First Birthday Party

I cannot believe Trip is already 1 year old.  I may get a little cheesy on this post, so just brace yourself.  I never in my life knew I could love someone so much.  Trip has brought so much to our life and I'm truly blessed so have such an amazing baby.  Every day there is a new surprise, and I'm obsessed with watching him grow up. Our lives are completely different, but I wouldn't change a thing.

The party went really great, and it was hilarious to see Trip ham it up to everyone who came in the door.  He literally put on a huge squinty grin every time someone would even look at him.  I was grateful he got a good morning nap in, so he was in great spirits for the whole party.  Everyone got him such amazing gifts, and I'm thankful to have such loving friends and family.

Cutest.  Thing.  Ever.

Loves his big boy chair from Dad and Pat

Proud grandpa

Big fan of chocolate

We have transitioned him out of the "dream feed"...FINALLY.  I should have done it about 5 months ago, but every time I tried he would wake up and scream bloody murder.  We are off of formula and off of bottles and it only took a few days of weening.  

His 1 year check up went great and he is still in the 50th percentile for height and weight, but his head is in the 95th percentile.  Maybe he is a baby genius :)  He had four pretty major shots, but he cried all of 15 seconds, and then smiled so big at the nurse when I picked him up.  He is such a flirt and the doctor just couldn't believe how much of a charmer he is.  I know she probably tells a lot of people that, but it makes me so happy to hear.  

 He does this ALL THE TIME now!

One more for fun :)

Until next time...tootles!

My baby is growing up...

Oopsies, I realized it has been over a month since I last posted.  A lot has been going on and Trip is growing up more and more every day.  It's so weird to think that he will be 1 in just two weeks.  He is crawling everywhere, but I don't think he is anywhere close to walking.  I love the kid, but he might be just the laziest baby out there!  I've been trying to work with him on the simplest things, like holding his own bottle.  He is perfectly capable, and has done it before, but he just drops it and gives me a look like, "you gonna get that?" Even feeding him his baby crack snacks, the little Gerber crunchies.  He can't get enough of them, but half of the time, instead of taking them from my hand, he leans forward and opens his mouth.  Now, I'm fully aware that this is a result of me not pushing hard enough or being more vigilant about teaching him things.

He's been crawling for a few months now, and we just now put a gate up for our sanity.  He gets really bored easily and just wants to explore everything.  He is uninterested in his toys (he has about a million) and if he discovers something new, as simple as his fingernail clippers, he will play with them for a solid 30 minutes just picking them up and throwing them on the ground.  Hey, whatever keeps him occupied.

He laughs hysterically at Michael just about every day.  Every time Michael walks into the room, Trip lights up and just waits for him to do something hilarious.  They are so completely adorable together.  Melts my heart :)

This past weekend was rough because it was the first time he has ever really, truly been sick.  I gotta be honest, it scared the crap out of me.  I was feeding him dinner Friday night.  We got about halfway through and he made a weird face, and proceeded to projectile vomit all over himself about three or four times.  He was a little cranky going to bed, but he didn't have a fever, so we just prayed it was a tummy ache.  The next morning, he had a horrible diaper, and started getting really fussy.  He had a temp of 101.2, so Michael left to go to the store and get some more tylenol and some pedialyte.  While he left, I thought I would give Trip a cracker.  He didn't even get it swallowed, and he threw up everywhere.  We had to go to Children's and he had a stomach virus, ear infection, and a cold...all on top of the fact that he's teething.  Poor guy was a champ though.  He cried at the doctor's office, but after that he was much better.  We had a helluva time getting him down for naps and bedtime though.  Sunday night, Jared and Kristin came over for dinner.  After dinner, I picked Trip up and his butt was wet.  I cringed.  It was the biggest, scariest, smelliest, rhea I have ever seen in my entire life.  Trip didn't even as much as whimper to let me know he was stewing in that mess.  My God.  I hope they weren't too traumatized.  That will be burned in my memory for awhile.

He is now saying "bye bye" and waving, and he also says "uh oh" and he barely gets out a "mama" or "dada" to the appropriate people, but it's so cute.  He gets super excited about saying "bye bye" and he will just sit there in the pack and play and wave to himself for 15 minutes.  He even does it when I'm rocking him to sleep.  There's probably more that I'm leaving out, but gotta run!

And we're off!

We recently took a trip to Chicago to celebrate mom's 60th birthday and had so much fun.  It was hard to leave Trip, but it was nice to get away for a long weekend.  We went to the art institute, ate amazing deep dish pizza, and then went to 2nd city the first night.  I was very impressed with the talent at 2nd city and highly recommend going.  The next day, we went to breakfast at a place called Hash House a Go Go.  To say it was incredible was an understatement.  I had the best breakfast of my life.  Jared ordered the biggest bloody mary they had with huge pieces of bacon in it.  We walked around to some of the shops, and then met up with Mom and Darlene.  We went to a Cubs game later that afternoon.  After the game, we all got dressed and went to dinner at a Mexican place in Lincoln Park.  Mom and Darlene went to the hotel after dinner, and Jared, Kristin, Michael and I went to Kingston Mines...a famous blues bar.

