New Toy (Mine, not yours!)

Yes, Mommy got a new toy! (I can have toys too, you know!!). Actually it's really for your benefit. For my birthday, your Emme got me a baby food maker - it steams and purees whatever we want so you can have homemade food! So all day Sunday I steamed and pureed my heart out - asparagus, apples, apricots, carrots (can you tell I'm starting at the beginning of the alphabet and working my way down?!). And you actually ate it (separately, not all pureed together!). I was so tempted to try some salmon, but I just can't muster up the nerve to puree salmon (yuck!!). So hopefully I'll continue this process. I have figured out though that it's still easier (and cheaper) to buy the jar food. So I'm going to continue to make yours but only for foods that don't come in the jars (like asparagus and whatever else comes after C that I haven't gotten to on the list!). So get ready, new foods are coming your way!

Trick of the week: We're working on pointing to lights. You've got it down in some areas of the house, but when we go somewhere different, I think it's a little confusing. As long as you look up when I ask where the light is, I consider that a success!

We have a low-key weekend planned because the next 5 or 6 are going to be crazy with weddings and trips and visitors! So enjoy this relaxing weekend! See you in a little bit. I love you!!! Kiss Kiss from Mommy!

Guess what! You have an ear infection! Suprise, surprise! This time we didn't even know it. We went to the dr. for your 9-month checkup, and he found it! You must be so used to them by now, that they don't phase you anymore - you poor thing!

And we've introduced you to meats! Get excited! So far you've only had chicken, but you've gobbled it up! (I guess I should've saved that statement for when you started eating turkey!). Your Emme bought me a baby food cooker/processor for my birthday, so I MAY attempt to make your food. This should be interesting. We'll give it a try and see how it goes.

Speaking of my birthday, you sent me some really pretty flowers for my birthday. You're so sweet! I asked your dad where you got the money and he said from your college savings account. You better not be digging in that fund for toys and candy!!!! I'm going to have to introduce you to Dave Ramsey pretty soon - he'll teach you how to save money! 'Cause by the time you go off to college, it'll probably cost as much as our house! Daddy better work on that money tree in the backyard!

Hope you're having a good day at school. I'll see you in a little bit. I love you! Kiss Kiss from Mommy!

Please don't cry!

Hey big guy! You've had a really good week. Done lots of crawling and talking up a storm. You had cartoon t-shirt day at school this week, so your daddy had to go buy you a t-shirt! He got you a cute Tom & Jerry t-shirt (and of course, found a Ghostbusters t-shirt for himself)!

We've nixed your late afternoon naps and, voila, you're going to sleep earlier and sleeping just as long! We probably should have been doing this a long time ago, but we just weren't smart enough to figure it out! I sure wish you came with instructions!!

Unfortunately, what I've been reading about (and thinking for sure that that wouldn't happen) has happened. Separation anxiety has kicked in! For the past 2 days you've cried when I dropped you off at daycare. Can I tell you how heart wrenching that is!?!? I want to keep running back to you, but I know I need to be strong and let you learn on your own that it's OK and I'll be back to get you soon. I've got to figure out some kind of routine that hopefully make this easier (again, an instruction manual would come in SO handy right about now!). Miss Jennifer is really good though about distracting you with toys to make it easier on both of us!

That's about it for now. You Emme and Papa are coming to see you for the weekend! I'll tell you all about it next week. See you soon. Kiss Kiss from Mommy!

Crawling Machine

Yes - you are as the title says, a crawling machine! Just in the past week, you've gone from traveling just a few inches to going from room to room. Your poor legs and knees were almost raw tonight from crawling so much!

You've had so many visitors this past week. Your Emme and Papa came to stay with you Wednesday night and Thursday night and then your KK and Granddaddy came up Friday and left today. You've amazed them all with your traveling skills! Unfortunately you also scared us a little Thursday night with a terrible case of excema on your bottom. So along with the ringworm on your bottom you had this terrible rash. We paid yet another visit to the doctor on Friday morning and he gave us the diagnosis. We're hoping this will be a temporary thing and you won't have to worry about it once you're out of diapers. So now we're putting all kinds of ointments on your poor little bottom. And what used to be your favorite spot (the changing table) has now become a dreaded destination! I think it's partly because of how painful your bottom feels and partly that you don't want to be confined to one spot anymore!

Your dad and I spent Saturday night in Nashville to celebrate our 5th anniversary while your KK and Granddaddy watched you. We had a great time, but it's just so hard to leave you! I know one of these days I'm going to have to spend more than one night away from you, but I just can't imagine it right now. I would just miss your cute little face too much!!

You're sleeping peacefully right now, so I'm going to try to get a few things done around here and then go to bed. I'll see you in the morning. Kiss Kiss from Mommy!

