Something Extra

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving.  Found this picture on our camera from Halloween and wanted to share before November and the last bit of the fall season disappears.

On to the Christmas season!

8 Months

 8 Months on November 9th

Fun Month!

October 6:  We visited Berry Acres Pumpkin Farm!  It was such a neat little place just outside of town. It would be great for kids that we were walking because they had corn mazes, hayrides, slides, and the whole bit....but we had fun looking for the best pumpkins for our family.  We carved them later in the month, closer to Halloween.

October 13-21:  Flew to Kansas to celebrate my friend's wedding.  We were at my parents' place for most of the week, but drove over to Zach's parent's place for a night so Sam could experience STL.  We also took Sam to Lawrence --- we did an afternoon on Mass. Street to give him a taste of his college years. The wedding was fabulous and we had smooth travels.

At Jefferson's, a small restaurant I frequented while living in Lawrence.

Massachusetts Street in Lawrence under the sign of
Zach's favorite store in the whole town.

Sadly....we're thinking Sam caught a little something on the plane ride home because he threw up for the first time four days after we got back.  I was home by myself so it was a pretty scary experience...his temp was 102 and it took about 4 days to go down.  Our pediatrician gave us a nebulizer to use on him for a few weeks, and he seemed to pass it completely by the time we had to return it.

Halloween:  He still wasn't feeling the greatest on Halloween, but we did a little trick or treating up at the base just for the experience.  He was our little monkey!

Sam's hands & feet, my KU pride, and Zach's Chicago Blackhawk

On base trick or treating

Other events:  We tried out storytime at Barnes and Noble...epic fail.  It is really great for kids that can sit and listen, but for an 8 month old that needs to touch and taste everything, it just didn't work out.  We hosted a playgroup at our house, which seemed to be a better fit for the stage he is in right now, so I think I'm going to continue on with that.  The last big event in Sam's 8th month was his first presidential election.  He visited the polls with me...he screamed most of our time there...so I think for numerous reasons, he was glad to have the election done with.  :)

My aunt has taken a picture of her kids after every presidential
election with the announcement newspaper.  Thought it was
a neat idea, so I am copying.

Growth:
We won't have a well-baby appointment until 9 months, but at his "sick baby" appointment on October 29th, he was 18 pounds 8 ounces.


New Happenings:

* Officially has 3 teeth and is working on tooth #4 (has front bottom two and top right).

* He is scooting around a LOT on the floor, but he isn't using his legs.  It isn't classic 'crawling,' but he is definitely moving!  He pulls himself around with his hands, which gets him where he wants to go, but it looks like way too much work.   Most of the places he wants to be are wherever Mia's dirty dog toys are.  Lovely.

* Pulling up on furniture and on us, and once he gets there he wants to jump up and down a lot.  We recently got an ottoman to replace our metal coffee table.  Perfect timing.

* Becoming much more verbal, trying out the sounds that his new teeth allow him to make.

* Starting to have pretty instant separation issues.  He gets upset if I set him down in the living room and walk to the kitchen to put a glass in the dishwasher.

*First time seeing and touching snow.  He pretty much had no reaction either way.

Eating:

Takes 8 ounces of formula four times per day with oatmeal for breakfast, fruit or veggie of the day for lunch, bottle snack mid afternoon, and veggies and fruits for dinner.   We are still working through the fruits and veggies one at a time to rule out allergies.  We are kind of taking our sweet time, but we're not feeling too rushed to push through them.  He keeps taking most of the 8 ounce bottles, so he isn't lacking for nutrients.

Loves: sweet potatoes, peas, pears, mango, peaches
Okay With: apples, bananas, winter squash, carrots
Not a Fan: green beans, spaghetti squash


Clothing:

Still doing the cloth diapers when we're around the house, but he is in a size 3 disposables.  Fits best in 9-12 month clothing...and is pretty comfy in a size 3 shoe!  We are shopping in the toddler shoe section, folks!

Hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving!  He'll be 9 months in about two weeks, so maybe I'll be more timely with that post.  :)

Nursery Reveal.....

Yep.  8 months late.  Sam turned 8 months old yesterday, but since we haven't taken his picture yet, I thought I would at least post something.

We had so much fun putting the pieces of Sam's nursery together before he was born, and although it is very simply done, we still love it.

This is how it looks on any given day.  Maybe I should have taken the humidifier out for the pictures, and we probably should have taken them during the daytime...but you get the idea.

Never too early to brainwash.

View from the hallway

The hockey net under the window was the only thing in this room for months.
We went to a athletic equipment store here the weekend after we found out we
were having a boy... so we had no plans of where he would sleep for quite awhile,
but the boy would surely play hockey!

We had fun picking out the designs for the artwork above his bed.  It was made
through a website called avintageposter.com.   They were sent to us and then
we had to get them framed.
We also got to design his bedding at carouseldesigns.com.

We LOVE our glider.  It is from The Land of Nod.  I highly recommend it to
any new parents.  We have logged a lot of hours in it and it is still silent.

It is a cozy room, and we've made a lot of happy memories in here already.  

It will be tough to leave it behind when we are stationed at a new base.