10 Months of Baby Boy Hunk

Look at this cutie. I love him dearly.

Yet another month has come and gone. Another month where I can't shake myself from the denial.

My sweet baby is gradually turning into a toddler. Of course, he's not quite toddling yet, but just give him a little time and he will be.

At his 9 month check up he was 19#12oz according to the doc's scale. But ours says 21 pounds. The 19# 12oz is only 26 percentile--not sure what 21 pounds is though.

He's 29 inches which is the 60th percentile. Could long and lean be in his future? We won't be shocked if so!

His head was around the 85 percentile--but it doesn't look that big to me.

He's wearing 12 month clothing or 12-18 month clothing. He's just a growing boy.

It's all the food he's been eating that's making him grow. He still loves the same foods, but I think we've discovered he's only allergic to eggs thus far.

It seemed that for a while he was reacting to so many foods, but when I thought about it a while I realized that every time he broke out into hives he was around egg.

Much of the time I didn't think there was any cross-contamination, but it turns out I think there was.

So now he gets GF pancakes made with egg replacer instead of eggs. He also still gets about 20 oz of breast milk every day. I pump about 25, so this has allowed for a little bit of a stash to building.

Between 9-10 months he started going from lying to sitting. We would walk in to his room after nap time to get him from his crib, and there he'd be sitting up waiting for us. It took a few days, but we finally saw him do it during play time.

And just this week he has started really scooting everywhere. He's very mobile now. It always amazes me how fast these little ones catch on to something. Last week he was hardly scoot/crawling, and now he goes lickety split.

His little scoot/crawls is just precious. He looks like he's about to start crawling--like he gets down on all fours--but then he just scoots himself with his little left leg out. It's really cute.

Speaking of cute...

He loves his tongue. He's constantly playing with it with his hands, and he's always sticking it out and/or munching on it. I have about 20 more pictures like this.

He still says Dada and Mmmmm. He still loves Dada very much and prefers him over anybody.

But he and I still have a very good night time routine down. I still rock him and lay him down most nights. I love and cherish that time with him. I just rub his little back and dream of the things he'll see in his lifetime. What he'll be like as a teenager. What career path he'll choose. What sport he'll play (because in this family he's bound to play something). The possibilities seem endless.

But then I'm back to reality as I lay him down on his belly in his crib. I rub his back a little more so he will stay asleep. I kiss my hand and touch his soft hair. And then I turn on his monitor and run to tuck my other babies in. While it can be time consuming, I love tucking in the kids.

Now that he's mobile, Hunk doesn't really like to sit and play with his toys.

He has much more fun going around the house getting into things he shouldn't.

And of course that means putting things into his mouth.

Do you see him flipping me the bird here? He is doing this in tons of pictures. This chair has little holes in it, and he managed to stick his finger in one of them. I didn't even notice it while I was taking pictures. I was too busy swatting mosquitoes off the kids and me.

And like last month, I'm having a hard time deciding which pictures I like best. So they are all (well not all  of them entirely) being displayed.

We love our little Bo-Bo so much!

 

We had three sisters out with you to help me take these pictures. But guess what...

Daddy....

was...

the...

only...

one...

who got you to smile. Like really smile. Big smiles!

This is one of my favorite pictures of you. Such a classic look of yours.

I love you little man. You are such a treasure. Two more months for me to remain in denial!!!

Dance Recital 2013

The girls had their dance recital the first of June. Bug is up front--the first one in the pink and black.
Here they are practicing their grand finale.

And here is my Brownie girl dressed in a black number with the Celtic sash around her.

They worked so hard this year. After completing CBII and Elementary 1/2, they are ready to move up next year.

All but one sister was able to come. Peach had a slew of birthday parties to attend.

This is the tap outfit. They danced to Celtic/Irish music.

For ballet, Brownie added a green tutu underneath the black skirt.

Blurry---but here she is up on stage at rehearsals.

Here's my sweet Bug getting ready in the dressing room. They both think makeup is the best part about any performance.

All dolled up for tap!

