Standing Tall!

While I was in Las Vegas, LP learned his latest trick...pulling himself up to furniture and his crib! Since he figured out how to do it, he has been doing it non-stop. He pulls himself up to the couch, the tub, and even the bathroom counter! Life is becoming much busier at the Kuipers house!

Apple Picking!

I came home from my business trip in Las Vegas last week Friday around 10:00 in the morning. Brad only worked a half day and we all took naps in the afternoon. We decided to pick some of the Honeycrisps at Crane's before all the greedy people picked them all:). We had a gorgeous day for apple picking and I am sure we will do it again next year!

10 Months Old!

(Sorry about the pic. This is as
good as it got this month:))

Sweet Baby Boy,

You have officially been outside of the womb as long as you were inJ! Some days it seems like you’ve been around much longer than that, and other days it feels like I was just pregnant with you. I truly can’t believe that you are only two months away from your first birthday. Time sure does fly and I am enjoying every minute of it with you!

Though you are still our sweet little guy, you have been a little crankier over the past month because you are finally getting your first tooth! Yay! Your personality is shining through more and more as well. You now give us the “stink eye” when you are upset about something. It is quite funny…but stinky at the same time. We have to try hard not to let you see us laugh, but sometimes it is just too funny!

Clothing Size: You are still wearing 6-12 month and 12-18 month clothes! I don’t feel as though you’ve grown a ton over the past month as most of your clothes still fit pretty well. We are starting to pull out some of the Fall stuff and it is fun to see you start wearing “bigger boy” clothes.

Favorite Toys: You really are so happy playing with almost anything. The other night, daddy took one of mommy’s cardboard boxes from work and put you in it. You played and entertained yourself for quite some time. You love your walk behind toys, too. You think you are quite hot stuff when you walk behind. You have a smile from ear to ear and a face that is so proud.

Favorite Activities: You really enjoy doing pretty much everything. You love walking behind your truck, walking around the ottoman, eating, taking baths, going for walks in your stroller, swimming, and playing with mommy and daddy. We also got a trailer for the bike and you have ridden in it a few times. You don’t seemed thrilled by it, but you also don’t seem to hate it.

Now that you can crawl, you also enjoy getting into the kitchen and bathroom drawers and playing with whatever mommy and daddy will let you play with. We’ve had to “baby-proof” the house with cabinet locks and a gate. The only thing you really don’t enjoy doing is cuddling. You are much too busy for that and have way too much to accomplish. Cuddling was so 3 months ago;)!

Other Milestones: This past month has been a month of milestones! You decided to start waving “bye-bye” and to start crawling on the same day, September 1.

We’ve also thought that you have been teething for quite some time. On September 5^th, we noticed your first tooth popping through on the bottom left.

You are continuing to explore your vocal chords…sometimes a bit too much. You say "dadadadada” much more than you say “mamamama.” It seems as though you say, “dadadadad” when you are happy and playing and. “mamamama” when you are cranky and whiny. This is not surprising as you probably view daddy as the fun parent who plays and mommy as the parent who puts you to bed.

We are starting to really try and limit your pacifier use. You have done really well with it and really are only getting it when you are in your crib or in the car. Lately, you have only needed it in the crib at bed and naptime.

Favorite Food: You are starting to like your bottles less and less. You are typically drinking three 6-7 oz. bottles per day. You normally have one when you first wake up, after your afternoon nap, and before bed. You have accomplished drinking out of the sippy cup and are using the cup in addition to the bottles.

You LOVE to eat table food. You are quite the pigger sometimes! You eat about everything we put on your plate. You have tried Filet Mignon, bacon, eggs, all sorts of veggies and fruit, chicken nuggets, pancakes, pasta, Spaghetti-os, yogurt, cheese and many other foods. The only thing you haven’t been too fond of was cold egg yolk. I don’t blame you!

Number of Naps: You are still on a pretty consistent nap schedule, but you it seems as though you are sleeping less per nap. You are waking earlier in the morning, around 6:30 and then go down for your morning nap around 9:15. You have only been sleeping for about an hour during your morning nap. You go down for an afternoon nap around 1:30 and wake up around 3:00.

Bedtime Routine: Your bedtime routine is still really the same. Typically mommy or daddy gives you a bath and then mommy feeds you your last meal of the day. Sometimes we also read you a story. Mommy (and sometimes daddy) sings you a song and then either mommy or daddy puts you in your crib, tucked in your favorite blanket and with the sunshine on. You go to bed around 8:30 and sleep until about 6:30 in the morning.

As the days and months pass by, we grow more and more in love with you! You are turning into our little boy and are no longer our little baby. We love you so much!

Love,

Mommy and Daddy

Sleepy Head!

Most mornings, LP wakes up around 6:30am, eats, and then plays in his crib for a bit while I shower. He often is sleeping again by time I get out of the shower. This particular morning, about a week ago, I walked in to see LP hunched over his stuffed lamb. I think that he literally falls asleep in the middle of playing. What a silly boy!

Labor Day Fun

Wow! I can't believe it has been almost a month since my last post. Time has been flying by with LP. He is SUCH a joy and is learning new things daily.

This past weekend was a great, relaxing, lazy weekend. We spent a lot of time as a family this weekend. I wanted to soak up as much time as possible as I leave for Las Vegas for work for a week on the 14th.

Friday night we didn't do much of anything. We stayed home and tried to get a lot of work done so we could enjoy the rest of the weekend without that hanging over our heads.

Saturday we went to my parents' pool. We enjoyed a beautiful day by the pool and then took a bike ride to the beach as the sun was setting. It was such a gorgeous day! LP enjoyed watching the boats go by in the channel.

Sunday we went to my parents for dinner where LP enjoyed his first Filet Mignon. He liked it....a lot! Hmmm...how are we going to feed this kid Filet Mignon on a hot dog budget? Hopefully there is still time to alter his tastebuds to food that is a bit more affordable (haha). After lunch, my mom and I headed to Michigan City to do some shopping at the outlets. I was looking for some things for my trip to Vegas and found NOTHING! Oh well, we had a good time anyway. I always enjoy spending some quality time with my mom!

Monday I headed back to the pool with my mom and LP. LP LOVES the water and had so much fun. Brad went golfing with a few friends and met up with us later. Later in the afternon, Brad, LP and I walked to the state park. We spent about an hour there watching the boats and playing in the sand. We topped the night off with a yummy dinner at Via Maria and ice cream at the Fantasy Twirl.

Needless to say, we had a wonderful weekend!

Purse snatcher:)!

Daddy and me

First time in the sand!