spring snow

Winter continues to linger here in St. Louis in weird little spurts. We've had 80 degree weather followed by snow storms, then back into the 70s and back and forth. This past weekend we got 4 inches of snow, much to our dismay as we are so ready for spring! But, to make the most of it we decided to take some pictures in the snow since we haven't gotten any snow pictures together yet this year. Ethan seemed to like the snow, but I'm still getting pretty antsy for spring!!!

food milestones

Over the last couple of weeks Ethan has really been making some strides in his eating. Always a fan of his pureed foods, Ethan has been a bit more slow to warm up on the "textured" foods. For a long time he would kind of cough/choke down the small rice puffs and so we've been waiting to see when he'd be a bit more comfortable.

And just of late he has really turned a corner and is understanding how to mash and chew textured foods. He love love loves banana, cheerios, yogurt melts, and cheese. I've been able to give him more textured purees as well and he has been doing great!

We also crossed another milestone earlier this week when Ethan decided to pick up a yogurt melt and eat it all by himself! I was so excited that I think I freaked him out and so he was 1 for 1 on trying to feed himself and then was like 1 for 20. But still, it was awesome to see - just one more step toward becoming a little man.

I took this pic right after he fed himself. Way to go Ethan!

If you're happy and you know it

Clap your hands! Ethan has been clap, clapping away lately and so we've been working on clapping to this song. It is so sweet to see how Ethan is growing and learning so many new things each and every day!

ball time

We had a low key Sunday today and so got some good family play time in with all three of us. This is one of Ethan's (and our) favorite things to do - rolling the ball back and forth, back and forth.

scrunch and smile

This is Ethan's latest cute thing. Loves to scrunch up his nose! The other day I even caught him just doing it by himself when he was playing with a book by himself. Every now and then he would scrunch and smile. Too cute!

happy st. patrick's day!

It was such a beautiful 80 degree that I thought - hey, let's go to the zoo! I thought it might be a little crazy since it was so nice out and St. Patrick's Day but I had no idea that the zoo would seriously be a zoo!!! (And I also didn't realize there was a PARADE happening there too!) It took us 45 minutes in bumper to bumper traffic to find a place to park and we were just lucky that someone happened to leave right as we drove by. We were supposed to meet my friend Melissa and her daughter Violet but after they sat for almost TWO hours in traffic they finally found a spot to turn around and get home!

So, Ethan and I headed in to the zoo and still had a fun time checking out a few exhibits.

We hope you have a Happy St. Patrick's Day!

video! (i think)

I have been trying to figure out a way to upload some videos on here of Ethan for a while but our video camera saves files in a format I'm still trying to figure out. So, with a little experimenting I uploaded a video to youtube that I had made of Ethan originally for Grandpa Todd and Grandma Bonnie (since we all have iPhones). I think it should work if you click on the above video to see Mr. Ethan saying "dada..."

sleeping giant

Okay so he is not exactly a giant but still, Ethan is definitely a "big" little man. Lately I have found myself peeking in to his room when he is sleeping at night or during nap times just to watch him sleep and pray for my precious man. I know it seems silly to say (considering he is only 9 months old) but he is growing up so fast! He is so peaceful and content when he sleeps with this sweet little snore from his constantly snotty nose. I swear I could watch him sleep for hours!

The other day I came in to his room during his nap to find him fast asleep like this:

I think my favorite thing about this picture, aside from the fact that he has squeezed himself in to the shortest part of the crib, is his foot on the wall. Too funny! And too precious!

the little man and dinner time

Look guys! I can totally feed myself!

Ethan has been wanting to help feed himself at meals lately. As we try to feed him, he gets a good grip on the spoon and tries to get it to his mouth as we try to make sure he doesn't stab his throat while also trying to minimize the mess. Tonight Ethan was particularly excited about the yummy spinach puree that ended up everywhere!
Pete and I both worked to get him (and the surrounding area) cleaned up. Ethan was still all smiles.
We sure love this little man!

9 months

Ethan is now a big 9 month old! Our little man is growing up so fast! We had Ethan's 9 month check up today and Ethan is weighing in at 23 lbs 12 oz (85th %) and is 31.5 inches (way off charts as usual). A few things about Ethan at 9 months:
-Still not crawling but very very active! He is reaching, rolling, and wants to get in to everything as much as he can without crawling. His pediatrician says that about 75% of babies are crawling by now but there are 25% who aren't and so we'll wait and see when he decides to make his move.
-Spit up is still happening too - another thing that some babies have already grown out of by now but Ethan is just one of those babies that is taking a bit longer to taper off.
-Ethan is getting a lot stronger at standing and sitting up. He loves to bang on things and bang things together. Splashing in the bath is also a favorite time of his day.
-He is still a great eater - nursing 4 times a day and eating breakfast, lunch and dinner solids - lots of them. We are just starting to add some finger foods.
-We are working on nap times - for the last couple of weeks he has been fighting his afternoon nap and has only been taking his morning nap. This makes for a "wired tired" baby by his bedtime and so we are working on how to get his afternoon nap back - putting him down earlier, later, just trying to see what might work!
-Finally he's got some more teeth coming in! From what I can tell he is cutting 3 top teeth right now - yikes!