My Little Boy is 9 Months Old!

January has been a very exciting month for Bonesteele. He now sleeps unswaddled! (See below pictures for proof.) The unswaddling process was stressful for me with both children. I guess midway through the process I freak out and envision myself still having to swaddle my child when he or she is five years old. Ha ha Miss E really loved being swaddled and getting her out of that blanket took a month. Bonesteele was much easier to unswaddle. It really only took a week and a half. He was moving around so much at night that he became unswaddled anyway, and then cried. So for a week I swaddled him with both arms out, which he liked pretty well. Then I just started putting him to bed. It took about three days for him to really get used to it. There was quite a bit of crying those days, quite a bit of not napping. My friend Margaret sent a little Australian stuffed koala and kangaroo for the kids - both are now in Bonesteele's bed, and he loves cuddling up with the kangaroo. (Miss E seems to have peacefully relinquished all rights to the kangaroo, which was hers.) He also likes to cuddle with the big snowman you see in the pictures below.


Before you tell me, yes, I know about bumper pads. I have some. They survived mostly intact through Miss E, but just a couple of weeks with Bonesteele and he managed to flatten them into strange cushions that did not do a bumper pad's job, so I took them out. He doesn't often get stuck in the slats. And as you see above, even when he is a bit stuck, he doesn't seem to mind too much. :)




Bonesteele's other big news is on Saturday he figured out how to crawl forwards! (He's been crawling backwards for a couple of weeks.) It's Tuesday and he's already scarily fast at getting where he wants to go. (Usually to where a coveted toy is laying.) I don't think he's quite realized that he can crawl anywhere. He just goes for short spurts, and then once he's reached Miss E's Mrs. Potato Head/My Little Pony/blocks/books/etc., he immediately lays down. Now that he has that mobility he is more assertive in trying to get Miss E's toys. I'm sure it's only a matter of time before he also realizes he can grab toys back from her. He is also selective about his ability to crawl. For instance, if he wants me to pick him up, he is suddenly and completely unable to crawl. He will not crawl to me, only to toys!

"I don't know, Miss E, I don't think I'm going to like whatever you're about to do!"

He also sprouted his third tooth on Saturday. That makes three on the bottom.

He is suddenly really into food. He loves Kix and graham crackers. His favorite baby food is butternut squash that I make myself. He also enjoys little pieces of dinner rolls. Gnawing on an apple slice keeps him quite entertained.


Speaking of entertainment, Miss E and Bonesteele get along very well right now. (I say right now, I hope it lasts forever!) She loves to show him things, tell him that when he's older he can do something, grab his toys and then at my insistance give him other toys (usually the lame ones ha ha). She tries to get him psyched up: "Do you want to go to the Smiths', Bonesteele? Yeah! Let's go to the Smiths'! He is fascinated by her, and she finds him quite amusing. He loves to grab her and give her kisses while she laughs hysterically.



Bonesteele loves to play rough and tumble, he loves to be tickled, and have raspberries blown on his tummy. These were things Miss E didn't care for as a baby, so Mr N is having a great time tickling and playing with little Bonesteele! He continues to be our little lover - giving kisses, cuddling. He loves to be close to us, and loves to be held. So far he has shown no signs of stranger anxiety, and will go to anyone! (This is very handy at church.) His attitude seems to be, "Oh, you are going to give me love? Sure, you can hold me!" He is already a flirt and flashes irresistable grins at the ladies while ignoring most men. His daddy and mommy and big sister are definitely his favorite people.

Miss E Helps Out II

...in which she gives herself props.

Miss E Helps Out

It's a New Year

Yeah, I'll post about Christmas later. I have Bonesteele on my lap and am typing one-handed. A few recent pictures is all you get for right now!

Miss E loves her new princess sunglasses!

We bought two more chairs for our dining room. They came in these large boxes, which Miss E dubbed swimming pools. Thus she is in just a diaper - the clothes had to come off so she could swim. I thought they looked like coffins. Thus I am laying motionless (and fully dressed).

Reading Together

Reading If You Take a Mouse to School...

and Where the Sidewalk Ends.

Little Cutie

My little baby is 8 months old already. He has started going up on his hands and knees in the past couple of days, so crawling must be around the corner. Eek! Today I started the process of deswaddling - one arm out during nap time. Turns out Bonesteele loves being swaddled as much as Miss E did. I think she was 8 or 9 months before she slept without swaddling.

Bonesteele continues to be my little snuggler, lover, cuddler. And just like a boy, he is really into nursing. Ha ha He gives kisses liberally, and will smile at anyone. He lets anyone hold him.

