Month Eleven

Liam,

Today you turned eleven months old! Only ONE more month and you'll be ONE year old!! Wow, where has the year gone!?! It still feels like we just brought you home from the hospital and were getting used to having you around. But now you're almost one. Maybe it's gone so fast because we can't wait for you to do something new and look forward to rushing home after work so we can see you. It's been so much fun watching you grow and experience new things.

You actually just started walking and took your first steps last week. You did great taking a bunch of steps in a row. Since then, you've taken a couple steps here and there but nothing like last week. That all changed tonight and this time you took more steps on your own without anyone coaxing you. You had the remote in your hand and just started walking across the living room with it. I yelled for daddy to look and then you started walking towards him. You walked back to me and once more back to him. You're getting more and more comfortable walking. Your balance is getting better and you can squat and stand back up really easily now. So I don't think it's going to be to much longer before you'll be walking all the time. Everyone tells me we're in for it but I'm looking forward to it. I can't wait for you to be walking....so I don't have to carry you all the time. You are also getting good at waving and blowing us kisses. When I drop you off at daycare I always kiss you goodbye and also blow you a kiss as I'm walking away. Now you'll blow kisses back to me and even wave bye to me. It puts a smile on my face and always makes my day. I love that it is the last thing I see in the morning, it gets me through the day until I pick you up again. Then, as soon as I pick you up from daycare you're already waving to the ladies saying bye and ready to go. You blow them kisses too! They love you and always comment how cute you are. You are so adorable and melt all of our hearts. You make all sorts of noises too. When we drive home, I use my finger to make noises with my lip. You mimic me and do the exact same thing. You're getting really good at it and will even do it on your own to keep yourself occupied. I've also taught you to click your tongue and you'll mimic me whenever I do it to you. You're great at it too!

You're eating really good and are pretty much on regular food now. Occasionally we give you baby food if we're on the go or if you don't like what we give you. Daycare does the same but you're mainly on their meal schedule. Everyday I ask them how you ate and they always say you ate great and liked everything they gave you. They did say you didn't like chef salad so they gave you some baby food on that day and you love mac n cheese but who doesn't like mac n cheese. You love pasta in general just like your momma! We started giving you yogurt again and you seem to like it and you haven't broken out into rash this go around. We gave you yogurt a few months ago and your face broke into a rash so that's why we held off for a little bit. We've given you cheese but are still holding off on giving you  milk. We'll probably start giving you milk after you've turned a year old which is what is recommended. So for now you're still on formula. You're a pro at your sippee cup and love apple and pear juice. So we just started integrating the big boy cup, spill proof of course. The only thing is, you love to the play the game of dropping you're cups on the floor and seeing who will pick them up for you. We pick them up one or two times and then after that it stays on the floor.

You're on a pretty good routine now. Lately every night has been bath time (because you're a very messy eater) so your evening routine is the three B's; bath time, bottle, and bed. We usually brush your teeth before bed because you have six teeth (four up top and two on the bottom) now and we need to keep those suckers clean. We normally put you down at 8pm and you go right to sleep. Then, you'll sleep through night until I wake you up at 6:45am. I usually turn on the lamp, rub your back, and open the curtains. You will do a big stretch and roll around and then sit up and reach for me to pick you up. Then I usually change your diaper and get you dressed. Next, I put you in your high chair and give you a morning snack so I can get my stuff together for the day. Then we're out of the house at 7am so I can get you dropped off at daycare by 7:20am so I can get to work by 7:30am. It's a great schedule and you do really well on it plus we all get lots of sleep.

Happy eleven month birthday sweet little boy!!

