Man Cub: 9 Months

Darling Boy,

How are you already 9 months old?!  You've been on the 'outside' half your life now.  Crazy fast time, slow down!  We fall more and more in love with you each day.  Everyone we meet comments on how happy you are, and it's true!  Mommy and Daddy have such a great time with you.  Your laughter, hugs, cuddles, dancing, singing, and playing entertain us endlessly.  You love being around people, and you cause your rather quiet mom to pull out of her comfort zone so that you can interact with the strangers around you.  It's a wonderful thing for both of us.  Thank you for challenging me to be more like Jesus every day.  Our prayer is that you continue to love on people as you respond to God's purpose for your life.  He made you because He loves you!

Sleeping:

This entire month has been wonderful for sleep!  Here's to many more great months of sleep!  Some nights you still wake up between 3-5 to nurse, but more and more often you are sleeping through the night.  Go, baby, go!  You don't fight going to sleep for the night or for naps.  You have so many buddies in your crib, so you curl up on your belly in the top right corner with one of them, pop your first two fingers of you right hand in your mouth, and drift right off to dreamland.  Every once in a while, I'll rock you to sleep just because I can, and I can't ever get enough of your precious cuddles.

Eating:

Eating is such a fun occasion! You still nurse/take a pumped bottle when you wake up, mid-morning, mid-afternoon, and before bed.  The bottles are growing smaller though because you're eating so much 'big boy' food!  Those mid-day nursing sessions are shorter for the same reason.  I'm sad you're already starting to wean yourself.  You are nowhere near done, and let us know it, but you certainly need me less.  You've tried so many foods, and like most of them.  With still only 2 bottom teeth, there are just some things that will have to wait, but if we think you can manage it, we let you try it.  You often suck your fingers between bites, and I think you're using your first two fingers to help break up the food.  Smart boy!  You will still eat purees, but you much prefer the real deal.  I'm severely limiting your gluten intake for the time being.  Dairy is still causing you some issues, so we're slowly adding in organic baby yogurt and organic cheese to see if we can help you adjust without eczema flaring up.  Breakfast alternates between a gluten-free blueberry waffle, mango, banana, pears or unsweetened applesauce with some diced blueberries for breakfast.  Lunch rotates between avocado with a slice of organic turkey, sweet potato, or some blend of fruit and veggies puree I've made you.  Dinner is often grilled chicken, baked fish, sauteed zucchini/squash and mushrooms, spaghetti, organic mac 'n cheese, black beans, and/or any veggie puree I've made for you.  You've also had homemade hamburgers. In the purees, I'll put some combo of pears, green beans, carrots, asparagus, blueberries, plums, and black beans. Before bed you still have some oatmeal before you nurse.  You still love Happy Baby puffs, gluten free animal crackers, and Plumb Organic teething biscuits for snacks.  You saw your GI this week for the first time in 3 months.  She said to feed you anything you want, within reason.  She definitely wants more protein/meats in your diet, so we'll be working on those.  The great news is that you no longer have to see her because you are such a fabulous eater and have gone from the .2 percentile to the 17th percentile in weight....all without formula.  Take that, naysayers!

Tricks/Activities/Accomplishments

You can balance on your feet, but once you realize you're standing unassisted, you panic, bend your knees, and sit down.  So silly!  I'm not placing bets, but it won't surprise me if you start taking some steps this month.  You love to push your toys around the house.  Today, you spent an hour running with your push car up and down the driveway.  You like taking the bar stools and kitchen chairs and pushing them around the house.  You and Aggie Belle officially play ball together now.  You can make baskets on your basketball hoop at Mama and Geno's and the one in your bathtub.  It's so dang cute.  You can push doors closed and open and close cabinets.  You think it's awesome when we let you close the dishwasher.   You will also pull all the clothes out of the dryer for me and close the door on it.  Thank you for such wonderful help!

Likes:

Riding in the Pognae, your stroller, eating, playing in the bath, buggy rides at church, crawling, pushing your toys, petting the dogs, your family, singing, talking, playing under Chikondi's belly (your huge, stuffed giraffe), being outside, horses, giraffes, climbing on us, books, sucking your first two fingers of your right hand when you're hungry or sleepy.

