9 months

Owen turned 9 months on June 28th. He had his 9 month well checkup on Thursday and here are his stats:

Weight: 19 lbs. (down to 25th percentile)
Height: 28 ¾ inches (75th percentile)
Therefore he is tall and lean. Who would have guessed from looking at his parents?

This past month he really has come into his personality and makes us laugh all the time. He has found how to make fun sounds with his tongue and loves making a farting sound. He is constantly smiling or making fun faces. He loves to suck his lips in making him look like an old man without his dentures. He loves his mommy and daddy and loves giving them hugs. He lights up when one of us comes back in the room once we left. He has had some separation anxiety and we have had to be paged at church quite a few times. I think it was more that he was tired and they couldn’t get him to fall asleep so he got worked up.

He has two teeth on the bottom and has bitten me on 3 separate occasions, all while nursing. He is still breastfeeding 4 times a day. Before too long, it will be time to start weaning him. I really don’t think he’s going to have a hard time as he doesn’t seem to attach to the idea. He just likes the milk!

Food he has tried this month: blueberries, watermelon, cantaloupe, broccoli, and butterbeans. Just in the last few days, he has been refusing any vegetable we give him. I’m not excited about that and have got to find a way to get him to eat them. His favorite foods still remain to be banana and oatmeal. We have practiced some with a sippy cup but he still doesn’t get the concept of swallowing after he gets it out.

This past week he FINALLY started crawling! It is an army crawl but still he is on the move. He is fascinated with electronic devices and their cords so we have to be extra careful to put them out of his reach. He still loves to roll and if he can’t crawl to get it, he’ll just roll and roll to get it. He loves to stand and hold onto the ottoman. He isn’t pulling himself up yet but has made motions to start to. Jeremy said he took a few steps while holding onto the ottoman while I was in the shower but I haven’t seen it.

Sleeping wise he has improved. He is consistently taking 2 2-hour naps. He continues to go to bed somewhere between 7 and 8 and wakes up in the 5 o’clock hour. We are desperately trying to break that habit but everything we have tried seems to no avail. We have tried putting him to bed earlier and later.

My baby is really turning into a little boy! It's bittersweet because I want to see him grow big and strong, but I miss my cuddly little baby. It's so hard to believe we'll have to planning his 1st birthday party soon.

Vacation

Jeremy has been on vacation this week and Owen and I have enjoyed having him home so much! Vacation actually started last Friday around noon. Jeremy's parents came in to town and Owen had a blast playing with them. We celebrate my father-in-law's birthday with presents and a dinner made by yours truly. Saturday we all traveled to South Boston, Va to see Jeremy's cousin get married. After leaving there we traveled to Charlotte to spend a few days with my brother. Sunday we ate lunch with Jerem's brother Adrian and his girlfriend Jen. We saw Adrian's new house and did a little shopping at Concord Mills. Monday was pool day!

This was Owen's first trip to the pool and he was unsure what to think of it.

"Uncle BP, what are these silly people making me do?"Jeremy trying to help him kick his legs.
Whose that baby in your glasses?
Floating around...finally starting to enjoy the water.
Mommy, don't go far!
Thanks Uncle BP for rescuing me from the float.
Relaxing poolside.
"What happens if I pull this hair?"
Time to try off.
What a fun day at the pool!

The rest of the trip including a trip to Ikea, Coldstone, Panera, and Moe's. Yeah we ate a lot! We also played lots of Wii. We came back on Wednesday after lunch. Thursday we went to Owen's 9 month appoinment and finally on Friday we helped my dad stained his new deck. It's been a great week, full of family and rest. We are going to be really sad to see Monday come!

For Grandma Cox

Before Owen was born, his Grandma Cox made him this nifty shopping cart cover. He is finally old enough and strong enough to stay up right in the cart so it was time to pull it out. He LOVES it! He loves sitting in "his car" and driving it through the aisles of a store. He loves looking around and observing the people around us. This is so much better than when he would ride in the Baby Ergo and could only see my shirt or a limited side view.

This cover is so cute because it has a little steering wheel as well as little straps where I can velcro toys on it. Currently he loves chewing on his car keys.


Check out the back...he has his own personalized license plate!
We get so many compliments on this cover, Grandma! Everyone wants to know where we got it. Maybe you should start taking orders! :)

Messy Eater

Do you think he enjoyed his blueberry lunch?

Father's Day

Sunday was all about dads. Seeing how both of ours were out of town, Owen and I were able to dote on Jeremy all day long. Owen woke up SUPER early in excitement so I got up with him to let J sleep in. We made him breakfast in bed and showered him with gifts and cards. Because Owen and I are fighting a cold, we had to skip church so we did home church. We miss the Summit so much so we listened to an old sermon online. After lunch, we worked on some projects then decided to go for a walk. We bought Owen a wagon for Christmas and thought that he was finally big enough for a ride. To say he loved it would be an understatement! He actually squealed with delight and chatter and smiled the whole time.

All smiles and kicking his feet.
His eyes are closed but you can see how big his smile was.
Jeremy pulled him up and down the street. He thought it was so fun!


At the end, he was still just as happy. After the walk, Owen took a little swing.
Then hung out with his daddy in the hammock.
Later, Owen and I made Jeremy some shrimp shishkobs and rice. We had a wonderful relaxing day. We feel very blessed to have Jeremy in our lives and we hope he felt appreciated yesterday.

As for our dads, we will celebrate with Jeremy's dad when he comes down this weekend and then with my dad when he returns from his vacation in France. (Rough life, uh!)

It's Hot Outside

With temps in the 90s here in eastern NC, we have to find ways to stay cool while outside. Now that we are home owners we don't have ready access to a pool like we did in apartment living. Therefore we had to create our own pool environment and thanks to the $10 special at Wal-Mart, we have a little green pool we can all fit in. These are pictures of Owen experiencing the pool for the first time.

Daddy and Owen about to get in.

Feet in...now sitNot so sure
Splish Splash


Yum this pirate duck is tasty!
I wonder what a pirate duck says..

Pouring water from the funnel



As you can see, he wasn't quite sure what to make of it. We're hoping to make some repeat performances here so and hoping he'll warm up to it.

To Jeremy

Happy Father's Day! You truly are the best Daddy in the whole world. From the very beginning, I was attracted to you for your love of kids. I was amazed at how easy it was for you to interact and love on them (maybe because you still are a kid at heart! :) ). I knew that you would make an amazing dad but I never imagined how great you have been with Owen. You were a great supporter during the pregnancy and were even more amazing once he arrived. Thank you for all your help with diapers, feedings, baths, playtimes, etc. Most of all, thank you for praying for us daily. Owen is blessed to have you and he knows it. He lights up at your presence. He loves to play with you and you know just what to do to make him laugh and smile. I love watching you two interact and can't wait to see how your bond will grow in the years to come. Everyone says he looks like you; I hope he has inherited more that. You are one talented man, Jeremy Cox. I pray that he will love the Lord and the Word like you do. I also pray he is as tech savy, artistic, and creative as you. I pray though that he picks up my love for the best sports team. Go Heels! :)

Enjoy some of my favorite pictures of you and Owen. I love yoU!