At Kingston Mines blues bar

Our view from Trump Tower terrace (cocktails after a long day)

Breakfast at Lux Bar

The next morning, we went to breakfast at Lux Bar and ate outside.  Afterwards, we went to Navy Pier and walked around and rode the ferris wheel.  The view from the top was gorgeous!  After that, we went on a architectural boat ride around the city and then drinks at Trump Tower.  For mom's birthday dinner, we went to Rosebuds and had delicious Italian food!  We split off that night and went to Gibson's for drinks.  Gibson's is the bar featured on The League, but fun fact...it is a raging cougar bar.

Leaving Trip was tough, but it was nice to get away for a long weekend.  He is crawling now and into everything!  He has no interest in his toys, but loves to eat paper and play with the t.v. remotes.  He started his new day care last week and they are so sweet.  There are only three kids in his class, and two teachers, so he is getting a ton of attention.  Plus, it's $520 so it's a steal!  I had such a struggle finding a day care that was affordable, close, and where I felt comfortable leaving Trip.  I was so lucky to find Shades Crest Baptist , which is literally a ten minute walk from our house.

This month has been so insane!  We went to Phish Friday night and had a blast.  Our sweet friends, Katie and Jonathan Nelson babysat Trip.  I don't know what we would have done without them!  It was my first ever Phish show, and they put on a damn fine performance.

This weekend we are going to Dallas for the Alabama/Michigan game, so I'm having to leave my little man once again.  After this weekend, we will get back to our normal boring schedule :)  Trip now has four teeth that popped up out of nowhere.  He's growing up so fast!  Below are some recent pics...enjoy!

 Bama jersey.  I knew the day would come...

Happy 10 mos!

Finally broke down and bought a smocked outfit.  So cute.

First time pulling himself up!

First time crawling!

This makes me so happy :)

New Discoveries

So, my son has discovered his penis and it really took me by surprise at first.  For every diaper change and every bath, he immediately reaches for it!  I knew it started, early but I had no idea it happened at 9 months of age!

I have also discovered his first tooth and made the mistake of letting him bite my finger.  Nope, never again.  We bumped him up to 3rd level foods and his 9 mo check-up went great.  He passed the developmental test, which the doc said was pretty hard to do at this age.  He has evened back out and is rocking 50% in both height and weight.  He weighs almost 20 pounds.

Trip is growing up so fast and I cannot believe he started crawling a couple of weeks ago.  At first he would only scoot backwards, but he got the hang of it in no time.  He loves wires, which makes me a nervous wreck.  He gets bored really easily, but I like to tell myself that means he's going to be super smart :)

He recently started pulling himself up on our furniture, toy bin, and bath tub and he gets so proud of himself when he does it on his own.  I could just eat him up!

At the moment, he isn't in daycare (his new one starts Aug 20th), so my sweet cousin Michelle is watching him a few hours during the day so I can get some work done (which I'm supposed to be doing now :))

I went on my first-ever weekend away and we both did great.  My patience has getting ever-so-thin these days, so I definitely needed to see my friends and get away.  Of course I missed him like crazy and I really missed him in the mornings.  I stayed up until 3:00 Friday night, but my internal clock had me wide awake at 8:00 the next day.  I just can't hang like I used to.  There's so much more, but I gotta run!  Here are some pics!

 I made the mistake of taking his 9 mo pic in the afternoon. Not a happy camper...

We're going to Dallas for the AL/Michigan game, so I'm getting him prepped :)

How can you not want to squeeze him?

I thought he would be way more into these bubbles.  

Beach Trip

My baby is growing up so fast!  Trip will be 9 months next week and I just can't believe it.  I swear, for the first few months he was just a beautiful baby that hung out in his bouncer all day, and then bam...he's a babbling, moving, real person!  We just got back from the beach and had a great time.  I have come to realize that I'm not the most relaxed parent on the planet, even though I prided myself on being that way.  I am probably horrible for saying this, but sometimes I wondered if me and Trip had developed a strong bond yet.  He laughs and snuggles with me, but I never really got the sense that he "needed" me until recently.  Since he goes to daycare, he never  got separation anxiety.  Trust me, not that I wanted him to, but it's nice to see him reach out and want to be held by me.  I had a hard time letting others hold him when he started getting fussy.  He reaches out for me to grab him and it just melts my heart!!  It makes for one exhausting vacation, but I wouldn't change it for the world.

He loved the sand, but kept putting it in his mouth and made an awful face.  He slept a couple of hours on the beach underneath the canopy for two of the days, so that was nice to get some good laying out time.  I haven't seen the sun all summer so I definitely needed the color.

