9 month check-up

Last week on March 17th, Hunter had his 9 month well check. He is a growing, healthy little boy. He weighed 21.3 lbs, (60%) and is 29 inches long (75%). His eyes are a beautiful blue. Dr. Ben doesn't seem to think they will change anymore. Dr. Ben said he's doing great!

Hunter has started crawling. He can now get from one place to another with no problem! He also about a week ago started pulling up on things. 1st place he learned to pull up was in his pack n' play. Now, he wants to pull up on everything. Wow, our world is changing. :) He has just cut his 6th tooth ( 4 on top and 2 on the bottom), along with catching his 1st cold. BOO!

I'm pretty sure tonight he clapped, but I'll have to see if it continues, or it was just my imagination. He is a pretty quiet baby. A little babble, but not much. He loves to laugh and be tickled. Wow, the boy has some tickle stops!

Hunter loves to be read to at night. I mean the couple of times we have put him to bed without stories he has cried and cried until we went in, read him 3 books, then put him back to bed. (no tears after that). We have been reading to him nightly since he was about 4/5 months old. He also loves to be sung to. Really anything, but ones he probably hears a lot are Wheels on the Bus and Itsy, Bitsy Spider.

We have introduced the sippy cup, and he is very slowly getting the hang of it. He might get a few sips a night of water out of his cup. He stills needs practice! We have also been giving him baby puffs (finger foods). He can pick them up no problem, but then that's it. Allie shoved one his his mouth the other night and he gagged until it dissolved and he sallowed it. (when Allie was a baby she gagged and gagged until finally getting used to food) I haven't been giving him puffs lately, because his cold was so bad.

We love him so much. He is so sweet, hardly ever cries even if he's tired, just goes with the flow. I really can't believe my little baby is already 9 months old. I love every minute I get to spend with him.

St. Louis - Here we come!

Brian has been traveling a lot lately, so when one of his trips was to St. Louis, we decided to all go! A big selling factor was that he was staying at a Harrah's casino. Now, we knew kids aren't allowed at the poker tables, but figured we could each manage some time playing at some point, right??

I'll start off a few days before we actually left on our trip. Allie came down with a cold and cough. Now when she gets sick, she's just miserable, and doesn't sleep great, therefore neither do we. She had been SO excited about this trip, because we got to do 2 things she loves, which are fly on an airplane, and stay in a hotel. Brian and I were disappointed she felt so bad, but medicated her up, and off to the airport we went!

Hunter wondering...where are we going?

This trip was Hunter's 1st airplane ride. Allie also flew right around 9 months old on her 1st flight and we were hoping he would live up to his sister's great airplane behavior.....and he did! He was awesome on the flight and slept most of it. Can't ask for more. Allie as always was good too, but the air pressure got to her more, probably due to her cold. We arrived in St. Louis, and got our 2 rental cars (one for Brian's work, one for us) and headed to the hotel. We had upgraded our room, which was great, because we needed the space with 2 kids. Hunter played a little, then he was off to bed. Allie enjoyed being in the hotel room, then she too was off to bed.

Hunter's 1st plane ride

The next day while Brian was at work, we headed to The City Museum in downtown St. Louis. It was a neat place, and Allie enjoyed herself. She felt a little better, so that was good. Hunter did awesome, just hanging out in his stroller. I did find out on this trip that Hunter really only likes to nap in his bed. He never relaxed and slept in his stroller and was not a fan of the hotels pack n' play for naptime either. Therefore he had VERY LITTLE naptime on our trip, and still was an angel. After the kids museum, we headed back to the hotel, for what I hoped was a little nap time for Hunter and to wait for Brian to finish for the day. Well, we waited for Brian, but Hunter did not nap! Brian had told Allie he had a surprise for her when he got back, and that was going to have dinner and play games at Dave and Busters. She LOVES this place. Hunter was great there too...but I can imagine he must have been really tired. That night, Brian said I should go down and play some cards. So, I took advantage and hit the casino for 3 hrs. It was so nice to play poker and I even won a little cash.

Allie painting of a turtle. Awesome job!

Just hanging out while Allie plays!

Face painting...

Allie and Hunter both got to play in the sponge area.

The next day we had to check out, so the kids and I headed back downtown to Union Station, where there are a few shops and places to eat. Brian was going to meet us there at lunch, then we were all going to the St. Louis Arch. Well, both kids feel asleep in the car, and I just sat in the parking lot and let them sleep for almost an hour. They needed it. Once we ate, we all headed to the Arch. Unfortunately, the tickets to the top of the Arch had already been sold out for the day, but Allie still had a great time. She wanted to take off her shoes and socks and sit in the grass, and that's what we did! It was a beautiful day. Then we headed back to the airport. Allie was feeling good and enjoyed watching her movie on the way home, and Hunter played and played on the plane, then took a little snooze.

It was a fun, and also tiring trip! I guess that's how vacations are with 2 little ones. I'm so happy that we are able to travel some with Brian and that the kids get to experience new places. Enjoy the pictures!