Jacob @ 9 Months

Jacob has really started to turn into a big boy, not just my little baby. Last week (June 15th) he started crawling-- not with his tummy off the ground, but an army crawl, just like his brother and sisters all did. For awhile, he's been getting up on his hands and knees and rocking like he wants to go, but just can't get the movement. Now, finally he's started scooting and we can't get him to stop. He's all over the place, and now I have to keep my floor swept or he'll put all the crumbs in his mouth!

I'd still consider him easygoing and fun to be around, but he gets cranky a lot at home-- could be teeth coming in, could be boredom because he can't do everything he wants to do. At times I have to sneak around where he won't see me, because if he sees me, he'll start crying for me to pick him up. 

I couldn't get him to lay straight for his picture-- he just wanted to play with his toes the whole time. But I'll take what I can get at this age!

He also started sitting well this month. He can almost pull himself up to sitting, but can't get the one arm up on his own. But if I put him down sitting, he plays happily for quite awhile. He seems to enjoy the new view. And I just love a sitting baby.

He also loves to stand, although he can't do it on his own. He really just likes to be moving or doing anything but being still.

He has his 9-month check-up next week, so I'm not sure how much he weighs, but I don't think he's gained as much over the past few months. He's holding pretty steady at about 22 or 23 pounds, which is still pretty big, but he's also grown a lot in length. I don't get as many comments anymore about how huge he is, although he did have to move to a new car seat and I definitely don't carry that thing around anymore. 

I can barely make it through the grocery store with this dude in my cart without everyone ooing and aaahhing over how cute he is. He always gets all the attention, and he eats it up.

He's eating a few finger foods now, although he still doesn't have a single tooth and tends to gag a little on some things. He has a new love for the Gerber Puffs cereal and the Yogurt Melts. As soon as they get on his tray, he grabs them with his fat little fist and stuffs them in his mouth. There's 2 in his fist and 2 in his mouth before I can turn around. He almost doesn't really like his baby food much anymore. He'll tolerate a little-- fruits, mostly-- but never a whole jar anymore. He's actually the pickiest baby I've had and will NOT eat green veggies unless they're mixed with something else.

But he will eat his feet. Yum, yum.

He likes to be outside, now, for a little while, and is starting to tolerate the swing more. 

He loves to blow raspberries, like A LOT. He is always spitting or gurgling or making noise. He also loves to scream. He still resists naptime, screaming sometimes 5 to 10 minutes before crashing, but he will eventually sleep. He usually naps about an hour in the morning, then a good 2 or 3 hours in the afternoon (as long as we are home and not out and about), then will go to bed for the night around 7:30 or so. I wish he would be able to stay awake a little longer at night so he would sleep longer than 7am, but he just gets too cranky. Overall, he's a pretty good sleeper.

Summer Fun

Our summer is already off to a fun start and it's barely just started getting warm around here! We have a "bucket list" of things we really want to do while it's nice out and nothing's stopping us now!

Our little backyard swimming pool got a hole this year so we improvised. We made a slip 'n slide out of a tarp, a sprinkler, and some baby soap. The kids had a blast!

Jacob didn't get wet, but he is starting to enjoy being outside. He especially loves to sit in the grass and pull it out. He's only eaten a little. 

We were given one of those bubble machines that shoots out tons of bubbles at a time. Jacob was fascinated, Abi squeals at all of them, and even the big kids enjoy it!

And of course the playground has been on our list. Our favorite is at the school in town, so we can only go when school is out. We finally made it the other day, and little Miss Abigail was fearless. Last year I couldn't get her to leave my side-- this year she climbs everything she sees-- rock walls, monkey bars, everything! And she goes down the slide and back up again.

 

We've taken a trip to A&W, which is only open in the summer and has really great burgers & ice cream.

Of course, we've also enjoyed watermelon. Even Jacob. He ate a big chunk out of mine the first time. Since then, he's decided he doesn't like it.

10 Year Anniversary Getaway

Last weekend Brett and I had a chance to getaway for our 10-year anniversary. I can hardly believe we've been married 10 years! And so much has happened in that time! We didn't want to spend a lot of money or time on traveling far away, so we picked a place close by where we could spend more time & money actually doing things. Brett had asked around some of our local friends where they recommended and gave me a few options. So together we chose Lake George, NY. It's actually only about an hour drive from home, and we've been there before to do some shopping. And we didn't realize it but Lake George is a pretty big tourist spot. There's a lot there that we didn't even know about! So we left the kids with some friends (including baby Jacob, who did great taking bottles for 3 days in a row!).

