The Great Outdoors

Hiking in Sullivan Canyon.

Halloween!

Lobster Boy!

Soooo Big!

Pumpkin Patch!

Mack at his first "Harvest Festival" at Underwood Family Farms.

Buddies

These two are going to cause some serious trouble together. Mack at 10.5 months and Booker Webb at 8.5 months.

You First

Mouthy

Fall Fun

Helping out Mommy in the kitchen.


My furry baby trying out the new living room chair.

Who's That Guy?

New Ground

So its not technically pictures of the little guy but he was definitely the impetus behind our new yard. We are so excited to have grass for him to play on and new boxes along the side of the house that we can plant together. Our thanks to Keegan Roehr who whipped it all into shape in just 2 days and kept our entire yard filled with beautiful plants that are native to California (except for the sod).

fruity

9 months

I'm not exactly sure how 3/4 of a year has passed by. It does indeed fly by. My little man drags himself (and fast) across the floor army style and nearly crawls, pushes himself up to sitting and grabs everything within his reach. He laughs, smiles and if you're lucky he'll even give you a kiss. He cackles out loud at the book "Goodnight Gorilla", still loves to lay on his back and kick his legs like crazy and eats like a champ. He also prompts his Dad and I to say "how did we get so lucky" nearly every day.

Catch Up

I've been a lazy blogger as of late. The above pictures are of Mack and Mommy at the Palisades 4th of July 10K. Mack and Daddy at the The Coop for Alex Morrison's 3rd birthday party and of Mack in the tub (notice the lower tooth).

Out on the Town

Mack at our favorite burger joint "The Counter". This is his first experience sitting in a high chair at a restaurant...aside from throwing a few sweet potato fries, he did great!

The Tooth Fairy

This past weekend we were lucky to have Mack's GranJudy in town for a visit. She manages to be here for all of Mack's fun milestones (his first smile was definitely at her and now this) Friday, the little guy seemed incredibly unhappy about something which was when I noticed a little purple spot on his lower gum... his first tooth was slowly coming to the surface.

The next day we put Mackie in the car and headed up north to Carpenteria to visit Uncle Mike and low and behold come Sunday morning a little tiny white tooth had poked its way through his gum.

I'll miss his gummy smile and his inability to bite me. And, oh my, am I a fan of Children's tylenol.

My Own 2 Feet

It's official... Mack discovered his feet this week. I've never seen anyone so happy and pleased.

Mother's Day

For Mother's Day this year Mack gave me a wonderful gift... last night when I set him in his crib wide awake he watched me walk out of the room, closed his eyes and went to sleep without a peep. It seems the sleep training is finally settling in and that the little guy has learned to put himself to sleep.
Last Sunday night at 12:30am I tried rocking him, nursing him, swaddling him, singing to him, walking with him but he would not stop crying and go to sleep, so I laid him gently in his crib, grabbed my blanket and pillow from the bed and set up shop on the sofa prepared for a long night of him "crying it out". Miraculously, he only cried for 45 minutes and slept until the morning. For the past week I have coined myself the sleep Nazi. I'm sure I don't need to mention how difficult it is to hear your baby crying in the other room and consciously decide to not go to him... it goes against everything that your heart is telling you. The saddest part is that Mack has now made himself hoarse from "sleep learning". However, after all this crying and heartbreaking I have a baby who has now taught himself to close his tiny eyes and drift off to sleep.
It's funny though, for weeks all I wanted was a night of peaceful sleep and now I find myself missing holding him at 3:30am in his nursery. I miss feeling like there was no one else in the world but us and I would wait a little too long to put him back in his crib so that I could watch him sleep in my arms for a few more minutes.

The Amazing Kazia

Mack's amazing sitter Kazia (a fellow Louisvillian) is an amazing child photographer and took these pics of Mack. The complete adoration that you see in Mack's eyes is because he is desperately in love with her. Thank you Kazia... (check Kazia's work out at www.pictureyourkidsasart.com)

Sweet Baby

Mr. Mouth

playing in my new exer-saucer.

My Buddy

Mack with my friend Shannon's baby Booker Martin... only 2 months apart.

Solid

Early experiments with Rice Cereal.