We went out to Peg Leg Pete's one day and he did great.  Three of the waitresses kept looking at him and telling me how cute he was.  Then, another waitress walked by and told me I had a Gerber baby.  I'm not going to lie, that makes my day.  Another woman in the grocery store told me I had the next Gerber baby on my hands.  I of course walk around thinking he is the most beautiful baby on the planet :)

Trip is doing this thing where he randomly starts squealing, which isn't a big deal, but then he added on this loooooooooong "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH" as well.  It's funny when we are home, but when we are out in public, it can get a little uncomfortable when he disturbs people's lunch.  Hahahhaa.

He is sitting up great, and I keep trying to work with him on the crawling, but he isn't quite there yet.  We have a doc appointment next week, so I'm interested to see where he lands in the weight/height categories.  He seems really long to me.  With parents who average around 5' 5", we are praying he can beat the odds.

 Lunch outing in his big boy high chair

Playing with baby Lily early in the morning

 This pool was the best purchase for the beach.  He loved it!

 Waiting on everyone to get ready to head to the beach

 One of his long beach naps.  So sweet!

The car ride home.  He did amazing!

This one is just for fun.  This is how I found him when he first woke up. 

Look at those rosy cheeks!

I'm trying to prepare myself to leave him when we go to Chicago next month.  I'm turning into quite the possessed mother.  Until next time!

6 Month Pics

We got the 6 month pics back and they turned out great!  Even though Trip didn't smile one time when I was holding him, I'm really pleased with them.  Here's a quick peak of some of the images...

Growing Up

It's been forever since I last posted, but so much has been going on it's hard to keep up with.  Trip is growing more and more every day and I cannot believe he is almost 7 months!   He started rolling over at about 5.5 months which was a relief because the doctor told me he needed to roll over by 6 months.  I definitely do not want to wish his life away, but I do think his life would be a whole lot more entertaining if he could sit up on his own.  He does this backwards push thing that's almost like a crab crawl.  If I leave the room for a second, he will end up all the way under the coffee table.

Easter was great.  We went to stay with my mom and had a relaxing weekend.  Trip was absolutely adorable in his Easter outfit and ended up getting three Easter baskets filled with goodies.  The little guy is slightly spoiled to say the least.

The women at his day care love on him all the time and I'm going to be upset when we have to take him to his new day care in August.  The good news is that I think we can extend past the 24 week maximum (technically its supposed to end June 22nd), but he will just move to the room across the hall for that two month time frame.
He is by far the biggest one in the classroom since most parents only use this day care for a couple of months :)

He does have a girlfriend named McKinnley, and I think she is way more into him than he is with her.  Hahaha. Every day she grabs his hand to hold on during their outside stroll.  It's the cutest thing and Miss Tara sent me home with a picture to show proof.  He's a little pimp and I love it!

We had his 6 month pictures taken this past Saturday and he didn't smile one time.  Michael says he has a lot of me in him and he wasn't going to placate to her because she was late.  That does sound about right.

We are headed up to the river for Memorial Day weekend and I'm so excited to take him up there, because we will be spending the better part of his summers up there I'm sure.  We are taking him down to the beach for the 4th of July, but by August we will be leaving him overnight for our trip to Chicago and then for our trip to Dallas for the Alabama/Michigan game. I have to really psych myself up to leave him, but I think it will be really good for Michael and I to get away together and enjoy some adult time.

We started feeding Trip solid food about 2.5 months ago and he hasn't looked back.  He doesn't particularly like the meat ones, which I don't blame him, but he will eat them.  I was giving him solids for lunch and dinner, and then about a month ago started doing rice cereal and fruit mixed together for breakfast.  Now he is eating two 8 oz bottles between breakfast/lunch and then one mid afternoon, and we are still doing the dream feed with formula and rice cereal.  I think he is close to dropping the dream feed soon because he has only been drinking around 4 to 6 oz (down from 8).

He isn't necessarily big by any means, but he's a very sturdy boy and he is really long (75th percentile for height).  He is going through clothes like crazy and I just can't wrap my head around how fast time is going!! It seems like things dragged in the beginning because he just kind of sat there and all he did was eat and sleep and then...bam!

This was my first Mother's Day and it couldn't have been more perfect.  Michael woke up with Trip and let me sleep in until 9:00.  I can't remember the last time I slept past 6:30.  It was glorious!  He gave me a card from Trip (hand-written by Trip) and one from him (brought a tear to my eye it was so sweet).  Then he made me breakfast and wrote "mom" in whipped cream.  He gave me some really pretty jewelry and a candle from Francesca's and we went on a family outing to our favorite place...Costco.  The woman at check out said "ohhhhh girl!!!  I can't even HANDLE how cute he is!".  Needless to say, life is good and I love to see this little man growing up every day in front of me.