And He's Up

Connor has really transformed in the past couple of weeks. He went from my sweet "potted plant" to a baby on the move. His crawling is improving every day and he seems to do it more and more. He really likes to crawl towards you and then start kind of pulling himself up on you, because his favorite thing to do is stand up. Crawling is fine, but to Connor, being on his hands and knees is totally lame compared to the "thrill" of standing up. He still walks like a drunken sailor, but he likes to try it nonetheless.

He's also starting to master a new skill; pulling up. Sure, he's pulled himself up before, but now he seems to be doing it with gusto. For example, tonight in the bath tub for the first time, he was desperately trying to pull up on the side. As this activity is a little slippery and dangerous, I had to sort of keep pushing him down and trying to avert his attention to his bath toys, but it was pretty difficult, let me tell you.

Anyway, I got a video of him pulling up today. He actually did it three times in a row, but I had to keep pushing him down because I didn't have the camera in video mode fast enough. This final video I took was his slowest pull up and it's even fast. It's just amazing to see him progress.

Enjoy!

We're Back

So we made it back safe and sound and I am happy to report that Connor had a great time with his grandmas. I am also happy to report that our trip to the Napa Valley was incredible. We missed the little guy, but beautiful weather, gorgeous landscapes, amazing food, and plentiful wine certainly helped soften the blow...ha!

We took so many pictures, because the entire area can be described as picturesque, but I'll just post a few highlights. I miss the scenic overlooks and tastings of wine, but my current view isn't so bad either.

Me checking out my photos of Connor before we left. I definitely looked at them a lot, but I know it was good for us to get away.

We first had lunch in San Francisco with Jeff's cousin. Here is the Bay Bridge.

The Golden Gate Bridge.

Ahh, wine country.

Both of us at a winery.

The flowers were all in bloom. It was amazing.

Cool barrels on a wine tour.

Our exclusive wine tasting in the wine caves.

Our ridiculous yellow rental car.

Jeff enjoying our last glass of wine in Napa overlooking the valley at Auberge du Soleil. What a great trip.

My sweet little guy, back at home.

Off to California!

Today marks a bit of a milestone in our household, but it's not one that involves Connor. Today is me and Jeff's 5 year wedding anniversary. To celebrate, we are heading off to Napa, California tomorrow or rather tonight, since we leave the house for our 6am flight at 4am. Ugh. It will be a rough morning, but once we get there I'm sure it will be well worth it.

We will be gone for a full 4 days, returning Tuesday night. During that time Jeff's Mom, Gigi, will watch Connor tomorrow and Sunday and my Mom, Grandma, will watch Connor Monday and Tuesday. Gigi arrived last night to get a Connor crash course and she's doing awesome. It's not surprising though since she raised one heck of a son. Of course my Mom has three other grandkids and raised three wonderful daughters like me (hee hee), so I am really not worried at all about either of Connor's very skilled babysitters. If you know me though, you know I am a planner and I literally have a 15 page document outlining his care, plus other notes around the house if they have questions. It's a bit crazy, but they both seem to appreciate the info, so I guess it's OK.

It will be the longest I have ever been away from Connor and while everyone tells me it's good for me, we'll just have to see about that. I know I will miss him like crazy, but I also know it will be so great to take a fun, relaxing and romantic trip with just my husband.

I probably won't post to the blog for a bit, but when I get back, I'll share some of the pics of both Gigi and Grandma's adventures with Connor and our trip to wine country. Ta ta for now.

Bouncing with Gigi.

He seems to really like cottage cheese. Of course it's a complete mess, but it's also kind of cute. He usually only gets it at dinner though, right before his bath.

Scoop...

...and eat. Yummy, but messy.

"Gigi, we're going to have so much fun when my parents are gone. You brought me donuts right?"

Connor's New Face

This has been a fun week. Connor has been in really good spirits and he even started doing this new face that Jeff and I have started calling his "Scrunchy Face". He kind of squishes up his nose and squints his eyes and smiles. It's so funny. Sometimes he does it when he's happy and sometimes he just does it to make us laugh.

Of course it was also a great week because he started to crawl, but his good mood trumps new tricks any day. Jeff and I have officially determined that Connor is a crawler. He still prefers standing up to anything, but now he is starting to understand that he can crawl to stuff he wants, instead of just sitting and fussing until we bring him what he wants. It's been so cute to watch him crawl. He crawls towards toys, but still his greatest motivation is food. Watch out if you've got food for him; he'll come barreling through.

This is Connor sitting at the far end of the room deciding whether or not he's going to crawl towards our prize - a cereal poof.

He decided to go for it. This is him mid crawl. Sometimes he crawls very traditionally, and sometimes he straightens a leg. It's funny. He'll get his rhythm soon enough.

Ah, victory!

What? This crawling thing, is so not a big deal.

Just kidding. I did it!!!!!

Hi, my name is Connor and I'm on the move.

Just playing around at home. His shirt was luckily a bit ironic since he was in a good mood, but it's often very accurate, so I had to get it.

Goofing around with Mommy.

Huggers.

A happy boy.

This is a good shot of his "scrunchy face."

It was a beautiful day, so we walked around the town center.

More "scrunchy face."

Mr. Cool with a mohawk.

Looking sweet, brushing his teeth.

A little crawling before bed. Good night!

