1 Year Photo shoot: 8-5-13

This photo shoot was doomed, but still turned out wonderfully!  About an hour before our session, my dad called and told me the bad news about his cancer.  After tears, we drove to our photographers house, about 20 minutes away.  As we're pulling in her driveway, I said to Zach, "You grabbed his clothes from the couch...right?!"  Nope, all his cute outfits were still carefully positioned on the couch so they wouldn't wrinkle... :)  OOPS!  Luckily, he's cute in a cloth diaper, and we had an outfit in the diaper bag that was cute.  We love our photographer!

Newborn, 6 months, 7 months, 1 year

Future KC Royal!  Maybe they'll win in his lifetime! :)

Walking with a toy

10 months old- June 2013

Observations:

• We had our first bruise- he was playing on a bookshelf (naturally...) and fell against it.  Just a little mark on his cheek, didn't stop him for long!
• My dear friend Abbey, who moved to Germany a few months after we left, came to KS to visit!  We met for lunch and a day of hanging out in KC with Leah, Sally, and kiddos.  So fun!
• We finally moved all of my teaching tubs from the attic (only accessible by ladder, thanks honey!) to my classroom!  Now to unpack...
• We celebrated Father's Day with daddy.  We are so lucky to have him!
• Crazy weather- 100 degrees one day, rainy and cool a few days later!
• He has his 1st highish fever, 101 degrees. :(  We are pretty sure it was teething.
• I had a few days of teacher training, and so Colin hung out with daddy and grandma!
• Another new tooth- his top, front, right tooth (lateral incisor).  We think more are coming.  It's so cute to hear him CRUNCH on his Os with those little chompers.  And boy, are they SHARP like daggers!
• Zach baby proofed the cabinets and drawers in the kitchen so Colin wouldn't smash his fingers or fall backwards.
• Colin and I drove to Wichita to visit with Runge and Greyson, and meet new baby Crew.  So adorable!
• Zach and I went to the Royals game with some friends on the 3rd of July.  A rainstorm came out of nowhere, and the 7pm game started at 9:45!  After multiple pitching changes, cool weather, and a LIGHT delay (ugh!) the Royals came through to win at about 1:30 am.  Can you believe it, almost all of the 28,000 fans stayed for the fireworks after!? (some of them little babies...tried hard not to judge... :) )
• He has started CRUISING on furniture!  He loves to scoot along the couch, and is pretty quick.

Mealtimes:

• We are still using bottles, and hope to start transitioning to a sippy cup this next month (since he'll be 1 in August, WHAT!?).  He is getting about 30 ounces of formula a day, divided into about 5 bottles.
• New foods- plums, rolly pollies, strawberries, scrambled eggs, chicken, pumpkin, cottage cheese, YUM!
• He prefers to eat finger foods, and likes when we feed him with our fingers.   A lot of his food ends up in his high chair with him or on the floor.  Little stinker.

Schedule:

• The biggest change in his schedule has been bedtime.  Up until this month it was pretty consistently 6:30pm.  After his fever spell and teething, and taking 2 two hours naps a day, he has changed it to 8pm on his own!  Some days he'll go down a bit earlier, around 7:30.  What a big boy!  He sleeps until about 7am, usually.  

Size: 

• 9 month doc appt. stats- Weight- About 20 pounds 
• He is wearing mostly 9-12 and 12 month clothing.  His size 3 disposable diapers still fit, although we use cloth dipes most of the time.

Play:

• Favorite toys- coasters, remotes (the ones we use, not the REAL ones we've given him without batteries- he knows something's up), and shoes.  The dirtier the better!
• He has started "reading" to himself!  He will open a book (sometimes upside down :) ) and make sounds.  So cute.
• We play outside every morning on the back patio.  He loves to crawl around and play with his water table and eat bugs and leaves.

Nicknames: 

• Mostly we use Bug right now. :)

Mommy& Daddy:

• Colin is such a sweet boy, and is getting SO big!  We love him so much.
• Zach's last day of the Air Force was June 27!  He has enough leave to take until his official last day in July.  He can't wait! :)
• My new teacher training went well.  My new district and school are up on the newest teaching methods, and I'm looking forward to the beginning of school.  I think I will fit in nicely in the school!  While I will miss being home with Colin, I know he will be in good hands with Grandma 3 days a week and daddy the other 2.  And once daddy graduates, hopefully I'll be able to stay home again!
• Enjoy the pics of Colin as a 10 month old baby!

Pre-Royals game.  Colin stayed with grandma.

We co-hosted a couples shower for Brooke & David!

10 months old!

Happy Father's Day, Daddy!

Bed head. 

Rhiannon was in Kansas and was able to stop by to meet Colin!

 A pic of our group that waited out the rain and light delays. Go Royals!

11 Months Old- July 2013

Size: 20. 4 pounds, according to our bathroom scale.  Wearing mostly 12 month clothes.  Getting taller!  

