We're Back In Business

The Mac has been in repair for the last two weeks, so I'm quite behind on updating.  I'll be do my best over the next few days to get all the pics up, as well as Julian's 9 month letter.  Be sure to go back to the beginning of July to catch all of the new additions to the blog!

Fun in the Morning

Jules is an early riser, so after nursing and breakfast he often got plopped with his Auntie's on the air mattress until they were ready to get up for they day.  Jules had fun charming them with his new cheesy grin.

Letter to My 9 Month Old

Dear Julian,

Month 8 has been so full of exciting new skills, adventures, and fun that I had to start keeping a list just to keep up with you!  It's been a huge month developmentally and you are fast becoming a toddler before our very eyes.

One of the most surprising new skills is all the pointing you've been doing.  At pictures in books, our faces, into the air, at the food on your highchair tray - you're jabbing your pointer at everything.  You also surprised me with your step crawling ability.  We don't have steps in the apartment so I figured it would be awhile before I would have to worry about them, but when I took you to work with me a few weeks ago I found you half way to the second floor mere minutes after we walked in the door.  Somehow you knew just how to make your ascent with no help from me!  

We've also seen more hands and knees crawling - especially if your trying to go over toys, other babies, through the grass or at the beach.  You still prefer the commando style crawl for speed, but more and more I catch you trying to figure out how to make way across the apartment with your belly off the ground.  Pulling up is now a mastered art, as is sitting down once you get up.  It may be an ungraceful plop onto your booty most of the time, but you can get down now.  We've also seen cruising around the ottoman, the couch, and around the crib rails.  You are still pretty unsteady, but you're slowly getting the hang of it.  Now you take advantage of your ability to get where you want by crawling over to us and pulling up on our pants or legs to let us know you'd like to be held or need to nurse.  It is so cool to watch you take charge over your world more and more every day.

Your pincher grasp gets better and better everyday, and it really pleases you to be able to feed yourself.  So much so that you refuse almost completely any food coming from a spoon!  It has to be in chunks you can get your own hands on - and you have no trouble downing huge meals that way if the mood strikes you.  And the 3! additional teeth you got this month are definitely helping you eat more efficiently.  

Your Papa and I get at least a hundred kisses a day now.  You start every morning crawling over our heads planting sloppy wet ones on our faces.  And anytime I ask for kisses you are quite obliging.  It has to be the cutest thing I've ever experienced.  Well that and your waves!  You love to wave bye-bye to Papa when he goes to work, and you love to wave to your baby friends, and your Aunties.  Basically you will wave to anything and it's awesome!  It's so much fun to know that we are communicating with you, and you're really getting it and communicating back to us.  High fives are also a big source of fun, be them single or doubles, you'll dole them out excitedly any time.

Separation anxiety started setting in towards the end of the month, but it's not been too bad so far.  It mostly consists of people saying hello to you, and you reacting by burying your head in my shoulder to hide before peeking back out at them. Or if I leave the room, and you can't see me anymore you get upset.  I know soon you will understand that just because I've left the room doesn't mean I've really disappeared, and for now I'll enjoy the extra snuggles.  

You've been babbling more and more lately, but there are still no discernible "words" or sounds.  You've got a full head of fuzzy hair.  It's white-blond and nearly see through, but you definitely have more of it now.  The bedhead after naps is quite cute, it stands up all over the place and paired with your sleepy eyes it melts my heart.  When you see the camera pointed in your direction we get this new squinty grin that's super cheesy, so you've definitely identified that the attention is coming your way and it makes for some hilarious pictures of you.  If you aren't making silly faces, you're chasing me down to try and get your hands on the lens or buttons - it's making for some difficult picture taking lately so I've had to be sneaky.

As we head into August I'm looking forward to more adventures with you, and learning more about your personality as it emerges.  We're using a lot of sign language to foster better communication with you as you get older, and I hope that it will help us meet your needs to the best of our abilities.  It's been a really fun month baby boy, and I love you so much!  You make every day an awesome day and I'm trying to soak up every moment of you as my not so little baby.

Love you bunches,

Mama 

xoxo

Jules and the Ladies

For the first 30 minutes at the most recent Mama Chat we attended, Jules attempted to crawl into Sophies bouncer with her.  His intentions were good - he just wanted to plant some sloppy wet ones on her.  Note the concerned look on her face!  I don't think she quite new what to make of him.

Windows, A Good Thing

Double Trouble

One of Julians best buds is a little guy names James.  He is two months older, and lives close by so we see him quite often.  It is fun to get them together to watch how they interact with each other, especially since Julian stopped going straight for a face grab every time he saw a friend.  Karianne has captured some great pictures of the two of them together that I had to share!

Crib Posing

Smiles

Jules has a new smile that he gives, it's a squinty eyed deal, with a big toothy grin that looks just like this:

Click to Enlarge

No that is not a photo malfunction, or a badly timed shot, that's the face he makes when we smile at him or get out the camera. (Check out all those teeth!)

And here's a video just for fun:

Ryan and Jules BFFs

Saturday Family Outing

This weekend we decided to have some quality family time, so we took a day trip up to Yorktown.  We walked through and checked out their Farmers Market and strolled along their Riverwalk.  It was beautiful!  They have some lovely small beaches, and people were out kayaking in the rivers, and exploring towns shops.  After being beaten down by the 90 degree weather we headed up to Williamsburg to grab some lunch and cool off.    

We've developed a bit of tradition up there.  For my birthday last year, about a month before i was due with Jules, we took a weekend trip up there for a short little babymoon.  While there we discovered a great little place for brunch - the Blue Talon.  The food is amazingly to die for, and decently priced for a higher end experience.  Then when Jules was two weeks old we traveled up their again for brunch to celebrate as a new family.  It wasn't quite as peaceful that time, we each took turns walking the baby around while the other ate because he decided after two weeks of being a peaceful, easy baby everywhere we went that he wanted to fuss and cry right as our food was delivered.  Luckily this weekend was a different story.  Now when we go out, he can sit up in a highchair with us and play and be entertained.  He also gets to eat alot!  Lunch was a lot of fun.  He had a great time bopping around to the piped in music, chewing on the granite table, and looking at himself in the mirror behind the table.  He also sampled some tomatoes, baked three cheese mac-n-cheese, mozzarella sandwich, roasted red peppers, and coleslaw.

We then checked out the Baskin Robins on our way out of Williamsburg.  I haven't seen a 31 Flavors since the old one back home closed down many years ago.   There's nothing like some mint-chocolate chip in a waffle cone.  And I have to admit, I let him taste some of the cone - a big hit!

He's become very mama-centric lately.  He loves to snuggle and be held more than ever.  As a tiny baby he preferred to be put down to sleep on his own, never wanting to sleep on our chests or be rocked to sleep.  Our little guy is very independent most days, and would rather do things himself or on his own with little interference from us, but lately he has taken to crawling over to me to climb up for a snuggle, or to let me know he'd like to nurse.  He will often rest his head on my shoulder when he is tired or overwhelmed, and it melts my heart every time.  I know this is his way of checking in, of making sure I am still there before he heads out again to explore the big exciting world, and I am happy to be that solid check point in his days.