save for the constant wiggles of a five year old bum in its chair.  Suddenly, one little boy shouts out "Ow!  My nipple!"  My head whipped around as I asked "WHAT did you say?"  I was sure I must have misheard him.

And then, before I knew it, all of the children are repeating, over and over again and for no apparent reason, "nipple, nipple, nipple, nipple."

I never did receive any kind of explanation, and apparently the young man's nipple stopped bothering him as he skipped down the hall back to his classroom.

Oy. 

What I Miss About TV

Since transitioning to life without cable, things have been pretty great.  It is so refreshing to pay bills each month sans the $70ish dollars due to TWC, Dish Network, or any other evil-for-your-viewing-pleasure-corporation.  I like it, I really do.

But there is something that I do miss.  I'm sure here you are thinking that it's some great new show- it's not.  You might think that it's Jeopardy at dinnertime- it's not (although I do miss that Trebek a little).  You might even think that it's sports- the one thing that really isn't all that downloadable- but you'd be wrong.

It's the hamsters.

I admit to a full-on love of the Kia ad campaign featuring those adorable hamsters and their ghetto fabulousness.  I miss watching them dance, and listen to bumpin' rap music while they drive in the 'hood.  I miss their parties on Hamsterdam Ave.

I am declaring whomever came up with this ad campaign a genius.  Because I am quite sure that I am not alone in my love for these little rodents.  I love them so much that I may have to search the interwebs in order to view a commercial.  That's right, a commercial.  Stop the insanity.

Honorable mention goes out to the E-Trade baby.  That little guy cracks me up.

Recent Pinterest Finds

Awhile back, I wrote about how I was in need of a Pintervention (Tee hee! I still find my word play funny, even though I'm sure most of you do not.)

I took some time away from Pinterest, but recently, its popularity seems to be exploding. I have new followers, and I am newly following many more. 'Tis true that I can get carried away sometimes, pinning and pinning and pinning.

Here are some recent finds.

Source: gourmetgirl1.blogspot.com via Christine on Pinterest

Must make these sometime. Don't they look delish?

Source: bing.com via Jennifer on Pinterest

A craft with the nugget! Adorable.

Source: store.apple.com via Anilú on Pinterest

Michael Kors iPhone clutch! BRILLIANT. I definitely need this.

Source: kellehampton.com via Kayla on Pinterest

In my attempt to get great shots of the boy, I shall try this once it warms up.

Fall Photo Session

This past Sunday we met up with my dear friend Heather, the mastermind behind ShugarShots Photography, for some fall photos.

Let me say that the nugget was less than enthused, as we had to wake him up from his nap to get to the park on time!  He was more than a little whiny, and not all about smiling for the camera.  Still, Heather managed to capture some beautiful shots.  Somehow, she managed to capture my little man's essence so well.

We'll be meeting up again for round two this weekend, but in the meantime, here are a few teasers that Heather has shared with us.  'Like' ShugarShots Photography on Facebook to get the first glimpses of next weekend's session!  ;)

Meant To Be

It's a good thing J and I didn't meet at Speed Dating, or this may have been our fate.

Source: piccsy.com via Thorben on Pinterest

He's Growing

Finally had our 9-month visit with the pediatrician yesterday (who I love, by the way...any other moms out there have a little crush on the pediatrician?).

The boy weights 24 lbs, 7 oz and is 29 5/8 inches long.  That would be the 92nd and 83rd percentile, respectively.  He has essentially tripled his birth weight and grown 10 inches.  These are feats that he is supposed to accomplish by the age of 1. 

The nugget is apparently an overachiever.  And most definitely a big, healthy boy.