Bonesteele is a big vegetable fan, which makes me happy. (Miss E was and continues to be a fruitaholic.) His favorites are peas and butternut squash. He also enjoys graham crackers, which are the only solid food I have been able to get him to eat.

Baby, It's Cold Outside

We've got tons of snow here, which is extremely unusual for western Oregon. We're loving it! This weather makes Mr N and me want to move somewhere that gets more snow. We are really over the rain.

Miss E has been having a ball playing outdoors. Yesterday Mr N put the kids in a toboggan and dragged them around. Miss E laughed delightedly the entire time. The funniest part was that Bonesteele had no expression whatsoever on his face the entire time.

All Bundled Up

Christmas Finery

Miss E's outfit provided by both grandmas. She loved dressing up in her pretty Christmas clothes!

MaNiC MoNdAy - Celebrating the Holidays

Celebrating the Holidays!
First Folder: Days since Thanksgiving....14
Second Folder: Days until Christmas....14
(If you do not have a sub-folder add the second and third numbers together and choose your photo that way)
Picture to post: Days until New Years....21

MaNiC MoNdAy - Two-fer...on a Wednesday!

I'm behind on my manic Monday posts...but both pictures turned out to be weird (see below), so I'm posting a couple of the kids in addition.

This might be my favorite picture of Miss E and Bonesteele EVER.

The name edition...
First folder is the number of letters in your first name.....7
Sub-folder is the number of letters in your middle name....5
Posted pictures if the number of letters in your last name....6
The seventh folder would be my eBay folder, so you get a lovely picture of maternity jeans!
Nor did the Thanksgiving edition turn out so hot.

The first folder to select will be #17. This is how many letters there are in "Happy Thanksgiving."
The sub folder selection will be the total letters in the STATE where you celebrated thanksgiving....we were in Oregon, so my subfolder is 6.
My 17th folder happens to be my sample pictures...where I stick all the random clipart and pictures I download off the web.



So, yeah. Hopefully Monday's edition gives me a little better fodder. :D

Bonesteele Closes His Eyes in Pictures Quite Often

Recent Bonesteele Pics

Recent Miss E Pics

Pictures with very short captions are all you're getting right now.

Miss E loooooves her Hello Kitty boots.

Miss E likes to use the stickers from my Lucky magazine as pretend bandaids. "You got an owie?" she asks me. "Oh, yes, I need some bandaids," I reply. She happily bandages me up. Then she announces, "I got an owie. I need a bandaid," and takes back all the bandaids.

The above photo showcases Miss E's bear, whom she named Emily.

Christams Card Rejects

Can YOU Do That?

I had to go drop a bunch of money on clothes for Bonesteele yesterday. Somehow he grew out of most of his pants in the space of one week. Since he goes through 2-3 outfits a day (very messy eater), it just doesn't work for him to only have 2 pairs of pants that fit. So I bought a few outfits in 12 months and a few in 18 months for later this winter.

Hopefully he is not wearing those 18-month clothes two weeks from now.

Mr N exclaimed pointedly, "That's more money than I've spent on clothing this entire year!"

I shot back, "Yeah, well, have you doubled your body weight in the past seven months?"

Thankfully the answer is no.

Bonesteele's a Ticklish Boy!

Oh The Rain It Has Be-gun

That title goes to a fake song I just made up. Sing it to a sad tune. Repeat until...April. Possibly May. Good old western Oregon. <--Gray. The color of the sky right now.

Bonesteele loves to balance on his stomach and wave his arms and legs around like a crazy kid. I think he has Abs of Steel by now.

And why yes, thanks for asking, he is wearing a Christmas romper. Note: this picture is a couple weeks old, and this romper is already too small for him. So it's a good thing I put him in it while I could!

Miss E thinks it is just the coolest thing ever to wear her parents' stuff around. Here she is in Mr N's cap and shades. Which are now missing, come to think of it...

I realized today that I really need an updated banner. Travis, pretty please? *Mrs N bats her eyes*

4 x 4 x 4

I was tagged by Kimber for the 4x4x4 meme: the fourth picture in the fourth folder. This picture shows Bonesteele and my mom on Halloween night. My mom came to visit while Mr N was gone hunting with his dad and brothers in eastern Oregon. Bonesteele was the cutest duck you have ever seen, I'm sure! I just wanted to eat him up all night. My mom's shirt (which she stole from my dad) says, "This shirt is my costume." I do love that my mom's eyes just happen to be closed in this pic! Heehee

Now I am supposed to tag 4 people. I tag Brittney, Mrs A, Tasha, & Jasmine. (I'm keepin' it in the family. Ha ha)