Preppy

Daddy did a good job dressing Gus this morning. He looked so cute and preppy and grown up that I had to snap a few photos.

Rainy Day

Gus has been making this 'Popeye' face lately. He bites his bottom lip and sucks on it. It is very adorable, but is making his lip and chin very raw. I have been putting baby lip salve on it, but it is still very sore.

Attacking mommy as she takes pictures for the blog.

He's cute even with bumps (from exploring), chapped chin (from drooling and biting his lip) and scratches (from clawing his own forehead- even though I cut his little nails often). With the birthmark in between his eyes paired with the bright red shirt to bring out the marks, it looks like the world is getting the best of him. Poor little fella, it must be hard being a growing, crawling, learning baby :)

Getting into mommy's scrapbooks.

The weather was warm today, in the 60s, but it has been gloomy and rainy all day. Yesterday Gus and I went for a walk and I wore shorts and a Tshirt as it was 70 and sunny. This weekend it will be snowy and in the 30s; I wish this Mother Nature would make up her mind already. This KS winter has been so upredictable.

Gus is as cute as ever. He is starting to figure out how to get back to the ground from standing. He still needs rescued most of the time, but this morning Josh and I noticed that he had gotten back down to the floor from cruising along the couch all by himself. He is an expert crawler and cruiser and seems to be more and more interested in trying to take a few steps. He has yet to do so, but seems like he is getting mentally ready for walking. He used to be really scared of the idea and refuse it completely, now at least he stands there looks and reaches for you when you try to get him to walk to you.

Gus and I are planning a quick trip to Des Moines this weekend to see Linny, Kenny and Brandon, as they have Lance and Steph's Bach party there, so I thought I'd go stay with them at their hotel. Gus will love the pool! I can hardly wait. I will try to get some pics to post next week.

Morning Bath

The last few days Gus has been rubbing his tongue along the roof of his mouth. Maybe it is teething, maybe not. Either way, it is cute.

Playing in his room

Everything goes to the mouth. He especially likes chewing on the shoes of his dolls. Basically anything with strings/laces.

He was so smiley this morning in his room that I had to try to get one of the two of us playing on his floor.

I had left him alone in this room for a few minutes and in the meantime he had pulled almost everthing off his little toy box, unplugged the radio (yikes!) and bent his nightlight sideways. Needless to say, he was no where near his toy box when I left the room. Just when you think you have everything babyproofed, you don't.

Gus has been adorable this morning. Kind of into everything, as is his usual these days, but very cute as well. He is such a handful lately, just always on the move. I was getting clothes out of his dresser this morning for him to wear so I strapped him onto his changing table, which I have been needing to do lately because he keeps trying to roll over and crawl off of it. I had my back to him for maybe 20 seconds and when I turned around, he had scooted out of the strap and was trying to stand on top of the table. I about had a heart attack. It was cute because he was only in a diaper, but it was scary too. I think that soon we may have to put the table away, as it is getting more and more difficult to get him to hold still on it.

He is getting so good at crawling now too. He no longer slowly creeps across the room, but instead he races across the floor like a little mouse. He is so fast! If you look away for a few seconds he will have raced across to the opposite side of the room in no time at all. It is nuts that two weeks ago he couldn't even crawl yet! He keeps chasing after Buster, and I am thinking that soon we will have a confrontation. Unfortunately for Buster, I will have to put my money on Gus :)

We put Buster's food and water in the basement as Gus kept crawling to it and we didn't think he would like cat food very much. Yesterday I was talking to my sister on the phone and I looked over and Gus had crawled over to a bowl of water that I had temporarily placed on the kitchen floor for Buster, and Gus was on all fours with his face in the bowl licking the water. It was kinda gross, but hilarious! Sometimes I think he thinks he is a cat like Buster; he makes sounds like Buster, tries to play with him and now mimics how Buster eats.

Everywhere

Cruising along his crib.

Gus is everywhere these days. It is amazing to see him be able to move to where he wants to go without my help, but it is also much more work than it used to be! He can crawl across the room, over pillows and toys and pull himself up, and cruise along just about everything. If only he could figure out how to get himself back down to the ground once he's standing :)

He is loving being able to eat by himself, although he is super messy, and he has been much more vocal this past week- even a little whiney. He makes little 'ugh' ugh' sounds and reaches for items that he wants. He makes the 'mamama' and 'dadada' sounds a lot more, although it is yet to be determined if there is any meaning behind it. He is also starting to learn what words mean. If you ask him where his ball is, when it is across the room from him, he will turn and look at it and even crawl to it. His development intrigues me more and more each day.

Oh where oh where did my little baby go.

Kacy, Andi and Gus

Gus helping Daddy fix the broken dishwasher. He kept crawling after Josh into the kitchen. It is just one thing after another. Josh thinks he got it to the point where it stops leaking water when we use it, but just to be safe, we will probably use it at a minimum.

Uncle Steve and Gus sharing a beer before bedtime :)


Kacy wrestling with Gus. He loved it!


Kacy was great at making Gus laugh- and by the looks of this picture, almost tip over in excitement!










Kacy took this picture of Gus. She enjoys playing with the camera.



Playtime with Aunt Trish.