Love,
Momma

Glacier Park

On Saturday we went to Glacier Park and hiked the Highline Trail. We debated on what to do because we didn't want to do a hike that would be too much for you. But we decided on the Highline Trail because we heard it wasn't that bad of a hike and figured we could turn around at any time. So we parked at the "The Loop Trail" and took the shuttle up to Logan Pass. From there we could hike Highline Trail to Haystack (3 miles) and turn around or we could hike to Granite Chalet which was 7.6 miles. We decided to hike to Granite Chalet because (1) we wanted to see Granite Chalet and (2) we could just take a 4 mile downhill trail that would take us right to our car. So all in all we hiked 12 MILES and you did awesome!! I carried you in your backpack the first part of the hike and daddy carried you the second half of the trip. It was a beautiful day and from the sounds of it we lucked out on the weather. The day before the weather was horrible, it rained and even snowed a little bit. So we were really happy we got to hike on a beautiful and clear day. We didn't see much wildlife; we saw a few mountain goats as we were driving in and two sheep out on the trail.  Then we saw a bunch of chickmunks and squirrels. They were all over the trail and at Granite Chalet just hoping someone would feed them. We didn't take many breaks, just for photos here and there, so you took a couple naps in your backpack which is to be expected since we hiked for exactly 6 hours! We did take an hour break at Granite Chalet where we had lunch and relaxed a bit. The Granite Chalet used to be a working hotel with running water, bathrooms, and food services but now it's just a hostel where you pack it in and pack it out. They did have porta potties though...which I loved!  They also had a little shop where you could buy snacks and drinks. Daddy bought a big bottle of water and a coke which cost him $8.00...it was $5.00 just for the water! We let you walk around a bit since you had been in your backpack for a while and you got all sorts of attention. Everyone we passed on the trail loved your backpack and commented on how they wish they could ride like you. After the break at Granite Chalet, we hiked the 4 miles down to the car. It was a long 4 miles to the car or least it felt really long. We were all tired and ready to be done but we pushed on and got out in just little over an hour. We were so happy to see the car!! It was a great hike though and we had a blast! You did so well, we are still in disbelief on how well you did. It was an AWESOME DAY!

Just getting started

Mommy was a little unsure of this part as it was a little high

One of many beautiful views

Popping out to say hi

Look at all that static

Beautiful view where you can see McDonald Lake

Lunch Break at Granite Chalet

A little visitor at lunch

Lodge & cabins at Granite Chalet

Getting ready to start the 4 mile hike down ( You wouldn't think they were tired)

First Steps

You've taken a couple steps here and there but this is the first time you've taken quite a few steps on your own. The best part is we got it on video. So exciting!!

Photo Contest

We entered you in your first contest, a PHOTO CONTEST! It's Gerber's Generation Photo Search. There is an overall grand prize winner and then there is a winner in each milestone category. You are in the crawlers milestone category. The overall grand prize winner is decided by judges but the milestone winners are determined by votes from the public. So cross your fingers and hope for a lot of votes, I know we are!!

Who wouldn't want to vote for you...you are the CUTEST baby ever!

Fun at the Park

This weekend we found an awesome park for you to play at.  It has a huge splash pad with a bunch of sprayers and fountains, a jungle gym with swings and a slide, and nice big open field for frisbee and what not. It's a great place for parties which there happened to be one going on while we were there. But the best part is, is it's relatively close. It's only about 10-15 min from our house and is just as we're coming in to town. So well worth the drive! You had a lot of fun at the park. You loved playing in the water and running through the water, well.... us running you through the water. But you loved it all the same and even made a friend and wanted to follow her around. When you got cold we'd cuddle you up in your towel and hangout in the sun. You looked so cute all cuddled up in your towel too!

You had so much fun in the sun!!

Getting used to the water

Almost ready to do it on your own

Daddy giving you a lift through the water

Taking a break to warm up

Watch out for the big bird!

Ice Cream

A couple Sundays ago, we heard music playing down the street. It was getting louder and louder so we went out to the street to check it out. To our surprise, it was an ice cream truck driving through our neighborhood. We couldn't just let it go by without stopping it so we flagged it down and got ice cream for all us. We got you a fudge a bar and daddy and I got orange dream bars. You tried my dream bar first and didn't really care for it so I gave you your fudge bar. You've had a fudge bar before so you recognized it as soon as I gave it to you. You got all excited and tried to shove the whole thing in your mouth. Once you realized you couldn't do that, you just started sucking on it which in turn caused your mouth and face to get covered in chocolate. It wouldn't be any fun if you didn't make a mess and get covered in chocolate. That's the best part, right!?!

Here's pictures of us getting the ice cream but I of course didn't get a picture of your messy face after eating the ice cream. Darn it!! Maybe next time!

 

On the Move

New Trick

You've learned a new little trick...snorting like a pig! It is so dang cute!!

Where's the Elk?

