All I Want for Christmas ...

Trip meeting Santa for the first time - He was especially intrigued by Santa's beard and I was surprised that he didn't try and pull it!

9-month Update

(I wrote this post a month ago on Trip's 9-month birthday and never got around to posting it! Now that we are approaching the 10-month mark, I thought it was better late then never.)

I can't believe Trip is already 9 months old! Seriously, my time with him has flown by and I feel a little sad writing this post. Last week I had this moment where it felt like he grew up overnight. He was this tiny newborn, and then this chubby 4 month old, and now he is this pre-toddler little boy! People keep saying, "I can't believe he is almost a year old!" and I react defensively, "No! He isn't even 9 months yet!" Except, now is IS 9 months old! I'm not sure why, but this month feels like such a big deal compared to the last 8. Maybe because he is "supposed" to be crawling, eating big people food and some kids even walk this early. Maybe because I know how fast the next three months will go and then we will be celebrating his first birthday. Maybe it's the holiday season and his first Christmas. Or, maybe I'm just feeling emotional.

Here is a picture of Trip attempting to crawl. This movement is followed shortly by arms and legs sprawling and a face plant into the floor. He usually looks up at me after the crash and based on my reaction to how hard he hits the ground either laughs or cries. I am quickly learning that no reaction is the best reaction!

Weight: 22 lbs.

Development: Trip has moved on to some table foods, which is actually surprisingly easy. Much of the time I share whatever is on my plate with him ... pasta yesterday, bites of banana, oatmeal. He has also learned how to drink out of a straw. He is not crawling, but will navigate from sitting, to hands and knees and then to his tummy. I consider anything progress at this point. All month J and I have been training Trip to "Crawl by Christmas" but I think Trip has a different timeline. This past month he developed some bad sleep habits when he was sick and J was out of town for the weekend. All he wanted was for me to hold him, and in order to get ANY sleep myself, I complied, letting him sleep on my chest through two nights and two days of nap times. This was NOT the right thing to do! After just two nights of being coddled, Trip determined that he wanted me to hold him all of the time and wouldn't sleep in his crib. At 3 a.m. my desire for sleep often took precedence over my desire to have a baby that had good sleep habits. After a week of crying it out in his crib, I am proud to say that he is now sleeping in his crib for naps and through the night again! On a related note, because he has been fighting a cold he hasn't been able to breath through his nose and therefore hasn't wanted to take a pacifier ... so, as of this week, we have successfully ended the pacifier addiction.

Likes: Bananas, pasta, bread crust, and anything sweet that his dad will share with him. Trip still loves his Lamby the best of all of his stuffed friends. He loves blocks and banging things together. Throwing things off his high chair tray. He loves the Christmas tree and lights. He loves to watch the picture slide show screen saver on my computer. He is entering the stage where he can find the one thing in a room he should NOT be playing with and put it in his mouth.

Dislikes: Trip really hates the sound of sirens ... fire trucks, ambulances, etc. We discovered this when Trip hit a button on one of his fire engine toys and a siren went off. He looked at me in confusion and then broke out in a loud cry. It is the saddest and cutest cry I have ever seen. I will try and get this on video.

Favorite Moments: In general Trip has become quite the wild man in comparison to the chilled out baby he has been for the past 8 months. He is still not very mobile - just rolling and army crawling - so I can only imagine how much more wild he will get! His favorite way of expressing himself is jumping up and down (in our arms or in his jumperoo) and making a "ssssss" sound with his two bottom teeth. He also has a new funny face where he purses his lips, scrunches his nose and breaths in and out of his nose very quickly and noisily (see picture below). This newfound energy is just so cute! Trip is such a happy baby and belly laughs all of the time, which has been great for my self esteem ... obviously J and I are quite the comedians in Trip's eyes!

Family Pictures

One of our good friends took family pictures for us last week and these are a few of my favorites. For a great photographer in the Boerne/San Antonio area, check out JustBePhotography.net. Thanks Kristin, you did an amazing job!

Oldie but Goodie

This is one of my favorite pictures from Trip's infant photo shoot. I just can't believe he is 9 months old! This seems like just yesterday and at the same time years ago.

A Hill Country Christmas

A Few Shots of Trip in his winter hat in front of the Christmas tree.

Trip all bundled up before we headed out to the parade.

Some shots of the Main Square in "downtown" Boerne. Our little Main Street was all lit up for the holidays as well, but I couldn't get a good shot. Each weekend in December, Boerne has "Dickens On Main" (http://www.dickensonmain.com/) .... There are lots of fun activities including a Christmas parade the first weekend in December, carriage rides, Christmas music at the Main Square, and gingerbread house decorating. At the parade there is also great food ... turkey legs, sausage on a stick, funnel cake, hot apple cider and cocoa, and of course it wouldn't be Texas without some good ole Tex Mex during the holidays! Last year I was about 7 months pregnant and we went to the parade with our good friends Whitney and Max Jodry. We missed having them this year, but were able to spend time with some of J's good childhood friends, Park and Will (pictured below).

The boys spent the weekend grilling steak, fish and shrimp, making chili and brewing some beer. The outcome of the home brew is still to be determined. Currently it is fermenting in Trip's closet :)

Paci Head

These are some pictures of Trip before we headed out to the Boerne Christmas Parade. He has become quite the pacifier addict and I had a hard time snapping a shot of him before he plugged it right back in his mouth!

Thanksgiving 2009

We accidentally left the camera at home but managed to get this cute picture of Trip on Thanksgiving from J's iPhone. He wore one of J's baby outfits and looked particularly adorable in my opinion. He was especially enamored with the big fire in the fireplace - he is sitting in front of it in this picture. He sat in front of the fire for a good 30 minutes waving his arms and talking. Despite not feeling very well, he was such a good boy all day. J and I were very proud and thankful parents!