Cheesy Poofs

This breaks my heart to watch. He is growing up so much! He saw me eating a snack today and started smacking his lips so I gave him some of his cheese puffs (they are made by Gerber for him). He has a tough time picking them up, but if I help him do it correctly, he can. I love how he chews.

They say its your birthday

We are so far behind.  Sorry!  A few weekends ago, we celebrated Art's Great Grandmother's 89th birthday! 

No one was paying attention to the camera.  Art was done with camera altogether.

Nanny and her sister, Kathleen, both celebrate their birthdays about a week apart!

Art in his pjs laughing at Aunt Ilene

Brian now parts Art's hair down the side.  It does look cute, but it is funny because it is done the same as Brian's.

We hung up Art's monogram finally.  This was a gift from his Godmother and was hand painted in Texas by one of her friends to match our decorating!

I made a diaper cake for my sister-in-law's shower. He rolled around like a cat with a ball of string.

I rolled up almost 100 diapers.

Placed them together to look like tiers of a cake.

Waalaaa.  Here's the finished product at the house.  Check back to see it at the shower.

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We went to the park again with more friends.  This is Art with Gwyn and Joey.

Hanging out and Gwyn was temporarily blinded by the sun.

Just focusing on a toy that makes car sounds.

The week in pictures

We did pretty well this week with keeping track of our activities.  We are lucky to have so many new and old friends to be a part of our lives with him.

On Monday, we stopped by Catherine's place to see her new addition.  She adopted a 8 month old puppy that she named Piper.  Yay for pet adoption and giving a homeless pet a loving place!

The puppy has as much energy as Morgan and is absolutely adorable.  Art loves dogs so we had to see her!

Afterwards, we did dinner at Felini's.  Mmmm, pizza...

On Tuesday we had an event with the Hip Mommies (my meetup group is Hip Mommies, Happy Babies).  It was a gorgeous day and we were able to do lunch at Grant Park in downtown Atlanta.  Spring is just around the corner!

Cameron (the 13 month old) decided to photo bomb and snuck in the picture.  Just kidding! She's the only walker of the group and her mom was taking a picture of us.  She happened to be strolling by.  

Everyone thinks Art is wearing a Seminoles hat.  No way, Jose! The real fans know the difference though. Because he wore this hat, I found another mom in the group that is from Great Falls and was born in Fairfax, VA!

I love digital cameras.  We took tons of St. Patrick's Day photos.  I can't believe the dog stood still.

Isn't this adorable?

We went to Little Gym on Wednesday.  Some people were dressed up, but it wasn't as festive as I thought it would be.  I get smiles when he rolls around, too!

  

Here's us getting ready for bed. He looks chub-a-lub in this photo.

I played tennis on Thursday morning.  Since we were up at the tennis courts, we got some time in at the swing.  I thought we'd try putting them in the swing together. It went well, but I think they got a little bored.

On Friday, we met up with some more people at a park nearby.  This is the first that we have hung out with people in our neck of the woods.  I am excited to go to the park more often when it gets nice outside. Of course, we forgot a hat, but luckily we were in the shade. 

This is our good luck charm for the tournament.  It worked on Friday!

Here's the punkin getting ready for bed.  He was excited to hold his pjs.

Here's Dad giving him a kiss. He is so happy.

I caught this one during the week.  They love each other! Morgan really loves to lick!

Sippy Cups

We have gone through so many of these because he hasn't grasped the concept and they all work differently.  The one that works the best for learning now is Munchkin brand and is in the above picture.  This is the 3rd one we've purchased!

The first one is in the picture shown above.  I think it is Gerber.  The handles wouldn't even match up straight so he could hold it properly.  Maybe that's why it was on clearance.  

We don't have a picture of it, but Gigi and Papa Jim have the Nuby brand.  I don't really remember how that one worked.

Here is the Thermos brand that we bought second. Nicely made, but it really takes some work to get liquid out.

The first two weren't conducive to learning, but we will use them once he understands how to suck.
He likes to chew on the spout part and since they were a little too spill proof, he didn't get the concept.  The Munchkin one is spill proof, but once he bites the end, it will leak a little into his mouth.  He understands then that liquid does come out and actually tries to work for it.  If I hold it in his mouth, he will suck on it.

As I type right now, he is rolling around with it in his mouth and using it as a rattle!

You can't have a bad day with this one...

Hopefully this gets you ready for the weekend. I have combined 3 laughing videos for your viewing pleasure!

