Trip to Dallas

Even though a month has passed since our trip to Dallas, it doesn't make it any less blog-worthy. We went to visit good friends of ours for a few days, and we had a blast. Our trip started out rough (first attempt our flight was cancelled and we had to start over the next day :( ) but it ended up being ok. It was Steven's first flight, and he did better than I did.
Our Dallas friends have three boys, and Steven thoroughly enjoyed playtime with the big boys! The kids were not the only ones who had fun...Steve and Charlie went to a Rangers game and Beth and I got to play Yahtzee and watercolor (which turns out to be one of my gifts). If that's not enough, we also got to enjoy great food with our wonderful company! We left wishing that we got to see them more often. 

 Garrett (left) is about a month older than Steven (right) and these boys got along famously! It was wonderful that we could let them play and they would entertain themselves!

 Steve and Charlie(kneeling) created some sort of golfing game with the twins' toddler golf gear. They eventually caught us girls spying. :-)

 Steve at the Rangers game

 Steven loves the swings!!

 So does Garrett!!

 Best pic I had of Owen and Eli...they are two and a half year old twins, and couldn't be any cuter! By the end of the week, I felt like they were actually starting to feel comfortable with us around!

 Me and my little man!

 Beth and me and all the kids...jeesh! Funny that just a little over two years ago it was just her and I.

Steven and his daddy!

The Last 2 months...

2 MONTHS???!! Really??? I cannot believe it's been that long since my last post...but I refuse to give up! Our lives have been super crazy lately. It all started with a broken computer (baby pulled the space bar off :( ), then we were in and out of town a few times, then we had a virus (physically and on the computer), then we got a puppy. Phew. It has been a very busy two months for us! Not to mention our kid is growing and changing like a weed!

Steven is now 8 1/2 months old, and everything about him has changed. He crawls, pulls to standing, and is starting to "cruise" a little bit around the furniture. He loves solid foods and has started on some finger foods. He is happy and laid back, and so social. He loves to play with other kids, as we have begun to learn, and loves to play with toys. He is so funny, he loves to "talk" to us, and he is getting so much more expressive every day.  He is a great sleeper for us and has been mostly sleeping through the night. He had his first cold, and boy was it a doozy. He had sick symptoms for a little over 3 weeks on and off, ending up with a mild ear infection, on antibiotics, then developed a virus with a terrible fever. Ugh. Having a sick kid is definitely not fun! It puts what I do for a living into perspective, that's for sure.

Now to the major life change...the puppy. I bought him for my husband for his birthday as a surprise, and I surprised even myself a little. I have been fighting this dog thing for the last 5 years, and I figured now would be as good a time as any to bring a puppy into our home. We drove to get him from a breeder in the Poconos (5 hours each way, yikes!) and it has been a learning experience if nothing else. I cried a lot the first week, and it has been WAY harder than I ever thought was possible. This puppy training is not easy, especially when you have a crawling infant around (who has been sick and very clingy). I can say that it is finally getting better two weeks into this thing, much to my relief. Housetraining seems to be going better, and we are all learning how to live with each other. It's a good thing puppies are cute!

Sorry to throw so many in here...but here are some of the snapshots of what we've been up to!

Trouble in every corner!

First time standing at the "elmo table" as we call it. It plays music and talks and he loves this thing.

Our crazy boy!

Snapshot of our cute little crawler in his Easter outfit! Cutest kid on Easter ever!

Us on Easter...best pic of us, especially with me being sick.

And here's the little man, Gator.

Their first day together, going after the same toys!

He is not allowed to have this bed anymore, he chewed into the bottom of it already. Teething puppies are hard work.

Us going for a walk! I love that Steven loves to wear his hat and sunglasses...at least he tolerates them, anyways.

We love the swings!

The addition of the puppy meant the addition of baby gates in our house. The first few days have not gone too well...hahaha. If he's not crying at the gate, then the dog is.

Love!

He is growing so fast!

HA!!!! Cousins in the tub. They were too funny together!!

Steven the Explorer

First time with Blue Bunny. Steve had one as a kid, so he bought one for the baby as a present, which I thought was pretty cute. He had never met him before, but they were fast friends!

A foot for each hand, what could be better?

This is a great book, but how does it work?

I could probably fit some more toys in my hands if you'd let me!

Favorite face! He was rolling around and blowing raspberries with his blanket.

The trouble is starting. He can't crawl, but he squirms enough that he moves, and he is starting to be so curious about all his surroundings.



Oh, the remote, our fickle friend. He wants it so bad ALL THE TIME, he squirmed towards it yesterday! Not quite a crawl, but getting there! I don't know whether to be excited or terrified of him almost being mobile...

No longer just gums!

Attempting to capture his new teeth on film is ironically like pulling teeth

The one on the right has been working its way out for about a week now, and just yesterday in this picture (you may not be able to see) his second tooth is popping up right next to it!

Where's the laundry? I want to help!

Best containment ever! Especially after the accident last week where he fell off our bed. Mother of the Year, right here.

New sippy cup, inspired by his love for drinking out of cups. We'll figure it out eventually, but he does love to chew on it. Easy to please!

Oatmeal with a Side of Squeal

Could be the newest problem....or the cutest. All he wants to do at breakfast time the past two days!

Weekend of Fun

This past weekend was a busy one. My mom and her fiance were visiting and we also celebrated our niece's first birthday! We hadn't seen my mom since Christmastime, so there was a lot of snuggling to catch up on (with her and Steven, ha!). We had a nice weekend, just hanging out and spending time together.

Ah, I needed my Nana!

Lots and lots of playtime!

Nana loved letting him "drink" from a cup. He gets really excited and loves to "drink" from cups, but doesn't know how to swallow anything that comes out of it!

Super cute Hungry Caterpillar party. I don't think she got enough stuff!

Birthday girl Lila and her Grammy

DELICIOUS food!! Friend Dwayne made all of it...amazing spread!!!

Loved her cake!

Party girl almost partied out!

I can't believe my little niece is one, it feels like just yesterday that she was born! We love you Lila Rae!

6 months!

Wow...6 months. This month has been so exciting! Every stage we hit I think that it's my favorite. We are having so much fun! He can now sit on his own, with some light supervision. He rolls all over the floor, and has been getting up on his hands and knees and rocking....hopefully crawling any day now! He has started pulling his socks off his feet and eating the socks, so we don't do socks much anymore. He loves to talk, squeal, blow raspberries, and play. He also loves to eat! He can eat sweet potatoes, green beans, and our new fave....prunes! Of course he still loves his oatmeal, too.

New stats from the peds appt this morning : 18 lbs 3 oz, 27.5 inches long. Both of these are 75th percentile, which is where he has consistently been! Gotta love my growing boy!

My dad also came to visit for a day...we had fun with Grandad! He got to come to the peds appt and have fun watching him getting his shots. :(

Showing off his new tricks

Loves to roll until he can't anymore

Grandad came to visit!