Merry Christmas 2010 and Happy New Year 2011

Good Morning Beck, it's Christmas!!

Why are all these people here so early Mom!!!??

Our first Christmas in our new house... the Christmas tree by the fireside

Presents from Brooklyn

Beck's gift to Brooklyn

Blanket from Momma

I was soooo excited when I found this stocking, and I ordered 3 more for future sibs!

Mimi showing him how to race the cars

Mimi showing Beck how to walk... not so much.

Harley gear from Papa Gregor

She wasn't excited (sarcasm)

A North Face coat!!!

something to help him make beer... only a guy would appreciate that!

Yeah, the Harley shoes are a bit big :)

TWO new rides- a wagon and a car!!!

Lainey Bug

checking to see if Brooklyn needed help too

a little help from Dad

who is helping who?!

Lainey, a big helper!

Jamie looks JUST LIKE nephew Calvin!!!!

Uncle Brandon and Aunt Megan

Papaw making Beck laugh

Mamaw and Papaw

Mamaw reading to Beck while we open gifts

assembly time

"Dad, I think it goes here"

"Lookin' good Dad"

"Holla back girl!"

Bedtime

Happy New Year!!

Beck was 9 months old for his first Christmas. The holiday lasted about a week at our house by the time we visited everyone.

First we went to Jamie's sister's house for Christmas with his family. Beck got his first Christmas present from Aunt Carolyn- a car race track. He was mezmerized!!

Next was Christmas "morning" at our house, which was actually Christmas Eve morning. Mimi and Poppa Jeff came over to watch and partake in my finest breakfast ever... World's Best French Toast (from the ECS cookbook, best cookbook EVER!). Beck got his first walker from Mom and Dad. I also made him a robot fleece blanket. Brooklyn spent her own money this year to buy us all gifts. She got Beck a "little brother" shirt, a fleece jacket, and a Veggie Tales DVD. Beck really likes to rip up paper right now, so we thought he'd love opening his gifts. He did love it, but he would rip the first piece off and then continue to shred that piece into tons of tiny pieces, instead of unwrapping the rest of the gift. Silly boy. Daddy had to go to work that day, but Mimi and Pop stayed to play with all the new toys. Mimi tried to teach Beck how to walk with his walker, but he wasn't moving his feet a bit!

Christmas Eve we drove to Indy to spend the night at Papa Gregor's. We opened gifts with him Christmas morning. Beck got some sweet new rides- a 2 seater wagon and a car!!! We've been driving them all around the house, and he loves it!! He even got to help Dad put them together- what a big helper!! The ladies seem to love it when Beck rolls by with his arm out the window- or he think so at least!

Next we went to Uncle Josh and Aunt Carly's to open gifts with them. Lainey was a big help, helping Beck open his gifts. She's gonna make a great big sis!!!

Later on Christmas Day we went to Mamaw and Papaw's to see the whole Cartwright fam. Beck was sure to get lots of lovin' there! Late that night we drove home since Jamie had to work the next day :(

Several days later we celebrated our last Christmas with Mimi, Pops, Grandpa Scott, and Grandma Janet at Mimi and Pop's house. By the time we got to opening presents it was Beck's bedtime, so he was a bit drowzy for this one.

We finished the holiday season with a New Year's celebration at the Seymore's. Tons of friends came over for some food and games while the kiddos were upstairs sleeping. But before Beck went off to sleepyland, we got a few pics to prove he rang in the new year!

Beck 9 months

I heart sushi... mmmmmm good!

Hibachi show at Zuki. He will LOVE sushi!!!

My first snow!!!

Pullin' up onto his knees!

He LOVES to listen to us read to him!!!

His favorite toy this month!!

Takin' his sweet time on the pot!

Helping Momma wrap Christmas presents

Love the socks on the pot!

He loves this toy!!!

New big boy highchair!

On Christmas Eve, Beck turned 9 months!

