Late October/Early November Pictures

Finally posting pictures from late October/Early November - just as Johnny was turning 9 months old. He was getting really good at pulling up and starting to cruise all over the place. The simplest toys are really the ones he likes the best, and he loves chasing the cat - always the best entertainment!

Enjoy!

Late October Early November 2009

Also - this video is from the bath on Christmas day - he loves the bath!

Christmas Card Attempts

I tried to take pictures Friday night and this morning for a Christmas Card. Hmm... I'm definitely not a photographer! Maybe I'll get some better ones later in the day. If he was sitting still, he was playing with something and not looking up, but if I got his attention, he wanted to play with me and play "chase"!

Christmas Card Attempts

Two videos from late October/early November

Photos to come soon! These are pretty funny. The first shows just how tolerant Sunny is of Johnny's "petting", and then the second one was taken by Andrew and Grammy (Andrew's Mom) . Go Pack!

November 17th - Silliness and clapping hands!

Andrew is off in LA this week for work, and Johnny and I have been doing pretty good flying solo, although I know Johnny misses Daddy - because I'm not nearly as funny! Mimi comes to visit today, and that will be great! Johnny is really starting to bear weight more and more on his legs, and will even walk a little bit if you hold his hands. He has total confidence - he doesn't flinch if he's standing and you start to let go of him! He has also started sticking out his tounge and this weekend he started clapping his hands, which is so cute.

He loves wind and that sort of thing - and he sort of gasps with pleasure when it hits him. He has figured out how to turn on his humidifier in his room, and he loves that because of the breeze it makes! On Sunday night before bed, I had already done the bath and the PJ's, and was laying out his clothes. I had already turned on the humidifier, and he started crawling back and forth in front of the humidifier and gasping and giggling as he raced back and forth. It was the funniest thing!

Grandma's 100th Birthday and Halloween 2009!

October 29th was my Grandma Dodge's 100th birthday! We flew out that afternoon out of RDU to go visit her, and to go to the surprise party that my Aunts and Uncles and Mom and Dad had been planning! Johnny did great on the trip, especially considering the layover, pressure changes, and long drive from the Airport. The only problem we had was that he didn't want to sleep when we finally got to the hotel! Bryan drove us to the bed and breakfast from the airport .

On Friday, we went out to visit with Grandma, and Aunt Peggy, Uncle Gaylon, Uncle Billy, and Aunt Barbara. We headed out there after Johnny woke up from his morning nap. That was great because we really had time to visit with everyone! Also, Robin, her husband, Jason, thier son Asa, and David and Kelly Raulerson were there. Thomas, Asa, and Johnny had a good time playing with each other, and we were all impressed when Grandma went crawling after Johnny. Johnny was definitely a fan of his GiGi!

That night we enjoyed dinner with Mom's cousin Sharon, her husband John, and their daughter Ellen. We had some fantastic shrimp, corn and squash soup, and some amazing crab salad! Thomas and Johnny had a great time exploring their house!

On Saturday was the party, and we spent the morning getting ready for that. The party was great! Great food, and lots of fun people. Mom had put out lots of pictures and articles and yearbooks about Grandma and the Waits family, and that was lots of fun. We had a great time talking to everyone, and I think Grandma really enjoyed it.

That night we dressed up all the kids, Thomas, Asa, and Johnny, and took them trick-or-treating! That was great fun! It took us a little while to find the best street to knock on doors, but eventually we found some great places. There were lots of houses with really amazing decorations! That night it was po-boys, which were so good.

Early on Sunday morning we said goodbye to Bryan, Christy and Thomas as they headed out to fly home. Mimi, Gramps, Johnny, Andrew and I all went to Church with Grandma. After a party at the church and some lunch, Dad drove Johnny, Andrew and I to the NO airport. The trip home went as well as the trip there, and Johnny even stayed asleep when we transferred him from his car seat to the crib when we got home!

Pictures from the trip:

Grandma's 100th Birthday and Halloween 2009!

Finally - pictures from late September/October!

Finally took the time to post the pictures from late September and early October! During this time, Johnny got faster at crawling and better and better at pulling up. He loves all sorts of silly games, and loves to be chased and all the variations on peek-a-boo. He also loves to open and close cabinets and drawers.

Late September Early October

Also, pictures from Meggan's shower! I loved having the honor of throwing Meggan a shower - we are so excited to meet their daughter, who will be arriving any day now! The shower was at Meggan and Kevin's beautiful home.

Meggan's Shower

New tooth!

OK - I have a ton of stuff I want to put out here, but I haven't had time to get it all out here at once, so I figured something was better than nothing! Johnny got his 2nd tooth this weekend! We had some night waking, bad naps and fussiness last week, and weren't totally sure what was going on until Andrew saw the new tooth peeking through on Friday morning!

He has also begun to "let go" with one hand or even both after he pulls up!

His eczema that he broke out with last week is better, and I'm trying some of the foods that I think might have caused it slowly again to figure out what it might have been. He got over his fever on Tuesday night and seems to be doing much better - thanks so much to Grammy for coming up Tuesday to keep him! Thanks to Mimi and Gramps for keeping him last weekend while I got things ready for Meggan's baby shower!

He LOVEs the cat, and so far we've managed to avoid any tragedies. Sunny has been surprisingly tolerant, or stays out of his way!

We are working on getting him a new "convertible" car seat, as the straps on the infant one are starting to get pretty tight. We got one that we are going to test out for a week or so, and see how that goes! If we decide it's not so great, then it may become our "spare".

Andrew and I have been really busy with work this past week, and with having to miss some work with Johnny being sick that made it more hectic. I've been trying to "catch up" this weekend, and hopefully this week will be somewhat of a turning point in the semester. I'm giving an exam tomorrow - so today will be dedicated to writing that!

Andrew and Casey aereated about 6 yards yesterday morning (ours and then some neighbors in both neighborhoods) and I think they actually made money doing it! They also went, along with Dennis and Jim to the Aviator Brewing Company at the north end of Fuquay for a tour yesterday afternoon. Apparently they have an amazing controls system. Johnny and I ran a few errands in the morning, played some, did some chores, and took a nice walk to downtown Fuquay and Stick Boy Bakery in the afternoon. I had planned to get some hot chocolate or something since it was so cold, but by the time we got there, I was hot and so I had a raspberry Italian soda instead! I also worked some throughout the day when he was content playing. Andrew cooked an awesome dinner last night - marinated grilled chicken, fried okra and squash combo, and greens. Yum!

Andrew's teaching Sunday School this morning, but is feeling a bit under the weather. We had planned to make it to Babies R Us to look at car seats this afternoon, but we may not make it, between him not feeling so good, and me needing to work. Not sure! More updates on the family reunion, U2 concert, and Meggan's shower to come this week, hopefully!