little man

I can't resist this little man! First of all, he's in size 12M clothes here. Whaaaat! (That sweater!) Second of all, he sat on the box so still and just smiled at the photographer like he knew what he was doing. We were in and out of this mini photo session in 3 minutes.

This Christmas is already my favorite thanks to this handsome guy. Now if only I could find time to decorate the house!

blink of an eye

Yesterday was one of those days that Kyle woke up from his nap as a bigger, smarter, different baby. This seems to happen about once a month - he takes a nice, long 2+ hour nap and I swear he is growing while he sleeps.

After he woke up yesterday, he seemed taller and his face more mature. And he snuggled with me for the first time in months. He actually laid his head on my chest (willingly), and stayed there while I tickled his back. For a full minute or so. He did this a few times, and then sat on my lap for a bit while we watched a Baby Einstein video. I was in heaven.

Also - after that magical nap - he learned to turn the pages of his books. Usually when I read to him, he grabs the cover and slams it shut, or picks up the book and throws it. But last night, he turned each page of Brown Bear Brown Bear What Do You See? and seemed genuinely interested while I read the book to him about 10 times.

And that night after I nursed him, he laid in my arms and we were silly with each other and laughed for a good 10 minutes. He would hand me his paci, I would do something silly and he would crack up and take it back. Then he would take it out of his mouth again and hand it back to me so we could play.

It might seem crazy, but every so often he goes to sleep as a little baby and wakes up just a little bit older.

Long Beach Turkey Trot

Kyle and I had so much fun at the Long Beach Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving morning! A turkey trot is something I've always wanted to do, but never got around to until this year. I had the 8 a.m. start time, so I woke up at 6:30 a.m. to get dressed before waking Kyle up to bundle him up and head over to the beach for a 5K run. Brian and Penny dropped us off so we didn't have to worry about parking, which was a nice treat so we didn't have to get there early and walk an extra mile to the course.

I'm a little ashamed to admit that this was my 1st time exercising since I found out I was pregnant. I've always been pretty active, but the day I found out I was pregnant I stopped working out just to be safe (even though the doc said it was perfectly ok). I am a worry wart and just didn't want to take any chances! And then once he was born, well - it's easy to make excuses. It felt great to finally get out there and burn some cals. I ran the entire time (except for a couple pit stops to adjust my baby's beanie and blanket) and even loved feeling sore the next day.

It was our first time using the jogging stroller, and Kyle seemed to like it. He was checking everything out, didn't make a peep during the course and loved eating his breakfast outside by the beach. We were home in time to get the turkey on the BBQ and put Kyle down for his morning nap. A successful Thanksgiving morning!

I'm going to try and take him for a run at least once a week now - no more excuses :)

holiday pictures sneak peek

Joseph Martinez Photography

I LOVE our holiday family photos! This was our first photo shoot with Kyle and we got pictures we'll love forever. The second I got them back, I looked at them for an entire hour (there goes his morning nap time, oops!), and ordered our Christmas cards. I can't wait to send them out!

9 months

Kyle, you are 9 months old today! At 9 months, you are so much different than at 8 months. You're turning into a little boy before our very eyes; a sweet, determined, funny, handsome boy!

Here's some facts about you at 9 mos:

• At your 9 month check up you weighed 22 lbs, 4 oz and were 29.5 inches long. 
• You pull yourself up on anything and everything and walk along the couch and furniture.
• You are an expert crawler and getting faster every day!
• You love to crawl to any cord you see and pull. Trouble! We still have some serious baby proofing to do.
• You also love to close doors.
• You sit in the shopping cart like a big boy (see above). You're really good until the end of our shopping trip, when you try and stand up, crawl out and grab everything in sight.
• You are such a good eater. You eat all veggies and fruits I give you, except eggplant - which is so gross anyway. You also aren't a huge fan of asparagus, but you'll eat it mixed with banana or apple.
• Your diet includes pureed: broccoli, zucchini, squash (yellow and butternut), green beans, yams, banana, apple, pear, peas, carrots, cauliflower, oatmeal, avocado, asparagus. I'm still making your food, which is time consuming but still pretty fun.
• You just started eating puffs and you're already good at picking them up and getting them in your mouth. You like to chew them with your front teeth :) Once you've mastered puffs, we'll move on to Cheerios and then soft steamed veggie pieces.
• Speaking of teeth, you now have 7! Your teeth are coming in left and right, all over the place. Right now you have 4 on the top and 3 on the bottom.
• You're still nursing every time you wake up, and right before bed.
• Your bed time is 8 pm and you usually go down without a fight. You wake up around 7 or 7:30 am. Daddy gets you up, changes you and brings you to bed for some morning snuggle time with Mama.
• You're still taking 2 naps a day: around 10 am and then at 3 pm - both unpredictably range from 1-2.5 hrs. You really wear yourself out now that you're crawling and standing/pulling yourself up all day long.
• You are talking so much. You say "baba" "lala" "mama" (although you don't know what you're saying yet) "aaaa" and you just started screaming. You open your mouth and eyes really wide - it's so hilarious.
• Your favorite book is "Where is Baby's Belly Button?" You love to pull the flaps and turn the pages before mom and dad are done reading them.
• You love the animal sounds. Oink oink and ribbit ribbit make you laugh the most.
• You get so mad when we change your diaper - which is all day, every day. Sometimes when I sing the Sesame Street song it makes you forget how mad you are.

Your doctor said babies usually start walking 2-3 months after they pull themselves up... so it looks like you'll really be getting around the house sooner than later! Only 2 more of these updates before I have a 1-year-old boy. Hard to believe!