And, Finally, Family Time (and Basement Time with Dada)

Yesterday we headed to the park for some swinging and sliding action--it was a gorgeous day! Almost 70 degrees, fairly sunny. (Now today it is cool and rainy and they are calling for snow on Tuesday!) I'm so glad we went while we could.

 Hi, my name is Chunky. Chunky Monkey.

 Wheeeee!

 My Nature Nerd of a Mama talked about coming here to 
do stream studies one of these days...

And finally, here are some pictures and videos from Kevin and Lewis' time in the basement over the past few days. We chose this house for a few reasons, a major one being the basement. It has become our go-to Lewis play area with very, very few hazards for him and lots of room for him to roam. He and Kevin have been working on rolling balls across the coffee table, high five-ing, learning to stand on one's own without holding onto anything, walking with the walking toy, and other general man things.

 Blocks!

 He was sitting when Kevin took this, but this is what he looks like when he 'accidentally' gets distracted by what he is holding and lets go of the table in order to better examine whatever it is. Then he either flops to his butt or reaches back to the table, couch, etc. and regains his balance.

He lets go for just a few seconds around the 0:13 mark. Otherwise, he's just sort of carrying around his train and putting it in his mouth.

The folding card table, upside down -- one of Lewis' new favorite things to play with

He wouldn't let me cut fabric with it set up correctly (he kept pulling on the fabric and/or pattern), but when I flipped it over to prevent him from pulling it over on himself, he discovered that the legs make good props to pull up against and walk from one to another. Good, as long as he doesn't pinch his fingers where the legs fold in/out.

And finally, here he is trying to walk with the walker. It still gets away from him quite a bit, resulting in him dropping to his knees a lot, but this is progress compared to other times we have tried to get him to go anywhere with it. 

Day-After-Thanksgiving with Friends

We have a fairly long-standing tradition now (5+ years, I think) of getting together with Kevin's friends the day after Thanksgiving--it was especially great this year now that we all have kids who can play together! One couple lives in PA now but keeps a house in Corydon (IN), and the other couple lives in OH. It is always great to catch up with them!

Lewis examining one of Clara's baby's baby bottles...

 

 And then here he is, ultimately putting it in his mouth, like 

"Hey, I know how this is supposed to work!"

 Clara (very sweetly) offering her bunny rabbit to Lewis

 Clara cheesing-it-up big time!

 Smiley Big Lew

(in his Big Camp Lake/Thompson Trails sweatshirt from Gma/Gma T)

While we were there, Lewis started letting go of the tables, couch, other furniture a bit more bravely! It must have been the older kids rubbing off on him! I couldn't (still haven't) gotten a picture of him not holding on, but this was one time right after. He will let go if he's holding something in his hand.

 Verrry soon, I'll be standing!

 Colin showing Lewis how to use the vacuum!

(Hope you were taking notes, Lew, because there is a lot of dog hair to keep up with in this house!)

 Clara and Colin sharing a lap and reading a book with Keith/Chico

Wild Man Lew pulling up on anything and everything that he can, 

even unsuspecting Maggie!

We tried to take a picture of Clara, Lewis, and Colin all together on a little couch, which went about as well as one might suspect it would with a 2+ year old, 18 month old, and 9 month old.

SMILE!

I nabbed this one from Maria's facebook of Lewis in midair, 

flying off the couch in his best Superman pose. Pretty funny stuff.

We look forward to the next time!

Thanksgiving Dinner with the Thompsons

We are coming to the end of Thanksgiving break--Kevin has been off since Wednesday, and it has been really, really nice having extra hands around the house to help with Lewis. Rather, Kevin has pretty much taken over the majority of Lewis duties, so I have had my own unexpected break due to Kevin's break from work. We have also spent time together as a family, which has been nice. We went to the park, out to eat a few times, to Goodwill, and caught up on some DVR.

 Lewis' Cool New Hat (It has ears!) :)

(And velcro so he can't pull it off his head)

As I mentioned before, we stayed in town to go to Kevin's family's house for Thanksgiving this year. On Thanksgiving morning, Kevin took over Lewis duties while I baked an apple pie (Kevin had made broccoli/cheese/rice casserole the night before).

 Happy Thanksgiving!

 The Apple Pie

We headed over to Jim and Sharon's in between naps, and it was time for his lunch as soon as we got there. They had gotten him a cute little turkey bib for his first Thanksgiving, so he wore that as he ate Cheerios and sweet potato cubes and Grandma Sharon fed him some mashed banana. 

 Gobble, Gobble!

 Our little turkey

He (eventually) went down for his nap as we were sitting down to eat, and he woke up again right as we were finishing. In the meantime, the rest of us enjoyed the delicious meal that Sharon had prepared for us.