At the end of the recital, the girls received a cute little bear and flowers from my mom. This was Brownie's Jazz costume--one of the cutest dances to date. She danced to Tiki Room.

And the sweet Bug with her presents.

This also happened to fall on my mom's birthday. So it was extra special.

Showing off their goods.

A very sad attempt at a family picture. Hey, at least we tried.

Insta-cuteness.

Here they are at dress rehearsal posing for their official picture.

Just more cuteness.

Thank you for another awesome performance, girls. You are both beautiful dancers. I hope you continue to do what makes your heart happy. You've certainly made our hearts happy!

Happy 9 Months to Hunk!

My little boy is nearly a year old. He's nine months old today and as handsome as ever. He's such a blessing to have in our family, and I honestly can't begin to imagine how we could have ever done without our sweet boy.

So in addition to eggs, Mr. Hunk is allergic to zuchinni and I'm assuming oats. He ate some pancake the other day that had oats in them, and he immediately broke out. He's had a different pancake recipe before that didn't have oats in it, and he didn't break out then. So that's why I assume it's the oats.

But we finally found something that this boy can eat--and boy does he love to eat blackberries! They were very tasty to the big kids, too! But this cutie took blackberry love to a whole new level--and he didn't break out!

 Here are some fun facts about our Bo-Bo (that's what he's often called around here thanks to a certain little sister). 

He is 20.5 pounds last I weighed him. We haven't been to the doctor for his check up yet, so I'll have to get official stats later. 

He is is 12 month clothing. Some of them are getting a little snug though, while others remain perfectly roomy. He's also in a size 4 diaper. 

 I'm still able to pump all of his milk needs, so his eczema has been doing so much better. However, I noticed his legs and arms were starting to get bad again, now that we're adding in more solids.

 And speaking of solids... this boy loves to eat his puffs, rice crackers, broccoli, potato, sweet potato, chicken, apple, grapes, and of course blackberries!

I may have given him a bite of strawberry pie tonight!

 He's just now starting to be more active on the floor. I really don't think he's behind naturally. I think he's behind because of our lifestyle (read: always on the go), and the fact that he just likes to be held. When you have 7 people who are willing to hold you pretty much anytime of the day, you will probably be delayed in floor exercises.

 Just this week he has been going from sitting down into the crawling position. He tries so hard to crawl once he gets there, but he usually ends up just scooting backwards or to the either side. Daddy even caught him scooting on his hiney. As long as he's getting where he wants to be, I'm not too worried.

 (I realize several of these pictures look quite similar, but I promise you they're not the same picture. I just couldn't decide which ones to add--so I added all my favs).

 My little guy is sleeping pretty well. Instead of going down for a nap around 9, he is now stretching his "wake time" until 11 or 11:30. Then he naps until mid-afternoon. This makes lunch time a ton easier, but I also never really get a true break now. That's okay, I know soon enough I'll be walking around this house wondering what I should do without 12 little feet running after me.

After he wakes up from his nap around 2 or 3, he will stay up until bed time. And because of all the games we've been at this summer, his "bed time" varies. But the routine doesn't vary.

 On a good night, he and I will get his pj's on, drink his ba-ba, and start to rock in his rocking chair around 8pm. Once I rock him, he's out like a light. This makes me melt because other routines have been tried with other people (daddy), and it just doesn't work. It's like he needs me to snuggle up to in order to fall asleep. I love it!

 During the day he is constantly entertained by five cute girls who all swoon over his charming personality and good looks. Lucky boy!

He loves to jump when he's being held. It seems like he needs to be constantly moving--just like when he was in utero! So one of his favorite toys is still his jumper. He also likes just about any toy that he can interact with--even if all that means is putting it in his mouth. Yes, friends, everything must be inspected with his mouth. At least he's not mobile yet so I can really control his immediate environment for things he will be "inspecting."

I love you little Bo-Bo. You brighten my days and make me all gushy. I love that you complete our family in the most perfect way. Thank you for all your goofy smiles, precious laughs, and slobbery, wet kisses. I couldn't go a day without them!