1st Morris Family Reunion

Hey Bud! You've had a busy couple of weeks. I didn't write last week because we were in Arkansas for your first Morris Family Reunion! They're usually a lot of fun, but they were even more fun this year because you were there! We drove down to Lake DeGray on Thursday and so started our weekend of family and fun! You got to meet ALL kinds of cousins, young and old. Friday we played in the lake with everyone, and I think you had a blast. You and your cousin Ben actually had the same float. It was pretty cute! He's just one month younger than you are, so I'm sure you guys are going to have lots of fun at future reunions!

We had a catfish dinner Friday night and your KK took care of you and put you to bed while she let me and your dad play games with everyone. She's so sweet! Then on Saturday you and I went to Little Rock so we could see my side of the family. You got to have lunch with Emme, Papa, Jimmy, TJ, Kevin, Sarah, Ruthie and Aunt Edith and you met Emme's cousins Diana and Philo. Watch out for Philo - he's a character - but we love him anyway! Then you went to see your Granddad and Meemo and Beepo. They loved to watch all of the new things you can do like crawl backwards and stand up (holding on to things, of course!). Another thing you've started doing is pointing! That's so fun to see you point at things and push things around with your finger. Unfortunately you've also found something else you can do with your finger!!

Saturday night we came back to Lake DeGray and had a BBQ dinner with everyone and then went to bed. I think we were all tired after the big weekend. One thing I haven't mentioned yet is that on our way out of town Miss Nicole called me and said that Abigail had chicken pox!! She was SO worried that Abigail had been contagious on our last Mexican night out. So all weekend we were checking you for fever or spots. But luckily I think you've made it through unscathed! (Knock on wood!). However, you do have a lovely case of ringworm on your bottom right now!!!

Your uncle Jay has coined a new name for you - it's more of a phrase really. You're now Ry Ry (fill in whatever you're doing) guy. For example, on our trip he bought you a little red Razorback frisbee and you loved it and wouldn't put it down. So he called you Ry Ry Frisbee guy. So now it's stuck - you've been Ry Ry Whiny Guy, Ry Ry Silly Guy and anything else we can come up with. I'll be interested to see if we're still calling you that when you're a teenager!!

You've done SOOO good at sleeping this week. I think the key is that you've started rolling over and sleeping on your stomach. That's probably how you've wanted to sleep this whole time, but I've been trying to follow the rules and make you sleep on your back. Now that you can maneuver yourself around, I guess you're showing me who's in charge!!

One last thing I have to tell you is that last night you did the FUNNIEST thing. Your dad had some fresh corn and he was outside chopping the ends off of with a knife, Everytime he whacked that corn with the knife, you BUSTED out laughing. And not just a chuckle, it was a hearty laugh. He finally ran out corn, so he just pretended like he was doing it and you still laughed! We still haven't figured out why that was so funny! I wish you could tell us!

That's all I have for now. I'm sure there'll be lots more stories next week! See you in a little while. Kiss Kiss from Mommy!

No News

Hey big guy! I don't have much to share this week. It's been a quiet one. The most eventful thing we've done is go see your new cousin George last night. He's 4 weeks old and just now weighs as much as you did when you were born!! You weren't too impressed with George, but you sure did like their dog! I wasn't sure if you'd recognize a Golden Retriever as a "doggie" since all you've seen before is Lexie, but I think you figured it out!

I think you're getting another bottom tooth! You've been sleeping pretty well the past couple of nights so hopefully if you are getting this tooth the painful part is over! Let's keep it up, OK?!

Not much else to tell for this week's update. See you in a little while. Kiss Kiss from Mommy!

Summer Fun

Thank goodness you like the summer as much as we do (at least I think you do!). You've been having lots of fun over the past 2 weekends playing with friends. Last weekend you went to Ms. Dana and Mr. Porter's house for a cookout. There were tons of kids there but most of them were a little bit older than you. I was more nervous than you were about you getting hurt, but everything was fine!

Then this past weekend we went to Mr. Jason and Ms. Stephanie's for our Mexican night. Then we had them over with Uncle Jay for 4th of July. I had bought you one pool but when we got it home we figured out that it had sprayers all over it and there was nowhere to sit without getting sprayed so your dad got you a regular pool! You and Ellie played in both of them, and you both seemed to like them!

Believe it or not, I think we may have found a food that you don't like! I tried to give you some avocado today and well, let me just say, your gag reflexes are working! I've never seen you physically gag before, but I saw it today!! I'm thinking that once we can put some tomatoes and onions with those avocados, you'll really enjoy them!! But we'll wait on that!

You're really doing well at standing up while holding onto things. You're not really taking any steps but your legs are really strong and you can stand for a long time without falling!

I know I keep saying how close you are to crawling, but you really are! You're kind of doing a military crawl, but instead of going forward you go backwards!! It's pretty funny.

(As you can tell, I've learned how to add pictures, so your future blogs should be a lot more interesting!). Talk to you next week. Kiss Kiss from Mommy!