9 Months!

Seriously? I feel like I just posted 8 months information last week! This whole counting your age in months thing is for the birds...it just reminds me of how quickly my boys are growing up! In 3 more months Allen will be a whole year old and in just 4 months Drew will be 3! AHHH!

Anyway...Allen is doing great at 9 months. His checkup today went well. He looks great and is meeting all his developmental milestones. He weighs 22 lbs 4 oz (75%), is 28.5 inches long (70%) and his head is 46.5 cm (85%). We talked about going to the ENT and we will discuss it further next week when we go back for a recheck of his ears (which are still not clear though we are on day 9 of our antibiotic). He got one shot and only cried for a minute. The major issue today was that he fell off my bed this morning while I was drying my hair and banged his nose pretty hard. He looks like Rudolph...it's very sad. She checked him out and said he looked fine. No more high surfaces for Allen! (Sadly, Drew fell off a bed around this same point in life...possibly the same week of his life...mommy is a slow learner...)

Allen is trying really hard to crawl, but hasn't mastered it yet. He can get up on hands and knees (and even hands and toes!) and rocks back and forth or scoots backwards but hasn't mastered going forward yet. (Hmmm...guess that's how he went off the bed today...) He still can't sit himself up, though he is getting closer. (Yes, I realize in a previous post there were photos that made it look as though he could do that. Sorry...) **Update** As of this evening, Allen can sit up on his own. He was on the floor in Drew's room on his belly and the next thing I knew he was sitting up! I flipped him back over to make sure I hadn't lost my mind, but sure enough...up he popped! On Sunday he waved bye-bye to Nana and then yesterday waved at Daddy so I think we can safely say that is a new trick! He is starting to eat table foods and loves to have things put on his tray for him to eat himself. He tends to choke so we have to be careful, but he much prefers food to bottles now! He is starting to pull up on things and has managed to get up to the train table once. That could quickly become an issue! He loves to stand and if you let him hold your fingers he will stand for ages! Hugs and kisses are plentiful, if sometimes wet, and he will pull your hair out in clumps if you aren't careful. Maddie and Drew are still his favorite entertainment...he will do whatever he can to get to them (or what they have)! Allen is "talking" constantly - we're a little worried about how much he'll have to say when words really come out! "Mama" "dada" "baba" are his favorites and he will look around for people when you ask him where they are. Drew is having fun trying to teach him words and sounds...it's very sweet!

It just goes to show...

...being Number 1 isn't always the best place to be! For the third time in five years, Knoxville is ranked as the "Worst Asthma City in America"! That explains a lot about my children's health and wellness...

Oh, and for those keeping track...Allen has his 4th ear infection in 6 months. I can't wait to see what his doctor says at his check up next week! I have a suspicion a visit to the ENT is in our future...

On a brighter note, we had a really fun July 4th at Mama G & Pop's pool with the family. I failed to get my camera out all day, but my dad took some good pictures so I'll try and steal some from him.

Hilton Head Island 2008

June 1-7, 2008: We had another great trip to the beach earlier this month. We traveled with Nana and Grandaddy (all of us in the van!) to Hilton Head and enjoyed it so much! There was a minor bug problem in our first condo...an older, wooden building that had some (hundred) unwanted guests living there. Mom and I nicely explained the situation to the rental company and convinced them that staying put was not an option. We were able to move Tuesday morning and all was well! Drew just loves the beach...he could play for hours in the sand. Unfortunately, he was not blessed with dark skin and can't stay out for hours! He really enjoyed the pool too and is becoming quite the little swimmer. Allen was a trooper and even napped at the beach a couple of mornings. Nana & Grandaddy spent quite a bit of time at the beach in the afternoons, resting under the umbrella and just relaxing next to the ocean. Patrick worked most days but was still able to play with the boys and let me have some "sun" time as well. It was a wonderful trip!

Beach Photos

Misc Photos

Nana and Grandaddy celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary while we were there! They enjoyed a nice evening out (sans kids) and a lovely meal (on the day after their anniversary...the day of they celebrated in the car with us and then dinner at the Hilton Head Diner!) Don't think they aren't doing anything big...since this year marks their 40th anniversary and both of their 60th birthdays, they are going on a 2 week European cruise in July!

Happy Anniversary Grandma & Grandpa!

Happy 9th Anniversary to Grandma & Grandpa! We hope you had a great day! We love you and miss you! (And we have no recent photos of the two of you together - seriously...)

June Fun

We have had a very busy month and I have been a failure at keeping up with the blog! Here are some photos of our adventures the past few weeks!

First day of VBS 2008!

Allen's first "real" food...bananas...

Where Allen spends a lot of time...it's good exercise, right?!

Swinging at Nana & Grandaddy's

Happy Father's Day!

Drew's first diving board adventure!

