Toddlering at 13 Months

Sander has been doing so many new things in the last two weeks so I hope I am remembering everything here. One of my favorite things he does is blow out of his cute lips as if he is cooling some food off when we do it for him. In fact, tonight, when I said he would have to wait because his food was too hot he blew on his own without me signaling. It is amazing how much babies take in at this age and understand - I constantly remind myself he understands more that I think. He signed for fan for the first time yesterday. We have a fan going in the bedroom for white noise and we have to talk about it every night when I put him to bed. He looks at it, makes his gargle sound, points at it and smiles.

Sander has been standing for several seconds at a time and he has taken one step here and there. We think walking is right around the corner. Lucy started walking at about 13.5 months and he seems to be following in her shoes. He enjoys pushing Lucy around in the doll stroller, it is hilarious!

Sander LOVES his dada. He waves his arms up and down when he sees dada, cries when he leaves for work or even when he leaves the room, and wants to be held by him every time he gets home from work, immediately, or intense shrieking occurs. Sander still says "deh" for dog and is now saying "teh" for cat. He will baby sign for any animal with the sing for dog by panting. So adorable. He makes a cute sound that is hard to spell out when he tries to say "quack quack quack", it is somewhat of a gurgle. Sometimes when I am attempting to put Sander down to sleep he abruptly sits up post-nursing, giggles and does raspberries somewhere on me. He loves being super silly. It runs in the family. Anyway, this is typically a cue that sleep is not going to happen any time soon. He will point to the door, bounce and make a cute sound that says he wants to go play. Usually he wins.

I wrote the above post last night before Sander turned 13 month old. Today he started walking right as we were getting ready to head out to Hermit Island, ME! It was quite an exciting and happy distraction.

Ten Months Old and Cruisin'

Is someone teething?

Sander got a his first shiner just in time for his ten-month-old photo.

Sander crawls so fast and with such determination these days. If he is interrupted he is not too pleased. The funny thing is I don't even know which fall or bonk caused his black eye. The little guy is fearless. I believe part of it is that he wants to keep up with Lucy.

Lucy enjoys reading to Sander.

Sander tries to get at the pages, he gets excited by all the animals.

She really enjoys being able to do things for Sander.

We went to visit Uncle Chris in Boston for a few days while Dada stayed behind to get some work done. It was a lot of fun. The car ride actually went really well and I had a relaxing trip down there with happy kids in the back seat, amazing.

Waiting for Uncle Chris to get home!

At the Rox Diner

Sander's first time on a swing. He loved it!
Lucy is in the background way up in the air.

Swinging is so much fun.

Lucy drew a portrait of Sander on the fridge at home.

We had a much needed family day together a few days later and we all went swimming. Sander had SO much fun. This baby is definitely not afraid of the water!

Family swim day.

He's kicking so much and bouncing and splashing.

Our Sweet 9 Month Old

This sweet Sander is one busy guy. He works so hard crawling around and voicing his opinion about it. It's hard to believe we've already hit the 9-month mark, time has flown by.

Sander's two newest tricks are clapping (he started about two weeks ago) and saying "dada" which comes out like deh-deh. It is pretty cute. Still a squealer and getting louder each day my mind whirls wondering what Sander will be like at 2 and 3. What fun! He also loves to crawl to Canute or Oliver and rest his head (almost in a head-butting but sweet way) on their fur to snuggle. It is adorable. Oliver doesn't stick around long but Canute just hangs out. Sander really loves animals and other babies. He will squeal with laughter when he see pictures of them in books or in real life.

Ski Days

Rosy-cheeked and relaxed.

It's hard to fit in ski days when one has an infant and a 3.5 year old! Lucy is almost able to ski with us at this point but little man, he needs to be watched by someone if mom and dad want to go out and play. In the meantime Matt and I trade off skiing while Sander hangs in the lodge at Stowe with one of us. It's working well for us and he enjoys riding the Over Easy gondola once in a while.

First time "skiing" and luckily mama stayed upright even on the ice!

One afternoon we went out for a classic ski so he could actually ride with us. Mama was honored to carry Sander for the first time while on skis. He enjoyed it! We went on a short ski up the Notch Rd but due to ice and an under the weather Lucy we turned around earlier than planned. It still felt great to get out though!

On the Over Easy gondola together.

Getting sleeping in the sunshine.

First bitty tooth!

Sander's first tooth peeked out from his bottom gum today! He wanted to enter the New Year with a chomp! He was so sneaky that I didn't even know it was there. Dada and Lucy noticed it while spending some quality time with Sander this morning. Lucy was so excited to tell me it was there! So far so good, no biting on mama.

