Beach time in FL!! First time in the ocean was a wee bit scary but Buddy settled into sun and sand beautifully after a few minutes.

Travels to FL were mercifully uneventful. Not too much sleep but Buddy made up for it with about 6 hours of nap time today. A 6:30pm bedtime was still in order. Loves sleep this one.

Visiting with Meme and Papa, Uncle John and Aunt Jenny, cousins Jake and Lily. Aunt Carrie comes today. We love the beach and we love family. To have them together is divine.

Travels

Dada chomping puffs.

Every day, we realize more and more how we don’t have a baby so much as a little boy. Buddy is growing into a patient, perceptive, playful little one.

Patient: I read that it’s developmentally healthy that Buddy is eager to express his opinions and desires. Humans are selfish and Buddy is no exception. He kinda wants what he wants when he wants it. That’s why about a month ago, he resolved to work on patience and gratitude. I’ll leave gratitude for later, but Buddy is trying to learn…

…That time between his bottle coming out of the warmer and his bottle hitting his little mouth is actually a timeframe he can survive. I mean, I realize that his little brain has a hard time comprehending the idea of 30 seconds. And I know that even though this routine has happened no less than 150 times in his life, it’s tough to process trends when you’re 10 months old. Still, patience is a virtue…so Buddy is working on it. And I have to say that as long as he has a binkie to tie him over during this tumultuous time, he has learned to not scream his head off every night prior to bottle hitting lips.

…That waiting on Mommy to rescue him in the morning is not reflective of her love and commitment to his wellbeing. Instead, it’s just that she has to put on pants, go to the restroom, and put his bottle in the warmer. Not in that order because clearly, the bottle is first.

Perceptive: No, he doesn’t understand everything we say, but he is starting to pick up on so much. For example, Buddy has figured out “nono.” We have tried to instill a sense of obedience and boundaries at an early age. No spoiled child here. And to ensure consistency: we chat about what is and isn’t off-limits and never, ever omit to nono when Buddy is into forbidden mischief. The only tricky thing is getting him to not laugh hysterically when we say nono.

At first, Eric thought it was my tone. My nonos were not stern enough. But it turns out that the sterner the nono, the more humorous to our little fella. That’s right: wanna get giggles from this baby, forget peekaboo. A good, stern nono will get you at least 5 minutes of hysteria.

Playful: (warning: no sarcasm in the following…seriously….i know it’s a shift, so I wanted to give notice.) Buddy is a blast. He loves his toys but more than toys, he loves being outside, banging on anything at all, playing with friends and family, and laughing at his uber-comic parents. (okay…a tad bit of sarcasm there.) He also loves climbing up and getting around. He isn’t walking, so he climbs up, decides he wants to be in a different spot, climbs down, scoots to new spot, climbs up…repeat…over and over and over and over again. Makes him so happy, even as the inefficiency of it all is flabbergasting. And on an up side: he is now crawling all fours instead of trench warfare style.

I should also mention that he loves his Zadies caregivers who have done so much to encourage his exploration and development. It warms my heart when I drop him off and he is so excited with smiles, giggles and hugs for his teachers. When I pick him up, he’s still so sweet to them and can almost tell them bye-bye!!!

One last thing…speaking of picking up Buddy from school…his reaction when we walk in the room is one of the best things in life. It may alone make all those sleepless nights worth it. Best thing ever. Heart melting. The ultimate heart thief, that little smile and squeal.

I realize all the time that it’s impossible to capture all the little baby Buddyisms in videos and pictures and blog posts. But his precious self is so full of moments that make our lives so rich. Love sharing a smidge of this joy with our family and friends.

Nine months!!  I can’t believe it.  Here are some moments from the past couple of months.  He changes so much…all the time!  He is so much fun and so happy.

Dada found me sitting up one morning in the crib!  I can sit up now!

Buddy’s cute little polo form Aunt Gayle and Uncle Skip.  So preppy.  We were hand-me-downs almost exclusively, so really excited to have new clothes every once in awhile.  Adorable.

Buddy’s first ride in the grocery cart…he was a little unstable actually.  Thanks, Meme for the cart cover!

March madness!  Go heels…but we were all very happy to see UConn to take the championship.  Great Grandpa Harry, Grandma, Great Uncle Dan, and Great Aunt Valerie are all Huskies.  It was a great win.  

How Buddy says, “I love you, Dad!”

Peekaboo with Aunt Katie and Uncle Jake…heading home from school.

We took a lovely family trip to Goshen yesterday.

Being the good parents we are, we hauled along about 50lbs of gear, including some very smart blinkie, noisy toys. Then Grandma brought out this delightful push and go truck that belonged to Eric. Buddy seemed to appreciate neither modern baby science nor classic vintage. Notwithstanding the many people eager to love, hug, coo, and peekaboo, there was no shortage of things to entertain; however, if focused attention is any indication, Bud’s hierarchy of preferred entertainment seems to be as follows:
1. His dirty sock

2. The pink bear Dan gave Kristen for valentines day, particularly yummy to taste

3. Grandpa’s buttons

Eric, Kristen, Kristen’s boyfriend Dan, and I went bowling while Grandma and Grandpa babysat. E got a personal best of 176 in game 1! And Kristen bowled a strike! Documented below – frame 2. Lest you look at the scores and think, “Wow, Katie! You’re terrible. And weren’t you in a bowling league in Moline?!” Please note: this is my second game where I more than doubled my score.

Buddy is getting better by the day at getting up on all fours and getting around. Unfortunately, he doesn’t always get where he is trying to go!

Buddy trying to get to E.