In month 8 he got his first busted lip (picture below). While Momma was cleaning, he pulled himself up onto the coffee table, pulled the tray onto himself and I assume it hit his lip. It didn't seem bad at first, a little blood, but after a few minutes I looked back at him and it was huge. He didn't seem to mind and it healed in a couple days.

His personality is definitely coming alive and he is starting to interact with others more and more. In the past month or so we've noticed that he shakes his head back and forth, as if saying "no". So one day I started saying "no, no, no, no, no" while he was shaking his head. He thought it was hilarious and would do it again, so I repeated the words again. Now if you say the words, he'll shake his head. Smart fella.

He also makes lots of new sounds. One of our favorites is his monster growl. Watch the clip below to hear for yourself!

He still has not learned or even attempted to crawl. If he gets up on his knees, he will fall back down to his belly, and he doesn't like to be on his belly for long. He definitely prefers sitting, and he will lunge forward, making you think he is going for a crawl, but nope, he just plops onto his belly. He loves to pull up onto his knees though. He pulls up onto the couch, his toys, his bookshelf, the cabinets, anything he can. At the end of month 8, he finally started to army crawl. He has to really want something, usually a cell phone, to do it though, and it usually isn't more than a few times in a row.

He has discovered his hands, which is so cute to watch. He holds them out in front of him and turns them over again and again, just starring at them.

This month his favorite toys were definitely his farm and Noah's ark (thanks Mamaw!!!). He LOVES to open/close and put things in/out, which both of those toys allow him to do.

Beck got to experience his first snow this month too! The first time was at Mimi's. We had spent the night instead of driving home late, and woke up to snow the next morning. We took some pics outside in our pjs. Then we got a bit more snow about a week later, so we had a mini photo session in the front yard. Grandpa Scott has a really cool wooden sled that we borrowed for some fun pics!

He now has two teefers! Both on the bottom. And thankfully Momma hasn't been bit yet, but it definitely has me on the edge of my seat!!

He has officially graduated from the Bumbo. Thank you Mr. Bumbo, you were a lifesaver!! But now we've moved on to a big boy highchair.

Sometimes he likes to hang out on the potty. Socks n' all! I think Daddy has been teachin' him a thing or two about potty time!!

We introduced him to the greatest food on the planet this month... SUSHI!!! No I didn't feed him sushi, but he did enjoy the hibachi show! Fire and all!

9 month stats vs 6 month stats

18 lb 2 oz 18 lb 3 oz

27 1/2 in 26 3/4 in

45 cm 44.5 cm

He lost one ounce, grew 3/4 inch, and head grew 1/2 cm in three months. On a chart his growth was at a steady incline until the 6-9 month range, wherein it pretty much plateaued in all three areas; therefore, the doctor wants to see him back at 10 months instead of waiting until 12 months. Beck acts fine, sleeps great, and continues to develop his motor skills, and his cognitive skills, but I went ahead and added one more feeding to see if it makes a difference. So he had been breastfeeding 4 times a day (every 4 hours) throughout the day and one table food supplementing his noon feeding. He continues to sleep 12 hours at night and take a morning and afternoon nap, usually 1-3 hours long.

He is eating table food well. He usually eats either an egg (yolk only) or 1/3 of an avocado. He has come a loooong way! Sometimes he'll eat butternut squash, green beans, or banana, but I prefer the egg and avocado because of their high fat content. This month I've tried introducing mango. The first few tries he really puckered up, so I tried pureeing it with a banana. He still puckered up, but I've continued to give it to him about once a week and he is getting used to it.

Also Beck has had a clogged tear duct since birth on his right eye. We've tried massaging it (I would massage it at every diaper changing for about 2 weeks straight) but didn't see any improvement. It hasn't improved at all, so we're scheduled to see an ophthalmologist at the end of the month and have the option to have it "probed". Sounds awful, but it's supposed to be very quick and painless (under anesthesia). We'll let ya know how it all turns out!

Christmas PJs!!!

Injury #1 of many to come... busted lip

He LOVES to get in the tupperware cabinet!

We had to lower his crib since he started pulling up on it!

Actual first snow when we woke up at Mimi's.