Dislikes:
Having your face cleaned/nose wiped, when you're hungry or sleepy, when Aggie Belle barks at the door bell.

Nine Month Stats:

Weight: 17 pounds, 5 ounces

Length:  27.5 inches

Eating: nursing/breast milk bottles 6:40 am, 10:00 am, 2:00 pm, and, 7:30 pm; breakfast around 8:00, lunch around noon, and dinner around 5:30, oatmeal about 7:00 pm.

Bedtime: between 7:30-7:45

Awake: sometime between 5:45-6:15

Naps: usually 9:30 and 2:00. 

Diapers: Size 3
Clothes: size 6-9, 6-12, and 9 months onesies; size 6 months pants/shorts; 6-9, 6-12, and 9 months rompers.  You're just sleeping in onesies now for pjs because it's so warm.

Would You Rather

Anybody love a great sleepover full of junk food, chick flicks, DIY pedis, and silly games? Please tell me I'm not the only one! When Elise wanted play a round of Would You Rather..? for her spotlight post this month, I was super excited!  I felt like a teeny bopper and seriously missed high school/college sleepovers.  Go check out my answers over at Cheers, Y'all!  Then come post a comment here and let me know your own answers.  I'd love to see them!

Go on a relaxing Caribbean vacay OR backpack across Europe?

Travel back in time OR travel to the future?

Have a rewind button on your life OR a pause button?

Be able to talk with animals OR be able to speak every foreign language?

Have mermaids be real OR unicorns?

Eat a doughnut OR a cupcake?

Wear only 80s clothes OR wear only 80s hairstyles?

And for your daily cuteness quota:

Happy Birthday, Laura!

Laura's birthday was a week ago, but the Pearce side of the family couldn't all get together until Saturday.  How all 8 of us can live so close but not see each other more is nuts.  We're too busy, y'all.

Regardless, we had a great time celebrating Laura.  Er, maybe it was more like playing with the baby and Laura got to blow out candles.  I hate to say it, but I think our kid is stealing the spotlight.  Oops.  But he's so fun! He loves when all 3 dogs are together, when his family is together, and putting on a show for us.

And does anybody else have mommy brain moments where something can be right in front of your face, like a birthday card on the kitchen counter, and yet you still forget all about it?  Yep, got a good laugh out of that one.  Lucky for Laura, her present was in the diaper bag, so at least she got that. 

Laura, we adore you, and we're so glad you had a birthday so we had a reason to be together again!

T-Shirts for Zambia

Since we're taking a team to Zambia this year, we decided to have t-shirts made to help us (but especially the teens) raise funds for the trip.  The fabulous Kerry at LiviJoy designed these for us.  Part of our (and ACE's) mission is to help all of God's children see that we are created in His image for works that only we can do.  He made us for a specific purpose.  Hence the Ephesians 2:10 reference.  New around here?  Let me know, and I'll gladly share about our work in Zambia.  I'd love for you to buy a shirt to help us out, but mostly so you can wear a super soft shirt and remember to pray for us as we prepare, as we go, and as we come home to share all that God is doing in Zambia.

Bluebonnets 2015

A requirement for all Texas babies is an annual bluebonnet photo shoot.  A rainy, cool winter caused a late bloom in our part of Texas, but boy howdy are the flowers in full force now!  Unfortunately, we're still fighting rainy weekends. 

On Friday after church, we took our sweet Texas baby for a romp in a nearby bluebonnet field.  Of course the heavens let loose as soon as we arrived.  The rain finally just turned to spit, so we had about 5 minutes to snap photos before the spit turned back into a down pour.  These aren't the best pictures.  The novelty of flowers, the mist, and other children were quite the list of distractions for Man Cub.  He thought it was much more fun to pull off the bluebonnet petals and eat them than to smile for us.  Silly boy!  But, if the weather doesn't cooperate before the flowers are overgrown, I'm happy with what we have. 

These pictures are extra special because the rocking chair was made by my granddad's grandfather.  Man Cub is the 4th generation to use this little chair.  I love it! 

Date Night!