The Spratt's came to KC to visit some friends this weekend and stopped by on Saturday afternoon and stayed with us that night. They had to get on the road early Sunday morning, so that Kacy could make it to swimming lessons later that day, but we still had fun visiting with them. The girls had fun playing with Gus, and his toys, and Kacy in particular took much interest in Gus. He loved the attention! He showed off his new skill of crawling, which mommy was very proud of.

Monday night Gus ate his first official, totally unassisted meal. It took more patience from me than I knew I had. He ate green beans, cheese chunks, and those gross little Gerber meat sticks (which he loves). He had puffs and apple juice and ate 99 % of it all by himself (I had to pick up his sippy cup every once in a while when he would throw it on the floor). Such a little man- hardly a baby anymore.

Happy Valentine's Day (tomorrow!)

Awake and on the Prowl

So I heard Gus crying a few minutes ago and I went to check on him. As is his new normal the last few days, he was standing up in his crib and 'stuck' cause he wasn't sure what he should do next. So I brought him with me to work on the compter a little, and he keeps crawling to me. I put him as far away from me as I can, surrounded by a mountain of toys, and he keeps crawling to my chair and standing up. He thinks it is just hilarious. He is quite the explorer these days.

9 Month Appointment

Gus had his 9 month well-baby check up this morning. Both Josh and I were able to make it. We have switched pediatricians, so this was our second appointment with Dr. Filardi, and she was great. This was the first time Josh had met her, or been to the new office.

Gus weighed in at just under 22 pounds, so he is in the 75th percentile of babies his age. Luckily, he is starting to slim down a little, so he is no longer off the charts! He height was 28 inches, so he is in the 50 percentile for that, which is about where he always is, if not a little shorter. And his head circumference was in the 75th, at 18 1/4 inch. He had always been in the 25th for head size before, so his head is apparently starting to catch up to his body.

Luckily he did not have to have any vaccinations this morning, but he did have the follow-up influenza booster. He also had to have his finger pricked to check for anemia, which we should know the results of in a few days.

He has hit all the milestones he was supposed to have hit. He wasn't sure about all the instruments Dr. Filardi was using on him, but he was a trooper. He is napping now, as the appointment really wore him out.

All he wants to do it crawl!

Well, that's not all he wants to do (he is still very far from mastering the art of crawling)... He also wants to eat things he is not supposed to eat, take a nap, cry, have snot run down his face, make dirty diapers, play with his toys, laugh at his silly mommy... but when I want to take his Valentine's Day picture... all he wants to do is crawl over to me!

Gus can crawl!

It's official: Gus can crawl! When I picked him up from daycare this afternoon, he was crawling! He crawled about 8 or so feet over to me! My heart melted and I nearly cried. He is such a big boy!

Another Sunny Weekend

Gus' first time playing at the park today! We stopped by during our walk around the neighborhood.

He seemed to have fun, but was very interested in watching the bigger kids playing.

Riding his scooter this morning. It is so cute. He plays with the steering wheel, ignition and other little buttons like he is really trying to drive.

Getting ready for bed on Friday night.

Buster was also pretty tired and ready for bed.

Gus loved when daddy would 'zoom' him around the living room on his scooter. He constantly looked like he was going to fall off, but was able to hang of for dear life.

Trying to walk with his little scooter. He doesn't have much for balance yet so it gets going ahead of him just a little too quickly for now. He likes to sit on it though, and scoot backwards (yes, it's not only crawling; he apparently even refuses to go forward on toys!).

Sitting in the grass in the front yard on Friday afternoon.

Loving the warm weather.

Yep, this wall's pretty sturdy!

He kept trying to reach over and play in the mulch.

It is just crazy to have such nice weather in February! It will get cold again soon, I am sure, but the last few days in KC have been record breaking. Just beautiful. I hear that, for those of you in Iowa, you have had much warmer than usual weather as well.

We enjoyed the nice weather by grilling last night, and we plan to grill again this evening when Josh gets off work. Gus and I have been enjoying the last few days by spending as much time as possible outside. He still has a relentless little cold, but I think the fresh air is good for him.

Tomorrow we plan to keep moving ahead on the basement. We are going to buy more mud, tape and a few other things, and I am going to start helping out more down there. Josh hates to work on it alone, and even thought I have no idea what I am doing, I am willing to learn. Hopefully this Spring we can get it done. No- not hopefully. We will. Our tax return is already earmarked for the basement :)

Gus goes to the doctor on Thursday morning for his 9 month well baby check up. I am anxious to see how much he weighs, and to find out a little bit about baby vitamins, as he isn't taking as many bottles as he used to and I just want to be certain he is getting all the nutrients he needs from baby/table food.

Sunny Day

We went for a walk outside this afternoon, since it was in the 60's. Gus fell asleep halfway through the walk. And, look, I found his hat and mittens! Yay!

Eating his mixed vegetables. Yummy!

A sly little smile after his nap.

Gus loves bananas, even if they aren't mashed and in his cereal!





















We put the play yard up this morning. Gus can't walk, but he does crawl every direction but forward. He also tries to pull himself up on everything he can reach. This helps us contain him a little better. And once he gets moving a little quicker, it will protect Buster from him!

Gus peeking at mommy over his 'fence.'