 The Thompsons

After our dinner was Lewis' dinner, and we brought along some turkey and sweet potatoes for him as a nod to Thanksgiving (and rice cereal and Cheerios)--next year he'll get to enjoy the real thing.

 Big Lew

Lewis and Uncle Scott

We had a very nice time! I think Lewis thoroughly enjoyed his 1st Thanksgiving!

A Dump of Pictures/Video Before the Inevitable Onslaught of Thanksgiving Ones

Somebody has his first pair of Chuck Taylors! :) He still has some room to grow, but Kevin put them on him the other day to go to his doctor's appointment. Pretty studly.

Big Boy shoes on Big Boy feet!

He has crazy fits in his Jumperoo from time to time (he is really only in there during mealtimes now). Here is one I captured last week:

Last weekend, we went to New Castle/Indianapolis to attend our friends' (the Butts) 10th wedding anniversary bash--it was at their wedding that Kevin and I reunited (thanks to one heck of a party with a lot of beer and tequila) and afterwards started dating. 

Beforehand, we hung out with my parents and brother. Here is Uncle Dave reading to Lewis:

I hear this book with a finger puppet in the middle was a big hit (I was upstairs getting ready):

Big Lew and Mamaw/Grandma/Gammy (whatever you'll be called!) Pat :)

Thanks again for babysitting for us, Mom and Dad, while we partied the night away! Some of us more than others. :)

We are not going up to New Castle for Thanksgiving this year (we alternate), so we will spend Thursday with Kevin's family and Friday with Kevin's friends and wives and children. I'm looking forward to Lewis getting to be around Colin (2+ years old) and Clara (~18 months old). Hopefully he can keep up! Then the next weekend, we'll be going up to New Castle for the Carter Thanksgiving/Christmas dinner at my parents' house. 'tis the season for food, family, drink, and road trips! :)

Finger Food Bonanza

Since his 9 month check-up last week, we have gone full-steam-ahead with both lunch and finger foods, together. Now, he sits in his highchair and feeds himself while I prepare and eat my lunch next to him--the goal is to transition and do the same for breakfast and dinner.


I researched finger food suggestions on BabyCenter and have expanded his repertoire to include:

• Cheerios (still his favorite, and he has become quite accurate with them!)
• Small pieces of soft fruit (just banana, so far)
• Small pieces of steamed vegetables (carrots, parsnips, sweet potatoes, peas, turnips, and little broccoli 'trees,' so far)
• Shredded cheese
• Yogurt melts
• Small pieces of pasta

I've bought both fresh and frozen vegetables to cube and steam and either keep in the fridge for a few days or freeze into meal-sized portions. I've designated part of a shelf in the fridge for his foods, so hopefully I can take some time once (or twice) a week to make fresh batches for him. 


I can also include toast, ricecakes, eggs (haven't yet introduced those), small bits of soft meat, etc. I'm going to aim to buy foods for him that Kevin and I will also eat to try to keep the expense and the waste down. Just last night I cubed and steamed two sweet potatoes, and that was WAY too much! Fortunately they are inexpensive, but maybe in the future I can cube/steam half of one for him and bake the other one and a half for our dinner (bad example because Kevin dislikes sweet potatoes, but you get my point). 


After the holidays, I am going to work on meal planning, reducing our food costs, and eliminating midweek trips to the grocery store, so this will all tie in together.


In closing, here is a video of Lewis, Hattie, and Peter at lunch today. On the menu were Cheerios, sweet potatoes, finishing up yogurt from breakfast, and his (and my) first taste of turnips! (Same with parsnips the other day--not bad!) The dogs also loved the menu (even the turnips!) and patiently waited for Lewis to drop pieces for them to eat.

Nine Months Old

Note: Blogger is being a pain as far as pictures go, so if the spacing is all off, that is why. I'm tired of messing with it. :)

His doctor's appointment went well this morning--the Dr. said he looked good. He asked if we were sure he's only 9 months old, given his bigger size. :) The doctor also said that we could/should start to go ahead with a lunchtime solid feeding, too, and to include more finger foods, so I'll work on incorporating that into our daily routine. He had to get two shots (took them very well...just a few fusses)--his last Hep B and his flu shot. We'll go back in a month for a 2nd flu shot.

Good morning!
I'm Nine Months Old!

His stats:
Height: 31 inches (above 97th percentile)
Weight: 22.5 pounds (75th percentile)
Head Size: 19 inches (above 97th percentile)
BMI: 16.32


What he is doing this month:

• His favorite toy(s) are our rubber drink coasters. He likes to carry them around when he crawls, either in his hand or in his mouth. I think he likes how 'chewy' they are on his ever-teething gums.

