Not so fast!

Tanner is growing up quickly--but finally slowed down on the growth chart. Finnally...maybe my baby is going to stay my little boy a wee bit longer! What his 9-month Dr Appt revealed - he's jut average as far as weight and height are concerned.

• Weight - 20 lbs 12 oz - 55% percentile
• Height - 28 3/4 inches - 60% percentile
• Head Circumrance - 44.8 cm - 45% percentile

But let me tell you - this is no average little boy!



He's getting smarter by the moment. There is no fooling him.

While he's just as playful as ever, he's fianlly catching on. When we toss him in the air, we usually count to 3. Now he anticipates it and laughs before we even do it. Too cute! Or will start jumping when we're holding him to let us know he wants us to play with him.

He notices every detail. Whether it's a zipper, botton, pocket, embalishment, he'll find it on my clothes and beging to play with it. He also likes to play with every part of my faces - nose, ears, eyes, mouth - even tried sticking his entire fist into my mouth. When we talk into a room, he likes to stare at the ceiling.

In the bathroom, the toothbrush has lost it's appeal. He's now into playing with the water in the bathroom sink. He knows how the turn faucet on/off - which has become his new favorite activity while I'm getting ready in the morning. And I've already mentioned his fascination for emptying the water bathtub.

He still loves books, and now knows how to turn the pages or lift the flaps in the peek-a-boo books. He LOVES anything peek-a-boo. If you just say the word, he starts laughing.

His favorite toy - my PDA. This has so many buttons, makes sounds, and lights up. And unfotrunately, I can't send a text, read an email, or listen to voicemail without Tanner wanting to take his turn playing with this.

And yes, he now has begun to cry when you take things away & he objects. But he does NOT cry when he falls down from standing up. He usually smiles or laughs.

Drinks out of a big kid sippy cup. He actually prefers these to the other bottle-like sippie cups.

To date, I still haven't been able to find anything Tanner doesn't like to eat and refuses or spits back out. Usually, he tries to fit stuff too much in his mouth. Like one day I gave him steamed carrots and later on, I noticed he still had some packed away inside those cheeks of his.

Always wants to standup. At church, he won't let me hold him. Instead, he wants to stand up holding onto the pew and look around. I'm sure it's quite distracting to the other families, but it's the only thing that will keep him happy. At home, he loves to standup alongside the furniture or toys.

While he still friendly and goes to strangers well, at the end of the day, he loves his mommy. Now before bedtime, he'll put his head on my shoulder and let me sing to him before I put him down. These are the moments I live for.

Ok - I know I am biased - but I swear he's the cutest boy. But other people DO tell me it too. I've always expect 80+ year old women at the grocery store to tell me. But even guys. One dad told me if they could have a baby that cute he'd have another.

Two Times the Charm

TWO visits to the doctor in one week.

One for his 9-month check-up (more on that later).

But after TWO nights of Tanner waking up at TWO in the morning screaming - not even wanting to nurse (this is so UNLIKE him). With some persuasion -the bottle did him in.

It was time for the second doctors appointment - this one to report not so good news.

TWO ear infections. And possibly strep throat too. We didn't do a seperate test as the antibotics would conquer both. The best part - they gave me the antibiotics right there in the office. No trip to the pharmacy afterwards and it was free.

But through it all, he still managed to keep his smile. And maybe after Anthony and I sleep tonight, I will too :)

Fish out of water

On land...Tanner is a fish out of water. But in the bathtub, an entirely different story.

I put Tanner on one side of the tub, and a few seconds later, he's on the other. He LOVES to swim across the bathtub. Michael Phelps - watch out!

Really, he just LOVES to pull the knob to let the water out of the tub. He doesn't know quite what it does yet - but likes the sound - and knows he's not suppose to do it!

And he loves to play with his toys.

Drink a cup full of water.

Eat the whale for a snack.

Splish splash with his hands.

Or just chill. He's found his you-know-what. I sure hope this is normal.

Ok - no more pictures.

I meant no more pictures!

Did you see those pearly whites???

Workout

Despite our best efforts, Tanner still is not crawling - or walking for that matter. But that doesn't mean he doesn't get a healthy dose of a workout every morning.

Here's a few videos of him "practicing" with Grandma C.


(fastforward to 1:30)

And am I a bad mom if I still laugh every time he falls over???




Tanner's little neice - Leah - asked if Tanner was walking. Looks can be deceiving such as the fact that Leah's sister, Sophie, is the same size as Tanner. But Sophie has 6 months on Tanner. He's quite the beefy little boy, where Sophine is just cute and petite.

Laugh Attack

Warning. Material contained below is contagious. Please prepare yourself to laugh!

This is why it's SO hard to leave for work every morning. Tanner is so GIGGLY and PLAYFUL these days. I've decided to send him off to Never Never Land while I'm at work so he can stay by little Tanners FOREVER and never have to grow-up!

But instead, Grandma that takes videos of him so I can come home and always remember how adorable he is!!

PS - I'm actually the one recording while bouncing with him - try that for mulit-tasking! So if it makes you dizzy - I'm sorry.

Storytime

Avery came over for a fun Saturday visit. Avery loves to read - and while a left the room for a moment - I came back and she was reading a book to Tanner. She was being so animated, but got all shy when she realized I was watching.

Even still, everytime I listen to this video it still makes me laugh. Avery has perfected ALL of her animal sounds before she even learned how to talk (she LOVES animals) - but her PIG sound is still MY FAVORITE! And better yet, she keeps doing it over and over.

As you can tell, she still LOVES all the attention!! And I LOVE this girl!!!

Tanner - believe it or not - has developed the same passion for books. Yes, they are fun to eat, but he's finally starting to see past that aspect and he really enjoys us reading to him. He's only 8 months old, but he already has a favorite - Goodnight Gorrilla.



