Andrew's Monthly Photo Project: Nine Months

Merry Christmas!!

In addition to this joyous occasion, our little man is celebrating his 9 month birthday.  9 MONTHS!  Time is flying by way to fast for our taste.  He needs to stop growing!  But alas, our Andrew is an active little guy who is eager to explore the world around him and continues to grow and thrive.

Since it is Christmas, we decided to make Andrew's monthly photo a little festive. :)

We once again have a slew of milestones to report:

• This kid has mastered crawling.  He is into everything which means the house is baby proofed as best it can be.  He really loves getting into James' business - whether big brother likes it or not.  If James is playing with his trains or cars or books, Andrew is right there next to him.
• One of his most favorite activities as of late is Gate Dancing.  He loves to grab onto the bars of any baby gate and just boogy woogy. 
• The kid has a good grasp on who he is these days.  When someone calls out "Andrew", he is turning his head.  Lately, he mostly hears, "Andrew - that is not for you!" when getting into something he shouldn't. :)

• Things in the high chair are progressing great.  He loves to snack on puffs and yogurt bites and is a pro at the sippy cup.  He is eating more foods than I can count and is loving most.  Peas still seem to be his nemesis but we keep trying!

• Haircut #2 is in the books and he is as handsome as ever.  The experience at Cartoon Cuts was a lot better than the first - way less tears.

• We have 2 more teeth about to make an appearance, but he seems to be handling them pretty well.    

HAPPY 9 MONTH BIRTHDAY ANDREW!!

Oh...Hello, Santa.

So this happened last night:

Turns out that Santa is the scariest monster out there and the only way to get James to kind of go near him is to physically hold him down and force him to take a family photo. The kicker - exactly 47seconds after this photo was taken, James went and gave Santa a high five.  I feel as though I was played.

Andrew was unfazed.

Merry Christmas!

Andrew's Monthly Photo Project: Eight Months Old

It was eight months ago today that we were at the hospital waiting to hear the cries of the newest Mangiaracina. The minute he popped his little head out, he has been a loveable little bug (Mommy's nickname for him) and brings us smiles every day. 

So here we are, 8 months old and a TON of milestones to report.

• Andrew is officially on the move doing the best army crawl I've seen.  Sometimes it's more of a zombie crawl where he uses his arms and has dead legs behind him.  In any case, he is all over the place exploring every nook and cranny of our main level.  And as per usual, he is into everything that he shouldn't be!

• Life has changed in the way of the food he eats.  He's now down to 4 bottles a day and up to 3 solid meals a day.  Breakfast begins with oatmeal and fruit (favs are pears, peaches, apricots and bananas) followed by a veggie/fruit lunch.  Dinner consists of more oatmeal, veggies and a fruit.  He is a big fan of carrots, butternut squash, sweet potatoes and corn.  We have started introducing finger foods like Mum Mums and Gerber Puffs, but so far he's not so interested.  When he puts one in his mouth, he typically spits it out, but we are going to keep trying until he gets the hang of it.

• WE HAVE TEETH!  Andrew's first two teeth have finally made an appearance.  It has been a long time coming.  I wish I could say that the pain is gone, but it looks like the top two are about to make an appearance so the fingers are still constantly in his mouth.
• This kid is GROWING!  We don't have an official weight, but he has to be close to 15 pounds.  He is now wearing size 3 diapers so we know that he is putting on the weight - in a good way.

Happy 8 Month Birthday Andrew!!!

Photo Story

I've been quiet. Too quiet. So quiet that I feel guilty. Guilty that I have not been sharing our adventures with friends and family. But even more guilty that I have not been keeping a family record to look back on 10-15-20 years from now. There are excuses (of course there are!!). For one, finding the time has proven to be difficult. But more importantly, finding the energy to put the words together is even harder. Being the mom of two very active little boys is absolutely amazing and absolutely exhausting. And because our almost 8 month old has decided to enter the world of sleep regression, the words are still not here.

So I'm going to let the photos tell the story.

I last left off with Andrew's first meal back in August.  Since then, there have been many more messy moments as he worked through the fruits and vegetable list.  There has also been baseball and clapping and weddings and sitting and pumpkins and crawling and trick or treating and teeth! It certainly has been an exciting Fall and we are looking forward to a fun and busy holiday season.

Family Fun at Burke Lake Park

Frying Pan Park Play Date

Nats Game with Grandpa

Pool Days with Friends

Birthday Party Fun

Happy Birthday, Grandma M.

Port Discovery in Baltimore, MD

Uncle Joe & Aunt LeeAnn Get Hitched!

Cox Farms Play Date

Fairfax Fall Festival with Grandma and Grandpa Q.

Pumpkin Picking at Ticonderoga Farm

Andrew's First Haircut

Lazy Saturday Photo Shoot

Andrew Milestones: Sitting, Jumping, Crawling, Teeth!

Brotherly Love

I'm going to try really, really hard to keep up with things from now on. And Andrew is going to try really, really hard to go to sleep and stay asleep so that my Mommy brain can put the words together to be able to keep up with things. Happy Tuesday! 

