10 Whole Months....

I am slightly late on Tucker's 10 month update, but only by 9 days so that's better than my usual! (Okay, well forget that! 9 days post 10 months was when I initially started this post, but as usual, life interrupts and I don't get to finish until days later! So, I'm now 14 days post 10 months, pretty much, 10 1/2 months. O-well!)

I know I say this every month, but I just can't believe how big my baby has gotten! I'll catch a quick glance and have to literally do a double take and think, "THAT can NOT be my BABY boy!" But, that IS my baby boy, my big baby boy.... I am trying so hard to cherish every single moment because, as all parents say, they go by SO FAST! When I go into stores and see Halloween paraphernalia, I want to run up and down the isles, grabbing it all off the shelves and scream, "Put it away! Halloween is so far away yet!" But, in reality, Halloween isn't that far away and my baby will be 1 year old 2 weeks BEFORE Halloween....

Okay, before this turns into a tear-fest, here are a few (well, SEVERAL! Sorry, they're all so cute I couldn't limit it to a few.) of the photos from Tucker's 10 month photo shoot :)

He was SO NOT into having his picture taken. Yes, my baby boy has developed quite the opinion and he makes it known!

"Sorry Mom, no smiles. I'm just not in the mood right now."

Tell me, does that look like a boy who is in the 30th percentile? To me he looks SO BIG!

The addition of Teddy makes things slightly more fun.

But only momentarily...Then, in walks Daddy and out comes the toothy smile we know so well!
Tucker may be a Mama's Boy, but Daddy ALWAYS gets the best smiles!
Then the photo session is old news and Tucker needs something better to do.

Tackle Teddy perhaps....

or maybe check out what's going on in the neighborhood.
Of course that lasts all of 2 seconds before he decides he has been on that chair WAY too long!
We're in full cruise-mode now!
Tucker continues to LOVE his books!

Wow, where to begin.... Every month I feel like Tucker has changed so much from the previous month. I go on and on with his "updates" and I think "next month I won't have anything to add" but then next month comes and I could literally write chapters! I'll try to keep it a little shorter than that, but that's gonna be hard! Tucker is doing so much now!

To begin, I am impressed daily with his receptive language skills! He understands so much of what is said! We'll say, "Tucker, come here," and he'll come. I'll say, "Tucker, where's Daddy?" and he'll look at Wes. We'll say, "Tucker, where's the dog?" or "Tucker, where's the ball?" and he'll point to the dog or ball. "Tucker, do you want a bite-bite?" and he'll come zooming into the kitchen. "Tucker, come find Mommy!" and he'll crawl around the corner or into the next room laughing so hard he's snorting (he LOVES playing hide'n'seek!), "Tucker, turn out the light" and he'll reach for the light switch....I could go on and on. He seems to understand everything! I love it!

While we're on the topic of language, Tucker's expressive language is developing as well. His vocabulary now consists of Dada, Mom-Mom, hi, hey, baaw (ball), and daaw (dog). He waves "hi" and "bye bye" differently. Hi is an extended hand and he may move his arm back and forth a little. Bye is an open and closed fist that is actually backwards (as though he's waving to himself). He also signs "milk," "more," and "food". He has signed "milk" for a while now. He does it when he wants to nurse or even while nursing. He'll be nursing and he will stop and look at me and sign "milk" and smile then return to nursing! (Yes, he still LOVES to nurse! I know Tucker can start to drink cow's milk at a year old, but I just don't see this boy weaning anytime soon!) He hasn't really starting signing "food" when he wants to eat, but does so once he's placed in his high chair and we say, "You want to eat eat?" He has occasionally signed "water" but usually just signs "food" again when he wants a drink. (We're working on differentiating the two.) We don't see 'more' too often because, well Tucker rarely wants more food than we give him! He may do it when he's eating a snack, but usually he just wants out of his high chair! Speaking of which, while he hasn't really started officially signing "all done" he definitely has his own way of letting you know he is ALL DONE! I have had more than a few spoonfuls of food splat on my kitchen floor because he's letting me know he is ALL DONE! The arm pushes the spoon away and he pierces his lips together with the bottom on sticking out!