At bed time, I was trying to read him a handful of books, but he kept grabbing for his favorite. I thought it was just my imagination at first, but Grandma said he does the same thing to her too. When she tries to read him other "boring" picture books, he's not interested and pushes them aside. But no matter if it's day or night, he LOVES his peek-a-poo pop-up books and Goodnight Gorilla.

So...I need to beef up my selection of children's literature. Any suggestions for their child's all-time favorite children's book??

The easter bunny is going to make a special delivery this year!

Special Delivery

We had a special deliver arrive this morning. If you can't go over it, can't go under it, can't go through it...how do you get out? Tanner has the right idea. EAT IT...of course!!!

I'm still in denial over the contents of the original package - and I'm sure you'll agree when I tell you. XBOX 360! Now a Wii I could have easily justified as I would enjoy playing, but a 360! Never!! But Anthony is just like a little kid. He used some bday money and other "money" he had earned so I couldn't say no.

Wild One

Tanner must be part human, part lizard. He's constantly sticking his tongue in and out of his mouth - just like a lizard. And I mean, ALL the way. And he does this every few multiple times a minute. It's so funny! Talk about personality...

8 Months!!

I can't believe he's already 8 months old - I wish I could just freeze him at this age forever!! His personality is more apparent than ever and he is the most adorable, energetic, fun little baby.

From newborn t0 8 months, see for yourself how big this little boy has grown.

Out with the old - In with the new
He no longer fits in the infant car seat. Now I'm not sure if he technically weighs over 22 lb, but considering how we've adjusted the straps all the way and we can still barely buckle him in...I think it's a sign. Hello convertible car seat. Goodbye infant carrier.

Crawling -
I use this term loosely. Now if you're definition of crawling is scooting and rolling around and moving backwards, then YES, Tanner is crawling. But he's still in the process of figuring out how to move forward. He's lifting up his belly, rocking back and forth - I say give him another week or two and he'll have it mastered.

The best is when he lifts his entire body off the ground doing a pull-up.

Or when he continually rolls over to the book shelf to the play with the DVDs when he has a million other toys to play with in the room.

Whenever I leave the room and come back a few minutes, he's always in a different spot and I'm not quite sure how he got there.

Standing tall -
Tanner also is learning how to stand up against things. Now it depends on your perspective. If you ask Anthony, Tanner was standing up on his own leaning against the ottoman. But one might say he was wedged or even stuck so he had no where else to go. Either way though, Tanner loves to tense up his entire body and stand tall.

Feed me -
Despite the video below, yes I do feed Tanner. As you can tell, he's not a picky eater and practically eats anything that he comes in contact with.

He's just very demanding - you must now share your drink with him. This also means taking sips out of my cups of water or juice. Otherwise, he's not afraid to voice his opinion of dismay to you.

And if you're going to put him in his high chair, it most be shortly followed by food. But now that Tanner has learned to eat finger food on his own, I can usually get a bite or two of my own food in. Tanner has mastered picking up small bits of cereal, rice, veggies, etc. At first he started out by grabbing the food with the palm of his hand, make a fist to smouch it to a pulp, and then eat whatever squeezed through the cracks of his fingers and try to swallow his fist in the process. But now he's mastered using his thumb and point finger to pick things up and goobles away.

He still mainly eats the pureed fruits and veggies, but yogurt is prob his fav. I just use the finger food as a distraction so Anthony and I can enjoy the rest of our meal together. It keeps him entertained.

Graduation -
Tanner has also graduated from the infant tub to the full-size bath tub. He started realizing how much fun it was to kick and splash - and more water would end up on the floor or sink than in the tub - so it was more than time to make the switch.

Like my mohawk?

He also sits in the cart when I take him to the store. I usually would just bring my Baby Bjorn when I took him shopping, but then it just dawned on me he's probably old enough to sit in the cart. Finally! And he absolutely loves it. He's the best little baby ever - I'm telling you. I actually prefer to go places with him...and never like leaving him at home unless he's sleeping.

Look who's talking?
Tanner has also been practicing his vocals and likes to try different arrangements. Besides the ba-ba-ba and the ma-ma-ma, he'll get the giggles when you do something silly, funny, or really exciting, scream at the top of his lungs just to see if you're listening (just for fun), and the blow bubbles and razz all day long.

But everytime we try to get him on camera, he goes mute. He's a little camera shy. Well - he actually loves the camera- but that's the problem. He stops what he's doing and just stares at it - which does NOT make for very exciting videos.

Future bball player in the making!
Not only does he love this toy, but he has all the makings for a great bball player. He is getting so tall!! Tanner visited me for lunch one day - and all my co-workers swore he was going to be 7ft tall. My bros are prob upwards to 6'4'' tall - but 7 ft might be pushing it. It is, however, hard to find pants that are long enough. I practically have him wearing 12-18+ month pants. They just are taller and have more wiggle room around the waistline. It seems like he's slowly starting to loose his chubby belly...


Mommies boy -
Tanner also has become quite the mommie's boy. He usually always wants me to hold him (probably cause I usually give in). But I still LOVE the fact that he remembers who I am and at least shows some preference towards me. With working so much, my worse fear is that he'll forget who I am. Some would argue that it's only because I still nurse him. And yes, he literally attacks me when he's hungry and it can be quite embarrassing, but I'll take the good with the bad anyday to know Tanner loves his momma.

Time to eat my toys!

Surprise (March 4th)

Just one day past 8 months, a new little surprise popped up in the morning. Not one - but two little teeth poking through. Now - when Tanner decides he's ready to let us take a picture - we will let you know. At the moment, not even human fingers are appealing enough to get him to open his mouth.