Joy and wonder

Every time we turn on the tree Brit lights up too. He loves looking at the ornaments. Thankfully he’s also been really good about not playing with the presents or ornaments that he can reach.

We’ve been pretty busy this week getting everything ready for Christmas and our trip to Utah. I can’t believe Christmas is just a week away. I feel like I haven’t done anything “holidayish” this year. I’ve been trying to read my Christmas stories, make sure the tree lights are on but I haven’t made any Christmas treats or anything. My excuse is that I’ll do it with my mom when I get home because she likes doing those things too and I’m the only one who likes to do them with her, but I still feel like I’m not doing enough to bring in the Spirit of Christmas.

On another note–Brit’s been “out” as long as he was “in.” He is 40 weeks old this week, 9 months old. It’s amazing. The whole pregnancy seemed to take so long, but it seems like his life has gone by so fast already. I love watching his grow and change all the time. Especially now, he does new things every day. He’s still a little guy. At his doctor’s appointment these were his stats:

28 inches tall, 17 pounds, 17 inch head. They didn’t give me the percentages, but I did them online at home, and he’s in the 5th-10th percent for weight and head. That means he’s only gained a pound since last time! Though, this kid eats! The doctor didn’t seem concerned about it though. Interestingly, he did say Brit can soon eat almost everything. Still no honey and a few other things, but he can have dairy and eggs, even milk. That’s right–the thing doctors everywhere say they can’t have till they’re 1. I asked him about it when he said he could eat yogurt and cheese. He said it’s fine, it won’t damage him and won’t likely make him allergic. He said they may be changing the guidelines because waiting longer to introduce foods may be causing more allergies, not preventing them. We’ll go slowly on that one though.

Some fun things he’s doing:

Turning the pages when we read a book

Raising his hand in a fist–he does this quite often. We think it’s kind of a “hi” or greeting. He always gives a big cheesy smile when he does it.

Big cheesy smiles–these are quite frequent these days. He scrunches his eyes and shows his teeth. He has 5 of them now.

Walking–not by himself, but he walks along everything and with the help of his beloved musical train (thanks GG Tate) he walks along as it rolls

Blabbing–seriously. It’s blah, blah, blah all the time. Sometimes he throws in a Ma, Da, Yeah or Hey too. I think his first word may be “yeah” He does say it, but I don’t think he knows what it means…so I haven’t counted it yet. Same thing with Mama. He says that when he wants comfort, but I don’t know if he really knows it’s me yet.

Eating by himself. He doesn’t like to get his hands slimy, so unless it’s a dry food, forget it, but he’s getting really good at getting everything into his mouth when he picks it up.  And he reaches for the spoon now too. Yay–we’re in for some messy feedings soon.

Crawling–bye bye Army crawl. I’m a bit sad to see it go. But, he’s become proficient on all fours now, and boy does he go. He has quite a quick little shuffle.

On a me note: Ah…the spa. My friend Kristie and I went to Burke Williams for mani/pedis at the high-end uber spa for our birthdays. We enjoyed talking while getting worked on. It seriously took like 2 hours! Then we relaxed while we finished drying, and enjoyed a quick visit to the eucalyptus steam room. So nice and fun. Alas, having a baby who wanted  me before going to sleep necessitated a reluctant departure. I think I know what I’m asking for for our anniversary.

And, we got our family photos! They turned out beautifully and we’re going to have a hard time choosing from all the others. Thanks Tawni!