9 Months Old

This baby is such a joy! My sister says that he's what a 4th child should be--content, laid back and happy, happy, happy. He really is pretty independent when he's on the floor. I just have to make sure he doesn't eat garbage/small toys! That's not as easy as it sounds in this house. :)

Nathan loves turning lights on/off, loves to eat baby puffs and yogurt melts, loves his siblings (even though he is getting to an age where he's scared of noises and they can be loud!!). He seems to have an affection for a mom at school--she stands with me while we wait for our 1st graders and he always smiles and leans toward her until she holds him. But, really, he's the 1st child I've had that is friendly to strangers. A little bit of my Grandma Verda in him, I think. :)

Nathan is getting more ornery. He looks at me before he makes a beeline to the open bathroom door (why won't anyone shut the door??) or before shoving paper in his mouth. He seems to know that those things are forbidden. He also loves to shake his head "no".

He's just a great addition to our family and we all love him so much!!

Yes, I let Samuel eat Doritos in his pajamas. He's on the couch because Nathan was bothering him. I snapped this picture because I was hoping Nathan would stand up. He pulled himself up to stand yesterday and I wanted to get a picture but my scream of delight must have scared him because he fell. :)

Brian needed to lower the crib and I was helping the twins with homework so he took Nathan upstairs with him. When I came up to check on him, this is where he was! Ha! Brian thought it was a good solution because the boys share a room and it's a disaster--complete w/little pieces that are too dangerous for a baby!

Fast

It really amazes me how fast babies change and grow. Just recently, Nathan was crawling toward the baby gate and stopped to look back at me with this ornery smile, like he knew it was a "no". I suddenly realized how big/old he is getting! Where does the time go? He is still such a delightful baby. At MOPS this last week, they called him "the happy one". He's very laid back and independent, which is great. However, I do see him starting to fear strangers more and care about where Mom/Dad is.

Just about every day (multiple times), Nathan goes to the shelf and pulls off the word puzzles from the bottom shelf, which always spill everywhere. He then goes for the letter tiles from the 2nd shelf. He always flinches because it's a hard box and it hits him but it's worth it, I guess. It just occurred to me that maybe I should find a different storage solution for those things?! :)

The 2 above pictures show his new skill--pulling up to his knees. He has laid on the floor and pushed up to his hands and feet (instead of knees) but couldn't move from there. He has also managed to get his hands to the next step and pull up farther but he can't maintain that yet. And we are in no rush for those activities!! :)

Fall & New Toys

This weekend, Brian and I cleaned our storage area, which was a huge relief to me. I also dug out our fall and Halloween decorations. The kids sat and made Halloween decoration to tape up everywhere. There were a few bigger toys downstairs that I thought Nathan might be big enough for now so we brought those up. The other kids have played with them nonstop but I think Nathan is enjoying them when he gets a turn! :)

Enjoying the house--we got this house for the twins on their 1st birthday and all the kids have loved it!!

The 3 bigger kids were loving the fall/Halloween books that I got back out.

I took this picture because he looked so cute but I was trying to capture his 1st stair attempt. He had his hands on the 2nd step and was almost pulled up all the way. I couldn't believe it!! My phone camera wouldn't work and I wasn't fast enough w/our other camera. Still, he looks cute! :)

The Desk

I was at Stuff, Etc. the other day and they had 2 school desks for $15/each. My Mom and Grandma went to check it out a week later and there was only 1 desk left so they bought it! The kids are so excited!! All 3 that are old enough are wanting their time at the desk. Right now, it's out in the open but we'll see where it ends up for good.

Apple Orchard

We met some other MOPS moms at an apple orchard today. The "apple guy", as Samuel called him, did a great job giving us a tour but it was probably meant for older kids. Samuel just wanted to see and touch everything. He ate 2 apples and then we got a coloring book and bag of apples to share with Hunter and Lily. It was a fun outing!

Nathan was asleep by the time we got home. He's having a hard time keeping up with all of this running around!

Today was supposed to be MAJOR cleaning day because I just had a week where I felt like I couldn't accomplish everything. It didn't start great, though, because the baby was up super early and I ended up just getting up for the day. Then, he went back to sleep so I was just up by myself! So, I was tired for most the day and lacked motivation.

However, the family (minus Nathan) cleaned the porch together. It was a lot of fun. The kids killed spiders, washed windows and wiped down woodwork/walls. They had so much fun--it was hilarious. Apparently, that job is so much better than picking up your room.

The pictures show: 1)Nathan sitting in the outside swing for the 1st time. I am not sure how well Samuel liked that. 2)Also, Samuel with his tongue out, concentrating on cutting. Kumon books are the best things ever--we love them. Here he's adding whiskers to a cat. 3)The reason Nathan can not fully crawl. Not really, but all the kids love to grab on to him. 4)Nathan is trying to sit himself up now! He can kind of back up to a tripod position. So cute! Also, this is Nathan in 18-month pajamas!! They are made to fit tightly but, wow. 5) Hunter and Lily playing Guess Who?, which is always hilarious. I just had to take a picture of them SITTING while playing something. :)

Photo collage created with Smilebox

Back to MOPS

This picture sums up Samuel's feelings regarding MOPS. :) No, he was not thrilled to go. It's a new group for us both. He probably doesn't remember ever going to MOPS because we didn't go at all last year. So, I decided I wanted to do a daytime activity w/him and a new group was starting so why not?

I forgot how exhausting it is. Samuel did not cry but he was on the floor, curled into a ball when I left him. When I picked him up, she told me that he never did cry but she considered buzzing me because he hid his face almost the whole time. He did finally perk up when they read stories and he was watching the Veggie Tales movie when I came to get him. He was perky at first, saying he'd go back and had fun eating snack. By the time we got home, though, he told me that he's never going back because it's too hot. :)

Nathan was tough on me because I've never put him in a nursery. I had a hard time keeping him up and then when I got there, I laid him on the floor and he gave me the pouty lip. :( I worried about him! But they told me he had a great disposition (he does!) and he never blinked because he was trying to take it all in. :)

So, we will probably try to go back. I think.

The Army Crawl

Nothing is safe on the floor now because he is fast and can go where he wants!! :)