Works Everytime!

Some days, he makes it too easy to be his Mommy

9 Months Old

Little Man is 9 months old, and we are loving every minute of being his parents! (Probably because we have all been sleeping through the night for almost 2 months now. We are finally caught up on our sleep!)

The biggest transition we have noticed as we approach 9 months is his constant want/need to pull himself up on EVERY piece of furniture he sees. Or the blinds to our big windows in the living room. I wish I could have captured a picture of that in the moment. It was pretty funny.

He is also really WANTING to take his naps lately. Probably because he is on the move ALL the time and using all of his energy in his new standing position.

Things I Don't Want to Forget:

• the way he cries when his daddy leaves for work
• how he turns around to put his head on my shoulder after we read his book before bedtime or nap time
• the way he looks when he's sleeping in my arms
• they way he looks when he's all snuggled in his crib
• how he still uses the path between the couch and the end table to get to the kitchen ... and then sits in front of the dishwasher to wait for his bottle
• sitting on the opposite side of the table he's trying to pull up on, watching his face slowly rise from behind the table. The look of determination on his face, followed by a huge smile when he's successful
• how Mommy fixes ouches and boo-boos with cuddles and kisses
• the way he watches Mickey Mouse Clubhouse ~ no matter what he's doing, he stops and spins his head to face the tv when he hears the "Hot Dog" song. (A song that is on a constant loop in my head. The first of many I'm sure!)
• that his favorite toys are a water bottle and a pacifier ~ he has found a way to carry each in his mouth when he crawls

We Love Summer!

Just a few pics to show how we are enjoying these hot summer days!

Trying to beat the heat ...

... by hitting the pool!

Just being cute :)

Crawling to the kitchen to find his bottle.

He goes through this path every single time! (Instead of just going around the couch).

Playing with friends.

Discovering Mickey Mouse on TV ...

... as well as discovering LOTS of new things! (Yes ~ the paci is a new discovery. But he doesn't use it the way you think he does. It's his new favorite toy because he can hold it in his mouth while he crawls.)

Playing while Mommy gets dressed in the mornings.

And playing with Mommy's hat.

Driving the car!

Learning new skills every single day!

Finding new (and interesting?) things to chew on.

And of course ... waking up with Rock Star Hair. This is my first glimpse of him every morning. As you can tell, not only is the hair out of control .. but it takes him a a little while to actually wake up completely.

Barrett's First Word

It's happened.  Barrett has done something that has, in my mind, warranted a blog entry from me.  Not that all the other things didn't, I just leave that stuff to Alli "Mommy" Wilson normally.  This afternoon I came home from work and I was tired and not feeling 100%...so kind of grumpy and not really in the best mood.  I left for work before Barrett woke up that morning though so I hadn't really seen him all day, so I got down on his play mat to play with him for a while.  We had a few laughs and then it was time for Alli and I to leave to meet some friends for dinner.  I walked into our room to get my shoes and Barrett followed Alli and I in there.  He was down near our feet and I said, "Hey buddy, you wanna come see me??"  He did not really react at that point except to start to smile.  A few seconds later I bent down and put my hands out and said "Do you want to come see me??" The little guy got all excited and then made the two best syllables I have heard in quite a while..."DaDa" he so clearly said as he reached for my hands.  At first, I sort of thought it was a fluke...but then I saw both Alli and her mom's face and I realized that I had heard correctly.  "YOU HEARD IT!" was all I could say.  Of course, he immediately wanted Mommy after that, but it was still one of the best moments for me yet.  Looking forward to many more little guy!!

Father's Day Weekend

We started off Father's Day/Matt's Birthday weekend by celebrating our little man's 8 month birthday.

Then we decided to take Barrett on his first trip to the aquarium. He loved looking at all the fish! He even wore his fish onesie to show his excitement!

We had a relaxing Father's Day that included lunch with the Besancons and a nap!

(We are SO THANKFUL our little guy has FINALLY learned to sleep!)

A picture of my boys on actual Father's Day:

Despite the drool and spit up on his Daddy onesie and the backwards Dallas Stars hat ...

...this little one LOVES his daddy! His face lights up and his feet start kicking when he sees him walk through the door after work. Little guy really couldn't ask for anything better. We both love you so much, and hope you had a great First Father's Day!

8 months

It doesn't matter how much we tell him to stop, Barrett just keeps growing and growing. And learning. I love watching him make connections. The other day he started playing with the doorstop in the kitchen. He liked the "booiiiiiing" sound it made every time he hit it. So he kept hitting it over and over again, as Aunt Lindsey put it, like a cat playing with its yarn ball. I'd never seen him play with ANTYHING so intensely.

At 8 months he is very confident with his crawling, and he's starting to find himself in trouble. I guess we have some more baby proofing to do! He loves exploring the house, playing with his toys, playing on Mommy and Daddy's bed, and eating. Always. He loves to eat! I guess he needs fuel to keep up with all his activities!

Here are some of our favorite 8 month pictures. These were so much easier BEFORE he could move! (We had to give him a slinky in order to keep him still!)

Things I Don't Want to Forget:

• how close he is to saying "Dada" and meaning it. He recognizes Matt as "Dada," and he says "dadadadadadada" repeatedly. So it's just a matter of time.
• he can say "dadadada" "bababababa" and something that sounds like "hey" and "yeah," but he has no idea what any of it means.
• how he always opens his mouth so wide to brush his little teeth, but then chomps down on the toothbrush so that I can't actually brush his teeth
• he anticipates the end of a bottle, and starts kicking his legs when he feels the end is near. And then there is crying ... until he gets distracted by playing with the bottle.
• how he splashed in the pool the first time he went swimming
• how he splashes in the bathtub and plays with rubber ducky and the whale
• because he won't lean back to wash his hair, Daddy just dumps water over his head. Barrett pauses, rubs his eyes, and then gets back to his toys. (With his hair all over his face.)
• how he loves to sit in the corner of the couch to drink his bottle
• they way he laughs when we roll on the floor, and the way he tries to catch us! (Thank you Uncle Kyle!)
• the way he sticks his tongue out ... ALL the time
• how his curly hair drives me kinda crazy, but I don't want to cut it because we will probably loose those curls forever!

Extra pictures with Mommy and Daddy:

Bathtime Funtime!

Barrett has started playing in the bathtub ... which makes bathe really fun, but also difficult since he won't lay down so that we can wash his hair. Although, dumping water on top of him doesn't seem to bother the kid! So we just dump water all over his head and laugh at his reaction. (Parents of the year! I know) He's just jolted for a second, then goes back to playing with his bath toys.

So much of our bedtime routine can get so monotonous. But Barrett was in the funniest mood last night. Poor thing hasn't had his mom AND dad at home for a while. He was probably just so excited to see us both! At the same time!

He started giggling every time we got close to him, in anticipation of what was to come.

Then he let us play with him during his bath.

As you can tell by the expressions on his face, a good time was had by all. :)

And then I left to start his bedtime bottle. When I looked up, THIS was the image I saw walking through the house:

He's even cute when just half is face is showing!