The second clip is probably my favorite. Last weekend he was eating blueberries and yogurt and was trying to grab Brian's jacket. It looked like he wanted to wipe his nasty face on it. The dog also decided to sound off in the video.

Part II of Week to Remember

Wednesday, I had a dentist's appointment.  One of the odd things about me is that I love going to the dentist.  It is so wonderful when they scrape and polish your teeth.  This is a similar satisfaction to someone going to the masseuse or getting her nails done. (I feel more uncomfortable getting a pedicure than at the dentist.  I have really short toenails so I always feel like they are talking about me!)  I guess I haven't had a terrible experience at the dentist like others have.   

After the dentist, we went to lunch at the Flying Biscuit. This is his high-chair coming in handy once again. Art made a mess at the restaurant, but was a good lunch date.   

We had a follow up appointment at the pediatrician for Art to get his second flu shot.  Although it wasn't part of the routine this time, I had them weigh him.  He now weighs 16 pounds and 14 ounces.  Brian checked and that is still within the 25 percentile for weight.  Still my tiny, long kid.

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On Thursday, we scheduled lunch with Dad at the office.  We usually go out to eat, but we changed it up a bit and brought him some leftovers from home.

 

Art remembers the office, but this is the first time we got a picture of him and Daddy at the desk.  (So- Brian has a Chick-fil-a calendar hanging up, but doens't like the restaurant!  I have to drag him there and he wouldn't even give me his coupons...) 

Before going to lunch, we stopped at the indoor playground at North Point Mall to hang out with Rowan and Gigi.   Sometimes Art goes down the slide, but today was a zoo so we just hung out and watched Rowan play.

Here's Rowan climbing on one of the animal things.  They are firm, but have a slight give to them.  The play ambulance in the background has a slide. 

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Friday wasn't too exciting, because it rained the entire day.  It is tough to get outside when it is pouring down.  We pulled all the toys out and played. Rattles are more fun at 7 months.

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Dad played tennis on Saturday and Art didn't want to nap.  When that happens I have to get outside with him. 

Good day, ma'am.

We walked up to the post office to mail some things.  It is over a mile so it gives us time to think and relax during the walk.  Sometimes I wished I lived in a live, work, play community so we could walk to more places, but we're glad we have the space to stretch out.

Busy street, but plenty to look at.

 

Doesn't he look fabulous in green? We have plenty of blue, but I think this is his color.

I made this taggie monster on Friday, but he didn't get to see the finished product until Saturday due to bedtime. I need to work on the design.

 

Running Down a Dream

We ran a half marathon in February at Tybee Island.  In order to keep our training up, we are signing up for many other races.  On Sunday we ran a 10K at the ShamRock 'N Roll Road Race put on by Junior League.  It was in Atlantic Station which is a new live, work, play community in downtown Atlanta.  I thought it would be a cool race, but there wasn't too much to look at since we ran around the outside.  Now with the sun staying out longer, we will be able to run together in the evenings.

This is us after the finish.  Although it is not a fast 10K with all of the hills, we ran really well!  My favorite is when people sigh as they are passed by us pushing the stroller.

The start was a little cold, but the little guy didn't mind.  He's in a "sheepskin" blanket and behind a weather guard for the stroller.

The race is wrapping up in the background. I STILL have a red face from the run.  

Art's schedule is a little messed up because of the time change and because we had to wake up so early to get downtown.

He is happy once he eats though.  He ate some purples (smashed blueberries) in this photo.  We tried to be festive for the race in a "Kiss me, I'm Irish" t-shirt, but it was too cold and he had to be wrapped up.

The Little Gym

We have tried out many different things to get out of the house. Natalie, a friend from my meetup group, asked us to join her and Cullen for a free introductory class at The Little Gym so we took the offer. We weren't planning on becoming regulars, but Art loved the classes. I liked it too because it is more movement/exercise oriented and it teaches us things to do at home.

Right now, we are in the Bugs class (age group 4-10 months) and hope to continue going there. Here's a list of activities that we do each week:

*Hello song with bells
*Baby sign language (we have learned how to sign more, run, swing, and bubbles - no, he does not do them)
*Arm, leg, back, and stomach exercises/stretches (I even get baby pilates in as well. *ouch*)
*Fun organized activity like tumbling
*Free play where we explore the bars and mats
*Balls (we roll them around and play with our friends)
*Bubbles (he likes watching them)
*Goodbye song playing the drums

This is Art and Cullen after class.

Here's Art stealing the show and Cullen with his frog hat on.

Cullen is our little irish friend!