He's been longer out than in!

Leo turned 10 months on Saturday the 26th and has officially been alive outside the womb longer than he was inside...it is hard to believe! I hate that he is growing up, so I guess I am normal; each development is so exciting and depressing. He is growing up so fast and already trying to escape my smothering...he is often found trying to open the front door!

Just to shake things up (and make me eat my words) Leo has decided to be a little more difficult at meal times. He still eats fairly well, but is kind of weird about his eating...one day he will love feeding himself peaches, the next day he will eat them but won't pick them up on his own, the next day he won't eat them at all, and over and over again. It is much more of a guessing game now to see what he wants. And sometimes he eats a ton and others he wants nothing more than a yogurt. Oh and he definitely prefers apple juice to white grape...traces of arsenic or not! (If you don't watch the news and don't get it, don't worry. Just saying that I am not that kind of mother that is super concerned about every little thing...he'll survive.) I was super proud of him at Thanksgiving though- he ate turkey, went to town on the stuffing, enjoyed sweet potatoes and potatoes with gravy, fed himself many green beans and a whole roll. And of course he loved the pumpkin pie and whipped cream...duh!

He has started "dancing". At first I thought it was waving, but I realized it happened every time music was on and I am pretty sure it is his way of dancing at the moment- he puts his arm up by his head and shakes it...looking like he is ready to lasso something. He does it when music comes on the radio or tv or even just when his toys play their little songs. He has one train that he loves to push around as he crawls and then he will pause to dance for a minute...so cute!

Leo is getting really close to walking! He is getting better each day at standing by himself and it seems like it lasts a second longer every time. He likes to hold your hands- sometimes even just one- and walk around. His push toys are new favorites as they let him practice his new skill. Again, we are both excited and dreading this new development.

He now officially has 4 sharp little chompers- two top teeth and two bottom teeth. They all broke through within 10 days of each other and I am hoping we are done with teething for at least a little while...I could use a break! Now when Leo loves you and kisses your face it kind of hurts...but is still so cute that we usually endure a little pain!

There are so many things I could write about him, but I will have to save them for another day...my afternoon nap time is up!!! We love you LEO!!!

Feeling a bit prideful

So I am definitely feeling a bit prideful at the moment- not the bad I'm-better-than-you kind of pride, just the I-really-did-it good kind. While I will in no way say that we are going to enjoy restful nights forever now, Nicholas and I have sleep trained Leo. It was hard; the crying was terrible and Nick teared up too, but we made it. Leo for the most part is fine to get in his bed and go to sleep and not see us until morning. It is glorious. *Everybody please knock on wood right now for us!!!*

I am proud of Leo- he learned how to go to sleep! (At night...nap time is still not great, but if he sleeps at night can I really complain?) And I am proud of Nick and myself as parents...we stuck it out and it eventually worked- wahoo!

Now if I could only figure out a way to get us to bed earlier so we could actually enjoy more rest ourselves...

9 months and counting...

Leo turned 9 months old Wednesday, October 26th. We celebrated by flying home from our vacation (more on that later) and seeing Daddy...Leo was thrilled! He really does love Nick and is happy to see him and play with him as often as possible. Friday was our well-check and everything went great! :)

9 month stats

23 lbs 1.5 oz. (85th percentile)

29 inches tall (75th percentile)

He wasn't supposed to have any shots this time, however we got him his flu shot while we were there so he endured one little prick after all. He happily showed off lots of his skills to the doctor and nurses...clapping, waving, saying "mamama" and "dadada", pulling to standing, etc. They were amazed that they hadn't seen him since his last well check back in July and deemed him as healthy as can be; we sure have been lucky up until this point, knock on wood, to have a healthy, strong boy.

His feet are way too fat for most shoes, but I finally found these ones that I can get on. Most of the time if he needs his feet covered he just wears socks! Leo has his two bottom teeth and his two top ones are visible so they won't be long. He doesn't get a fever or anything when he is teething...not even red or swollen gums...so it is hard to tell when his teeth are going to come until you can see little white tops just under the gum.

Leo was getting too big to lug around in his infant seat, especially now that he is mobile and just wants out anyway. After a little research online and such, we picked out a new convertible carseat for him and he likes it so far. It is much easier to get his arms through the straps!

Leo is definitely a good shopper and likes HEB because he gets balloons. He smiles and waves at everyone and we count how many "he looks just like the Gerber baby" comments each trip. It is kind of funny who stops to talk to him or waves as he goes by.

Leo is increasingly mobile...sometimes much to our dismay. It is nearly impossible to get a diaper on him by yourself and it is a bad day if I have to tackle the bath alone. Nearly every week in church I get a comment on how "active" he is...I think that is just a nice way of saying he is pretty cuckoo!

Leo likes to help with chores such as the laundry and unloading the dishwasher, however he hates hats and won't keep one on.

Leo is still an excellent eater; he usually eats just about anything from pumpkin and peas to toast and mangos. He loves to self feed now and really likes to suck the puree out of the on-the-go pouches. One interesting bit about his eating is that while he will self-feed any cracker, puff, basically any grain, he is not interested in picking up grapes, peas, peaches, etc. He gladly eats them if I feed them to him, but he isn't interested in picking them up yet...? He loves a sippy cup too!

He is an excellent crawler, can pull up to anything, and has even started "cruising" along furniture recently. Today he made it from the ottoman to the rocking chair to the changing table all by himself. Occasionally he lets go and is standing alone for a moment...but as soon as he realizes it he plops down.

He loves wheels of all sorts and his stuffed animals. He really loves his non-stuffed animal, Koshka, and gladly chases after her. She isn't as thrilled about him but tolerates him pretty well. He still likes to watch Wheel of Fortune too.

He has started waving...kind of on command...and clapping. And he is learning what "NO" means. Earlier today he was playing with the nightlight plugged into the wall and I told him no a few times- he kept playing with it so I said no one more time as I unplugged it and took it away. He gave me the biggest frowny scowl and let out one big whiney yelp...this definitely confirmed to me that he is now capable of understanding "NO" and I need to use it more often.

We love you buddy!

Attention all Kroger shoppers!

So I definitely wouldn't call myself an extreme couponer, but I try a little. This week there is a great deal at Kroger so I thought I would share.

Campbell's Cream of Chicken and Cream of Mushroom soup are on sale for $1 each. They are also part of Kroger's $5 off 10 event- buy 10 participating items, get $5 off your total purchase. That makes the soups $.50 each.

Then there is a coupon on Campbell's website for $1 off any 5 "condensed cooking soups". Click HERE for the coupon. You can only print 2 coupons per computer...so you are in luck if you have more than one computer around! You can use 2 coupons since you are buying 10 soups. This makes your total $3 for 10 soups, or $.30 each.

I use these soups so much in cooking and hardly make gravy without it. $.30 is a steal for Campbell's and is even cheaper than the generic brand. The $5 off 10 event ends on Tuesday I believe...so go stock up!

In case you missed it, HERE is the coupon again.

Just kidding

Leo apparently hates it when I tell the world he is sleeping well. He has cried more than the 5ish minutes as I previously said for the last two nights. Nuts. So here I am...telling everyone he isn't going to sleep so great in the hopes that maybe he will change his mind again. And when he does- I AM NOT TELLING YOU! Not because I am really that superstitious, but better not jinx it right? Especially when it comes to your child sleeping.

Don't Worry

Leo is still super clingy during the day, however we have gotten into a better sleeping pattern now that we are home. The first night was about 40 minutes of crying...since then it is maybe 5 or so and then he is out for the night.

And really, who can actually be mad when you go in and he looks like this? Just didn't want you to worry about us! :)