CRAWLING...progress

Ok, so I don't know if we can officially call Connor a crawler, but in the past week he has taken more and more "steps." It's happening more often now that I even got it on video. Clearly he's still a bit wobbly and timid, but he's improving every day.

Also, in the past week or so, he learned how to go from the crawling stance (hands and knees) to sitting. Apparently that's a milestone too, so we're happy about that one. It's funny, because at his 9 month appointment I really didn't think Connor had any interest in moving at all. Now it seems he really wants to get up and go, whether it's rolling, crawling, cruising, or walking holding our hands.

They say every baby progresses at their own speed and watching his crawling firsthand I can totally attest to that. We always thought Connor would crawl, but when it seems everyone you know and every book you read says they should be doing it by now, you start second guessing yourself and your baby's skills. Sorry Connor, I'll never doubt you again...or at least not until your next "missed" milestone.

Happy 10 Month Birthday!

At 10 months old, Connor is officially into the double digits today. He's such a big boy in so many ways, but of course he'll always be my little baby.

He's really wanting to move at this point. I know I probably always say that, but you can just tell. In the past couple of weeks, he has actually moved his arms and his legs as if to crawl, but it is pretty short lived. He'll just take a step or two and then plop back down. I just keep thinking "any day now...any day." It will happen eventually I suppose.

He also still really loves standing and has cruised on a couple of things. He also finally got himself from his hands and knees to sitting on his buns the other day. I guess that's something. Good job buddy. He also rolls around a ton more now and he'll roll towards stuff.

He is eating more and more people food every day. He seems to like most everything, except he has trouble with cheese. I think it's the consistency. It kind of makes him gag. He loves meat though and has tried all kinds including, chicken, beef, filet mignon (yes, very fancy), pork, sausage, pepperoni, etc. He still loves fruit and he'll eat his veggies, but his favorite food is probably carbs. He'll grab the cereal bits before anything else on his plate. I can relate. Since he's so good with finger foods, I probably could stop giving him the purees all together, but he still eats them so after he's had a round of finger foods, I still usually give him some fruit and veggy purees. That way I know for sure he's getting a couple of servings of fruits and veggies. I think soon enough though, he'll quit those and just eat table food.

I still nurse him 3 times a day, but I believe we'll start weaning down at 12 months. I'm hoping that goes OK. I think he's ready.

He is also talking a lot more now. He babbles on and on. Maybe we'll hear a first word soon. His favorite consonant is "buh" so maybe it will be "bottle" or "baby" or "boy, you're the best Mom." Hey, a girl can dream.

His personality is still about the same. He is pretty shy around new people or if there is a lot going on. He just takes it all in with a very serious face. Luckily though, he doesn't seem afraid of new people, he's just very curious and observant. When he's in a jolly mood though, watch out, because you can't help but smile too. With those big cheeks, huge toothy grin, and sweet blue eyes, he can practically kill you with cuteness. His giggle is infectious too. If he's not feeling sick or teething, he is actually a pretty mellow guy. He's a far cry from his early colicky days and for that I am very grateful. He really is so fun to be around.

I was actually out of town this weekend for the first time since he's been born and absence certainly made the heart grow fonder. I missed him so much, but I knew he was in good hands with his Daddy. They headed up to College Station to watch my Dad be honored/guest coach at the Texas v. Texas A&M baseball game. My sister and her family were there too and they tailgated and had a great time. Jeff said Connor was a dream all weekend. I am proud of them both.

It was so sweet too, because on their way back from College Station on Sunday, they decided to surprise me, by meeting me at the airport, since Jeff knew how much I wanted to see Connor. Based on the pictures, you can tell I was shocked and so happy. It seems like everyone had a great weekend and it just makes me so happy to see my little boy growing up to be such a sweetheart. I just love him to pieces.

Connor Dean Treadway, 10 months old!

I'll smile once, now give me that sign.

I'm so close.

Ahhh, that's nice.

This is the life.

Look Mom, I've got the sign.

On Friday night, Connor got to see Grandpa for a moment, before he went off to bed.

Saturday afternoon, the gang all tailgated before the baseball game. It looks like it was quite a set up.

Amazingly, they got all 4 kids in the back of Jeff's car. Connor (10 months), Winnie (nearly 3), Libby (nearly 1), and Martin (5 years old).

Now it's just Connor and his cousin Winnie.

The tailgate was in full swing with grilled chicken, hotdogs, bean salad, fruit salad, and brownies. Connor got to try it all. Yum.

Connor and Libby playing together.

Fun lovin' Martin.

Jeff told me that my sister Erin was Connor's surrogate Mommy for the weekend. She always makes him smile, so I'm sure she did great.

Jeff took some pictures of Connor just being silly Sunday morning, rolling around.

Mid-roll.

Mr. Smiley

Big cousin Martin swoops in to say hello.

Dancing on the patio Sunday morning. Connor even got to try his first donut.

Connor played some pool Sunday afternoon. Ok, maybe he just sat on the pool table at a burger joint in College Station.

A happy group hanging out at Fitzwilly's Sunday afternoon. What a fun weekend together.

On the way home from College Station, Jeff surprised me by stopping by the airport so I could see Connor when I arrived home from Vegas. He took this picture the moment I saw them. As you can tell, I was surprised.

I was overjoyed to see my boys again.

I just wanted to squeeze him and never let go. What a site for sore eyes.