9 Months Old!

Big Sister and I love to play and laugh together

I'm not sure how many times I'm going to say 'time flies' before I start believing it! ;) Our little man is 9 months old today. He's come so far and still has so far yet to go. We had his doctor's appointment on Monday and things are looking great. As suspected, Leo was in the 95% for height (30 inches) and 100% for weight (25lbs 4oz)...translation=not on the chart!

Our doctor was impressed however, with how strong he is. Actually, he was just amazed at both our children (Sophia had to accompany Leo to the doctor) and how smart and strong they are! Gotta love that! He hasn't seen Sophia in a number of months as usually she stays with someone else during Leo's appointments and boy, did she have him laughing! He finally looked at me and said, Yeah, she's cute, huh?! Of course I agreed!

Anyway, I digress...he was pleased with Leo's strong legs and determination to walk. He also said to keep giving him as much table/finger foods as he'll eat as he'd like to see more of that to make the transition easier at 1 year. Mostly, Leo still prefers the purees to cut-up food, but that's okay, we'll get there. I've been trying to offer both options at feeding time and that seems to help and he has gotten much better with finger foods in the last weeks, he's even tried hot dogs, breakfast sausage, cheese, Goldfish, and dried fruits. He really loves the dried peaches the most! He is still utterly uninterested in the sippy cup. He will sometimes drink water out of it, but formula, no way man. Grrrr. I'm ready to make that transition for sure!

He said to go ahead and reintroduce some dairy (as I mentioned, cheese) and see what happens. So far so good, but honestly, he hasn't had that much, so I'm still wary. He's eaten maybe the equivalent of an entire cheese stick over the course of a week and ate his first cup of yogurt yesterday and one today. He likes the yogurt a lot and is only mildly interested in the cheese. Our doc said that even if he develops a rash to continue on the dairy for at least 2 weeks. Of course that becomes null and void if the rash is extreme, but I'm really wishing and hoping that we're out of the woods with the dairy stuff. Even if he can eat the dairy, I don't know if I'll switch him off the soy formula, just for consistency, but we'll see. Oh and exciting news...he had his very first tooth pop through yesterday! Hoorah! It's so cute to look in there and see that little chomper poking through...c'mon teeth!

His sleep routine continues to be a loose schedule with anywhere from 1-3 naps per day, but he does sleep through the night, technically. He wakes up early, but will usually go back to bed after a bottle. The past week he's been sleeping until between 6-7:30 and I'm loving that! Of course, that was until last night when he woke me up at 4:30! Uh, that's going to have to stop. I'm hoping it was just a fluke, but I may have to get tough if that continues!

He is a true source of joy in all our lives. I so enjoy seeing him interact with Sophia and her with him, it's truly precious. I feel so complete with my little girl and my little boy and I love being a little nuclear family. While at the doctor I had to make his next appointment...for when he turns 1 year old! ACK!!! I'm excited and sad, but mostly excited. The really good part of having him so close to Sophia's birthday is that I can take them to the doctor together for their yearly check-ups! Yay! I must say, that is a nice perk!

Road Trippin'

Hey! There's a man talking in here!

You expect me to sleep?!

cuddle time

congrats to Mary and Dustin

the girls really had fun with the wedding bubbles!

Aunt Annie was a dancing queen!

This is the circle of women that literally surrounded Leo all weekend

Cathy and Charlie

Leo and his cousin Isaac

Grandma Hirner got to meet Little Leo!

pictured with Pat, Mary, and Anne

We took a road trip this weekend to good old Palmyra, Missouri, a small town where Charlie's Dad is from. Charlie's cousin, Mary, got married and it was a really great way to reconnect with the family we don't see as often. The car ride was difficult at times and it didn't really excite me to get geared up for our big, long road trip next month, but alas, its time will come as well. Sophia did better in the car than I expected and actually better than Leo did. Although, on the ride home, he did sleep almost the entire way, so that rocked! Leo was surrounded by doting women the entire weekend! He did not have to crawl or want for anything! He met his little cousin Isaac who is 6 months and they enjoyed staring each other down. Leo kept grabbing his head and kissing him...it was way cute, and quite reminiscent of what Sophia does to him! We don't make it there too often, so it was nice to go for a happy occasion such as this!

To Our Fathers

Wake up, Daddy!
Daddy and Sophia reading the book she picked out

Charlie and his dad...as if you couldn't tell!!

Dad and me on my wedding day!

Papa Leo and Sophia (with cousin Drake)

Leo squared

Sophia and her Godfather, Stacy

Leo and his Godfather, Jonathan

To all our fathers, we love you and cherish the moments we all have together.

I have been reflecting on fathers lately and I have also noticed that daddies play with babies much differently than mommies play. They are much more loud and rough and they tease so mercilessly! I love to watch Charlie with both Sophia and Leo. They both adore him and look forward to his time off. He is a good dad who is not afraid to get down and dirty with the kids. He will take them swimming and push them for hours on the swing but he will also rub lotion on their skin and snuggle them while they sleep. I know he looks forward to teaching both kids how to play sports and support them through all their endeavors. Some of the fondest memories I have of my dad are of the same things...we used to play catch together and he would come to every softball game. Even as an adult, he wanted to come out to my games for old times sake. He would take me to parades and on vacation and I enjoy thinking of those happy times on days like Father's Day. I am so thankful for such a wonderful husband who is so willing to make those memories with his kids too. Fathers play an important role in our lives so we thank and love all our dearest...Charlie, Leo, Stephen, Stacy and Jonathan!

On Stage

Since I already posted a video about Sophia being our performer, I figured I'd keep the theme going with this next post. We went to dinner with Mom and Stac the other night to TGI Fridays. It's been years since I've been to Friday's and truth be told, I wasn't too excited about going...BUT, my mind may have changed...

Those of you with young children know that there is a window in which restaurant eating is fine, and then the window closes and it quickly becomes more of a challenge than a pleasure...some day I'm sure that window will open again, but right now Sophia is so busy it is hard for her to wait. Well, at Friday's we were seated right next to the stairs that led up to the bar. Sophia took this opportunity to use it as her stage and entertained not only us, but all the bar patrons as well. I had a moment when I thought, hmmm, I should put a stop to this...but no. I didn't and I think it's fine. She wasn't being obnoxious or overly loud, she was just being 2 and having fun, so I let her. I kept her confined to the stairs of the bar and she was happy to put on show after show and dance number after crazy dance number. When it was time to eat, she did, and then promptly went back to her place of fame. Friday's may now be added to our list of acceptable places to dine in the near future! ;)

Star Search Here We Come!

Sophia is our little performer. She often puts on shows for her brother in the morning when he wakes up. They both love it! Luckily I caught the latest rehearsals on tape!

S&Ls

Mommy loves matching shirts!!! Cute as candy!

Making Progress

Okay, I posted this picture just so you could see exactly how humid it was in my driveway last evening. Ugh. The camera was fogging up so much it took a while for it to be normal! Rain, rain GO AWAY!!!!

Last night we had corn on the cob and Leo got his very first piece. He was pretty stoked to chew it and gnaw on it all night. I think he even managed to eat a few kernels! ;) After dinner we headed outside to play and Charlie got out Sophia's bike. Now that she can (fairly) successfully ride her tricycle, we thought we'd start on the bike. It's really hard for her to understand that she can't pedal backwards. Her trike lets her go either way without issue, but not the bike. She got frustrated fairly quickly, but luckily there were no meltdowns! She also sat down to help Leo play ball and it was very sweet. What a nice way to end an evening. OH! And also Leo pulls up now. It's very cute and he's oh so proud!