Macy Girl, 9 Months

Well it turns out I want Macy to stay 9 months old forever. She is so FUN! Interactive, happy, persistent, and gaining independence by the day. She's babbling mamamamamama and dadadadadadda constantly, but she doesn't talk back to me. Love her!

Macy's 9 mo stats:

17lb 11.8oz (25-50%)

27.5 inches (50%)

Head 17 inches (25-50%)

My friend at church snapped this shot of her beautiful baby blues... and reddish hair?!

Macy has killer abs. She's teaching me how to plank.

'Mommy can I hold Macy?" My how this picture has changed!

Everything goes in the mouth.

Starting to eat some finger foods with her TWO (!!!!) teeth. Both of her siblings only had one tooth at 12 months, so she's very advanced.

Making it up 1-2 stairs.

My little self soother. This is how she goes to sleep.

Right thumb in her mouth and left hand on her ear.

She's been a little bit sick this week, so we have seen this a lot. Sweet little Macy.

But we've also seen this grin a lot! Girlfriend loves her baths!

I think I can, I think I can. She CAN pull herself up on the couch and a few toys. And just yesterday she started cruising along the couch to get to me....

She's looking to see if I am going to catch her getting to the dog bowl.

The biggest change this month is actually in her communication. She is making noises to draw attention to things that she sees, sounds that she hears, etc. They are non specific, Ah's, but she definitely wants us to know she is on to something!

New foods: Mango, Chicken, Turkey, Wheat (gotta love the gluten!), plain whole milk yogurt (ie sour cream), peppers, broccoli, corn, & spinach. Macy loves to eat baby food and she is working so hard to perfect her pincer grasp so that she can get cheerios in to her mouth. I bet in the next month, she'll be eating a lot of what we have for meals. PB & eggs up next.

I know that I can freeze time, but I sure am enjoying this sweet little sugar, Macy. I'm trying to savor every day!

Owen at 5 years (!)

I love 5 year olds. I do. Owen is independent (and gaining more by the day), curious, cuddly, compliant, and still wants us to be his best friend! I know some of these qualities will wax and ultimately wane as he gets older, and sometimes I just want to bottle him up at 5.

Here's our (not so) little O:

Weight: 40.6 lbs

Height: 44.5 inches (3ft 7inches)

Favorite Color: Red

Favorite Toy: Hot Wheels

Favorite Food: Mac N Cheese

Favorite Activity: Running

Favorite Number: 100

Favorite Lovey: Ralphie

When I Grow Up I want to be a Scientist.

Owen, the Mayor, continues to be a social butterfly. He knows the name of everyone at school. He also knows their siblings names' & ages. He watches outside for neighbors to be out, and often he'll go greet them. He's definitely an extrovert, but he's also very self entertaining and can sit and focus on quiet activities (yay!). Hot wheels & Legos are still very cool. He's got a knack for coloring (in the lines of course- future engineer), and he's working on copying letters and writing some words besides his name. He will be receiving sight words for Valentine's Day. (Aren't I the coolest mom ever?)

Lately he gets himself dressed without too much argument (unless it's church clothes day), and he can fix himself breakfast. He is a professional procrastinator when it comes to bed time, but not every kid can be perfect, right? This week O will start soccer, which I hope will be wonderful. The kid loves to run and run fast!

We kicked off his birthday with a donut cake! Certainly on the 27th of December, you need to start the day out with sugar!

And he chose to spend the day doing legos with daddy....

again, we know these days are fleeting. #nottakingitforgranted.

After the girls slept we went to Chuck E Cheese and then to dinner with Mima & Papa Wade and the Nieders clan!

Lego CITY!

In our house, we have a rule that you have to be 5 in order to have gum. This is mostly because I want to make sure the kids are old enough to spit it in the trash, and not the carpet, when they are done. I found this yard of bubblegum and just couldn't help but buy it!

Birthday Buds!

How many out takes are necessary to get a picture of Mima & 3 grandkids?

A week later we had a blast of a birthday party with Auntie Alaska doing some face painting. Wow. What.a.hit! I had offered (and booked) to let Owen have his party at an indoor soccer field. He just wanted to have it at home. How could I say no?

He did invite some friends- the Francis & Marske boys.

Crazy kid. He wanted a Star Wars cake, even though he has never seen any of the movies and doesn't know the characters ;) Marketing works, I suppose. He knows it's cool because the stores are flooded with Star Wars 'stuff'.

Cool Cat.

This trio just felt like they were on top of the world all painted up!

They also had already consumed cake, ice cream, cotton candy, and all of the holiday m&ms I was trying to get out of the house!

Owen, we are so proud of you. You're a wonderful son & brother. Your sisters are lucky to have you! Can't watch year 5 and the start of kindergarten unfold!