Tucker is definitely ALL BOY! He can be so rough! He'll bang a toy and realize he can make a noise by doing so, so he'll bang it harder and harder making the noise louder and louder. When it comes to toys, they have to be durable for this boy! He loves to be flipped and tossed and tickled and wrestled. However, he is also SO sweet. He LOVES stuffed animals. Anytime you put one in front of him or he comes across one he immediately smiles and kisses it. His sweet, open-mouth kisses are THE. BEST. I love them, even when they're covered in his lunch. Mommy will take them anytime!

Like I said above, Tucker is in full cruise mode. He'll pull to his feet with ease and can cruise along furniture, from one piece of furniture to the next, from one toy to the next, along the dishwasher.... He'd rather be standing up these days. This makes him look even bigger :( When we go to get him out of his crib and he's standing up, he just looks impossibly big.

Tucker loves his "daaws"! He even yells at them (probably from Mommy and Daddy always yelling at them....). Lacy is so tolerant of him. Tucker crawls all over her, pulls at her lips and ears, hits her (we're trying to teach him "gentle"), lays on her, he loves her! Baby, on the other hand, moves before Tucker can get close enough to her. He loves her anyway.

Music. Tucker LOVES music! And I am not exaggerating when I tell you this boy has rhythm! I won't even pretend he gets it from me. He doesn't. That's all Daddy. We'll have music playing, most of the time it's the Sesame Street songs he loves like "Elmo's Song", "C is for Cookie", "Everybody's Song", and he will bob his head, bounce, put his arms in the air, or do all three and he is right on beat! We've tried so hard to get this on camera but as soon as the camera's pulled out, he stops and wants the camera.

Daddy and Tucker spend Saturday mornings together while Mommy sleeps in. This time is very special to both Tucker and Daddy. Sometimes the sound of my boys singing and dancing wakes me up, sometimes it's the sound of Daddy's funny noises as he feeds Tucker breakfast, or sometimes it's Tucker laughing at his silly Daddy or because Daddy is tickling him. I love to lay in bed and listen to my boys. Tucker loves his Daddy and Daddy loves his Tucker Bug! They have a very special bond. Mommy loves it!

Some more things Tucker loves - peas, cheese, chicken, bread, cups, laundry, and dirty socks. To start, Tucker is starting to eat more food. He's tried just about everything. We're well past the hold-off-till-one-year for things like strawberries (loves them) and egg whites (he'll eat them occasionally). (Knock on wood....no food allergies run in our family and he hasn't shown any signs of any.) Tucker eats like he's more of a toddler, basically smaller portions of whatever we're having for dinner. He can pretty much chew up anything with his 4 pearly whites (with 2 more ready to come through any second now). The only issue is that he doesn't want very much of anything. Even the things he loves, he's satisfied after a few bites. I will say, it must be enough because I feel like he has gained 10 pounds in the last month!

Next, the cups, laundry and dirty socks! Tucker loves cups. He'd much rather have a big cup versus a sippy. If he sees one, he'll point and want it. He has one in the bath tub that he is always filling with water and drinking. He does pretty good too! (I know, it's probably not a good idea to let him drink the bath water....). He loves to dig through the laundry in his room. And when he comes across a dirty sock, he will get all excited (why, I have no idea!) and will shake it and carry it around with him from activity to activity for the next hour! He also LOVES to pull all the clothes out of his dresser drawers. Putting clothes away with him around is a losing battle.

Wow, that's my big boy! Again, I can't believe we're almost to the year mark. I'm just looking forward to tomorrow and enjoying every minute with my Tucker Bug!

Tucker,

You make Daddy and I so happy! To say you are the apple of our eye is an understatement! We can't even imagine what our life was like before you, but whatever it was like, it was incomplete. Your smile makes everything perfect. I can eat up your smiles and your cheeks over and over again (and I do!). Sometimes I literally cannot stop kissing you! I just can't get enough of my Tucker Bug! I love watching you discover life. Everything is so new and interesting to you. I love to just watch the world through your eyes. I love to watch you figure things out. You're SO smart! I tell you all the time that "You're the smartest baby ever!" (You might not get your rhythm from me, but your brains, those are from Mommy!) Tucker, I thank God over and over again every day for blessing me and Daddy with you! You are absolutely perfect. I love you more than I could ever put into words! I pray that you always know my love for you!