• His favorite game is Catch Me If You Can...if we go after him, he'll pause, look over his shoulder, and then take off like a crawling monster again with a smirk and a smile. Like, "You can't catch me!!"
• He also likes to pull pages out of magazines and eat them.
• I've noticed that he's started noticing other children (those maybe 5 years old and younger) at the grocery, at Target, out at restaurants, etc. I've caught him smiling and/or craning his neck at them a few times.
• He continues to eat well--he nurses six times a day and eats solids at breakfast and dinner. Breakfast is typically yogurt, cereal, and fruit (half puree/half fresh i.e. mashed banana) and dinner is typically meat, cereal (or sometimes pasta), and vegetables (half Gerber puree/half my homemade puree OR finger food i.e. smashed peas). We are still introducing new foods every 3 days and working with Cheerios to improve his self-feeding skills.
• He is sleeping well for now.
• He continues to pull up and cruise around the furniture...still gets bumps and bruises, but not as often. He has been reaching higher and higher, and it's hard to keep up with his ever-expanding wingspan! What once was safe and out of reach is now being pulled down and put it into his mouth. He moves from one object to the next pretty seamlessly now. I've noticed him letting go a few times if there is something to put in his hands. Also, if he sees something he wants across the room, he'll cruise along a piece of furniture, drop to the ground, crawl to the next piece of furniture, get up and cruise some more, and eventually reach his target. It's so fun to watch him figure out the best way to get from Point A to Point B.
• On that note, he likes to cruise along the front of the couch, and if Hattie is laying in her usual spot (on top of the back of the couch, atop the cushion), she has started growling at him and has snapped at him a few times. If he is on the couch (on our lap) next to her, she's fine, will tolerate petting (at least for a little while), wags her tail, etc., but if he's at the front of the couch banging the cushion, she gets angry. We are keeping a close eye on her. Lewis, meanwhile, thinks her growling is hi-larious, which, of course, doesn't help matters.
• Still not saying a whole lot. He goes through chatty fits, usually in the evening, but he makes no sense and hasn't yet put syllables like da-da, ga-ga, or ma-ma together. 
• He is almost entirely in his 12 month clothes now. He still wears a few pairs of 9 month pants, but they are getting to be too short. The other day I put him in a 12-18 month size long-sleeved onesie, and it was a little snug! I think it stretched out as the day went on, but it's amazing how sizing can vary among brands.
• Current Tooth Count: 6 (4 on the top, 2 on the bottom)

To the Park with Papa

Yesterday I had to make some cookie balls for a going away party of a former coworker out at Jefferson Memorial Forest, so Kevin and Lewis were spending the morning together while I worked in the kitchen. Kevin decided that, rather than hang out in the basement like usual, he and Lewis would go to the park! So they had their first official Father/Son outing, and here are the pictures and videos they came back with:

 Whee!

And, look, SIX teeth!!

 Lots and lots of leaves to eat

 Banging out some beats on the picnic table 

 Thanks for taking me to the park, Pops!

 Just the right height

 Exploring a tree

Crunching his way through the leaves

And more swinging before they go!

And here are the finished cookie balls that I finished just as they were arriving back home!

Nutter Butter (left) and Mint Oreo (right)

For the record: The Nutter Butter were disappointingly not as amazing as I'd hoped they would be. The Mint Oreo (first introduced to me by my friend, Rachel) were a huge hit, as always.

A Pictorial Roundup

Just wanted to post some pictures from the last week--I'll have a full text-heavy post on Tuesday after his 9 month check-up at the doctor's office!

First, Lewis helping to prep the dogs for a walk around the neighborhood:

Hattie's (sometimes) Best Friend

Eating leaves with Peter

 Dog Food, because he can

I've had some major successes at Goodwill and consignment sales over the past few months--apparently, I've lost track of just how many sets of wooden building blocks, alphabet blocks, and train track pieces I've acquired. I went to wash them all the other evening, and this was them drying out on the counter. Oops. I think he is set for a while.

 Blocks, Blocks Everywhere!

What are you looking at? :)

 Looky what we have here--four top teeth!

Kevin completed the Louisville Sports Commission Mini Marathon this morning while Lewis and I walked the 5k--here are Kevin and Lew before we set off. Bright eyed and ready to party!

 

 The littlest racer. :)

Finished in 49:48

 Kevin finishing (far left, left of guy in bright orange)--Go, Go, Go!

 Good job, Kev! (blowing away the guy in the orange, I just noticed) :)

Finished in 2:07:34!!

 Kevin and his Mom

The medal, dipped in Maker's Mark wax 
(took this for you, Craig)

 Team Thompson

 Lew and Mama

Nine month post (wow!) on Tuesday. Happy weekend!