1st look at a Christmas tree.

Owen's checking out Grammy's Christmas tree...his 1st look at a Christmas tree.

Owen at 9 months.

Owen was 10 months old yesterday! Time continues to just fly by & I can't believe we're just 2 months away from his 1st birthday!

Here's a run-down of the 9th month of Owen's life...

• You are busier than ever...you never scoot anymore, but you crawl on all 4s amazingly fast!
• You pull up on anything & everything constantly. You're starting to let go & stand alone for longer periods of time. Keeping you safe is a full-time job!
• You do not appreciate being confined to any space. You want to go wherever you want.
• You learned to open & close your fingers & say "buh-buh". It's precious!
• You love to play the piano & babble while you play.
• You can lift the flaps in "Where is Baby's Belly Button". You just love that book!
• Daddy taught you to call the dawgs on the kick-offs of UGA football games. You pump your arm up & down when he says "sic 'em, woo, woo, woo". It is priceless to watch the two of you doing it!
• You also say "mamamama" (especially when you are upset), "dada", "dug", & are trying to say something that starts with the sound "tuh". We just haven't translated that one yet!
• You have 7 teeth- 4 on top & 3 on bottom.
• You have tried some new snack foods-graham crackers & waffle wheels. You've gotten the hang of biting off small pieces.
• You are still a good eater, but favor certain foods. Your favorites are breads, cheeses, yogurt, green peas, & all fruits.
• You tried a few other new foods that you liked- cheese tortellini, peanut butter (yum!), black beans, and cheese toast.
• Firsts- You celebrated your 1st Halloween dressed as Charlie Brown. We took you to the Waffle House for breakfast one Saturday morning, which you loved, and you also visited the Nashville Zoo for the 1st time!
• At your 9 1/2 month check-up you weighed 21 lbs. & 14 oz. (80th%-not as much as we'd guessed) & you measured 30 inches long (90th %).
• You're wearing mostly 12 month clothes now.

Learning how to call the Dawgs!

Being silly with mommy one morning!

Mail for me??? YEAH!

Firsts.

It's been a busy week for Owen with lots of fun firsts...

Last Saturday morning we took Owen for his first Waffle House breakfast. He definitely enjoyed his bites of waffle, toast, eggs, & hash browns (only scattered this time!).

This morning we took Owen to the Nashville Zoo for the 1st time. We had a blast, and were definitely impressed with our local zoo. Owen has no fear-he could hardly wait to pet the Clydsdale horse's head! (P.S. Because I dropped our camera, with the lens out, last week all of these photos were taken with my iPhone camera :-(

In other firsts, after his 9 month check up last week, Dr. Rauth said we could give him his 1st taste of peanut butter. Chris could hardly wait & so on Wednesday he got his first tiny taste. We watched him closely  & had the Benadryl ready to go just in case, but all was well & he loved it! We've given him tiny little tastes again since then.

Loving all of these fun moments with our little man!

Smile.

 I live for this sweet, sweet smile!

1st Halloween.

Our little Owen celebrated his 1st Halloween dressed as Charlie Brown.

 His costume was a hit with everyone!

We went to the Woodmont Baptist Fall Festival last Sunday all dressed as Peanuts characters (Sally, Linus, & Charlie Brown).

Owen dressed up on Halloween to "help" hand out candy to our trick-or-treaters, although we only had 4.

Owen even got to sample his 1st bite of candy-a couple of nibbles of a 3 Musketeers bar. I think the boy is definitely going to love chocolate!

Owen's 8th month.

Owen is 9 months old today. It's hard to believe that I have a 9 month old!

Here's the run down of Owen's 8th month of life...

• You are a busy little man...
  -Knocking over blocks,
  -Throwing things from your highchair,
  -Scooting all over the place,
  -Pulling up,
  -Standing up in your crib,
  -Moving from lying to sitting...
• You can crawl on all fours with your belly off the ground now, but you move much faster by scooting on your belly so rarely crawl off the ground.
• You started pulling up & you haven't stopped since. You'll use anything you can to pull up (the sofa, people, doorframes, the wall, etc.). You're even getting brave & letting go for a couple of seconds!
• You love to close doors. Mommy is terrified that you're going to slam your fingers in the door, so I close them & you get quite unhappy.
• You love your dog Sadie...you shriek with delight when she's around, watch her every move, & are learning that she likes you to feed her from your highchair (oh dear!).
• You learned to click your tongue & you do it a lot!
• You are starting to imitate things that we do-waving, dancing, laughing...
• You are learning to wave hi & bye-bye.
• You say bye bye ("buh buh"), dog ("dug"), dada, & mama.
• You have 3 teeth on the bottom & now almost 2 on top!
• We gave you meat (ground turkey) for the 1st time just this week. You seemed to like it ok, but not as much as you like your veggies & fruits.
• You went to the mountains, strolled to the highest point in TN, & saw the Appalachian Trail for the first time.
• You are wearing 9 & 12 month clothes.
• We don't know exactly how much you weigh, but using unofficial measures, we think about 23 lbs. You are soooo tall, I bet off the charts now!

