Highlight Reel: Families Share

My posts have been a little delayed. This is due to the fact that my husband has needed the computer for the past week and we've been sick. It started with little man Everett. We thought it had to do with his teething. He recently had cut two teeth in addition to his front bottom two teeth and he was, and still is, working on his top three teeth. This makes a total of seven teeth and he's been feeling it. Turns out though that the poor little guy caught a summer cold going around. I'm sure all those teeth working their way through at the same time hasn't been helping. He is now on the mend but since he loves his mom so much he decided to share his cold with her who in turn has passed it on to her husband. Families share right? Ha! Anyway, we've been wading our way through cough medicine, cough drops, Kleenex and trying to get as much rest as we can. Hopefully we're almost through this!

Despite this life has still been happening. Everett is now officially eating table food. Just as it was with introducing baby food, introducing table food really overwhelmed us. Between figuring out what he could actually have (me) and worrying he would choke on everything (*ahem* Dustin) he got a late start. When he began to fake gag and spit out the baby food we got the hint. Little man was ready to progress so would we get on board all ready?! It's gone really well and there is obviously no going back. He has discovered the joy of real food.

Unfortunately for Dustin but fortunately for me, someone else in this house is a big fan of spaghetti! He likes most of what we give him but is partial to spaghetti, macaroni and cheese and bananas. He still does not like green beans however. Can't say I blame him though! This has obviously meant longer clean up times, more baths (which he absolutely loves!) and cleaning the high chair which is really involved now... Who knew he could reach so many areas on that thing! All in all this is somewhat making life easier though Dustin and I are adjusting to making sure we order something he can eat when we go out. It also takes longer to get through meal times, especially when we go out because he gets so distracted by everything. He has to take everything in and we have to encourage him to eat his food. No more grabbing a quick bite to eat around here!

He is enjoying it though this growing up thing tires him out!

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It was with great excitement that Dustin found an original Nintendo on Craigslist. It was with great joy when he told me that it came with the controllers, the Duck Hunter gun and five games including the original Mario Brothers and Duck Hunter. This was something he played when he was growing up and it brought back great memories for him. So he bought it, brought it home, cleaned it, set it up and began playing. Apparently, he and my brothers have a guy's Nintendo game night coming up soon. This should be interesting. I'm glad he has something fun to do that he enjoys. As for me, I'm pretty stuck on my iPad game Hay Day. It's an addiction which I am semi-proud of.

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With it being Summer and us having a backyard we decided we needed some outdoor fun for Everett. So we purchased a swing which we hung from our deck and a little swimming pool. We haven't tried out the pool yet but I think it will most likely be a big hit since he's such a fan of bath time.

As for the swing he was a little uncertain about it but I'm sure it'll grow on him. He did enjoy watching his dad do yard work though. Dustin is teaching him now since, to Dustin's delight, it'll be his job one day.You know, train up a child in the way he should go and all that. :)

Everett wasn't the only one very interested in watching Dustin mow the lawn. This little bird was very intent and disturbed by the whole thing. It followed Dustin all over the front and back yard the entire time. We're not sure if it has a nest nearby or just wasn't a fan of the noise as it immediately flew away once Dustin finished.

It's a little hard to see but the gray blob in the red circle was the curious or angry little creature following Dustin. We thought it might be a coincidence but when Dustin mowed the lawn again it came back out and followed him around again. It has to have a nest but who's to say!

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Somehow the months keep flying by and Everett is now ten months old. The original idea was to take more pictures when he turned nine months but between a busy schedule and Dustin working a lot of overtime it became a ten month photo shoot. We also foolishly waited until noon to take them. Foolish because the lighting, we took them outside, is horrible since the sun is directly overhead at that time. It was a sunny day too and Everett was ready for lunch and his nap so he wasn't very thrilled about the whole idea. We did get a few and decided they'd work. This one is a favorite of ours and turned out the best.

At ten months Everett is becoming more and more vocal. At least at home. We've been told he's quiet but at home he is constantly babbling, clapping his hands and singing. He loves music or when his dad sings and often sings along. Cute story, my dad recently watched him for me and while in the car had music playing. He said Everett was in the back seat singing along. He didn't think too much of it until he noticed that when he switched to the news Everett stopped. Curious, he switched back to the music and Everett began singing again. He flipped between stations a few times and each time Everett would sing along to the music or stop when he heard the news. Our little man is definitely a music lover. Yes!

He knows his name well which also means this child already has selective hearing. If there is something more entertaining going on he will ignore you. We had no idea this started so young. Fun! He is also pretty outgoing and to my dismay still will go to almost anyone. He has stuck a little closer to us lately but if someone is friendly and outgoing enough he will willingly reach out to them. Sometimes they'll even get a hug. Thankfully though, for the most part after a quick "hi, how are you" and a possible hug he is ready to come back to me or his dad. There are some exceptions but he likes people and is open to hanging out with them. Well, as long as he sees Dustin or I stay there. If we hand him over he does look to make sure we're not too far away. This brings some relief as I am cautious about his interactions with people. I'm glad he enjoys people and has good social skills but am apprehensive about who he shares them with for obvious reasons.

He knows who loves him though and lights up when he sees his grandparents, cousins, aunts or uncles. He gets passed around so much between my family and Dustin's I'm amazed he can keep track of who they all are but he does and loves them very much. He is still scooting around and is starting to attempt to pull himself up on furniture. And he is cutting teeth, eating table food and has figured out the sippy cup as long as you help him tilt his head back. He is growing so fast and it's hard to believe that we are only two months away from his first birthday. I used to make fun of parents who said how fast time flew each month but now I get it. It really does fly by and they learn so much in such a short time that it's hard to keep up. He only has a few weeks more of being an only child, pretty soon he'll be promoted to his role of big brother and life will become even more interesting. It'll definitely be entertaining around here for sure!

This picture from his photo shoot was edited by me which is why it's not as good.