Snaggle Tooth

You can tell why Dustin has started (affectionately) calling Southern by a new nickname - Snaggle Tooth. He has two lower teeth in the middle and one upper tooth on the side. You can also see in the photo where his other upper tooth is starting to come in.

We have a cat we call Dracky named because of his extra long incisors. They reminded us of Dracula. Now it looks like our son will have "fangs" for a little while too! ;) What a funny family we have!!

Stair Climbing

In a previous post, I have mentioned that Southern has gotten really good at climbing stairs. He spends a lot of (supervised) time on our stairway at home, and he just loves it. He will go up and down just for fun or will climb the stairs to get to me or to chase the kitty. We have a gate to put on the stairway for safety reasons, and we do put that gate on when we are upstairs so he doesn't accidentally fall down. I never really wanted to put one downstairs though because I think it's fine for him to learn how to climb up and down as long as we're behind him. He would have to learn one day anyway.

Dustin watches Southern for a while each night so that I can take care of a few chores in the bathroom (clean the litter box, pick up dirty clothes, pick out D's clothes for school the next day, etc) and take a shower. He and Southern usually play around downstairs, and there have been a few times that while they are playing, Southern will hear my hair dryer turn on. He knows this means I'm out of the shower. He will take off for the stairs, climb up the whole way, and crawl into our bedroom to say hi to me.

He has been climbing up for awhile now, and about two weeks ago, he learned how to safely go back down. In the past, he would try to crawl down head first. That didn't work out. He would get to a point where he didn't feel safe moving forward or back and would cry out for me to help him. Now he has figured out that he must go down feet first. Yay!

The video clip below shows Southern combining two of his favorite pass times - swiping things from the recycle bin to play with/chew on and climbing stairs :)

Southern at Landa Park

Southern got to play around at Landa Park for the first time today. He's been there before, but never to the playground. My friend and I met for a quick lunch of sandwiches at a picnic table before taking our boys out to play. We hit the swings first since they are Southern's favorite. While we were pushing them, I remembered my camera was in my purse... in the car. Bummer. Oh well. My friend is now a stay-at-home mom too. She just resigned from Wells Fargo last week. So we will have many more times to get pictures in the future. I think we'll try to make it a weekly event since it gives the boys (and us) fresh air and exercise.

We stayed on the swings for a good 20-25 minutes. Then we headed to the slides. Aidan (2 1/2 years old) had never been on any that big before, but he was a natural. We started him on the mid-sized ones. He even learned to climb up the rope ladder and rock wall. Southern rode on a hobby-horse type of toy while Aidan was playing on the bigger equipment. It was in the shape of a dolphin, and he held on tightly while I bounced it. Then we headed to the fire truck shaped playset. I put Southern in the cab part, and he loved standing up and turning the steering wheel. He then climbed up into the back part of the truck himself since it had stairs. He's good at climbing stairs since he practices so much at home.

After the boys tired of their running/crawling around, we strapped them back into their strollers to walk around to the lake. Tasia and I walked the whole length of it and then back. The boys got to meet a huge Dalmatian dog named Leelah. She was sweet. Also on the way back, we got to feed the ducks. Aidan threw the bread out to them, and the boys watched them gobble it all up. By that time both boys were getting ready for naps so we decided to call it a day. What fun!

Southern lately

A mini update of what Southern's been up to lately:

He gives Mommy kisses. Occasionally, he'll give Daddy a kiss or two. But he only kisses when the mood strikes him. His "kisses" are really just him putting his open mouth on your cheek, forehead, nose, etc. Very drooly. But it's the thought that counts. So sweet :) I guess it's another of those you'll-understand-when-it's-your-own-baby kind of things.

He loves to swing. He will stay out there for 20-30 minutes, just swinging and swinging (and Mommy pushing and pushing). And he still won't be ready to stop. He cries when it's time to go back inside.

He has started to rebel against me (or anyone) spoon feeding him. He would rather feed himself. We've tried diced bananas, cooked carrot strips, baked potatoes, and avocados. Out of those, he only enjoys the avocados. He also loves the little Gerber yougurt melts (The doc said those were one of the best inventions man has made! Wonderful nutrition for babies.) and the little Gerber crunchies - they look like little puffy cheetos but are made with whole grain corn and are supposed to be healthy for babies. We're still spoon feeding the rest of the babyfood, but some days are worse than others... and messier.

Southern is really getting around well behind his walker. He may just start wondering around without it soon.

