9 month Comparison

So now that Gus is closing in on 10 months I've finally compiled our 9month comparison stats. There is just never enough time! I think I'll do this again at one year, but I'll collect everyone else's in advance of Gus' birthday.

Gus 15 pounds 6 ounces; 27 1/4 inches (9 months and 5 days)

Reese 15 pounds, 27 inches (9 months and 13 days)

hmmm......so Gus is a teeny tiny bit bigger than Reese without accounting for the 11 weeks prematurity. Of course Reese was formula fed preemie formula..the normal mix PLUS 3/4 of a scoop, so he was always on mega calories. As a point of reference Kyle was 15 pounds, 27 inches at 4 months. Yes my children took an extra 5 months to reach that size...I think my hubby was an elephant!

Reese was crawling a bit later than Gus, but not by too much. I really think they look pretty similar:

This is another shot of Reese at 9ish months.

This is me, at less than 9 months. At the time I started typing this post this was the only photo I had of me and since it's a cute one I'm going to leave it in. :)

SO how do our 9 month stats compare? I was going to show photos to see if you could guess who's who, but seriously the 70s are hard to miss.

1. Kyle: 21 pounds 1 oz. 30 3/4 inches at 9 1/2 months
2. Heather: 15 pounds 13 oz. 28 inches at 8 1/2 months
3. my brother Travis: 23 pounds 30 inches at 8 3/4 months
4. my brother Dylan: 21 1/2 pounds 28 inches at 9 1/2 months
5. Reese: 15 pounds 27 inches at 9 1/2 months
6. Gus: 15 pounds 6 oz. 27 1/4 inches at 9 months

Surprisingly Dylan was heavier than Kyle. But Dylan was close to 3 inches shorter...I guess that explains why he was looked like a butterball, seriously he had enough meat to feed a small country. It does alarm me slightly that I was heavier and longer than both of my children at a younger age. I really hope my sons are not shrimpy. I did what I could to offset my shorty genes. I was hoping Kyle's height genes would be a little stronger.

These have nothing to do with 9 months but I'm throwing them in for comparison.

Travis at 3 1/2 months

Dylan at 4 months and Travis 2+
When I'm holding the photos in my hands the pumpkin looks similar to Reese and Dylan looks similar to Gus. But on the computer they both look similar to Gus to me.
But really I think Reese and Gus look very similar to each other and not too much like Kyle or I at the same age.

Cool Dudes

Reese got sunglasses in his Easter basket from Kyle's mom. He is actually wearing them pretty regularly. He spent about 3 hours outside building a shed and wore these most of the time.

He also had Gus try them on.

Then they resumed their regularly scheduled play activities: Gus happily complying with whatever Reese thrusts upon him.

EASTER!

Easter morning we woke up to discover that Reese is now able to climb into his chair unassisted. (He uses his Argington chair at our high-top kitchen table.) This is what he found from the Easter bunny:

Reese is really happy with his Step 1 books. He repeats most of the story since it's broken down into nice easy sentences. I'm really happy I decided to get some of these. I think they'll help with speech development a lot.
Surprisingly he was waiting patiently before eating anything. He was pretty happy to get the go ahead on the m&ms.
Then we headed outside to hunt for treat filled eggs.
These Buzz Lightyear eggs were Reese's favorite.
He was very happy to discover that all the eggs were filled with treats.
Then we headed out to Fujiyama's Japanese Steak House for dinner with Granddad and Gigi (Kyle's parents) and Mimi (my mom) and Uncle Dylan. It was YUMMY! Since both grandmas had to work on Easter Sunday we decided it was easier to just go out to eat and it was a hit. We will definitely go back...next time sans baby.

Dyeing the Eggs

This is the first year Reese has dyed Easter eggs. Last year I didn't think he was really coordinated enough to do it, so it would really be us and he wouldn't care. But this year he really got into it!Gus was pretty interested too. We nearly had a few accidents with the dye filled bowls until he was distracted with an undyed egg.

Reese really liked doing it. It was hard to convince him to leave the egg in the water long enough to pick up some decent color, so we had a couple "pastels." This yellow came out really vibrant though.

Reese was pretty pleased with his egg collection. After two bites he determined they weren't very tasty though. I guess he'll stick to scrambled.

Gus' 9 month well baby visit

Gus had his 9 month old well baby visit. He weighs a whopping 15 pounds 6 ounces which translates to...wait for it...3rd percentile, just like his brother. Ha ha...except at this age Reese was actually -something percentile. He is 50th percentile for height at 27 1/4 inches, but I think his shoulders may have been slightly hunched. I think he is a smidge taller.
Technically he is borderline on his gross motor and communication skills (actually he could get referrals) but she said watching him during the appointment he seems just fine. It's a fluke of the questions that messed him up. For example, if you ask for him to give you his toy he does not hold it out for you and there were a few other things. But he crawls like a champ and that is no longer considered a milestone since lots of babies fail to crawl since the "back to sleep" campaign has kept them from having adequate tummy time. So she thinks he really is fine--just channeling his energies to other things. So he is a skinny minnie (the pediatrician always says "like his mother" which I think is hilarious since I feel like a blimp still), but growing on a steady curve.