Love ALWAYS and FOREVER,

Mommy

xoxoxo

Happy Birthday Daddy!!!

Happy Birthday to my Daddy, the BESTEST Daddy in the whole wide world!

Daddy,
I just want to tell you how much I love you and how lucky I am that God gave me such a GREAT Daddy! Here are just a few (of the gazillion) reasons I love you:

You read the bestest night-night stories to me!

You don't just build me tunnels, but you crawl in them with me!


You bring the coolest toys home when you come home from work!

You love me SO much and you take such good care of me!

Me and Mommy love you a WHOLE lot!

Happy Birthday, Daddy!!!!

Love,

Tucker Bug!

Tucker is 10 months old today! Wow! Only a couple months away from being a year old!
We've had a busy, busy day so stay tuned for Tucker's 10 month update soon. In the meantime, here's a few pics of my big boy.

Playing with some toys (actually, that's a hair brush he's got!)

His favorite thing to do in the bathtub....drink the water by whatever means he can!Showing off a couple of his pearly whites :)

Happy 10 months, Tuckerbug!!!

Peas, Daddy & Bubbles....

When your high chair tray looks like this:And you eat a little.....

And share a little with Daddy...And a little ends up on the floor because you decided the sound the bowl makes as it hits the floor and the way the peas look when they fly is kinda cool....Well, then it's time for a bath....And not just any bath, but a bubble bath!

Here's hoping you have a "Peas, Daddy & Bubbles" kind of Tuesday :)

Tucker's First Visit to the ZOO!

Saturday we decided to take Tucker to the zoo for the first time :)

"I'm not sure where we're at or what we're doing just yet...."

I have to admit, I'm not a huge fan of the Zoo.....I always just feel so bad for the animals. They just look so pitiful locked up. I know, I know, this will have to change now that I'm a Mommy. And it very well may change. It was definitely more exciting anticipating how Tucker would react to the different animals.

The zoo was not crowded at all, which was great! Tucker was able to get up close and personal with several of the animals. Here's a few shots:

I was surprised that Tucker wasn't more into the gorilla playing right in front of him! Really, I think he just thought a lot of the animals were big dogs LOL! He was probably thinking, "Dad and Mom, why did you bring me here just to see these big, funny-looking dogs?! I have two dogs at home that I at least get to touch and crawl all over!"

At least he did think that the giraffe was something to look at! Here is a picture of his facial expression when he saw it looking out over the cage:"Now THAT'S a BIG dog!"

Tucker and I both had the same expression when watching the elephants:

And when you're hot and sleepy, what's better than getting a shoulder ride from Daddy?
Stealing some sugars from my Tuckerbug as he checks out the _______ (insert name of whatever these animals are here)!

Here's are only family photo, notice my reflection in Wes's sunglasses! Yeah, we should have asked some random person to take our picture....maybe next time!

Hope y'all had a great weekend!

Just a Lil' Visitor :)

Tonight we had a guest at the Keene household. And more than that, Wes and I had a small little glimpse into what it would be like to have a 3 year old and a 9 1/2 month old.... Of course, our little guest was so good, so well-behaved, so easy, that I can't imagine that's really what it would be like to have two lil ones....

As you can see, Wes and Mark had a great time:

Tucker and Mark also had a great time at the park, but I forgot my camera (don't you HATE that!) and don't have any pics to prove it. But take my word, they had fun climbing on the playground, going down slides, and chillin' in their strollers as Wes and I walked around the park. (And while I'm on the subject of the outdoors, wasn't the weather today AMAZING!?!)

So, the reason for our guest tonight? It was the wedding anniversary of two of our best friends, the Burnett's! I'd posted before about Jeanne just having a new baby, Maddox (though you would never be able to tell it! She looks GREAT at only 3 weeks post baby!). Matt, or "Bernie" as he's known by those of us who love him, and Jeanne went out to dinner (with new baby Maddox in tote) to celebrate their anniversary and Mark hung out with us.

HOWEVER, I'd like to think the REAL celebrating happened back at the Keene's house....

Look at how Bernie is really into it! And he ROCKS on the vocals! He had a few runs of 100% accuracy! (Compared to my 6 phrase note streak hahaha! Yeah, I'm much better on the guitar!) And I was way impressed with Jeanne's ability on the drums, she was gettin' it! :)

And of course, we couldn't leave Mark out:

Happy Anniversary to the Burnett's, an amazing couple, and four people the Keene's love!

