Compassion

Carly is 3 in every sense of the imagination.  At times this can be a lot of fun, and at other times it can drive me completely batty.  Today was a moment when I thought - she really will grow up to a a FABULOUS adult.

I seem to have contracted an infection in the tissue of my right thumb - causing quite a bit of pain.  This morning while out running I decided it was time to call the doctor.  So at 8:00am while preparing her breakfast I was also on the phone trying to schedule an appointment for myself.  The receptionist asked how quick I could be there after hearing about my thumb and told me to come on.  This gave me 20 minutes to get both kids dressed, packed up (breakfast and entertainment), in the car, and to the office.  Typically trying to doing anything quickly with Carly backfires are results in turtle pace.  Not today.  She moved and didn't argue that her Cheerios were being poured into one of David's new snack savor cups to be enjoyed in the car.

Carly's awesomeness and real compassion then came out when we got home.  After about an hour of playing it was time for David's nap.  While at home I began to feel really cruddy and tired, so after putting David down I told Carly I wanted to go upstairs and lie down for a few moments while David napped.  She asked if I would please lie down on the sofa instead.  Not feeling like having an argument with her, I complied.  She then covered me up with a blanket and patted my head.  She asked if I wanted a baby doll and immediately ran upstairs to get me one of her absolute favorite dolls.  After tucking the doll in my arms, Carly then began to pat my head and tell me "its okay mommy, you'll feel better soon."  Which is exactly what I needed to hear.  She then actually let me rest in quiet for David's entire 45 minute nap!

9 Month Well Visit

Today David Jr had his 9 month well visit.  Everything checked out great.  He weighed in at 20 pounds, 5 ounces (just below the 50%ile).  And was 29.5 inches long - 90%ile (time for a new carseat) with a head circumference of 18 inches (just above the 50%ile).

Waffles (vegan style)

Introducing "table food" has me slightly nervous with David Jr. due to this food challenges.  I am still avoiding dairy, egg, peanut butter, and crab because we know that when I eat these foods it upsets his tummy.  However, we were sent home from the allergist when he was 4 months old with an Epi-pen as a precaution since we were going to begin introducing baby cereal and pureed foods.  So today I started making breakfast - waffles.  While mixing up my dairy and egg free batter I decided David Jr. was going to get to try it today.  So away we went and it was a success!  He really enjoyed it and ate about a 3 inch square piece.  About half way through breakfast I realized that I had made today's waffles with almond milk and quit breathing for about a second in fear.  Almond milk can't be consumed by someone with tree nut allergies and tree nuts were something we were supposed to avoid until at least his first birthday.  OOPS!  Thankfully, he showed no signs of a reaction and was reaching for more pieces of waffles.  At least we now know he can also handle baked almond milk.

9 Months

Its hard to imagine that David Jr is already 9 months old.  He is doing really well with his eating and really enjoys Cheerios, although he isn't feeding them to himself yet.  He is also a very quick crawler and has taken to pulling himself up to a standing position any chance he gets.  He is cruising our furniture, but is not overly interested in it.  He is interested in exploring our house and will regularly leave his toys in the family room to join me in the kitchen at meal prep times.  He really enjoys playing with Duplo blocks, anything that makes noise, and whatever Carly is interested in at the moment.

I am really enjoying watching David and Carly's evolving interactions and the thrill they have for each other.  She can't wait to see him and talk to him in the morning and his eyes light up when he first hears her voice, but can't quite see or locate her yet.

Speedy

Tonight after Carly rode her tricycle complete around our neighborhood loop (0.8 miles), David came home to show off just how speedy he can be.  Over the past few days he has been scooting or army crawling through our family room, well tonight he decided to pick up his belly and GO!  This method of traveling is quicker for him and he is proud of it.  He has also become quite accomplished in going from a crawling position to a sitting position, and will applaud himself for such an accomplishment (Carly actually applauded herself on this accomplishment too at this age).

David is also taking a much greater interest in pulling himself up and standing up.  While walk is still quite a ways off, I think he is interested on beginning to work towards this skill.  A handful of times he pushed himself off from my hands or another object while standing, would stand for a second, then plop down on his bottom.  Fussing would then commence because he was sitting and no longer standing.

David's ability to  move quicker now, desire to stand and pull up, and his LOVE for all cords and cables is going to make life quite interesting now.  Thankfully, Carly loves to give me a play-by-play of EVERYTHING her brother is doing - so he can't get into too much mischief at the moment.

Melts My Heart

Today after Carly's nap I was combing her hair and placing a bow in it when she looked at me and said, "Mommy, you are the best." Those words were the best words I have ever heard in my entire life!

Really Moving Now...

This morning I put David down in the middle of the family room floor and stepped out of the room to switch the laundry from the washing machine to the dryer.  I could hear him getting frustrated, and assumed he was just trying to move towards a particular toy.  I walked back into the room and realized I was greatly mistaken.  David had moved (I'm not sure if it was a crawl or scoot) to our love seat.  He then proceeded to pull himself up and was happily cruising the length of the love seat when I walked into the room.  He looked up at me, gave me a HUGE smile, and then continued on his way.  I was so excited, raced to get my phone and call Dave.  My bubble deflated slightly when he responded with, "Oh! I forgot to tell you, he did that last night while you were at church."

I Like to Move It, Move It...

... I Like to Move It, Move It.  Move It!  This song lyric - made famous in the movie Madagascar describes our son best!  David unfortunately spent a LONG time in the frustrated non-crawler stage.  He would try to move but would only go backwards or spin around.  Well, that all changed today and he is THRILLED!  He currently doesn't look like the traditional crawler, but rather like he is snaking himself under barbed wire or a fence of some sort.  He has a LOW belly army crawl going on and has become quiet efficient in it since after lunch time today.  When he wasn't busying army crawling around this afternoon and evening he was getting up on his knees and arms and rocking.  He would then propel himself forward and begin his army crawl.  He has also begun trying to pull himself up on furniture after crawling towards it.  Dave even found him sitting this evening after crawling towards the sofa.  Needless to say we will be quite busy tomorrow re-baby proofing the house and lowering the crib.  Let the fun begin!!

Soccer

Carly had her first soccer practice today!  There were a total of 3 kids in the group.  The two boys were unfortunately not quite as cooperative as Carly, nor quite as good at listening.  Carly was very, very excited about today and immediately clammed up once we joined her group.  She spoke very softly and followed most of her coach's directions.  The group worked on trapping, dribbling, and kicking the ball.  They even attempted to dribble it around an obstacle course made with bean bags.  Unfortunately, one of the boys will not be returning next week - he made it quite clear that he wanted to do basketball instead, so her groups will be quite small.  Which will be good as she ventured out of her shell more and more around her new coach.

Carly's Perception...

At breakfast today Carly asked me what I wanted for Christmas.  I informed her that Christmas was pretty far off and listed just a handful of the birthdays our family would be celebrating between today and Christmas.  To which she responded, "Then what do you want for your birthday?"  I told that I thought she, her dad, and her brother were going to get me a new bike so that I could start riding more like her daddy does.  She then told me "no."  And that apparently I am too short to ride a bike like daddy's.  But they could get me one and when I grow to be a little taller like daddy, then I could start riding it.  (A very similar conversation was had between her and Dave this weekend - minus the statement about going ahead and buying her a bike now.)