Andrew's Monthly Photo Project: Seven Months Old

Seven months.

The kid is seven months old.

How is that even possible?

Look at this big boy!!!!

Milestones:

We have an army-crawler!  He isn't quite on his knees crawling yet, but when on the floor he scoots around on his belly like a pro. We recently put out the Skip Hop Zoospot Playmat and he just loves to belly-crawl to all his toys.

Andrew had his first haircut this month.  Like his brother, he was born with lots and lots of hair that just grew and grew.  It was time to clean him up so we brought him to Cartoon Cuts and now he is even more handsome than ever.  As you can see, he was not a fan of the haircut.  Fingers crossed that it's all up from here!

There are still no sign of teeth, but they are certainly brewing.  The kid always has his fingers in his mouth and is a lot grumpier when they are bothering him.  C'mon teeth. Show yourself!!

Happy 7 Month Birthday Andrew!!

Andrew's Monthly Photo Project: Six Months Old

Can you say 6 months??  That's right!  Our little guy is half way through his first year of life and he is KILLING it. :)

Milestone Update:

• We have a roley-poley on our hands.  If you put this kid on the floor in location A, he will be in location P within 5 seconds.    

• No teeth yet but that doesn't mean he can't EAT!  He has been taking down solids like a champ for a few weeks now.  Favorites include sweet potatoes, carrots, bananas and mangos.  Not so favorites: peas and pears.  The faces he makes when given these foods are PRICELESS!

• Mr. Chatty Cathy has a TON to say these days.  It's ooohhh this and ahhhh that and la la la la la!  He is also a big fan of the raspberry.  If you are close by WATCH OUT.  The raspberry spit is flyin'.

Happy 6 Month Birthday Andrew!!!

Mangia Mangia!

It is dinner time in the Mangiaracina house and someone is HUNGRY!

The menu has changed for our Andrew and he seems to be somewhat pleased with the new selection ~ although the first bite was a bit of a doosie. I love when babies try "solid" food for the first time. The face they make is priceless because they don't quite know what to do with it.

Andrew was true to form with lots of silly faces and spitting.  In the end, I think he swallowed a few bites and actually enjoyed it. He definitely loves sitting in his high chair and being a part of the family dinner table.

And with Andrew's upgrade, James is now in a new position at the dinner table - the bench! He is truly a big boy and is at the table sans a booster seat.

It's happy days here at the Mangiaracina house.  Bon appétit!

Andrew's Monthly Photo Project: Five Months Old

Here we are again. Another month under our belt and a bigger kid to prove it!

Andrew continues to melt our hearts and has been very busy learning all sorts of new and exciting things.  Just yesterday, he experienced his first "solid" food - hello rice cereal!!!  He seemed to enjoy it but I think he is looking forward to something with a little more flavor.  Looks like some sweet peas may be in the near future.

In recent days, Andrew seems to LOVE to hear his own little voice.  If he is awake, then he is squealing his little heart out. The sound is hysterical and CONSTANT! Between James' continual chatter and Andrew's squeaks and squeals, it's pretty loud in casa de Mangiaracina.

And speaking of James, Andrew continues to be enamored with his big brother.  If he is sad or fussy, all we have to do is tell James to make Andrew smile and BOOM - the kid is glowing.  Pure joy for this Mama!

Playtime is a lot more fun lately now that Andrew can sit and hold his head up and grab onto things.  He is still not a fan of tummy time and is not really doing any kind of crawl yet, but when he is sitting in his Bumbo or in his bouncy chair, he is a happy guy. Most toys go straight into the mouth since it looks like he will be cutting some bottom teeth pretty soon.

All in all, Andrew continues to be a happy, chill, fun-loving little guy and we can't wait to see what this next month brings.

HAPPY 5 MONTH BIRTHDAY BUDDY!!

Nemo & Nemo

We have some friends staying with us for the next 2 weeks and there is someone in the house that couldn't be happier.  Meet Nemo and Nemo and their BFF James.

The level of obsession over the movie Finding Nemo in our household has hit epic proportions. Frozen levels in fact.  It all started one fateful day when I walked into James' classroom and his teacher was reading a Nemo book.  I opened my mouth and said, "You know, there is a Nemo movie we can watch."  And with that, I introduced us to a non-stop Nemo-fest. Whenever James is allowed to watch a video, nine times out of ten, it is Finding Nemo. The kid has seen it so much that he is actually quoting the movie in every day life.  While in the pool at swim class, he is singing "just keep swimming...just keep swimming...just keep swimming, swimming, swimming...what do we do, we swim." The kid is obsessed.

Over the weekend he earned a Nemo doll and was ELATED when we went to pick it up at the store. Even Andrew got in on the Nemo action.

So when our neighbor asked if we can babysit some fish for the next 2 weeks, it was a no brainer. Our new little friends are getting comfortable on the kitchen counter. James is watching their every move. And I am praying that these two little friends survive their time with us.