Nathan: Month Ten

My little bubba dubba,

Or “Good Boy” as your sister likes to call you. :) This month, you have become so much more social. You like to smile at everyone, and we get so many compliments about what a happy baby you are. You are overall a very happy little one, but when you are upset… man, you know how to throw a fit. Full on with arching of the back, hysterical screaming and tears. It is quite a sight to behold. LOL!

You love to play whether it is crawling after Katie in a game of “get you!” being tickled by mommy, playing “airplane” with daddy, or swimming in the hot tub with Uncle Jon. You love to be outside and this month when we have gone to the park, you just sit and take it all in. Occasionally, you will get shy when other people are talking to you and put your head against my chest, or fuss to come back when others hold you, but not very often. We went to the Zoo for the first time this month and you loved looking around at all the animals and people. We even got to ride the train, but you took a nap through that.

I thought you might take your first steps this month, but you aren’t quite there yet. You are SO close though. You are a really good cruiser, and you prefer to be on your feet than all fours. You pull up on everything and move around the furniture to get where you want to go for as long as you can. You have stood in place by yourself for several seconds, too, without falling down. You can stoop down to pick up your toys while you are standing and holding on, and you pass objects back and forth between your hands well (especially puffs)! You are trying to figure out more ways to communicate with us this month. You bang your hands on your highchair tray when you are ready for more food, and you make a grabbing motion with your hands when you want to be picked up. You actually said your second word on September 21st which was repeating “Bubba” after mommy and daddy. This month, you also gave us both kisses on September 22nd and 23rd. You had your second hair cut on September 1st, and now, at the end of the month, it looks like you could use another one! Your hair grows so quickly.

The one thing that hasn’t been growing as quickly is your height and weight. On the 31st of August, I took you to see your doctor for your 9 month check-up. You had a flu vaccination and got a height and weight check. You were in the 2% for height, 3% for weight. I am not sure I believe those numbers though. You eat so well and are meeting all your milestones. Your little thighs and arms have fat rolls on them too. We have tried feeding you more this past month, though, and you go back to see Dr. H on October 4th for a weight check. Hopefully you have gained some and grown an inch or so. Either way, you are perfect to us!

Places we have visited/things we have done this month:
Heritage Duck Pond, October 31st, September 20th, September 24th
San Antonio Zoo, September 18th
Mamaw and Papaw's house
Aunt NoNee's House
Aunt Tara’s House
Swim Classes for Katie
Mommy's work
Restaurants
Shopping

Your Clothing/Eating and Sleeping Habits:
Clothing: 6-12 months, size 3.5 shoes

Diapers: size 3 disposables and "small" or “medium” cloth diapers
Sleeping: Bedtime is around 9:00-9:30pm. You continue to wake up frequently during the night, more so this past week. Maybe you are having a growth spurt?? On the 26th you actually slept from 10pm to 5am! Mommy was so happy! Generally, you and Katie are both up at 8am. You are taking three naps still, but you seem to be trying to drop your morning nap. The mid-day nap is usually 1.5-2 hours.

Eating: You are still nursing very frequently. Usually 7 times a day, give or take, even if I work. This past week, you have actually nursed upwards of 11 times a day. Like I said…growth spurt? More teeth? You still have only two teeth. You have been eating three 4.5oz jars of baby food a day, plus puffs and other snacks like yogurt melts and pieces of table food as we let you. You feed yourself with your hands very well! You haven’t had a major dislike for anything we have given you yet, either.

We love you so much, Nathan, and are so proud of the little boy you are becoming. You are such a joy and delight to our family! I hope you always know how much we love you and how special you are to us.



Love,
Mommy



Meeting Emma for the first time, September



Nathan and Mommy at the Duck Pond, September 24th

Nathan and Mamaw at Swim Class

Big Guy standing at Mamaw's

Nathan's First trip to the Zoo, September 18th

Katie thought Nathan needed more toys, September 5th

Nathan's 2nd Haircut, September 1st

At Dr. H's for an appointment, August 31st

Riding the Train at the Zoo, September 18th

Playing at the Zoo

I am thankful for weekend lunches with Katie (and sometimes Paul, usually my parents). I love getting to see her during my work day. It always brings a smile to my face and lights up my afternoon.

Walking

Up until now, Kaitlyn has only been taking a couple steps here and there. She loves to walk all around the house while holding on to someones hands. Occasionally, she has been turning loose of the furniture to venture out on her own, but the most she has walked at one time  has been four steps this past weekend.

This evening, Paul and I were both busy washing dishes and getting dinner ready while Mom was entertaining Katie. All of a sudden, she was calling for us, and Kaitlyn was walking halfway across the kitchen. I didn't get a count the first time, but the second, she did a total of TWELVE steps before sitting back down!!! Our baby is growing up right in front of our eyes......

