Baby Bear takes over Barnes and Noble

Baby Bear first spotted en route to book store. 

Last week when we went for a mid day walk we stopped in the Barnes and Noble. I had originally wanted to get Sasha new lift the flap and touch and feel books since he's obsessed with them. We got so distracted playing and reading in the bookstore I never got new books. When we got to the children's section in the bookstore it was hoping with, well, children. 


First, we hit the baby books and I soon learned that as much as Sasha likes taking books out of the basket at home was as much as he liked taking them off the shelf at the bookstore. Note to self, "be prepared for books at home on low shelves to be a mess".

Baby Bear discovers baby books. 

Of course Baby Bear has to make sure the books taste as good as they do at home.

After we destroyed the book section we decided to move onto the toy section. We discovered a lego table, actually a table for duplos that we hit up. As you can see Sasha went right into tasting the new discovery.

Fortunately someone left this keyboard on the lego table and we had time for a quick jam session. 

Next up we made our way over to toy shelves and looked for what made the most noise.

When the Baby Bear realized he couldn't get into the goods he moved onto to his next culprit. 

After winding down Baby Bear and Mama Bear made their way home for afternoon nap. 

Nine Month Check Up

Look at me, I'm 9 months old.

Somehow my little guy is three quarters of the way through his first year of life. Or as my pediatrician just mentioned, he's about four to six months away from having toddler tantrums. Oy. Well, for now, he's a sweet infant so we'll table toddler-hood for now.


After our nine month check up I'm happy to report that Sasha is perfect, yes, there you have it, he's perfect. At least in my eyes he is. In all seriousness, his health is perfect and that's huge, what more could we want as parents. 


When you get to the doctors office they make you strip down the baby to a diaper. Between the paper on the table and the mirrors at the end of the table Sasha thought he scored the baby jackpot party. He giggled and growled at himself in the mirrors while ripping the paper to shreds. I kept thinking "why do I buy toys", I should get a ream of paper, more mirrors and call it  a day. 


Sasha is now 28.75 inches, up from 26.5 inches at 6 months and he weighs 18lbs 6oz, up from 15lbs 5oz. According to the national charts he's 56% for his height, so there's hope for someone in our family to be a wee bit taller and 17% for weight, that sounds about right. 


In other news.....
Sasha has never been a fan of tummy time, even though he sleeps on his belly. It's no surprise that he hasn't been the most adventurous of crawlers. He has been on his hand and knees for about three weeks now, but chooses to rock back and forth in place. So our little guy doesn't want to crawl, no big deal, he's amazing at everything else and will get to walking when he's ready. I didn't know this, but the pediatrician told me that crawling is not considered a milestone. Who knew? 


About a week ago we noticed Sasha started to take steps when we held his hands. As you can see from this photo he loves to stand. I started to put toys on our couch so he could play while standing, which he loves. A remote control caught his eye and he started to cruise on over to get it. I had been placing remote controls, iPhone, at one point cold hard cash on the floor to get him to crawl, but no such luck. Now anything on the couch out of his reach he seems to manage to side step on over. Yesterday while playing with friends he lifted his arms away from the play table on two occasions and was standing by his lonesome. Look ma, no hands!

I like it up here.....

Whatever Sasha decides to do is fine with us. He drums to his his own baby beat and we like it just fine. 


And on a final note I wanted to mention he has been saying 'Mamamamama" for about a week now. It's the sweetest thing I've ever heard. He also says "pa", so we think "Papa" will be happening anytime soon. 

Look at Those Chompers!

Four teeth, count em'.....

I know this is not the best photo but it's been near impossible to capture all four teeth. So here it, Sasha's four teeth, top and bottom. As you know from an earlier post his bottom teeth came in just shy of five months. The first top tooth made a debut over the holidays and before we knew it there were two giant teeth coming in strong. Sasha's hair, teeth and now his belly tend to grow at lightening speed. 