Video Monitor -- A MUST!

If you happen to be debating on whether to invest in a video monitor or not, let me be the one to push you over the edge.....GET ONE! Seriously, they are one of the best investments ever! Even after your baby is no longer a baby, you can put it in the playroom, the TV room, the game room, etc. They are definitely worth it, in my opinion anyway.

Wes and I didn't get one initially. I was determined to have one, but Wes was convinced that we didn't need one, that a regular monitor would be sufficient. He suggested we buy a top of the line regular one versus a middle of the line video monitor. He was adamant that we just didn't need a video monitor, so I went with it. If you've been a follower of this blog, you know that transferring Tucker from the bassinet in our room to his crib in the nursery was a H-U-G-E step for me. No big deal for Tucker when the time finally came (at 4 months old!), but huge for me. EVERY single little noise that came over that monitor and I was up and checking on him. And let me tell you, since we did invest in a good monitor, it picked up EVERYTHING! So, needless to say, I was up several times a night just to tiptoe into the nursery to see my Tuckerbug sleeping peacefully away. I think that lasted a few nights before Wes was on board that we needed a video monitor.

While that may not be the case for you, here is another reason to get a video monitor.... You get to "spy" on your little one. I love watching what Tucker does when he wakes up in the mornings or from a nap, or before he falls asleep. He loves his crib. He goes down pretty easy for both his bed time and naps. I used to rock him until he was asleep, but a while back I switched to putting him down while he was still awake (mainly because I know this will be easier for the sitter when I go back to work, not at all because I mind rocking him until he falls asleep....I actually LOVE rocking him and have a very hard time stopping before he's completely asleep....).

Anyway, he has a mobile above his crib. Before I put him down for bed/nap, I turn it on and then read him a story, and rock and sing to him for a few minutes. The mobile plays about 15 minutes or so before the music stops on it. If Tucker is still awake when the music stops, he has started to get up and push the buttons on it to turn the music on again, then he'll lay down with his "silky" (the blanket he sleeps with) and listen to the music and watch the mobile. He sometimes does the same thing when he wakes up. I wouldn't know this if I didn't have a video monitor! And, I even was able to snap a few pictures of him doing this. (Now mind you, the quality of the pictures of the screen on the video monitor isn't very good.)

This is Tucker a little bit ago, before falling asleep for his nap. The music had already cut off, so he reached up and starts it back up:

Then he lays down with his silky and watches his friends circle above and listens to the music :)

(Please also notice that he has untied the bumper....that is something else that he enjoys doing!)

Where are all the Smiles at???

Last Friday we had Tucker's 9 month pictures taken. I never thought that could be so tiring! Let me tell you, we had to work HARD to get Tucker to smile for those pictures! He is at a point that he is much more interested in what is going on around him and what he wants to get into than to sit still, smile and look at a camera! I think back to his 6 week pictures and his 3 month pictures and how I thought I might have a little model on my hands. At those settings he seemed to look directly into the camera and smile. Even at 6 weeks, he did things that had us cracking up because it was like he was posing! Yes, those days are long gone! My little Tucker Bug would much rather eat mulch and grass, figure out how all the props work, pull at the wires of the lights, you name it. Wes and I pulled out all the stops, trying every trick we knew that usually has Tucker laughing so hard he has tears in his eyes. He just looked at us like we had lost our minds (which I think our awesome photographer probably thought as well!) and tried to crawl away.

Eventually, after he had looked at every toy and became more familiar with his surroundings, we finally got him laughing. I can't wait to see how his pics turn out! Hopefully our photographer will put some "sneak peaks" up on Facebook soon. In the meantime, here are a few from our family session last month. (Again, we were lucky to get a few smiles out of our little busy body!) I wish y'all could see them all (we didn't buy the cd). These are ones that the photographer put on FB. She is so great, and most importantly, so patient! :) If you're looking for an amazing photographer in the area, we HIGHLY recommend her: http://www.jkathrynphotography.com/

(I believe Tucker licked the wood underneath him right after the shot above was taken!)

Hoping your day is filled with lots and lots of SMILES, especially from those little people we love so much :)