CRAWLING!!!

Everett crawled tonight! He saw his new croc shoe on the floor and went after it. Apparently he didn't feel like dragging his belly to it, so he just stayed up on hands and knees and moved! YAY! We were ridiculously overjoyed and clapped and yelled!

Here are some pictures.
My sick sick baby last week during his high fever. He was watching a little bit of Sesame Street.
and crying at me.
Here he is tonight before his bath (yes, I am one of those evil moms who takes bare butt pictures!).A crawling fiend! Tomorrow should be interesting...
In the tub with his new cow-fish

No Shots!

Everett had his 9 month check-up today and didn't even have to get any shots! (He did need another dose of rotavirus though, but that's oral.)

Mr. E man is still a tall lanky boy at 29.5 inches (90th %ile) and almost 21 lbs (50th %ile). His head seems to be finally catching up to the rest of his body and is now into the 50th %ile instead of the 25th. Someone decided to sleep in today so the appointment fell riiight at naptime. He wasn't too miserable though, and is now happily sleeping in his crib. When he gets up it's off to Wal-Mart to pick up some prescription creams for his face.

In other news, I got a job! I will be working on Tuesdays and Wednesdays (all day!!! eek!!) at the local Educational Service Agency. So yes, it is basically the same job I've had for the past two years, but part time and for higher pay. This works out extremely well for us because I can now trade off babysitting with my parents (strange...). Uncle Benj and Everett will be spending a lot of time together in the coming school year. Benj is almost 3 so they don't really play together or with the same toys, but I think it will work out nicely. I'm a little nervous about having to pump and bottle feed again (mostly because I despise pumping) and I'm worried that my supply with suffer and Ev will have to go on formula. I realize that formula is not a terrible thing, but I would like for Ev to be able to continue getting breastmilk throughout flu season....especially with H1N1 out and about. We'll see, I guess!

No more fever, no more nuks

Well, no nuks outside the crib that is. I'm still not quite ready to get ready of them entirely. Maybe I'll decide that I'm brave enough to do that this week, but I'm not promising anything. Nevertheless, I have decided that I am brave enough to remove all nuks from the diaper bag and living room (excluding the soothies which he doesn't suck on but does sometimes use to chew on for teething). Ev's fever has left us but he is still quite whiney. And that can be attributed to....two new teeth! They're not entirely in, but they are very very close. One has definitely cut through the gums and then he wiggles too much for me to see the other (proof that the fever is gone - that boy can wiggle better than any professional wiggler).
Brian, Ev, and I just got back from a garage sale extravaganza where we picked up two dressers, a bike rack, a cat toy, two books, a pushing popper toy (you know the one), two shirts for Ev, a hand saw, a necklace (made of wood so Ev can bite it!), and some fabulous yarn! We are still lacking a winter coat and/or snowsuit for Ev, so I'm still on the hunt but probably won't make Brian go with me again. I'm excited because Christy and I are going to have our very own (very large) garage sale in two weeks....speaking of which, I need to rustle up some stuff for that.
Well, Brian's back from borrowing the truck so I must go!

Sick Baby

Everett officially has his first fever...and it stinks. Right now the poor little guy is lying on my bed with me with his snuggle blankie, a washcloth on his forehead, sucking on his nuk and looking at me with very sad eyes. Today he has just wanted me to hold him. No playing, no hair pulling, just holding. I realized as I kissed his head last night that he felt very warm, so I took his temperature and it was 100.8 underarm. This morning (after he slept allll night without a peep), he was at 100.2. He's been eating, drinking, and nursing just fine all day. He took a nice two hour nap while I was at a job interview and even sat outside for a while. I just took his temp again and it's at 101.5. UGH! I despise this whole "being sick" thing. I wish he would just feel better and go back to destroying the house.
Back to the interview thing - it's sounds like basically the same job I did in my last position but 2 days/week starting out. This would be very nice because I would get out of the house and add a little $ to our household, but I would still be able to spend most of the week at home with the monster. Unfortunately, it is T/W, so I would miss out on the play day they have at the local community center on W mornings during the school year. Oh well.
Ev is now zonked out with his nuk on his chest. sigh.

Pictures Galore!

Check out this awesome new toy I picked up for the bugger at a garage sale today! It didn't come with it's original balls, so I'm trying to make do with substitutes, but he is enjoying it nonetheless.
And here are some pictures from the FL trip!

Rilo and EvEnjoying a FL thunderstormAt a fountainWhat? I'm not reeeally feeding the baby to a T-Rex!Ev, the troublemakerHanging with the grinchAt Universal StudiosAt Nimal Kingdom...err....Animal Kingdom!

Bathrooms and Bedhead

First things first, our little downstairs bathroom currently only has half a ceiling. We noticed a wet spot today, then Brian noticed it was actively dripping, then he touched it and his finger went through. Right. So now we have discovered that our toilet had a slow leak, exacerbated by the handle getting stuck the other day and now we have some work to do. To put a positive spin on it, I will now be replacing the blue toilet and possibly the really icky linoleum this weekend.

In other (not really news) news, Everett now gets the cutest bedhead hair! After his morning nap today, it was so messy and everywhere, I just had to kiss his head and his cheeks!!! I'll try to get a picture sometime soon.

Scooter

Everett pursuing Olivia around the living room (please ignore the porch railing construction materials):

Forget Sippy Cups!

Well, don't forget them entirely because we still like those too, but today, Everett used a regular cup all my himself! I bought him a neat cup at Seuss Landing and he managed to tip it up and give himself some drinks during lunch!