A week ago, I got an email from our local Melting Pot that they were having a fundraiser for the Houston Zoo.  We're a bit obsessed with the Houston Zoo and Melting Pot, and we've been mentioning for weeks that we need a date night.  I saw it as the perfect opportunity for us to go out.  My brother and sister-in-law had mentioned a few times that they wanted to babysit Man Cub.  Their house happens to be very close to Melting Pot, so once they said they were free Saturday night, I called to make a reservation.  Yes!

Sweet Layla was so excited to have an evening with her cousin...until he crawled into her bed.  Oops.  Man Cub is still learning boundaries.  Anyway, they had a fabulous evening, and we've got to have them babysit more often!

When we were taken back to our table at Melting Pot, I realized Isaac had called after I made the reservation to add some oomph to our date.  The table was covered in rose petals, and a rose was waiting as well.  Nicely done, Babe!  We got free drinks for turning in outdated electronics, and the food was amazing, as always.  We were probably way too goofy, but that's what you get when there's a baby at home.  Silly people just giddy to get through a meal without being covered in baby food.  Ha. 

Thanks, Sweetie for such a fun, yummy night! 

He Is Not Here!

This might just be the most exciting verse in the Bible.  Can't you just picture, once the shock wore off, the complete and utter joy that filled Jesus' followers upon hearing this?!  Jesus was who He said He was!  He did conquer death; He wasn't going to leave them.  And the same is true for us today.  I love Easter.  It's the day that establishes our hope in eternity and our faith in the Risen Lord.

Worship was beautiful this morning.  We had a separate communion service after worship, and that was a neat way to praise God and honor Him before heading over to my parents to meet up with my grandparents. 

We all brought different things for lunch, and had a nice relaxing afternoon.  I think most of us ended up asleep at one point or another.  Oh, we needed an afternoon of rest!  Man Cub got an Easter basket from both sets of grandparents and from us.  The stuff from my mom will stay at here house since he's with her 5 days a week, and we just added books and bubbles to a beach towel and truck.  Oh, and his daddy threw in a minion piggy bank.  Ha.  And more bubbles from PenPen and Pops.

May the resurrection of Christ be your all each and every day!

John 1:5

Today I can't help but think of Jesus' disciples huddled together in hiding, full of despair.  His followers and closest friends and family were left with a dead Teacher and trying to grasp what they were to do with crumbled hope.  If Jesus truly was who He said He was, why had He left them?  Why hadn't He stopped the soldiers?  Oh, they forgot His promises that He'd overcome death.  In their grief, they lost their hope, it seems.  I pray that in our dark days we never lose our hope and forget the promise that Sunday is coming....

Good Friday

Easter can't happen without Good Friday.  Without remembering the hatred, cruelty, pain, and suffering of Jesus,  Easter loses its brilliant message of hope.  I'm grateful for a church that spends each Good Friday solemnly reflecting on Jesus' obedience to the cross.  It makes for a special day and prepares our hearts for the joy that is coming! 

Maundy Thursday

UBC encourages small groups to gather for dinner, fellowship, and communion on Maundy Thursday.  Some groups even do a Seder for Passover, and while that's something I want to learn how to do, we aren't there yet.  Maybe next year.  Two families from our class decided to have a potluck with us, and with littles needing to squirm and play, it was just perfect!

There is something about reading the story of the Last Supper and pondering Jesus' last hours with His closest friends that always catches my breath.  He knew exactly what was coming and spoke such truth over their lives.  Jesus knew He needed to leave all of us with a tangible way to grapple with the concepts of the cross.  Bread and wine are such perfect analogies for us.  We can see the crushed, juice-running grapes and the torn, broken bread.  It brings understanding to the vastness of Christ's sacrifice for our sins.  And it's a daily act that can be pondered-eating and drinking. 

Yesterday I found out my dear friend Valentina and her husband were in town and free tonight.  This is HUGE because they are from Germany, so we only get to see each other every few years.  This last stint has been right at 7 years.  For the love!  Sigh.  Oceans, shrink!  Anyway, they were able to join us tonight, and it was extra special to share such a meaningful night with friends from so far away.  My heart is so full I can hardly stand it! 

Matthew 24:30

It this ebb and flow of change that is the world, peace is found in the consistency and constant nature of God's Word.  Beautiful, beautiful truth.  Thank You, Jesus!