Karter is Nine Months

Wow. Karter has hit the 9 month mark . . and since he came into this world a week later than nine months, I figure its only fair that I'm a week late on his 9 month post:) 

At 9 months Karter:

• is crawling all over the place. 
• is getting into plenty of trouble as a result - think stairs and fireplace just to mention a few!
• climbs up against EVERYTHING!!  This is mostly just fine.  But in bed it is a real nuisance.  If he doesn't want to sleep (which seems to be always), he will immediately stand up and then scream until rescued . . . and he is pretty persistent. (or I am pretty wimpy . . . or a combination of both?!)
• in the last few days has figured out how to get down from a standing position which is very helpful.  He has not attempted this "getting down thing" in his pack n play yet.
• always cries when I put him down for a nap.  Hmmmm.  I distinctly recall writing in his 8 month post that he NEVER cries when I put him down.  Figures.
• has never had worse sleep habits.
• loves coffee cups. He watches like a hawk when Jonathan and I drink our coffee and then loves to play with our cups when we are done. 
• gets himself stuck in awkward places quite often.  eg.  why climb around the table and chairs when it looks shorter to go straight through?!
• is rapidly expanding the list of foods he eats . . some of his favourites are cheese, fruit loops :0), cheerios, bananas and baby cereal. He also will eat any of the canned baby food in baby jars no problem.
• loves to "follow" me around and climb up on my legs - especially when I am cooking/making lunches.  It certainly slows down progress.
• loves the keyboard of the computer and it just happens to be perfectly reachable. This also slows down progress . . . and frustrates it sometimes too!
• plays shy - but not always.  He definitely really checks people out and once in a while will just start howling!!
• puts everything in his mouth!!  We are really trying to get after the kids to pick things up if they see them on the ground . . .b/c if they don't, Karter will.  I don't know how he sees some of the things we find in his mouth, but it seems like we are prying things out of his mouth rather often . . . which is also a bit of a difficult feat.
• doesn't play with his toys too often . . . too much other stuff to explore right now.
• grinds his teeth . . . not when he sleeps . . . when he is awake.
• refuses his soother at night rather often.  Grrrr.
• loves applejuice/water in a bottle . . . and took it no problem.  (seems to me it took a long time for my other kids to take a bottle)
• is getting more hair and it is still really blond.  He gets lots of comments on this lately.
• had a bout of sickness - high fever etc.  With the help of Tempra, he did reasonably well, but it was still really sad to see him so sad looking . . . but he was nice and cuddly.
• is so fun!!!  We love watching him learn and grow.

LOVE!!!

A Bit of November and December

Now that 2013 is upon us, I thought it high time I got a few pictures from 2012 up before it just doesn't ever happen.  So here are a few events from November and December that the camera captured:

At the end of November our temporary abode from June-October was ready to come down!

We spent a few days being a bit destructive with a hammer and crow bar (which looking back, was probably a grand waste of time!), and carried stuff out to a burn pile out back.  There was something fun about being destructive and the kids loved driving the lawnmower and wagon with the loads of wood all day.

Then came Saturday and the time for the hammer was past!  With a lot of manpower and some tractor power, this happened:

Somehow she just wouldn't come down.  It was a lot stronger than we thought!!!

But they kept at it . . .

 . . . and then there was this!

Thanks to all those who came to help!  It was a very tiring day (Jonathan was exhausted!) . . . but before the day was over, he had yet another committment!

He had been "drafted" to play in a game against some Maple Leaf Alumni.  So he girded himself up, and headed out. 

Before the game there was an autograph signing session.  Kevin and Kade had some cards of some of the players that they got signed.  After the game, there was a sponsor/player reception and the boys got their jerseys signed all over. They got to talk to most of the players which was pretty neat.

(Jack Valiquette and Gary Leeman)

Jonathan had a blast playing in this game.  He really, really enjoyed himself.  The alumni won quite handily and you can tell they still have loads of skill!  If you've ever been to one of these games, you'll know they are filled with humour too.  We had fun watching too.  Even Kylie thought it was pretty cool (they had a few girls playing on Jonathan's team and now, when they play in the basement, she is the one girl).

Group Picture

In December Kylie had some of her friends over between services on Sunday.  They got all dressed up and we had a little hot chocolate party.

                              

We caught two parades . . . with some family. 

The kids read some books . . . I love it when they actually sit down and read for a while.  They rarely do except in bed, so I think it is picture worthy when I see them all hunkered down with a book.

We went out for a family dinner to celebrate my parents 35th anniversary (which was back in August). 

This was a great evening. It took us a while to get it done, but it was cozy and worth the wait.

I didn't get pictures of everyone for some reason, but here are the ones I did have . . .

(maybe you'll have to send me the missing ones Kate!)

  

 

 And we put up our Christmas tree (which may I say, never looks as good on camera as it does in real life?!)

Kylie was very sad when we took it down last week. It got a big, big hug:)

And that is just a bit of what has been going on . . . besides Karter getting months older:)

(which does happen to be coming right up again:o))