We chose to stay at a little cottage on the lake (not Lake George, but a smaller one nearby-- less touristy). It wasn't really too fancy, but we had our own separate little cottage (you can see it in the background of this picture) with a living area & kitchen, and a little screened-in porch, so we were able to cook our own breakfast and eat on the porch. It was private, but still had the feel of a bed and breakfast because the owners of the place were super friendly and helpful.

Thursday night we went out to Red Lobster, and enjoyed good food that we didn't have to prepare and we didn't have to get up 100 times to serve to children!

Friday morning we went out and did some shopping, since we were near to so many stores. We got lunch and took it back to eat on our porch at our cottage.

The cottage provided some canoes and rowboats for guests to use, so we took advantage of that and went out on the lake. Of course, neither of us really knew how to row a rowboat, but we figured it out and had a really good time. And we didn't flip the boat.

Friday night we went out to eat again, and then went to play Mini Golf. I read about this course that is supposedly one of the top 10 mini golf courses in the country. When we got there, it seemed like it was in such an odd location and not too crowded, but we quickly found out why it was so praised. Each hole was designed to represent a different country of the world. So we went on a trip around the world without even leaving home! There were some really cool holes, and really challenging.

This one was shaped like a guitar (although I can't remember what country it was!).

This one was in Paris, France. :)

We didn't realize it before we left, but the weekend we chose was the same weekend as Americade, a giant "Bike Week" they hold every year. So there were motorcyclists everywhere! And the golf course was on the "main strip" where they hung out every night so we were surrounded! Thankfully, they were not wild or crazy, there were just a lot of them!

After mini golf we walked along the lake (not at all peaceful because of the amount of people, but still pretty) and had ice cream.

Saturday, we actually went whitewater rafting, although there is not a single picture to show for it! It was a wet, rainy and cold day, but we were determined to go. And we loved it! We went on a short one-hour trip in a river with Class 2 & 3 Rapids that are made my a dam release so they are guaranteed. We were in a raft with 3 other people who knew each other, and a guide, plus there were 2 other rafts on our trip with a big group of kids. They slow down halfway for swimming and a water fight (buckets & giant water guns). Our guide made the trip really fun and got us going really fast when we hit the rapids. It wasn't at all scary, just a little wet & cold. We didn't want to take a camera or phone along because it would have gotten wet, and the photos they took were far too expensive, so we have no photos, but it really did happen! And we're so glad we had that experience together to remember. I can't wait for 50 more years of experiences together with this guy!

Leah's Dance Recital 2016

I can't believe Leah has been taking dance for 4 years now! She really loves dancing and being on stage and she's getting better and better at it each year. I think she really has a talent-- but I may be partial. This year her class was a jazz and tap combo. I personally liked ballet better but she loved doing jazz. Her teacher has taught teens and adults for 30 years and this was her first year with younger kids. At first I thought she was way too hard for Leah, but I ended up loving what she did with the class and they really improved over the course of the year. I loved that she pushed them to do what she knew they were capable of.

The recital was so much fun to watch. We are now apparently past the years of the frilly little costumes with big poofy skirts and into the more sophisticated costumes. I only had to buy one this year and for the jazz number we were able to put together things from home. It's always crazy to see how grown up she looks in her make up with her hair all slicked back!

Thankfully there was just one show this year, as opposed to two last year, so we weren't there all day. However, that made for a crowded auditorium, and no air conditioning in the hottest part of the year. 

I asked Leah if she was ready to dance, and she said "Mom, I was born ready!"

I asked Brett to take pictures on the good camera during the show, and this is what I got. Pictures of Leah's fan club:

The jazz number was "Broadway Kids." They all seemed to have so much fun with this one. (I took some of the pictures and the video at the dress rehearsal so I didn't have to deal with it during the show-- I think they turned out better that way because no one was sitting in front of me.)

Here's the video, taken at the Dress Rehearsal.

The tap number was "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy," a classic from the old USO shows. I think the kids' favorite part was the trumpets.

The audience seemed to really love this part where they were in formation.

 

And of course it wouldn't be Recital Day if there wasn't some sort of celebration afterward. We had ice cream at the service station near our house. Before dinner.