He got his Easter basket from Mimi today.

He grabbed that chocolate bunny right away. I don't think he realizes the innards are way more tasty than cardboard packaging...which is good because Mommy intends to eat it. I'm considering sharing with Daddy, but I'm not for sure yet.

His Easter basket is actually a pail with shovels and such. It was also stuffed with a COW! Ha ha! Though the traditional white with black markings cow is not really an angus cow it has become our theme...non-farming types don't even realize our error.

His summer outfit came from Mimi for Easter....though winter has finally arrived today so I don't think he'll be wearing this on Easter.

Spring Planting

Reese found some fun planting supplies at Lowe's the other day. He picked his own seeds: Cookie Monster watermelons and Big Bird Sunflowers.

We decided we better get our seeds started. I pulled out the 72 jiffy tray with coin style soil pellets. I can't remember if I ever did it differently or if the was the first method I attempted, but it worked well, so I'm sticking with it.

First we add warm water to hydrate the coin style pellets.

Then we use a leftover plastic fork (Kyle takes washable camping silverware in his lunchbox, but we have a few forks left from our un-eco-friendly lunch box days) to open the mesh netting and rough up the soil.

Then we put our seeds in. I like to make each row a different seed.

Then I use mini-post its to label what the seeds are so I don't get confused. I put the seed packets all together so I can refer back if I need to about spacing and harvesting and such.

We cover it with the included lid and place it on a shelf in the basement stairwell. The sun will hit it here. We'll plant in the ground in late May. I will have way more plant shoots than I have room to plant in my garden. In the past I have planted to many because my shoots were good I hated to waste them. But full grown veggie bearing plants are HUGE and I need to keep that in mind when planting. I'll pick the best to plant and then maybe even thin again. I still have some seeds left so if I have any duds I can start over. This jiffy greenhouse has Reese's watermelon and sunflowers as well as Beefsteak tomatoes, zucchini, bell peppers, chili peppers, green beans, carrots, and sugar pumpkins. I want to go back for grape or cherry tomatoes too.

Let Me Check My Social Calendar

Wowzer we sure have been busy!! Since Reese "graduated" from the birth to 3 program we don't get to see his classmates very much. Of course those are the moms I know since we frequently sit in the parent room during class and chat while waiting for our kids. So, we've been trying to have some playdates. We finally got together with Reese's old classmate, Optimus.

Babies Gus and Magnus had fun in the wagon...though Reese did not want Gus to share his toys. He kept taking breaks to rush back over to the wagon to retrieve toys from Magnus' grasp and say "NO! Gus toys!" (wooo hooo! This counts as a sentence! albeit not the nicest one.)
Gus really didn't get all the hulabaloo and was happy to share with another baby closer to his own size.
It was super sunny though a little breezy down by the water...this is the Silverdale Waterfront Park.

We also had a playdate with Matthew (less than a month older than Reese) and his younger brother, Austin, though I forgot to take photos. We played and had lunch at their house.
A few days later we had another playdate with Sammi. We got our free cone at Ben and Jerry's and then hit the Gig Harbor City Park for awhile. Gus was such a good boy laying on his blanket. He kept trying to get to the edge to reach the bark and then started all over again when I moved him back. Reese and Sammi played super well together and I'm pretty sure this was their first meeting. Then we hit The Blazing Onion for dinner.
Finally we met at Blueberry Park with Liam and Finn (a few weeks younger than Reese) for some McDonald's and playing on the equipment. Reese remembered to bring his football to this park since they have a lot of grass area.
We've had a friend filled couple of weeks! And now we are on Spring Break, so we have some room on our dance cards! Who wants to play?

Bathing Beauties

Woo hoo!! Our boys are finally big enough to sit in the tub together. Since the new year I have been trying this, but not able to let go of Gus. Let me tell you...on your knees, bent over the tub, holding a baby trying to use the wash cloth to scrub...none too comfy..oh wait probably all of you know this from experience.

Anyway, I've been one of those uncoordinated types not able to figure out a good infant bathing method. I just don't have the counter space to use the baby tub on the counter. I am very happy that Gus is now a confidant sitter so he can be in the tub and sit independently.
It's so much easier to scrub all his parts without having to totally support all his weight with one hand and keep him mostly submerged in the warm water. I always hate to lift him too much. I don't want him to freeze and end up hating the tub. Reese mostly showered with us, but it's hard to fit 2 in the shower if 1 is not able to get up. (I envision Reese knocking Gus over while I'm rinsing my shampoo and the poor kid being drowned by soapy shower water!)
So we have officially graduated to the pre-bedtime bath before getting into our jammies and reading our nighttime books.