Eating:  He does really well feeding himself finger foods!  Os, sweet potato pieces, scrambled eggs, strawberries.  He loves yogurt and cottage cheese.  After his meal, we get him out of his high chair then he will get a little snack by eating the food he drops on the floor, or on the foot rest of his high chair. :)  We are still using bottles, 4-5 a day (no time or energy to transition yet.)  Whole milk is going well!  We still have a canister of formula, and instead of wasting it, we give him 1 formula bottle at night.

Sleeping: Colin goes to bed at 8 pm after a bath, book, and bottle in his room.  Most days he sleeps until at least 7:30am, give or take a half hour or so.

Playing: He has started cruising along the furniture.  He tries to say "mama", and it kind of sounds like "mabmba.  He is getting into his toys actually, but he still loves water bottles, shoes, remotes.

Nicknames:
Stinker, stinker bug, bug, buggy bear...can you see a trend? :)

Mom and Dad:
We are enjoying the last month of no school or work!  I am excited about starting a new school year, but sad about leaving home and Colin.  He'll be in good hands.  Zach is OUT of the military, and is excited about starting classes at K-State.

Belly laughs

Colin thinks grandma's dog is HILARIOUS!  Not sure the pup feels the same about Colin... :)

9 months old- May 2013

Observations:

• He is pulling up to his knees all the time!
• On May 10th, we have been back in the U.S. for a year!
• We celebrated Mother's day with all the moms/grandmas! :) We are so lucky to live near all of them, we love you!
• We celebrated Mother's day here with a BEAUTIFUL photo book made by Colin.  Pic is below. :)  I love my boys!
• He is getting to be a quick crawler.  He loves to explore the kitchen and laundry rooms.  
• We put up our baby gates to keep the living room safe for baby.
• Colin is seriously such a happy baby.  He loves to laugh and giggle!
• He got his 2 top front teeth.
• Mommy joined the 21st century and got an iPhone.  My other phone died and I got an iPhone from a fam member, thanks! :)
• He is getting really good at getting from a sitting position to a crawling position. 
• It took him a while to sit gracefully from standing, but he's working on it!
• We attended Aunt Brooke's graduation from grad school, congrats! :)
• We took a trip to my classroom for the day to check things out.
• We discovered that So Long (our fave restaurant) has ONE booster seat, and he sat in it pretty well!
• He has started chewing on his crib...I went in his room and he had white paint all over his mouth. :)  We're in the market for some teething guards!
• Mommy and daddy celebrated their 5 year anniversary!  I can't believe everything we have done in the last 5 years!

Mealtimes:

• Colin eats about 5-7 oz. of formula about 5 times a day.
• New foods- peaches, mango, dirt and sand at the park, cucumbers, and black beans.
• He can feed himself pretty well.  Os are the easiest for him.

Schedule:

• Not much has changed.  He gets up between 5am and 7am.  If he gets up before 6am, he'll usually go back down after a bottle.  He naps at about 10am and 2pm (and I REALLY mean ABOUT! :) ) for about 1-2 hours.  I would really like to have him sleep consistently until 7:30am, but with teething and an occasional cold, we just don't want to push it yet.  

Size: 

• 9 month doc appt. stats- Weight- 19 lbs 5.5 oz. (31%).  Height- 28 in. (34%).  Head- 18.5 in. (82%)
• Colin wears mostly 6-9 or 9-12 month clothing.  Some hand-me-down 12 month clothes fit just fine.

Play:

• One of his favorite toys is a real remote we no longer use.  Why don't they make toy remotes that ACTUALLY look like remotes!?
• He still loves to chew on Sophie.
• He also loves to chew on/bite us, but we've noticed it's usually when he's cutting teeth.  With 4 teeth he has quite the chomp!
• He still uses his bouncer, but not as often.  
• We have an upright toy that he can also push.  He has learned to put the balls and shapes into the openings!
• He loves to read.  In addition to chewing on books, he now really likes to look through them (YAY!)

Nicknames: 

• Stinker bug, baby boy, angel, not really any new ones.

Mommy& Daddy:

• We love being parents!  Colin is such a happy boy, and we can't imagine what we did before him.  We all love to watch the Royals together each night, and hope they can keep this winning up (thanks to their new hitting coach, George Brett!)
• Zach is DAYS away from his last day of active duty Air Force.  At the end of June, he will be able to take the 20 or so days of leave he has until his actual last day, July 18.  We are looking forward to a LOT of fun family times!
• I am still loving staying home!  Colin and I have somewhat of a routine and we love it.  We have met so many friends through the Little Apple Mommies group, and we get together with them at least weekly.  In June I will attend some curriculum workshop days at my school.  I will have July COMPLETELY free, then will start with mentor and work days in early August.  
• Enjoy the pics of Colin as a 9 month old baby!

9 months old!  19.5 lbs, 28 in.

My Mother's Day present! :)

Crawler!

Our garden

A pic of me at 9 1/2 months

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day!

Congrats, Brooke!

Hook 'em horns!

Staying in the shade on the pool deck. :)

Storm clouds over our house