He can wave and clap. Now he has added holding up his first finger when you tell him "one" to the hand-skills list. My dad has been counting out loud to five and showing him how to do it with his hand for awhile now. It has finally sunken in. Well, at least the first number. This will come in handy when March 31st rolls around and everyone starts asking him how old his is. Can you believe it's almost that time?

9 Months Old

We braved the freezing temperature yesterday for Southern's 9-month doctor's appointment. Can you believe the high temp here was 32 degrees? It was very cold, but we had Southern in his fleece warm-ups, and he wasn't bothered by the temperature at all.

They always weigh and measure Southern first at the doctor's office. He weighed 22 lbs, 3 oz (75th percentile) and was 30 inches long (93rd percentile). Then they lead us into the examining room where the nurse logged into the computer and asked us routine questions to update his charts - still breastfeeding, what Southern's eating, how he's moving around, etc.

Then the nurse leaves, and the doctor comes in. He looks over Southern's electronic chart and starts talking to us about Southern's progress and what to expect in the next few months until we see him again. The whole while Southern is watching the doctor and listening. He never has had a problem with Dr Statler examining him. So when the doctor gets out his light to look into Southern's eyes, he just looks back at him and sits peacefully on my lap. But then the doctor must look into his ears and mouth. Southern starts struggling and crying out. It's over quickly, but now the doctor must check his legs and diaper area. Southern starts really crying then. Dustin's apologizing but the doctor said that it was normal for someone his age, that his instincts were just taking over. He's not phased. He finishes up the exam, talks a little more, and then leaves so the nurse can come back.

She came in to administer the last round of Southern's H1N1 shots and to do a blood test (in which she needed to prick his finger and draw blood). She started off with the finger prick. He cried out as she pricked him, then really showed us the strength of his lungs as she was drawing the blood. The poor baby. He was just sobbing by the time she gave him the shot in his leg. As soon as she was through, I held him close and bounced a little. He stopped crying but wouldn't take his eyes off of the nurse to make sure she wasn't coming close to him again.

Since Southern had a hard time with the nurse, she gave him a little pirate rubber ducky toy as we were leaving. A reward for getting through his appointment. When we got into the car, Dustin decided that we should give Southern a reward too. His first trip to Cabela's! (I kind of suspected that we were going more for Dustin than Southern though...) haha

We had a blast at Cabela's. Southern got to see the fish (shown in the video below), the stuffed Africa exhibit with all the lions, zebras, elephant, etc. He got to play with toy stuffed bears, dogs, raccoons, fish, etc. And he got to explore around in the camping section on his hands and knees. All in all, it was a good trip. And most importantly, since Dustin had store credit, we didn't break our bank!

Welcoming 2010

Southern enjoyed his first New Year's celebrations. He was surrounded by family :)

We kicked off New Year's Eve with a trip to Yoakum. We visited a couple of Southern's great-grandparents and then made our way to my aunt Susan's house for a party with the Perez side of the family. We had good food and games. We also had a fire going outside where we roasted marshmallows. Southern got to sit by the fire all bundled up in blankets. He also got to meet some horses for the first time. Then we came inside to build a gingerbread house and watch the ball drop in New York while the guys played dominoes.

Our intention was to head back to our house in time to be home for midnight. But we were having so much fun in Yoakum that we didn't leave as soon as we had planned, so we welcomed in the new year while on the road. It worked out quite nicely though because there was very little traffic and we got to watch fireworks along the way from Seguin to our house. Southern was asleep in the car, but Dustin and I stole a quick New Year's kiss at midnight. We got home about 15 mins into the new year, and Southern got his kisses then :)

The next day, we had the Wyatt side of the family over. It was the Christmas party we had to postpone, and recipes were Christmas themed but I decided to go ahead and make them anyway. So I made pesto-stuffed tomatoes (Christmas colors - red and green), fiesta cheese spread in the shape of a Christmas tree (with avocado and bell pepper "ornaments" plus star on top), a sour cream dip with chives and bacon (again red and green), a baked bread "wreath" with cream cheese inside, and bread pudding. It was all very yummy if I do say so myself ;)

We talked, watched Southern play, took him outside to swing, played Pictionary, and ate. It was very fun, and Southern stayed awake for most of it. He was so excited to have everyone over that he didn't go down for his nap until after 5pm. We were especially excited to have Dustin's godparents over. They are so sweet, and I love how his godmother tells us stories about Dustin's mom. We don't see them often enough, so I'm glad they were able to make it. What a great start to 2010!