Tuesday, April 21, 2009

9 Months Old!

I know, I know...Patrick turned 9 months old a few weeks ago. But, we thought we'd wait till his 9 month doctor visit had passed before posting anything about it so we could post his "stats."

We took Patrick in this afternoon for his checkup and he did great. He weighs 20 lbs 7 oz, he's 28.25 inches tall and his head has grown a full inch since last visit! The pediatrician said he looks good and his development is impressive. We also heard two nurses talking in the hall and one of them said to the other "you have to go into room 4. There is seriously the cutest little 9 month old I've ever seen. He's just precious." Of course, that made Angie and I very happy and proud, since we kind of agree with her. It probably helped that one of the new "tricks" I've taught Patrick recently is bribery. The kid can pass out tens like nobody's business.

Speaking of new fun things Patrick's doing, he's got several new skills up his sleeve. He's learned how to sign for "more" when he'd like more food. He is also clapping a lot now (which started as just sloppy signing for "more" but became clapping). This morning he learned how to climb the stairs, too. And for somebody that just picked it up today, he's already pretty darn quick when he wants to be. He needs some motivation so I put his new favorite food, puffs, a few steps above to coax him into action. And, he can wave and say "bye bye" now too (on purpose).

I put together a quick, low quality video of The Big Three skills mentioned above. Here it is...

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Easter Sunday

We hope everyone had a happy Easter! Sunday was a beautiful day despite the storms that hit Georgia over the weekend. The weather let up long enough to have a perfectly sunny Easter Sunday (then went back to torrential downpour and wind the next day).

We had our families over to our house in the afternoon for an early Easter dinner. All the food people brought was delicious. It was a very memorable day; we will never forget it!

Patrick got all dressed up for church in the morning and got to wear a tie for the first time! After mass, we went outside to the fountain to get some family pictures. Patrick LOVED standing by the fountain and yelling at the water.





And here is a slideshow with more pictures from the day (the gallery can be viewed here):

Friday, April 10, 2009

A Walk Around The Yard

Patrick loves being outside. Something so simple as rocking on our porch swing can entertain him for an hour or more. He squeals at the trees blowing in the breeze, the children playing in the cul-de-sac and, of course, at Roxy chasing birds around the yard. A walk in the backyard turns into a new world of discovery for him. He babbles the whole time; talking to the leaf he found in the grass or telling me how he feels about the fact that I won't let him pick up a dead worm on the driveway.




While I was taking pictures around the yard I realized two things:

1. I haven't taken many pictures of anything other than my son in the last nine months - it's about time!
2. It's a bit more challenging taking pictures with a squirmy little boy in my arms - good thing plants are so still!




Patrick's sleep habits have been changing lately. He has been transitioning to one nap in the middle of the day instead of two smaller naps. His bedtime is also getting earlier, which has been great. Several nights this week he's slept 10 1/2 hours straight-AMAZING! The other day I decided to put Schwarz the bear in Patrick's crib with him while he napped. I am not sure why we haven't done that before. About an hour and a half into the nap I heard him waking up and talking to Schwarz. I decided to wait a bit before I went in to get him. Ten minutes of talking and squealing later, his room was silent. I went in and he was sacked out on top of Schwarz. Unfortunately I didn't get a picture of it but I did get one later of him next to the bear. It was a marathon three hour nap! I know his schedule will continue to change but for now we are loving it. He really is the easiest baby ever!