St. Patrick's Day

In honor of St. Patrick's day I made my very first corned beef and cabbage meal. I wasn't sure if I'd like it. "Corned Beef" just doesn't have an appealing ring to it. I am happy to say it turned out wonderfully! It's a good thing too, that 3 hour cooking time would have really irked me if it didn't taste good. I also never ate cabbage before (I'd don't think) but it turned out good too! The potatoes, onions, carrots, and celery all mixed in with the cabbage cooked in the meat water--really it's like spicy beef stew--what's not to like?
Today is also our 4th wedding anniversary. I think we'll make this our traditional St. Patrick's Day/Anniversary meal. Since it's a work day we will wait until the weekend to go out for our anniversary. When it falls on a Saturday maybe we'll do something else....like go back to Vegas!

Getting Big

It's amazing how quickly both boys are getting big. Reese just had his 3 year old well child doctor visit. He is now 27 pounds and 37 inches. He has grown since Christmas! Reese's pediatrician said in her experience 30 minutes a week of speech is not particularly helpful. She gave us a referral to an outside speech therapist. We are actually already on the waiting list for summer when school is out. We were on the fence about whether we should do speech during the school year, but the pediatrician thinks we should. So we'll get the plan set up next week.

Gus is getting so big too. He has moved on from eating toys to actually playing with them. Okay so he still eats toys, but he spends more time actually playing now too.

He is still working on crawling. He does the rocking back and forth on his knees. He'll even lift one knee in a crawling forward motion, so I expect any time now we'll have to mobile boys.

2 Quirky Boys

These guys sure are cuties! In this photo Reese is eating a not quite ripe banana. The reason I was taking a photo was because this goofy boy was eating it from the side--from the top down to the peel along one side like corn on the cob.Gus in his jumperoo.

Sand Box

We jinxed the weather with our outdoor fun! We had a downright balmy February so we've been anxious to get outside. Of course now it's freezing (and snowing) again! But we did get some playtime in during the sunny days.

Our Kmart is going out of business, so we popped in and found the sandbox we wanted for 20% off so we snagged it and some sand.Reese loves to move the sand into the bucket...scooping is a favorite.He also liked the new sand trucks Daddy picked out for him.
Reese loves playing on the playground at school. He can't get enough of playing outside, so he has been super exited about his new sand box. He even wants to play in the rain. Too bad his mom is an indoor girl.

Gus is trying to crawl

Wow I have taken less than 10 photos in March...oops.

Reese's school schedule has kind of wiped us out. He is attending Monday through Thursday from 8:15-11:45AM except we usually get there at 8:30 because 8:15-8:30 is free play while they wait for everyone to arrive. I don't see the point in waking up earlier to get there for that...we have legos at home...and germ free ones at that. So...we are kind of more tired when we are awake and we go to bed earlier so I guess we haven't been doing any photo worthy activities.
But Gus sure is trying!
He gets up on his knees effortlessly now. The first time he was successful was February 21st. He rocks back and forth and tries to pick up one knee but can't quite get the knees and hands coordinated. Sometimes when he gets on his knees he'll flatten back out on his tummy, then back to his knees...gaining a few precious centimeters with each rotation. Sometimes he scoots backward until he gets his legs completely under something. He's on his way to getting under the tv cabinet here.
Gus is such a happy little guy. He thinks his brother his hysterically funny and loves watching everything Reese does. I think he also enjoys his Reese-free time with Mommy and Daddy though.

lots of school

Wow school sure takes up a lot of time! Reese really enjoys playground time. One day they got to ride bikes. He's off to the races!!Do you see the size of his classmate compared to him?! I am still a little unsettled by how big all the other kids are, but Reese seems to be assimilating fine so I'm trying to get over it.
During one part of the day they get free activity time. The speech and occupational therapists may work with them during this time or observe how they play. Reese is using the sensory table (trucks and scoops in a bin of rice). In the background you can see 2 kids at the computers.One of the other options is this water table. If only it had a running faucet Reese would be in hog heaven!
Though we are somewhat consumed by school...going to it, getting ready for it, eating and sleeping on a schedule so we can go to it again.....Gus is doing cool stuff too!
Check out his 8 month photo. He has been getting up on all fours since the 21st and now can do it pretty effortlessly. He rocks furiously and scootches backward, but can't seem to get the forward crawl going just yet, but I imagine anytime now he'll be zooming. He goes backwards pretty far. Somehow he always seems to get himself under Reese's picnic table. I will try to get a photo of that soon.