10 Months Old

Preston,
You are 10 months old today!

What fun you are! Your personality is really shining through these days. You do the funniest things. You are still as busy as ever.

You are around 21 pounds, and wear a size 3 diaper. You now have six teeth, two on the bottom and four on the top. Three of the top ones are coming in at the same time right now. As far as development goes, you are even closer to full-blown walking. You take a step or two here and there, but you haven't taken off yet.

Same with talking. You babble all the time - to yourself, to your parents, to your toys. You call most things "dada" but you also say "hi" and "mama". Sometimes your parents can't tell if you are saying a word, or if it is a noise that sounds like a word.

You are off the bottle completely during the day. You love the sippy cup and carry it around everywhere. You still get a bottle sometimes before bed, but are making the switch. You are drinking a lot less formula, because you are eating more food during the day. This is the last month of formula (praise the Lord).

In terms of eating, you are the best eater in your class at school. Your mom and dad believe this, because the other night, you ate the same portion of food as your mom! Your favorite finger foods are string cheese, cornbread, rolls, green beans, peas, any fruit, crackers, scrambled egg, and you LOVE macaroni and cheese. You also love chicken pot pie, and several types of casserole. There is literally nothing you don't like!

You are an amazing sleeper. Those sleepless nights for 7 months have paid off now, because you sleep 11 or 12 hours every night. You also take two naps a day, for about an hour and a half each.

You have learned to kiss your mom. You ONLY kiss her, and she melts when you do it. It's really more of an open mouth slobber on her cheek, but you smile and look at her and wrap your little arms around her. It's really your mom's most favorite thing in life. On the flip side, you get so angry when we take something away from you that could potentially kill you. You don't like the word "no".

One thing that makes your mom and dad crack up is your love for hats. You have learned to put them on your head. You strut around the room, proud of yourself for putting the hat on. You kind of forget it's there and end up wearing it a while. It makes your mom and dad laugh.

You are clapping now! You do it when your parents do it. You are also dancing to music. It's hilarious! You wiggle your body when you hear music. You love digging through cabinets, running in your walker, and you absolutely LOVE balls of any kind. You like to play rough, and you are always functioning at 100%. You are never still. Ever.

Preston, your mom and dad treasure everything about you. As we watch you grow, we are continually amazed by all that you can do, and just how smart you are. You are one loved child! Happy 10 months baby boy!

Big Boy

Life lately has really revolved around Mr. P. It's all I talk about on the blog, but he is so much more fun than anything else! We've been busy lately, and very thankful for it. Our family likes to stay busy, and if there is a day when nothing is going on, we quickly fill it :) We are busy showing this guy a good time, 100% of the time.

Brian has been working hard on the yard and managed to fill 40 bags of leaves this past weekend. We love our house and it's wooded lot, but that was a lot of work for Brian! In a perfect world, Brian would hire a yard guy and I would hire a housekeeper, but let's face it... it's not a priority. We want to update our house and save money for P to go to private school, so our "staff" will have to wait. Ha!

I went on a cleaning binge and our house has never looked better. We had my coworkers over for a soup swap today, and I walked away with 6 soup dinners in my freezer. Worked out pretty great! Everyone made 5 individual quarts of soup, we drew numbers, and at the end of the party, we each ended up with 5 or 6 different soups to take home with us. Perfect for the busiest time of year, which is quickly approaching.

Preston is so big lately. He has a pair of New Balances and he struts around in them. He takes a step or two, but hasn't taken off yet. We are eagerly waiting for that day! I've said this before, but Preston is so "all boy." He is aggressive and plays HARD. His current favorites are wrestling with Brother, being thrown upside down by his dad, and running away mid-diaper change. At bath time, he goes nuts splashing and soaks the room. There are so many times where he hits his head, or bangs on stuff, and we wait for him to cry, but he doesn't! He is such a stinker.

So happy to have escaped!

Daddy caught me and it was hilarious

About to take on the dog

P's got his big teeth up top coming in, as well as the two on either side. He is still trying to get over an ear infection, so we've had a few nights where we have been up with him. We don't mind it now though, because we are still pretty well rested. Plus, I mean, look at this face. Wouldn't you want to comfort him in the middle of the night?

His hair is coming in so blonde, thick and gorgeous with a slight curl/wave. Brian and I are in LOVE with it.

Cannot wait for Thanksgiving this week. Preston will actually get to eat a Thanksgiving meal, complete with turkey, sweet potatoes and green been casserole. Having a baby in January really is perfect. He'll be big enough to actually enjoy Thanksgiving food! Hope everyone has a great week!

House, Getaway, Baby

This will be one random post or iPhone photo dump really, but we've had a lot going on!

First, I can't post without a picture of the little man.

He is so DIRTY these days. I just bought a 3rd container of Zout for him since this summer. I found that Zout works the best for getting out all the nasty stains on his clothes, and using All Baby for the detergent. We do so much laundry around here. So exciting, I know!

This might be weird, but I just realized that as of this week, Preston has been here longer than he was in my belly! I was pregnant with him for 39 weeks and 2 days. He's been here a little longer than that. I don't know why that makes me happy. I guess it's a weird mom thing.