Creamery Picnic

On Saturday, Jenn and I took you down to Stevensville to Creamery Picnic. We made sure to get there extra early so we could get you front row seats at the parade. Aunt Staci and cousins Dani, Sydney, and Cameron met us at the parade too. You had a lot of fun at the parade hanging out mostly with Dani, Sydney, and Cameron in the front row. You loved the horses that walked by and the lights & sirens the fire engines and ambulances made. You even got sprayed by one of the fire engines as they were going by. One float was handing out fudge bars and Dani shared hers with you. I looked over at you and you had a big chocolate mustache! I think you like chocolate a lot already!! After the parade we headed to the food court to get some lunch and then walked around downtown Stevensville going through a couple antique stores.

Hanging out with Dani before the parade

You spotted Smokey the bear and couldn't stop pointing at him

Having fun with Aunt Jenn

Gates of the Mountain

Last Sunday we floated the "Gates of the Mountain" near Helena. We went with Kate's family on their boat and also the Scott's. It was a lot of fun but ended up being a 8 hour float. You did awesome!! We got you a life jacket just for this trip and you didn't mind it at all. You wore it the whole time not crying once or trying to pull it off. You just hung out in the back of the boat with daddy and I & Heather and Mike. Halfway through the trip I did get you to fall asleep in my arms so we put you under the steering wheel to nap for a couple hours. We thought you'd be safe but we were wrong. Another boat in our party came up to us and started a water fight. They were going for Robby and daddy and didn't realize you were asleep on the floor. You got dowsed with water and woke up but you just laid there and looked around. We got you up and you just played in the back of the boat for the rest of the float. We had a lot fun taking lots of breaks to swim and I even tubed with all the girls. We are so lucky to have an easy going baby like you so we can do all these fun things!

Month Ten

Liam,

You are now ten months old and actually you turned ten months last week but I haven't had a chance to post it. So sorry this is a little late. It's been a very busy month and a month full of firsts. You've had your first real haircut, your first camping trip, first hiking trip, and even your first steps. So it's been a very fun and exciting month!

Two weeks ago you took your first steps! You were playing in the kitchen with daddy and got so excited and didn't realize you were standing with no help and took three steps forward. I was busy getting your bath ready and daddy yelled for me to watch because you were starting to take another couple steps forward. I missed it though because by the time I looked up you had already fallen. I've been trying to get it on video but we can't get you to take more steps on your own. It will be soon enough though but I'm still bummed I missed your very first steps. In the meantime, you're cruising around the house like crazy with your walker and even go up and down the sidewalk with it.

We are in the process of transitioning you off of baby food and eating more regular food. You didn't like the chunky baby food so we thought we'd just skip that and go straight to "grown-up" food. We even put you on the daycare food schedule where you get breakfast, morning snack, lunch, and an afternoon snack. Breakfast is usually oatmeal with fruit, cereal with fruit, toast, etc. For lunch you've had spaghetti and meatballs, turkey and potatoes & gravy, chili, chicken and rice, etc. The ladies at daycare said you've been doing really well and eating really good. There have been a couple times where you don't eat what's on the menu so they give you some baby food on top of it. Usually it's breakfast where you don't eat very much cereal. But you're doing great and always try everything at least once. We still give you formula but normally in the morning before a nap or in the evening before bed. We've also started to give you juice and have been working on the sippy cup. You're getting better  grabbing it yourself but don't lift the cup high enough to get the juice out. When I lift it up to show you how you let go and want me to do it for you. So I'll do it a couple times and then walk away so you'll try and lift it yourself. You've figured it a couple times so you definitely know what you need to do to get the juice. So far we've just given you apple juice but also have some pear juice for you to try. You've just started to hold  the bottle on your own too. It's nice when we're in the car and I can give you a bottle and you'll drink it yourself. You make more of a mess because you turn the bottle upside down and get it all over you, the seat, and the door. But oh well, that's what you're supposed to do, right?

You're sleeping through the night pretty consistently now. We usually put you to bed around 8pm and you don't wake up until 6:30/7am. I've even had to wake you up a couple time so we can leave on time. We have a pretty good routine now where we'll give you a bath, brush your teeth, and then put you to bed. We try to read you a story but you're more into grabbing the book and trying to rip it. So we're skipping the story time before bed for now and will try to do it when you get a little older. You love bath time still and can't wait to get in the water as soon as I start the bath. It's so cute! Just last night all of a sudden I see a naked baby crawling as fast as he can to the bath. Wish I would've gotten a picture of it! I do have this one though...you just waiting to get into the tub.

Happy ten month birthday sweet little boy!! You are an amazing little boy and are so much fun. We look forward to more firsts and other exciting milestones.

Love,

Momma