We love you so much & are looking forward to what the 9th month of life brings!

Little monkey!

Owen's new jacket

Owen's new school bus-Thanks Grampy!

Halloween attire!

Trip to the mountains of N.C.

All smiles!

One proud daddy.

Dear Owen,

This past weekend we went to the mountains of North Carolina with your Grammy, Grampy, aunties, & uncle. When we left on Sunday morning, Daddy wanted to go to Clingman's Dome, the highest point in Tennessee. We drove through a section of the Blue Ridge Parkway & then into Great Smokey Mountain National Park. We admired the beautiful fall leaves as we drove. Fall is absolutely Mommy's favorite time of the year!

We arrived at Clingman's Dome & despite the fog & wind, Daddy wanted to walk you to the top. So, riding in your umbrella stroller up the incredibly steep incline, you went to the highest point in the great state of Tennessee. We snapped a couple of pictures at the top & headed down.

The Appalachian Trail runs right out onto the path up Clingman's Dome. On the way down, we stopped & took a few pictures of you at the trail head for the A.T. Your Daddy was beaming! He was so proud that you got to set foot (well, more like a stroller wheel) on the Appalachian Trail. All the way down, he talked about how fun it will be when he can take you hiking. Those will be such special times for you & your Daddy.

We know you won't remember your first trek up Clingman's Dome or the first time you saw the A.T., but your Daddy will always remember it & Mommy will always remember the pride on your Daddy's face when we snapped the first picture of you on the A.T!

Love,

Mommy

The many faces of Owen.

Owen has become so much more expressive in the last few weeks.
He makes all sorts of crazy faces, & I love every one of the them!

See for yourself...

Menu.

Owen's menu options are growing, & he continues to be a super eater.
Here's a list of everything he eats now:

• Peas
• Green beans
• Carrots
• Sweet potatoes
• Butternut squash
• Avocado
• Potatoes
• Whole-wheat pasta
• Puffs
• Apples
• Bananas
• Pears
• Peaches
• Plums
• Apricots
• Baby yogurt
• Eggs (so far we've only given him the yolks)

I still prepare most of this fresh for him & just try to plan ahead for his meals several days at a time. 

Next up on the menu for Owen- ground turkey mini meatballs, blueberries, & cottage cheese.

Owen's 7th month.

I'm obviously bit behind, but now that Owen is 8 months old (plus a few weeks), so we should catch up on the 7th month of his little life.

• You are very "chatty". You babble constantly, especially when we're riding in the car or you're hanging out in your high chair or jumperoo.
• You started trying harder to get up on all fours to crawl. You just can't move as fast as you want, so you still mostly "scoot". You're also learning that you can use things around you to pull up....oh dear!
• You're feeding yourself a lot more 'finger foods'. Although you didn't like mashed up peas & green beans, you love to feed peas & little pieces of beans to yourself now. You also feed yourself cubes of peaches, banana, avocado, sweet potato, and noodles.
• You still have just 2 teeth.
• You started "school" on August 27th & seem to love it. You haven't cried since the first day we dropped you off. You get excited when we walk in the building & when you see that we're going to your classroom.
• You love to read. Your absolute favorite book is "Where is Baby's Belly Button". As soon as you see us get off of the shelf, you shriek & start laughing. You love to try to help us lift the flaps too!
• Pop & Marion dropped by for a visit on their way home from Louisville. They brought you your 1st "noise" book, "Trick or Treat with Elmo". You love to try to push the buttons as we read it.
• You're sleeping less & less, both during the day & at night...bummer. You're just too busy for sleep!

1st day of school!

Owen's new friends on the 1st day of school

Trouble, trouble, trouble

I'm so tall!

Being silly with grandpa!

Playtime!

Watching a little football with Daddy

Watching Pop read me my new Elmo book

All dressed up for church

"Bye-bye"

Priceless entertainment!
(Side note-he obviously loves the word "Duke". I've never seen him laugh like that when Chris says "UNC" :-))