Yep...we're still here...

Sorry for the lack of new posts. Allen has been quite a handful over the past week. He is crawling absolutely everywhere...and nothing is sacred anymore. He is in to much more than Drew EVER was at this stage! And he is pulling up on everything and trying to walk...scary! He can even climb the bottom stair! And, to top it off, Allen has decided to boycott sleep. Well...it may not be entirely his decision (I think he's finally getting more teeth) but it has not been fun at all to deal with sleepless nights and the inconsolable screaming. Oh well...this too shall pass, right?
Here are some photos of the boys from today...

Allen's first biter biscuit experience...he LOVED it!

Drew was feeling left out and wanted me to take a picture of him with HIS cookie!

You have GOT to be kidding...

Allen has another ear infection. Yep...4 weeks after his last one and just one week after a perfectly clear recheck. We're headed to the ENT next Thursday. Mommy is just SO thrilled!!

He's Mobile!

Allen is officially crawling. Once he mastered getting into a sitting position from his belly, I knew it was just a matter of time. He is very different from Drew in that sense...why sit still when I can go over there? Allen was thoughtful and waited until Friday afternoon when Patrick was here to see it. We were actually all playing in the living room together and he just took off! He's unstoppable now...much to Drew's disappointment. And, unfortunately, Drew has become obsessed with building train tracks on the floor of the playroom in the past few weeks. While it's so much fun for him to build new tracks with fun new places for the trains to go...it's not so much fun for Allen to come along like Godzilla and take them apart in an instant! We have already had many tears in the past 48 hours...it's going to be a long couple of years...
I actually caught Allen's first crawl on video. However, I have no idea how to get said video off my camera, onto the computer and onto the blog. Should Patrick have a moment...well...maybe you'll see it some day!

Fun times after dinner

After we finished dinner tonight (and the marathon that is cooking for me and Drew, feeding Allen, convincing Drew to eat, keeping Allen happy for that extended period of time...) I decided we needed some time outside. So we gathered up blankets and toys for Allen and chalk for Drew and headed to the driveway. They boys had a great time and we all enjoyed the beautiful weather. Drew wanted me to draw trains and then a "hop-squash" board for him to jump on. Allen just watched and laughed...and later figured out how to move himself forward enough to get chalk all over him and lick it off his hands. Great...

Drew's "hop-squash" board...he loves to jump and count to 10!

He's finally getting the hang of this jumping with two feet off the ground thing...

Allen's pad and our lovely artwork

Yummy...chalk!

Deep Thoughts by Drew...

Our current favorite thing Drew says is "I don't know that". He says it in relation to people, things, songs, etc. We got him some new CD's (TMBG and BNL)for the car (in an attempt to preserve our sanity) and when a new song comes on he says "what song is that?" and when I tell him the title he says "I don't know that song". Obviously...it's a new song...how would you know it?
We'll be doing something that will spark my memory and I'll say "that reminds me, we need to go to the grocery store" to which he will respond "I don't know the grocery store". Or he'll see something on TV (on the rare ocassion that I am getting to watch the news) and he'll say "Who is that?" that's the president Drew "Oh, I don't know the president". It's constant...and hilarious!
Another great thing he said involved the US Open this year. Patrick was watching the playoff round on Monday and Drew was paying attention more than we thought. He started cheering every time Rocco would make a good shot or a putt. I asked him if he knew who was playing and he said "that's Rocco". Impressed, I asked him who Rocco was playing against and he said "ummm, Lion?" I about peed my pants I was laughing so hard!

Amelia is 3!

On Friday, July 11, Amelia turned 3 years old! It was a fun day complete with a party at Jumpity Jump in the morning and a pizza party for the family that night. Drew loved her parties and was completely content with it being her birthday and not his. The only thing that confused him was why she kept what was in "his gift" - I didn't make it clear that the gift bag we took into the party was from him TO her, not FROM her. But when he saw all the princess stuff inside he was fine with it. She was a wonderful birthday girl and we had a great time with her. It's so hard to believe she is 3!

Even more new tricks...

Allen has a few new tricks he has mastered since last week. The most adorable thing is clapping...he claps for songs, for you when you come in the room, for toys, for diaper changes....he'll even clap on command...it is too cute. He just started doing it on Thursday and hasn't stopped! I'm sure the fact that I get so excited every time he does it makes him feel like he should keep doing it!

Today he was napping and had been asleep a while so I knew he would be waking up soon. I heard him make some noise and then he was quiet again. I walked in his room and found him sitting up in his crib, just smiling! He started clapping as soon as he saw me, as if to say "Look at me! I did something good!" Precious!

He continues to pull up on everything he can find, whether it is strong enough to hold his weight or not! From a sitting position, he has pulled up on his crib slats, on the ottoman cubes in the living room, on his dinosaur (which promptly tips over), on the train table...it's constant. I'm waiting for him to fall and bust his mouth open, but so far he's been lucky!

My Favorite Cartoons...

I have discovered the best cartoon in the paper...hands down... Here is one from a few Sunday's ago that is just my life in ink! (Click on the picture to enlarge it...)

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.