My Littlest Golfer

Tonight, I put Allen on the floor in the living room while I fixed his bottle. I heard him grunting and knew he was after something out of his reach. I was able to capture his escapades...

Almost got it...

I'll just flip to my belly to reach it...

Ahh...got it!

Thanks mom for sitting me back up!

Don't take it away!!!

Beach Trip - Perdido Key, FL

May 8-16, 2008: Our first vacation to Florida as a family of 4 was great. We took 2 days to drive down and had horrible weather, but we made it fine. A rock cracked our windshield about 30 minutes from the beach...of well...I'm sure it won't be the last damage to my new car! We were all excited to meet baby Elizabeth - even Drew! The resort where we stayed was wonderful. There were 3 outdoor pools, 3 indoor, and a lazy river. Drew enjoyed all the big waterslides and quickly got over any lignering fear of the water! Saturday was cousin Julie's wedding. It was lovely and she was beautiful! We enjoyed the reception and getting to hang out with all the cousins we don't see very much. Monday we finally made it to the beach and Drew had a great time playing in the sand with Caroline (3). We had to say goodbye to Auntie Maggie, Uncle Jim and baby Elizabeth early Tuesday morning and then we spent more time at the awesome pools. On Wednesday, Grandma kept Allen so we could have some quality time with Drew at the beach. It was great! He played so hard in the sand and really enjoyed having our full attention. We had to leave on Thursday and drove again through storms. We stopped that evening in Atlanta to see Rusty, Bernie and Olivia since they weren't able to make it to the wedding. We really enjoyed spending time with them and the kids played nicely together! We finally made it home on Friday and dumped everything in the house...and we're still digging out...

Happy Father's Day!

We had a very busy and fun time celebrating Father's Day! Drew chose an outing to the zoo so the four of us went for about 3 hours this morning. Drew had a great time visiting all the animals. Allen was a champ...riding around in the stroller without any complaints.
Daddy was able to take some time away at the driving range while both boys napped this afternoon. It was as close as he could get to playing golf today, but he didn't complain!
Tonight we went to Nana and Grandaddy's house for dinner and playtime. Nana made a wonderful lasagna and we even had dirt cake for dessert! (Jay and Amelia helped her make it yesterday) The kids played outside for a little while after dinner and ran races in the backyard.

Happy Father's Day to all the great dads out there! You are loved!

8 Months

It's hard to believe that another month has passed already! Allen is growing up so fast and is a busy little man. He is babbling like crazy..."dada" is his favorite and he often says "hi dada" (though not necessarily at the proper moment!). I've been pushing for "mama" but it usually only comes out when he's really upset and crying hard...oh well!
He finally mastered rolling back to front, but it has caused all sorts of issues with sleep. He'll get turned over on his side and then his tummy when he's trying to get comfy to sleep and then he just gets angry because he's face down and can't get anywhere! Yesterday he rolled all the way over (back to front and then kept going until he was on his back again) so I'm hoping he will start flipping himself around in bed as he needs to. He will scoot on his bottom when he's sitting up and wants to get somewhere and when he's on his tummy he can scoot backwards. Again, that causes issues in bed when he gets himself all the way to the side of the crib and those fat little legs go through the slats! By far his favorite activity is still the jumper seat - he will go for at least 20 minutes, non-stop. The best part of it is the laughter and perma-smile while he is doing it!
He is eating well - cereal and fruit for breakfast, cereal and vegetable for dinner, 4 bottles a day at other times. I'm trying to drop a bottle and add a cereal feeding in its place, but finding a good time in the day to make the switch has proved daunting! Oh - we finally have 2 teeth! The bottom 2 came in about the same time with much screaming and sleepless nights to make sure I was aware of the event. Now I'm just hoping the top ones will make their appearance soon and we can start some finger foods in the near future. It is sad how much the kid watches you eat and moves his mouth as if to say "Come on, seriously? Can't I have some of that?!"
Allen LOVES his big brother. He laughs at Drew all the time and loves to watch him play. If Drew comes close enough, Allen lunges for him and tries to latch on, like he is trying to keep him close. On our drive home from the beach yesterday, Drew was sleeping in the third row and Allen could see him perfectly from his rear facing car seat. He was trying so hard to talk to him and wake him up - babbling and laughing and cooing at him. It was so cute! Allen still loves Maddie, though Maddie can be a bit stingy returning the love. She will lay just out of his reach, but he will dive forward if he thinks he can get to her. She will sit next to his rocking chair at night when I'm giving him his last bottle and let him pet her head. I love it - it is so fun to have my boys grow up with a sweet dog!

At the beach...again...

We are at the beach again...this time in South Carolina on Hilton Head Island with Nana and Grandaddy. It is beautiful (and hot) and we're having a great time (though we're quite hot). I forgot my download cable so you'll have to wait for photos. Then again...I still haven't posted our Florida photos either!
On top of things, I am not...