Every where we go I constantly here "look at those chompers". Waiting in the line at the drug store the ladies behind me are saying "look at those teeth". I turn around to find my little flirt grinning at the pretty ladies all four chompers in full view. We go to music class, "look at those chompers", again I turn around to find Mr. Flirty Pants flashing those pearly whites to another parent. 


At a recent dentist appointment of mine I asked my dentist if I need to do any sort of maintenance on said teeth. He said to use a soft toothbrush with some water at the end of the day. I never saw Sasha so proud as when I brush his teeth, he admires himself in the bathroom mirror for a good five minutes. He takes dental hygiene very seriously as he has seen mommy and daddy sticking this mysterious plastic stick in our mouths and now he too gets to participate.


We've been so lucky that Sasha has not suffered from teething pain, which came was a big surprise when his top teeth arrived. He showed no signs of crankiness, just a little extra drool, which I have become quite accustomed to. He continues to explore chomping those little teeth and making click clack noises that he finds amusing and finding new ways to eat his crunchy snacks. 


Sasha will be nine months old on Sunday. He continues to be a happy, silly, giggly, wanting to jump non stop, adorable baby as his little, er "giant" personality is coming into play. 

Time to Slow Down

My little guy does not slow down much. From the second he gets up in the morning until the second he goes down at nights he's chatting up a storm and looking for some action. Whether it's getting right down to playing or having mommy or daddy toss him in the air, Sasha is all boy. 


Sometimes I can get him to sit still on my lap for about fifteen seconds. Other times I can get a ten second hug, which is delicious. As much as Sasha is always moving and shaking he still loves to sleep and loves his bottle. 

Sasha takes his bottle very slow and very serious. 

Ever since the bear suit fleece came into our lives we can't get enough of how sweet Sasha looks in it.  The bear suit coupled with the bunting bag in his stroller, (another name for a baby sleeping bag) adds the icing on the cake to a comfy warm baby resulting in a nice stroller nap. 

Does it get much sweeter than this? 

Babies first holiday gifts

As you can imagine having a baby around the holidays is amazing. Babies make everyone happy and apparently everyone wants to buy the baby gifts. And everyone wants to watch a baby open gifts. By the end of Christmas Sasha had a real good idea that ripping open paper reveals something fun inside. He also loves eating the wrapping paper, ribbons, cardboard boxes and anything else associated with the gift. 


Our family was very excited to give Sasha his first Christmas gifts and we were excited for him to get some new big boy toys. It's been great with the cold weather having some new toys for the big guy to play with while we spend more and more time inside. It's been fascinating to watch him figure out how to work all the bells and whistles on his new prize possessions. 



Grandpa Bob said that Sasha must have a car, as all boys should. The funniest thing was that as soon as Sasha opened this gift he grabbed the wheel and went to change gears. I guess it's just a boy's instinct? (This would work for girls too, but for our purposes we have a boy.)


We're pretty sure Sasha thinks the sounds his toy makes is what is going outside his window since his bedroom is on a main street and sirens go by constantly. 

Sasha is paying very close attention to the wheel, not the road, good thing we're inside.

Hands free driving and smiling!

We also received farm yard fun from the cousins and Aunt Kim and Uncle Brooke. This was their kids favorite toy when they were young and it's proving to be Sasha's too. He figured out how to open all the barn doors since this is where the animal sounds come from. He never looks surprised or blissful, but he continues to open doors (mama shuts them) for a very long time. I love watching him figure out how things work, babies are really cool. 

Sasha loving his new farm.

Sampling the animals. Hope they are hormone free;)

Aha, these doors makes animal sounds when I open them.

After all the amazing toys and books he received he still likes regular old Tic Tacs. You may ask why my kid plays with Tic Tacs. Those of you that are parents know that you will give your kids anything to keep them quiet and happy (short of a choking hazard) and I happened to have some Tic Tacs.  Sasha likes them so much that I keep them by the door while I am getting on my coat and shoes to keep him entertained. 

Is this a rattle?  

Must be, they make such great noise when you shake them!

I'm looking forward to more posts about my big boy as he enters the fourth quarter of his first year in couple weeks.