P and I went for his 9 month check-up. I had to strip him down to his diaper, and I really saw how chunky he has gotten!

 Ignore my over excitement. I was trying to get him to smile, but it wasn't working. I think he knew the flu shoot was coming.

A few weeks ago, Brian and I went to the Ole Miss/Georgia game down in Oxford, MS. It was a noon game, so P stayed with my parents for the day. Oxford is great, because it's a short drive from Memphis, so we quickly went down and came back. It was nice to get away for the day, and we were so glad Georgia won! My home is much happier when Georgia is winning. Plus, it was a beautiful day outside, so we enjoyed being out and about.

A few weeks ago, we celebrated Brian's 10 year high school reunion. Because we knew each other in high school, the reunion was like a reunion for me too! They had a weekend full of events that Brian helped plan.

They had a Saturday night party at Earnestine and Hazel's. We rarely go there anymore, so that was pretty cool.

Last weekend, my best friend in high school's brother had an engagement party in Memphis, since they are getting married in Philadelphia. We had such a nice time, and loved all the Indian food. My sweet parents were invited, too!

Mom and Me

Alka, Mom, Me, and Raina

Mom and Dad

On the house front, we are still thinking over the foyer, since the playroom is pretty close to being finished. We've gotten two quotes now, and are thinking about pulling the trigger on one of them. One exciting development is our family room. It was in decent shape before we moved in, but we've made some minor improvements. We decided to mount our TV over our fireplace, but it left us with a major cord issue. They have been everywhere since we moved in! I finally found a cabinet at one of my favorite places on earth, Sheffield Antiques, for a steal, that really hides the cords for us. I am so happy with it. Here it is...

My phone took a terrible picture, but it hides all the cords nicely and it's a really cute distressed blue color that matches. I should take some pics of our family room, because even though we didn't do any major work, it has come a long way since we moved in.

Speaking of moving in, we have almost lived in our house a year. We moved in the week after Thanksgiving. Hard to believe it has been a year already. What a year!

One last pic of the little man during nap time.... he is such a sweetie. He pulled his blanket up over himself and his sheep. Love that child!

Fire

First fire of the season... and someone loved it!

9 months old

Preston,

You are nine months old!

You turned nine months old on Halloween this year. 3/4 of a year old. That is crazy! You went to the doctor for your nine month check-up and your stats are:
19 lb, 10 oz - 25%
27.5 in long - 25%
45 in head - 25%

Your mommy took you, and was surprised to learn you have your first ear infection, and in BOTH ears! She was ALSO surprised to learn that you have three more teeth about to break through the surface. You are all about surprising your parents apparently. You are completely symptom free! You must be a tough guy.

This month has brought many changes. Most of the changes are on the personality front.

Your mommy and daddy have learned that you cannot eat ANY meat whatsoever. You tried to eat beef twice, and both times it made you very ill. Your parents are sticking to veggies, fruits and some dairy for a while longer. Even some of the combo baby foods like "Broccoli and Cheese" are a little rough on your tummy, although you love cheese and broccoli separately and eat it no problem. Your parents talked to Dr. Bubba and they are going to slowly get you off baby food completely, and onto nothing but table food. You will love it!

One thing that your parents have noticed lately is that you are starting to make preferences over food. When we put string cheese and cheerios on your tray, we mix them up, and you eat all of the cheese first, then the cheerios. It's funny!

You much prefer finger foods to baby foods, and sippy cups to bottles. Your parents had a goal to have you fully weaned off the bottle by 11 months, but it looks like you'll be fully weaned by 10 months. This will make your mommy very happy, because she is really tired of washing all of those bottles!

You are also such a little creature of your routine. It's pretty amazing to experience! A few of your mom's friends say it's a "boy" thing, but man, if you get off your schedule even a little bit, you are one unhappy child. Your parents will do anything possible to avoid it, even if it means being an hour and a half late to wherever we are trying to go! (Yes, it's happened.)

You are still a good napper (twice a day) and a decent sleeper. 

You are closer and closer to walking. You are all over the house, pulling up on everything in site. You really are into everything. Danger is still your favorite.

Your parents have also noticed lately that you are becoming better at expressing emotions. For instance, if you are doing some activity, we can tell when you are enjoying it, and when you are not. It is more than just happy, content and angry, which are pretty much the only expressions you have had up to this point in your development. That has been really neat to watch unfold.

You are also SO observant. Your parents can't sneak anything by you. You don't miss a beat. Your object permanence skill is through the roof.

You are such a little adult.You are serious in everything you do. You are a serious learner and a serious player. You go full force no matter what. Your parents call you a worker bee. You are busy, busy all the time. It's one of their favorite personality traits of yours, because your parents are SO this way. It's another indication that you definitely came from Brian and Cami.

Preston, you are such a blessing. Your parents aren't going to get mushy, because after all, you're a guy. But really, you are fun, you are smart, and you are growing at the speed of light. You are turning into the most delightful little person, with the BEST personality and disposition. You light up whatever room you are in. You are your parents pride and joy. Happy nine months!