9 Months Old!

I can't believe it has been 9 months since Mac was born. He wasn't even in my belly for 9 months! And he's come a long way.

Here's what he's been up to:

• Now that he's perfected crawling, he's moved on to pulling up. As of this week, he pulls up on everything.
• He also enjoys cruising.
• He can climb the stairs. Unfortunately, the only way he knows to get down is to roll like a log. Fortunately, the one time he did that, the MacDaddy caught him before he hit the tile. 
• He and the Doggie-wog seem to be getting along better. We are working with Mac on "Gentle" and the Doggie-wog is very tolerant. Especially when Mac grabs his feet. The Doggie-wog won't let anyone grab his feet. Except Mac.
• He's eating table foods as well as finger foods. He likes Cheerios. He'll eat pretty much whatever we eat, or at least whatever we put on his tray. 
• Except broccoli. He refuses to put broccoli in his mouth. We don't know if he likes it or not because he won't even try it. (He gets that from Papa.) Tomorrow we're going to try broccoli with melted cheese. That will be the true test.
• He drinks water from a sippy cup pretty well if you hold it for him. He's an expert at drinking from a straw, and loves it.

8 Months Old!

 

I can't believe it's been 2/3 of a year since Mac was born. It's gone by so fast. Next week he'll be out of elementary school, at this rate.

We have more fun with him every day. As you know, he's crawling now. Everywhere, and fast. We still haven't done any real babyproofing. I think because our place is so small, all the outlets are blocked off by furniture. And we already packed away our breakables trying to de-clutter. We do have a cardboard box on its side to block off the litter box. But other than that, he has free reign.

Other than crawling, here's what he's doing:

• He said his first word. "Mama." Not that he meant anything by it. But that's his first word. Ha!
• He loves to babble, and sometimes I think he's singing. 
• His favorite food right now is probably cucumber slices. Toast is a close second. 
• He can pull up to his knees. 
• He loves the Naminals. We are trying to teach him that "Tails are not for grabbing," and "Gentle." He's a slow learner on these two subjects.
• He's not yet clapping or waving, but he loves it when I clap or wave at him. He also loves it when I let him hold my hands while I clap to Patty-cake.

He's definitely wearing 12-month clothes now. I can occasionally squeeze him into 9-month outfits, but he complains during the squeezing process.

And we've lowered the crib mattress, just in case.

On the Move!

I so wish I could report that we're moving out of the condo, but into the house. However, my news might be more exciting: Mac is crawling! He started on Saturday night. It's been in short bursts, so it's hard to get video. But I managed today.

He has a very funny crawl. He actually uses one knee and the other foot. It's so cute. (And I'm not biased, or anything, right?)

A Weekend Getaway

Last weekend, we celebrated the MacDaddy's birthday with a weekend in Tucson at our favorite resort. I'm always happy to give the MacDaddy a weekend at the resort as a birthday gift because it means I'm getting a massage. It was fabulous, but there was more fun to be had! 

We hadn't been to the resort since Mac was about 7 weeks old. This time he was about 7 months old. Wow, what a difference! Last time, he pretty much slept. This time, the trip was all about him. It was also kind of learning experience for the MacDaddy and me. We're taking him to the Bay Area in a few weeks and this was a good opportunity to figure out the do's and don't's of travel with Mac.

He enjoyed playing on the patio and trying all the tasty food. Yep, we shared our room service meals with him. He liked the chicken from the nachos!

 

Most exciting for Mac, though, was the pool! It was really fun watching the MacDaddy swim, and then Mac got to try it himself!

 He thought swimming was fine, but I think he preferred lounging by the pool.

 And, of course, he always enjoys just hangin' out and bein' cute and stuff.

We also got all dressed up to go to the MacDaddy's favorite restaurant. We got tableside guacamole, and Mac ate about half of the bowl himself. He didn't like cornbread, but that's probably just because we didn't let him have butter.

The trip was a success! Everyone came home relaxed and ready to go back to work travel again soon!  Oh, and I almost forgot to show you my all-time favorite photo.
 