Update: only 3 days later...tooth number two appeared right next to the first tooth. I noticed it at music together when he had a big smile on his face.

The Seven Month Old Charmer

All bundled up for play time in the snow.

This little guy weighs in at a whopping 13 pounds 4 ounces! He's such a little peanut.

Full of smiles, grunts, drools and cuteness, Sander melts our hearts. 

Speaking of hearts, he tugs on mine every time he says "mama" which is his latest new skill.

At seven months Sander is combat crawling and rolling everywhere...and he gets into everything. Everything then goes into his mouth.

Mama and Sander take a break while watching Lucy play in the snow.

Lucy and Sander's first time sledding together.

weeeeeeee!

At the bottom of the hill. Canute was very excited.

Sander likes to inspect food, suck on it, smear it around, and sometimes eat it. In a desperate attempt to enjoy and relax while eating my own steak dinner with both arms free, I handed Sander a big strip of porterhouse steak. He was al over it! Needless to say this kept our little guy busy and happy during dinner and beyond.

Checking out the steak.

Check out the two finger technique!

Here are a couple of videos taken the morning of Sander's seventh month. It is hard to get solo videos so he can show his stuff but I have to say, it is so precious to watch videos of both Lucy and Sander together.

And He Sits...

While at a baby shower for a dear friend today Sander decided to put on a show for all the ladies and sit up for the first time unassisted in the warm sunshine. It was so all of a sudden I was honestly quite surprised. You can see how pleased with himself he is here.

Sander is 5 Month Old!

Our little blondie at 5 months.

So, this is one happy baby! Sander rarely cries, which makes me feel really good. After such a rough start due to tummy troubles it is so fabulous to see our little guy glowing more often than not. Sometimes he tires of being in the car (still, but who doesn't) and sometimes he chomps down really hard on his little pointer finger (which is always in his mouth), or sometimes he is just plain tired (or overtired because he wouldn't go to sleep when mama tried to nurse him but rather he wanted to see what else was going on!)...most of the time he is smiling, laughing or exploring an object with his hands and mouth. Sander has become much more vocal. He makes a sound almost like "mama" but more like "baba" while opening his mouth repeatedly like a fish, very wide and then closed again, and quick. It is super cute. One thing that continues to surprise me about Sander is he would rather sleep on his own in bed than with me wearing him - unless we are out for a walk. This is very different than what I am used to. Most days he gets put down for one nap in bed and at night I am able to just put him in bed until we crawl in next to him later on.

Mama tried to take a photo of Sander while wearing him and using a huge heavy SLR camera. 

Sleeping peacefully.

The finger is a favorite these days.

The above is a very mild-mannered chomping session. Sander is so orally-oriented it is hilarious. If anyone's skin comes near him, especially a finger, he grabs at it and sticks it in his mouth. He sucks on arms, shoulders and cheeks. This has been going on for the last month. Luckily he is just as enamored with toys. He especially likes frozen breast-milk or ice inside a mesh bag to chomp on.

Some more of that sister love.

Sander has been sitting up really well against pillows! He only rolls over if he is trying to get at something, like his foot which he seems to enjoy chewing on. His arms and legs are always flapping around so much with excitement, it is amazing.

Tunbridge World's Fair!

We are on that ferris wheel somewhere!

We spent the day at the Tunbridge World's Fair on Sunday and it was so much fun! Sander went on the ferris wheel with us, on the carousel, and he enjoyed looking at all the farm animals.

My loves.

Lucy loved petting these gals.

Silly cows. 

Boston

So we made a trip down to Boston and had a blast. We had a Red Sox game to go to with Pop-Pop and a wedding to attend as well. We all stayed at Uncle Chris's. I am so sad to realize I never got any photos of Uncle Chris with Sander. I suppose we had a busy week galavanting and he had to work during the days we were there. Also, the night we went to the wedding was the very first time I left Sander for any period of time! Grandma Nono came up to babysit and darn, no photos of her with the little guy either...Sander was fast asleep when we got home from the wedding and all was calm. Good job Nono!

Sander's and Lucy's first subway ride.

Out to dinner pre-game with Pop-Pop.

Dada and Sander.

Pop-Pop walks proudly with little Sander. 

Sander is quite content on Pop-Pop's shoulder, always.

Heading toward the stadium.

Here we are! At our first Sox same together. 

Lucy taking it all in.

Sander snuggled right in and had a good night.

Heading to Spectacle Island together.

Sander snuggled up and Lucy loving the boat ride.

It was a little chilly on the way out due to wind and the overcast skies.

Lucy LOVES boats, planes, and trains.