1st Birthday Party

To make sure that one very special person could attend Hunter's first birthday party, we ended up celebrating his first birthday this past Saturday, which was actually his 11 month birthday.  Hunter had a great time playing with all the kids and his presents.  Thank you to all our friends and family that could share in this special day with us!

Ready to pick up a girl in his new car

Lock up your daughters!!!

Today Hunter's teacher told me that he was chasing all the girls and giving them kisses.  I asked if she was sure it was kisses and not him biting, since we've been having trouble with biting lately.  She told me, "Oh no, he was definitely giving kisses!"  Our little boy is only 10 months old and already he's a little player!

On another note, Hunter had another bottom tooth break through this weekend. We are now up to 6 teeth (3 top and 3 bottom). We can see that another top tooth is close, but hasn't broken through yet. Also, here is a video I took with my phone of Hunter laughing today. (Don't forget to mute music player at the bottom.) I think he has one of the best laughs ever! It brings a smile to my face every time I hear it :)

10 Months

I thought over the summer break I would be better at posting updates, but as you can see I was not. Since my last post, Hunter finally started crawling on his hand and knees. He had been moving around the house pretty well doing the army crawl, but when he got the stomach virus that has been going around, his stomach hurt so much that he decided to crawl. I hate that he had to get sick to convince him to crawl on his hands and knees, but hey, whatever works. Hunter is also walking around the house using his walker, chairs, diaper boxes, laundry baskets, etc. About a month ago, Hunter learned how to "give five" and "high five." This past weekend he also learned how to wave "hi" and "bye." Another new thing that he has started (that I'm not crazy about) is hiding things. Hunter loves to hide the remote, cell phones, toys, etc. under the couch, coffee table, and end tables. He even hid my flip flop under the stove! Looks like we need to start keeping a closer eye on all our belongings! I started back to work this past Friday, and will only be working three days a week this year. Hunter started daycare yesterday, and we were told he did very well, was a happy boy, and played well with others. Unfortunately, he only took a 25 minute nap, which we expected but were hoping he would surprise us. Hopefully, once he learns that he is not missing out on anything, he will start taking his two daily naps. If not, it's going to be a long school year! Here are a few pictures we've taken since our last post.

First haircut...looking a little worried

Definitely NOT happy

Our handsome little boy

Fourth of July on the Waterway

Being a goof at Safari Stop

9 Month Well Visit

Hunter had his 9 month check up this Monday, and everything went well. He didn't have to receive any shots this time, but they did prick his toe to check for anemia, which came back normal. Hunter weighed in at 19.5 lbs which places him in the 25th-50th percentile. She said he's starting to drop a little on his weight since he's moving more, so we just need to up his food a little. For height, he measured 28.5 inches, which places him in the 50th -75th percentile. Overall, she said he was doing great! She checked his ears and he didn't have any fluid in them, so she confirmed what I had suspected. She said that he is hearing fine, but his loudness is just him expressing his personality. I think she was trying to tell me politely that we have a loud mouth on our hands :) I guess I'll just prepare myself for a lot of teacher calls in the future!

8 Months

Over the last month, Hunter has really started moving! He's still not crawling, but he scoots all over the place. I wish he would start crawling though, because he's covered in rug burns! He does get on his hands and knees and rocks back and forth, and can now go from his stomach to a sitting position. Hunter has also started pulling himself up and taking a few steps while holding on to things. Last week, Kevin found Hunter standing in his crib during nap time! This week he has also let go of me and stood for a few seconds unassisted. Hunter has also started feeding himself some finger foods such as puffs, Cheerios, and crackers. He also discovered a few cabinets in the kitchen are not childproofed, and he enjoyed opening and closing the door for a solid thirty minutes. Below you can watch a short clip. As you can hear in the video, Hunter is pretty loud. In fact, he's so loud that we're going to check with the doctor next week at his 9 month appointment to make sure he's hearing okay. He seems to hear us just fine, but we've noticed he's MUCH louder than most of the other babies. We just want to make sure everything is fine. I'm sure it is, and I'm sure it's just an indication that in the future we will receive lots of calls from teachers about Hunter being loud in class :) Other big news for this month is that we went on our first family vacation. It originally started out as a family of 3 going to Port Aransas for a few days, and then turned into an additional 19 people coming with us. We had a great time with our small group family! Hunter also started swim lessons this week at the YMCA. I wouldn't say he's a big fan. It's not that he doesn't enjoy the water. He just doesn't like doing what they want him to do, he wants to do what he wants to do. It is the most exhausting 30 minute lesson ever! I'm thankful we only have one more week :) Earlier this month, we also went to the zoo with the Brinkleys and their little boy Mason. Although the boys didn't pay much attention to the animals, the adults had a great time!

Feeding himself a cracker for the first time.

Port Aransas

Tim, Mason, Kevin, and Hunter at the zoo.

7 Month Happenings

Over the last month, Hunter has started scooting (although at home he prefers crying until someone picks him up), clapping his hands, banging two toys together, says mama but does not apply meaning yet, and made his first trip to the pool. He LOVES playing with the water in the bath tub, but only tolerates the pool for now. Hunter has to figure something out before he'll smile and enjoy something, so hopefully after a few more trips to the pool he'll relax more and start to love playing in the pool also.

First time in pool...not too happy about this

Trying to figure out what's going on

And we're done...

6 month Professional Pictures

Here are a few of the pictures that Jamie Werner at suburbanchicphotography.com took of Hunter at Mercer Arboretum last month.