My two favorite guys in the whole wide world.

 

 

(Don't worry, Pappy. You're a very close third!)

Look What Mac Can Do!

Guess what the Mac Man can do now:

Yup! He can stand while holding on to something! For a while now, he's really enjoyed it when we stand him up. A couple months ago, he started standing while we held his hands. Now, he can stand while holding onto furniture! (I took these photos on his 7-month birthday, and finally got around to posting them.)

Can you tell he's pretty proud of himself?

He'll also walk -- well, wobble like a drunkard, actually -- while we hold his hands, too. Unfortunately, I need a third hand to get video of that.

Happy Easter!

 Well, you know me. It just wouldn't be right if I got this posted on or before Easter Sunday! Just be happy you got to see some Easter pics!

Mac had fun with Easter Eggs

Can you tell he hasn't had a nap today?

Don't interrupt the Mac Man while he's trying to crawl!

I hope Hayden enjoyed his last Easter with no competition for the eggs!*

What's Easter Dinner without ham? Mac loved it!*

Still sucking on that ham!*

Finally, asleep.*

*Photos courtesy of Aunt Audra!

Mac & MacMommy

Finally, I got to be in some photos! I've gotta be honest: I'm sure the MacDaddy would oblige if I'd ever asked. But I'm a little vain and I don't like to pose for pictures if I'm not all made up. Last weekend, I had my hair done and I looked good enough for pictures!

7 Months Old!

Yes, I know, it's a week late. I've been giving Mac some extra time. He's just so very close to crawling, and I wanted to give him a chance to have that included in his 7-month update. I guess Mac prefers to save it for an entirely separate post.

Meanwhile, Mac is:

• Getting up on all fours (sometimes knees, sometimes feet). He does lots of push-ups and is totally ready to enlist. Seriously, he does more push-ups before 7 am than I do all year.
• Spinning around on his belly and scooting backwards. He's been doing both of these for a while, but just this week he has figured out that he can navigate that way.
• Babbling like crazy. All kinds of vowels and consonants.
• Making motorboat sounds. It's one of the things he does when he's concentrating. 
• As of yesterday, sticking out his tongue a little when he's working really hard on something. So cute! I've got to get a photo!
• Eating, eating, eating!
• Branching out into finger foods. Puffs, yogurt melts, sweet potato fries (with cinnamon and brown sugar), baby carrots, and as of Easter dinner, ham! (Well, he just sucked on a big chunk of ham, but he loved it!)
• Working on his pincer grasp. He does really well picking up bigger foods (baby carrots or sweet potato fries). He's also picking up the puffs and yogurt melts, but hasn't figured out how to open his fingers when he tries to put them in his mouth.
• Learning cause and effect and how things work. He really likes toys that play music if he pushes buttons.
• Sleeping really well at night. He goes to bed around 7ish, then wakes up around 5 or 5:30 am. Then we snuggle in our bed until 6 or 6:30. 
• Not sleeping during the day. We've ditched the swing, and he's boycotting naps in protest. More often than not, he's taking two or three 30-minute naps. 

Mac is such a big boy now. He's wearing 9- and 12- month clothes, but 12-month pajamas. I don't think the 9-month clothes will fit too much longer. And he is sooo heavy.My arm gets tired pretty quickly when I hold him on my hip. The last official weight we have for him is 18 pounds, about 4 weeks ago. I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if he weighs close to 20 today.

Thank you, Gigi!

Gigi came to visit us this past week, and she gave Mac a musical toy while she was here. He loves it, and he's decided he wants to be in a band when he grows up!

Wanna See Mac's Impression of Oz?

It's still a work in progress, but Mac is working very hard on getting up on all fours, just like the Doggie-wog!

Friday Family Fotos

6 Months Old! (Part II)

(See Part I)

Here are his stats:

Length: 26.5 inches
Weight: 17 pounds, 10 ounces
Head: 43.8 cm

And everything is exactly at the 50th percentile for 6-month-old boys!

Hat Trick