Let's go Mariners!

It's finally Spring, which means the start of baseball season! We took Corbin to his first Mariner's game during opening weekend with my sister and her family. We all had a great time despite the rainy weather. It definitely wasn't a sold out crowd so we were able to sit pretty close in, but right on the walkway which made for easy access with all the kiddos.

Corbin enjoyed standing up on his chair watching everyone walk by, but actually sat down and watched the game for a minute or two. We're looking forward to taking him to more baseball games this summer, and have a feeling he will actually be playing baseball before we know it. (this kid can throw a ball like no other 9 month old can!)

9 months in, 9 months out!

Age: 9 months

Weight: 22 pounds, 1 ounce (75th percentile)

Height: 29 1/2 inches (90th percentile)

Our chunky monkey isn't so chunky! Okay, well maybe he is still a little chunky, but now that he is on the move and totally unstoppable, his weight gain has really slowed down. You can really see it in his face too...I mean, he actually has a chin and a neck now!

Corbin is developing faster than I can keep up these days. He is now pulling himself up to standing, and wants to stand at everything. We went to a Mariner's game and he stood up facing backwards almost the whole time. I think we are still a ways away from him standing alone or actually walking, but it's fun to see his development and confidence grow every day.

He is really starting to babble and talk now, saying "mama" all the time. While they say he isn't meaning me/mom when he says it, sometimes I wonder otherwise. He is picking up other sounds too and is throwing some "papa"s and "baba"s into the mix. I have a feeling it's not going to be long before he starts making sense of all this language stuff.

I'm starting to give up on all of this pureed baby food and just work on feeding him small pieces of steamed veggies, fruits and meats. He seems to really enjoy eating when he can feed it to himself. While my kitchen gets destroyed with every feeding, as long as he is getting some in his mouth and the much needed nutrients, that's all that matters. The good thing is, the pediatrician isn't worried about him eating 3 full meals of solids (I mean ... look at the kid ... he obviously isn't starving!) so we are just going to keep working at it and letting him get the hang of feeding himself. He is learning to chew better with each feeding too, so that will help avoid choking and open the door to trying other foods and textures.

Other than that, we are full steam ahead in planning Corbin's first birthday party! We feel like if we get the plans underway now, and take it at a good pace, we will avoid the family catastrophe come the beginning of July when all the plans will be finalized. So keep July 9th clear on your calendar because this is going to be one party you don't want to miss!

(Can you tell these pictures are getting harder and harder each month? This kid won't sit still!)

Finally a sunny day ...

We FINALLY had nice enough weather to get outside this week. I feel like we have been couped up inside since November. I've been looking forward to nicer weather so we can finally enjoy our yard and take more walks to the shops and parks down the road.

Corbin, on the other hand, wasn't so thrilled with this new "grass" stuff. He sat and picked the grass from his blanket, but as soon as I tried moving him onto the grass, he got pretty mad. He wouldn't put his feet down and when I tried to get him to crawl, he would lift his hand up super high before barely putting it down. It was a pretty funny sight, but I know he will learn to love it soon enough.

Holding his feet above the grass while he plays ...

Ok ... so this stuff isn't so bad ...

I quit my job!

Holy cow I quit my job!

After much consideration, conversation and debating ... Brian and I finally decided that I could quit my job and stay home with Corbin. I had been working as a casting producer since we moved back to Washington and while hearing about other people's issues can been quite interesting, it had gotten to a point that just wasn't working for us anymore.

I was spending at least 2 hours a day commuting, and putting half of my monthly income into daycare so it's not like I'm giving up our life-savings.

I am SO excited to be able to see Corbin every day and help teach him all kinds of new things. Not to mention be there when he starts doing all of these firsts from now on. I'm hoping this new switch will allow us to work on him accepting solid foods more frequently as well.

I'm still going to be able to bring in a little money though, since I've decided to nanny a couple kids a few days a week.

I'm even more excited that this switch comes right as the weather starts taking a turn for the better so we can spend the Spring and Summer days at the park, or the zoo, or wherever else we want!

Bath time!

Corbin has become obsessed with bath time. And I must say ... it's a savior at the end of the day when he starts to get a little fussy. I can pop him in his rubber ducky tub and he will just splash and play for an hour.

He has figured out how to fill and dump his toy, and if he slashes really hard, it makes bubbles. By the end of his bath, I usually look like I've taken a bath too he gets me so soaked with splashes.

But nothing beats that smile and a happy, clean baby!

8 months and counting ...

Age: 8 months

Weight: Approx. 22 pounds

Height: Approx. 30 inches

He just keeps growing and growing! I swear every morning when Corbin wakes up, he has gained a pound and grown an inch! I feel like he is so much more of a little boy now than a baby. While I love watching him grow and develop, I get a little sad that these months are just flying by.

Corbin started crawling this month and now he doesn't want to do anything else. He is such a fast little bugger and is already looking so much skinnier. His new favorite thing to do is crawl over to the back sliding glass door and look out at the dogs. We are working on him understand what he is allowed to play with and what he isn't since it's impossible to keep everything out of his reach.

I keep working on introducing more solid foods, but this kid just isn't having it. While he obviously isn't starving from a diet of just breastmilk, I know he could use the additional nutrients he can get from food. I'm lucky if I can get him to let me feed him 3 meals a week, let alone a day! We are working at it and trying to figure out what the best approach is, but I will definitely be talking with the pediatrician about this at his 9 month check-up.

His sleep is ... well ... the same as usual. We go through good spurts and bad. Between his teething and having a cold off and on, you never know if he is going to sleep all night or be up every hour. And now that he can crawl and sit up, he wakes up and pops right up into a sitting position and just yells. Usually he will just lay back down on his own, but sometime we have to go in and remind him that it's still time to sleep and lay him back down.

Other than all of that, he just continues to be one happy little guy and amazing me every day with the new things he can do.

(these pictures are getting harder and harder to take now that he can move on his own!)

(And here is that pouty face he give me when I won't let him crawl away)

I.NEED.SLEEP.

Our little man has decided to take a couple steps backwards and is waking up three or four times a night ... every night. This has been going on for almost two weeks now, which means I've hit a new point of tired.

The problem is ... I don't know what to do to fix the problem. I'm not willing to try the whole "cry it out" method, because to me that just seems wrong. But that leaves me with a big problem ... what to do?