Happy Halloween 2010

We kept Halloween pretty low key at our house this year. Growing up, Halloween was never that big of a celebration, and I have kinda kept that with me as an adult. However, I did want to take Katie out to do a few things, like visiting the pumpkin patch and trick o' treating at families houses.

We headed out about 2:30pm for an early start. We wanted to be home by the time all the other kids were out so we could help mom pass out candy. Our first stop was Aunt TT's house.

Candy!!

Katie, Tamara and Me

We didn't get to take any pictures with Katie's best friend, Carmen, because she was taking a nap. She dressed up as a ladybug for Halloween.  Our next few stops were kind of a bust. We didn't tell anyone that we were stopping by because we wanted it to be a surprise, but that also meant we missed a few people. We tried Paul's sister's house, his aunt's and his cousins, but no one was home.  We headed on over towards Paul's dad's house and surprised him for some trick o' treatin'!

Trick or Treat Grandpa!!! OOOHHHH SUCKERS!

Paulie, Katie, Paul and his girlfriend, Amy

 A couple of Katie's aunts live in the same area, so we headed on over to Aunt D's to see Katie's cousins.

Katie and her Daddy

Sisters, Cousins

Aubree (she dressed as a ladybug, too), Andrew, Anthony and Katie

 Of course, we had to stop by and see Aunt Nomi and Isabella!

Hi Aunt Nomi!!

Bestest Friends

 Our last stop was the Grand Finale....GRANDMA'S HOUSE!!!!

"Stand right here Boo Bear, I'll ring the doorbell."

Popparazzi!!!

Grandma, Grandpa, Katie, Mom and Jon

Reading Katie's Halloween Cards

 And of course, my mother, who never let me go trick or treating.....had a bunch of Halloween loot for Katie. (Way to make me a liar, mom. I told Katie Grandma didn't "do" Halloween. Just Kidding. :o) Love you!!)She got lots of yummy puffs, a Halloween teddy bear, a light saber, a rattle, BUBBLES! and a special gift from Uncle Jon....



These are good!!!

HOME-MADE STRAWBERRY POPSICLES!!! YUMMY!

Our Family

Happy Halloween!!!

Kaitlyn: Month Ten

My Precious Boo Bear,

Today you are ten months old! And you think that you are quite the big girl. You are so independent and like to do everything yourself, especially feed yourself. You take the bottle out of our hands when we try to feed you, you reach for the spoon when you are eating in your high chair, and you shovel down your puffs or pasta like it is going to disappear any moment. I can’t believe your first birthday is only a couple of months away.

Katie Eating Lunch

You are making more progress towards walking, too, and becoming even more independent. You are such a fast crawler and you are into everything. You are off and exploring in the blink of an eye. You love to cruise around the furniture and have gotten rather fast at that, too. You haven’t taken more than two or three steps in a row together, but we think you are going to get brave and take off any day now! Aunt Nomi said you were trying to go after Isabella when you took a few steps away from the couch on your own (October 14th).

Big Girl Walking

Your bottom teeth have broken through, as well. FINALLY! Your left bottom tooth came through first on October 15th. The right bottom tooth was about a week later to break through on October 21st. You aren’t drooling as much and you aren’t as fussy since they aren’t bothering you, which is nice. You were working on cutting those teeth for several months. And boy are those teeth sharp, too! It’s like you have little razors in there. Needless to say, you don’t get to chew on our fingers nearly as much as you used to.



Katie and Mommy eating lunch

This month, Mommy and Daddy took their first trip without you. It was mommy’s first time away from you, as well, and it was very hard on all of us. We went to Kaua’i for five nights and you got to stay with Grandma and Great-Grandma. I hear that you had a great time and were such a good girl until about Wednesday; I guess you thought we needed to come home as much as we did because that was about the time we decided we were gone long enough (4 nights). Next time you will get to come along, too, or we will only stay for three or four nights.

Katie sending us off

More Ten Month News:

Sleeping: You are still touch and go. You normally sleep ten or eleven hours in a row. If we have been working a lot or have been away, you seem to wake up around 3am for some snuggles, though. You are still taking two naps for 1-2 hour or several cat naps whenever you "decide" to sleep.

Clothing: 6-12 month or 9-12 month, size three and a half shoes, medium diapers

Mealtime: 16oz of milk in four bottles (although you seem to be combining the last two for bedtime) and 2-3 jars of 4.5oz baby food. You enjoy lots of puffs and the occasional table food when Grandpa sneaks it in.

Grandpa's Girl

Developments:

-Waves “bye bye” sometimes after we already leave or “hi”

-Picks up things with your pincher grasp

-Crawls well (too well)

-Indicates wants with gestures

-Stands alone for a couple of seconds

-Cruises (11 month skill)

-Plays “Peek-a-Boo” (11 month skill)

-Understands “no” and simple instructions (sometimes) (11 month skill)

-Stoops from a standing position (But only while holding on)


Grandma and Katie

We love you so much Kaitlyn Marie; I hope you have wonderful Ten Month Birthday!

Love Always,

Mommy