The bunny session

Thanks to my amazing sis-in-law, we got an opportunity to sign up for a mini photo session with live bunnies with SarahLynds Photography. Our nephew Jack has had a photo session every year since he was a baby (he is almost 4 now, which is not a baby, thankyouverymuch).

In addition to getting incredible photos of E with bunnies, we were also able to take a few with his cousin - Jack was nearing the end of his session and was mostly over the whole photos-with-bunnies thing, but was patient with us for a few minutes and they were able to grab some darling shots.

Of course, these photos are for our personal use only and should not be used without permission from SarahLynds.

Are you ready? Because these are just too adorable for words.

Ethan's personal photographer

Crystal, our wonderful nanny, is an undercover professional photographer. The girl can do wonders with an iPhone (and the right model, of course!).

She brightens my work schedule daily by messaging a photo of my little guy. Here is a collection of some of my favorites thus far.

Nine months!

Happy 9 months to Ethan! It's gone so fast!

This has been a month of milestones!!

- Talking - 'dadadadadadadada' - only 'mama's I hear are when he's raging mad. Typical.

- Teeth - finally got 2 teeth poking out. Still doesn't want anyone to see them, but I've felt them there fo sho.

- Crawling!!! He took his first 'steps' at Gymboree last week and is getting more and more confidence every day. Sometimes he takes a break from crawling and opts for scootching instead. Either way, the proud smiles and laughs when he's independent are delightful.

It's amazing how hard it is to change the kiddo's clothes now - he sets a challenge for himself to move as much as possible on his little changing table - roll over immediately, grab the elephant stuffed animal, kick the Goodnight Moon framed print, roll back over once Mom flips you to get that diaper on, all fours ready to crawl right over the edge - and we'll sit down on the floor to get that shirt over your head...

Fun with baby-led weaning

After many suggestions from friends and family as well as some extensive Google research, we decided to give baby-led weaning a try. Basically, starting around 6 months, or when your child can sit up on his own and has an interest in food, you introduce solid foods to him in finger-food size. At the start, you soften hard foods (like carrots or apples) so he can chew them into bite-size bits without the benefit of teeth for mastication.

Babies don't get spoon-fed purees. The food is placed in front of them and they pick up what they want to eat and feed themselves.

Admittedly, we haven't followed the system perfectly. E didn't seem that interested in picking up food around 6 months but was happy to open his mouth for us to feed him, baby bird-style. And we spoon-fed him applesauce before he was ready to hold a spoon himself. Generally, though, we've been giving him a huge variety of solid foods for more than 2 months now, and he greedily grabs at just about anything we place in front of him.

This also means that if we leave leftovers on a counter and he is placed beside them, he will dive into the styrofoam box for its contents - he had a delicious BBQ sandwich a couple of weeks ago.

He now refuses to eat from our hands - we have to give food to him and he will find a way to maneuver it (at least part of it) into his mouth.

Favorites so far:

- Graham crackers

- Goldfish

- Dried mango

- Edamame

- Dehydrated mango

- Baked or mashed potato

- Peanut butter and jelly

- PIZZA!!

- Pad thai

- BBQ

- Brownies

It's great to just cool a bit of whatever we're eating and place it in front of him. He's also just about figured out how to use a sippy cup, so he can drink water after a particularly salty meal.

Here's some pictures of mealtime with Ethan. Most of these photos were taken just before bathtime with Ethan - this is a delightfully messy process!

Bread

Beurre blanc

 

Avocado?

Pizza

Bacon

Mmmmm, bacon...

Birthday cake

2/3-year-old

Since he's still technically 8 months old today, I'd better get this post up before the big 9-month birthday on Tuesday!

8 months has come and gone. At 8 months, E was so, so close to crawling, sitting up on his own, talking, and getting teeth (spoiler alert: in one short month, he's doing it all!). He loves to stand and will lean against any object - coffee table, ottoman, human, bouncer - on his own. His balance is getting better every day - he stands by himself if you support his hips.

For 4 months he's been drooling so much we just knew he had to be teething. But still, at 8 months, no teeth. Just a lot of messy collars and bibs and parents' shirts.

Baby-led weaning has been quite an adventure. E will grab anything nearby and stick it in his mouth. When the anything is edible, he will often chew and swallow it. He does love to hoard food in his cheeks, while continuing to shovel more in. Usually a bath follows dinner, thanks to the astonishing messes meal-times can create when baby boy is in charge. He no longer likes food to be placed in his mouth - he has to take it in his hand and find a way to eat it himself. I love this autonomous little guy!

One of these days I may write a post just on baby-led weaning. It's really been an awesome experience and we haven't bought a single jar of baby food. We're not pureeing anything either, just making sure it's soft enough for him to chew and swallow.

The kid loves balls. One of his favorite toys is the beach ball he got from his weekly Gymboree class - we play 'baby soccer' most weeks and he gets sort of maniacal during the game, bouncing and laughing and sometimes swinging his head back and forth happily. Same thing happens when we play ball with him at home. He's pretty darn good at passing the ball to us, considering he's not even crawling yet.

And his second love is string/cord/rope. We give him toys with strings attached and he ignores the toy part completely. We have to hide the power cords and chargers, because he makes a beeline for them.

Although he's not quite crawling yet, he's definitely mobile. He rolls his way across the room, occasionally switching it up and pivoting 180-360 degrees to get to his destination.

Oh, and of course he's still smiling, laughing, and generally entertaining us 24-7. He's truly the happiest baby I've ever seen. He certainly has his moments of frustration, but 99% of the time Ethan is just joyful and lights up any room. We are so blessed with this delightful kiddo - it definitely makes us want to have another (coming August 2013)!