Birthday, Pumpkin Patch and Wedding

My birthday seemed to pass in a blur this year.  Vince and I decided to be outdoors and took the boys to the European Car Show at BMW and to the fall festival in Simpsonville on that Saturday.  The weather was gorgeous and perfect for walking around outside.  I saw several cars that I wouldn't mind driving, but are a bit out of my price range (until I win the lottery).  The festival was low key and quiet by the time we got there so it didn't take long to see all the vendor's booths.  We ended the evening with Vince's parents at Macaroni Grill.  I had not been there in a long time.  The food and company were great!

The weekend before, we took the boys up to Strawberry Hill with my parents and brother to get pictures with all the pumpkins.  They both loved the pumpkins and straw.

This past Sunday, we drove to Atlanta, GA, for Vince's cousin's wedding.  The outdoor wedding was hot and beautiful.  Evan enjoyed the guitar player's music.  Alex enjoyed all the attention from relatives.  It was so nice seeing everyone.  And we got a great family photo!

 

 

Alex is 9 months old

Alex turned 9 months old on Friday and celebrated by going to his 9 month check-up along with his sick brother, Evan.  Evan has had a cold for a couple of weeks now and just wasn't getting better.  We found out he had his first ear infection after 2 1/2 years of never having one.  I'm glad he beat all the odds (98% of kids have an ear infection by age 2), but I'd rather he not have one at all.

Alex was very healthy at his check-up.  He did not like Dr. Parra holding him down as he is on the go now, wanting his freedom all the time.  But he made it through the appointment. 

He weighs 14 lbs 6 oz and is 25" long (way under the 0% scale).  Evan was 26 1/2" at his 9 month check-up, so Alex is a good inch shorter than Evan was at this time.  He is more than making up for his short stature in his mobility skills.  At 8 1/2 months old, he sat up by himself, army crawled, and then pulled to stand at his baby gate. 

Alex can hold his own bottle and does not like to be held for any length of time.  He knows what he wants and is ready to go after it all the time.  Evan still likes to pull his hair hard and poke him in the eyes so we keep them separated a lot with limited interaction. 

I'm hoping that Evan grows out of the harming stage soon so the boys can play together more often. 

At 9 months old Alex

• wears a size 2 diaper
• drinks about 5 bottles a day (3 to 5 oz of formula)
• eats 3 meals (oatmeal with fruit, meat, veggie with rice - so far he's not picky)
• holds his own bottle
• army crawls and gets up on knees often
• pulls up on his knees and feet
• loves his pacifiers, balls and books 
• likes to hold toys with his feet
• is very vocal and can say lots of sounds like mama, dada, baba, hi, gaga and more
• can patty cake when you ask him to
• swaps toys from hand to hand often
• likes Mickey Mouse on TV, just like big brother
• wears size 6 months clothes
• has fast growing hair like Evan, but it's very blond
• giggles and laughs at Evan all the time
• fights sleep

Alex is a joy to be around and so photogenic with his big blue eyes!

 Happy 9 months to Alex!

Alex's Helmet Results

I'm not sure if I'm as pleased with the company that produced and monitored Alex's helmet and his progress, but I am thrilled with his results.  I much prefer the orthotics office on the other side of Greenville to the one in Spartanburg, but I'm glad that Alex had a helmet and that there is an improved difference. 

Alex wore it for about 6 weeks, as opposed to Evan wearing his for about 3 months.  I could tell a difference in both boys within the first week. 

We ordered his helmet in white and put racing stickers and black tape on it for decoration.

 

The same exact angle of pictures is hard to take when an infant keeps moving and trying to look at you instead of the angle you want him to look, but here are my best before and after shots.  The top picture is before and the bottom picture is after.

 On the side views, you can really see the flat spot that Alex had right on the back middle of his head.

 

We are so glad he's a happy baby with great (and quick) results! 

St. Augustine

We decided to venture to the oldest fort in St. Augustine one day when the sun was out (briefly).  The Castillo de San Marco was a nice tour and had a lot of neat things to see and hear.

 

Since the sun was still shining, we took Evan to the local park to ride the carousel and play on the playground.

 

September 2014 Beach Trip

We arrived at St. Augustine to visit with Uncle Jack and Aunt Wilma at their beach house.  It's technically in Ponte Vedra.  Alex decided this was the week he would learn to sit up from a laying position on his own.  He got really good at it by the end of the week.

Uncle Jack and Aunt Wilma took us to Barnacle Bill's for our standard seafood dinner.  Evan ate almost his entire child's chicken dinner, which consisted of 3 chicken strips and plate of French fries.

 And since we were all getting sick by that time, we took a trip to the local Walgreens to their health clinic.  Everyone got the cold and three had pink eye.  Evan liked a toy sword that Vince found for him to play with in the store.

 Evan enjoyed the water hose on the porch.

 Publix had nice shopping carts that Evan loved driving.

It rained every day and there was black tar on the sand that stuck like glue to our feet, so we didn't get to spend any time on the beach this time.