Back in Wisconsin

Everett and I are back in the northwoods where it is coooool! Orlando was nice, but that humidity was a killer. Ev and I are now both in pants (not shorts or, in his case, a onesie), and he's back in cloth diapers! Yay! I hate those darn disposables and their stinkiness. I did not take many pictures at all on the trip but everyone else did, so as soon as I get all the pictures from everyone else, I will sort through and upload some. Everett was a great traveler again. He got a little whiney on our second flight, but eventually fell asleep and stayed that way. It was definitely a much better idea to check his carseat (but should have bagged it because they ripped the darn headrest) and gate check his stroller. The stroller made it much easier to get through airports and carry our stuff.
We spent Friday and Saturday at Universal/Islands of Adventure and I discovered that Seuss Landing is my favorite place....that and the raft ride that totally soaks you. Anyway! I will update again when I have pictures!

Florida Water is Icky

Just so you know. The water here tastes disgusting! And it's not just me who thinks so, I've heard it from others too. Okay, now that that's done, I'll try to give a little update.

Tuesday - we went to the pool for a little while until some cousins showed up to visit for lunch. Everett got to play with his 5 month old 3rd cousin, Rilo (who can already get up on his hands and knees!). Then we went to Aquatica! It was a very hot day so it was nice to play in the water. Our favorite part was the rapids where you put on a life jacket and floated down their (quite long and fast moving) artificial river. Ev liked splashing. After that (and dinner) we went to Sea World After Dark. That was very fun. We saw the "Shamu Rocks" show which was a lot of music, lights, and killer whales. Ev bounced the entire time - he absolutely loved it! Then he and Dr. Gma went to see the Budweiser Clydesdales and the girls and I rode the two roller coasters.

Wednesday - We spent the entire day at Animal Kingdom. It was sweltering and we finally figured out a way to get Everett to drink water - we bought a little bottle of Gerber apple juice at the baby care center and mixed it half and half with his sippy water and he drank! We saw a lot of animals, went on a safari, saw the parade, rode the new roller coaster, and sweated. For the evening, we went to the mall and ate at Ruby Tuesday's. It was de.lic.ious. We also found a Godiva store in the mall....baaad news for my wallet. :)

Today - Dr. Gma needed a break from the sun, so she dropped us off at Sea World to see everything we had missed. We checked out the dolphin show, saw some alligators and manatees, rode a carousel, petted the clydesdale, and saw some sharks. Then this afternoon, we took a nap and planned to go to the pool or Universal Studios, but there were some massive thunderstorms so we ended up just hanging out here. It did let up enough that the girls and I went down to the pool for about a half hour after Ev went down for the night.

Tomorrow - the plan is to spend the day at Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure. Universal definitely wins in the baby swap system. With them, you all wait in line and then at the entrance to the ride, two take the baby to a sitting area while the other two ride, then they exit and sit with the baby and the previous two get to go right to the ride. Disney and Sea World both make you wait in line and then the second set gets to go in the express line. Lame. Overall, Disney and Sea World win for being focused on animals (obviously SW moreso), Disney wins for baby friendliness, and Univeral wins for baby swap.

Orlando!

We are in Orlando!!! (we=me, Ev, the SsIL, and MIL)

Auntie C, Ev, and I flew together and it was actually really nice. Besides being rushed to get to our first flight (and having all of our bags searched), it was a fun experience. Both of our flights left right on time and got in early, we got pretzels on the first and a full dinner and beverages on the second. Ev loved the first flight and was very happy the whole time. The second flight interferred with normal bedtime so he got a bit fussy, but was still very well behaved for an 8 month old flying all day. I thought it was kind of funny how no one would acknowledge us before the flight, but once we landed everyone raved about how cute and well-behaved Everett was.

It's super hot and humid here but the condo is wonderfully air conditioned.

Yesterday morning Ev and I went to a story time at the resort and then we all headed out on a walk to Sea World. It was hot, Ev fell asleep in his stroller, but it was still cool to see the animals. Everett particularly enjoyed the penguins and dolphins under water. We then got some groceries, ate lunch, took a nap, and headed out to Universal Studios. It was a loooong hot day. Today is more low-key. We are hanging around the condo right now while Ev naps, then we're going down to the resort pool (including kiddy pool and fun little water fountain you can play in). We are then meeting Ev's 3rd cousin (cool eh?) for lunch at the condo and then heading to Aquatica (water park) for the afternoon. Tonight? Not sure yet. We're kind of making it up as we go along.

Wish List Wednesday

Not that it takes a lot of money, but I wish I could find a nice playgroup in town:
I wish I had a dust buster...oh wait, I bought one yesterday and just need to plug it in to charge! (sweeping up cheerios and puffs three times a day was getting reeeally old.)
Along the same lines, now I still wish I had a little green machine:I wish I had an all new wardrobe of 12 month clothes for the growing boy:And since it's still cold up here, I'm starting to wish I had a bunch of WoodWick candles!

Time to play catch-up

So I haven't blogged yet this month....I've been busy!! Warning: some of these pictures were taken with my cell phone (hence why there are some older pics in this post).

Brian had a triathlon this weekend: the Copperman in Copper Harbor, MI (get it? get it?).We also went sailing on Brandon & Lisa's boat:Brian got to go wind-surfing and then the boys had to try and take apart the mast thingie:Ev enjoyed walking on the beach:Some older pictures from July -
Ev likes ice cream:
Here's an old picture that I took to show the baby food making process. On top are peaches and on bottom is an acorn squash and some peas.Ev also enjoys corn...in fact, he loves it so much that he started gnawing on it while Brian was eating it:
And to show you how much Everett misses his daddy all day while he's at work - he rolled across the living room and wrapped himself up in Brian's biking shirt: