9 Months

Today Raleigh is 9 months old, but seems to us to act more like a 2 year old.  He's at a stage where if he doesn't get what he wants, he sticks out his lower jaw, shows his bottom teeth, closes his eyes and whines.  For example, if I'm working at the computer, he'll crawl over, pull himself up, hold onto the armrest and whine until I put him on my lap.  I laugh and love this little attitude, but I could definitely see it becoming a problem down the road.

Here are a few things about our sweet boy...

- He loves to dance/listen to music.  He started a little music class at Redmond Town Center this week that he'll go to every week with my mom for a few months.

- He grinds/clenches his teeth and it drives his dad crazy.

- He loves his new play area we built for him a couple of weeks ago and will play alone, but would prefer for Steve or I to play with him.

- He's a wonderful eater.  However, he had fresh blueberries for the first time yesterday, loved them, but got a horrible diaper rash. 

- He still wakes up a couple of times each week in the middle of the night, but we're in the process of letting him cry it out and it seems to be working.

- He loves to go out to dinner with us.  He sits in the highshare and waves at everyone around us.

- He says dada, baba, gaga...haven't really heard a mama yet, but I"m sure it's coming soon.

- He crawls and pulls himself up onto everything.  He has stood by himself for a split second, but will immedialy grab onto to something close by.  He'll fall down and pull himself right back up...he seems to be a pretty tough kid.

- He'll let anyone hold him.  Separation anxiety usually starts at about 8 or 9 months, but we haven't seen it yet.

- The other day we were outside in the sun and I thought his hair looked gray and panicked for a second.  I looked closer and his roots are coming in blonde.

This afternoon before his nap I took a few photos of Raleigh in one of my very favorite sweaters.  As you can see from his eyes, he was on the verge of falling asleep and was out about 2 minutes after these were taken.

We Love you Raleigh John!

SNOMG...Snowmageddon...Winter Freeze

Whatever you want to call it, it was the real deal of winter storms.  By the end of my 4 day lockdown, I felt like I was trapped in the twilight zone and on the verge of losing my mind.  Thankfully, I was able to work from home Tues, Wed, Thurs and Fri and Steve was conveniently scheduled to do a remodel on a home next door so life wasn't too difficult.  Raleigh had a horrible cold all week so I'm glad I was able to be with him, but it was tough holding him on my lap, talking on the phone with a co-worker and writing an email all at the same time.  Unfortunately, we didn't spend much time outside, but below are a few photos to re-cap my week.

Here are a few things that I learned this week...

- I am EXTRA thankful for Raleigh's weekly caregivers - my mom, my mother in law and the fabulous Miss Ali.  It is a tough job watching a very active baby all day.
- As much as I thought I wanted to be a stay at home mom, I'm not quite ready. However, I desperately wish that I could be a part-time/stay at home mom.
- I must get out of the house at least once a day.
- Power outages with a baby make me a little nervous (thankfully ours was only out for 3 hours).
- I need/want new snow clothes.
- If you pull a plastic sled with a baby, they'll immediately tip over.
- The NoseFrida is a lifesaver!  If you're a new mom, going to become a mom soon or have a baby with a cold, you must invest in this contraption...it seems gross, but it's worth for your baby to breath.
- Raleigh needs a mouth-guard...he grinds his teeth on and off ALL.DAY.LONG - any one have a remedy?

Below is a little video of Mr. Raleigh from this week...

Weekend Update

Yesterday we spent the day downtown...we parked at Pike Place Market and walked around for a couple of hours, enjoyed lunch at Beechers, shopped and then happy hour with my parents at rn74 - great ambiance, excellent drinks (Steve had a "shot and a beer" which was a Rainier in a beer coozie with a shot of Fernet Branca), and better food.  Afterwards, I dropped Steve off at the Thuderbirds game and Raleigh and I came home to snuggle on the couch.

Today, I ran errands, Steve worked around the house and Raleigh attempted to get in to everything he's not supposed to touch...we're still working on the baby-proofing.  Along with putting cords, cell phones and tv remotes in his mouth, he's on the verge of eating us out of house and and home.  I also think he's already trying to figure out how to talk back to me.  But, whenever he looks at me with his sweet baby blues and smiles his big smile, my hearts melts all over again. 

Just before sunset tonight we went down to the park and took a few photos...he's my favorite model.