Chef Andrew

 As part of Andrew's nine month photo shoot, he played the chef role!

 We've been practicing at home, but the spoon and bowl were the best thing ever!

Piglet Loves to EAT

 Mommy has been cooking dinner and Andrew's been eating!

 Our child can eat!  For dinner all week he's been eating blueberries, pears, peaches, veggies, and whatever meat we've had!

 He likes the little chicken hot dog things I bought!

 He eats really dirty some nights!

Andrew's favorite meat, so far, has been the crock-pot roast we had on Thursday!

9 Month Photos

On Saturday, Andrew took his nine month photos at JCPenny's.  He is such a champ and had a great time with our favorite photographer, Lupita.  He was all smiles!

Last Weekend

 We spend Saturday and Sunday in Long Beach and Lakewood with Andrew's grandparents and great-grandparents.  First stop, Great Grandma T and Great Grandpa's for lunch.  Grandma T made her famous tuna sandwiches, fruit salad, and a special treat of individual ice creams!  Andrew had a great time playing with all of their singing and dancing stuffed animals.

We spent the night at Grandpa and Grandma Bennett's house.  On Sunday morning, my dad's church had their 'Sanity of Life' event.  Last year, we participated in the "baby parade" on stage with Andrew in utero, this time, he got to watch and smile at everyone as a nine month old!

 He was pooped out by the end (but SO stinkin' cute while sleeping).

9 Month WELL Baby Appointment

Andrew went to the doctor today and left WITHOUT any medications and any diagnosis! 

He's been waking up screaming in the middle of the night and pulling at his ear, so I wanted to rule out ear infection before I just blamed teething or separation anxiety.  Thankfully, it is one of those two things and nothing is wrong with his ears.  Dr. Ghebrial confirmed that his four top teeth are working their way out.  We went over everything that he should be doing (and like always I was told that he is physically advanced) and which new foods he should be trying out.  Because we delayed some of his six month shots, he also got two vaccines today.

 

We also celebrated 22 days of total wellness!

 

Length:

• 9 Months: 28.5, 71st percentile
• 6 Months: 27.5, 84th percentile
• 4 Months: 25 inches, 51st percentile
• 9 Weeks: 24 inches, 89th percentile
• 3 Weeks: 21.5 inches, 58th percentile
• Birth: 20.5 inches

Weight:

• 9 months: 20 lbs, 8 ounces, 47th percentile (major drop, but Dr. Ghebrial isn't concerned)
• 6 Months: 18 lbs, 11.2 ounces, 71st percentile
• 4 Months: 16 lbs, 4.8 ounces, 78th percentile
• 9 Weeks: 12lbs, 3.8 ounces, 51st percentile
• 3 Weeks: 8 lbs, 14.9 ounces, 24th percentile
• Birth: 7 lbs, 5 oz

Head Circumference:

• 9 Months: 20.5 inches, 99th percentile
• 6 Months: 18.5 inches, 99th percentile (back on the charts!)
• 4 Months: 17.75 inches, 101st percentile
• 9 Weeks: 16.73 inches, 95th percentile
• 3 Weeks: 15.5 inches, 84th percentile
• Birth: 13.5

Want to join me?

I have had several people ask if and how they could join me on my 5K journey in 2012, so here are the "races" that I'm planning on doing, the link to read more about it, and registration (if available).

1. Citrus Heritage 5K, Jan. 7
2. Riverside Raincross 5K, February 25

• Information and registration: http://www.riversideca.gov/park_rec/
• To register, click on the 'Online Registration' link of the far left of this webpage.
• It is $20 until February 4th and then goes up to $25.
• I've heard they have a pretty cool goodie bag.

3. Color Run-Southern California (Irvine), April 22

• Information: http://thecolorrun.com/socal/
• We need a team of 4 for it to be $30 a person, or else it is $35
• Let me know ASAP if you want to do this one (registration before 1/15 is cheaper)

4. OC Wahoo 5K, May 6

• Information: http://www.ocmarathon.com/races/oc-wahoos-5k.aspx
• I haven't registered for this one yet, but I'm pretty sure it is $35

Nine Months

 New Developmental Milestones this Month: Andrew has spend the month perfecting his skills.  He crawls everywhere and crawls fast; he crawls into every room of our house, up and down the one step, up a flight of regular stairs, and specifically he crawls to what he wants.  He has also gotten very good at pulling himself up and standing at pretty much anything (the walls, doors, toys, couch, etc).  Cruising from one thing to the next is also a perfected skill.  He can make it from the front door, along the wall, baby gate, entertainment center, and chair all the way to his highchair and the dining room without sitting down.  While eating, much more ends up in his mouth than on the floor or Reese's mouth.  He can play a mean game of peek-a-boo with you too.

• Here are the new age-appropriate developmental things that he can do: share things (handing objects to someone else), wave (sometimes with his hand opening and closing, always at appropriate times, but never "on command") and understands a firm no (usually cries in response to it).  He is also showing very mild separation anxiety.
• Verbally, Andrew started "talking" a lot at the end of month eight.  Around Christmas, rare babbles turned into constant babbles and usually quite loud.  He's learned to yell and thinks it is pretty cool.  Mama and Dada are clear, sometimes directed at us, sometimes just indiscriminate.  He also has added due-due and ba-ba to ah-ma and ah-ba-ba from month eight. It isn't clear what these sounds mean yet.  He seems to understand that signs for eat and more, but has set to do them himself.
• Still just two teeth, which mommy is happy about.

Physical Growth this Month: Only one weight to go by and his official nine month appointment isn't for two more weeks.

• December 21: 19 lbs, 12 oz

Doctor's Trips:   We only went ONCE this month! Seriously, this is probably the best thing EVER!  You all read my sick post and many, many of you expressed concern, ideas, and encouragement and I am forever grateful.  Since that post and our last trip, we've watched prayers and antibiotics heal our baby!  For the first time in four months, he isn't coughing constantly.  He hasn't had a fever or running nose in two weeks.  Even better, he's back to sleeping through the night and was well enough for us to go to church (with him in the nursery) for the past two weeks! Hears to an 'emergency appointment' free 2012!

Things Andrew likes: A well baby is an even happier baby, Andrew really does likes everything. Other than when he falls over and bangs his head on the hardwood floor, he's happy to play with people, his toys, the wall, the couch, or anything else within his grasp.    The bath continues to be a favorite, along with his old and new toys.  Christmas brought big-boy toys for him to play with and he's loving them too.  He LOVES Aunt Melissa and the dog.

Things Andrew doesn't like: being blocked from what he wants (aka the kitchen cabinets, the bathroom, and Daddy's computer fan).  He doesn't actually throw any type of temper tantrum or even cry, but when we redirect him, he goes right back there again.  Needless to say, we have two baby gates and have learned to keep the bathroom door closed.

Sleeping: He sleeps through the night most of time time (8 pm-6 am).  If he does wake up, it is with screaming like he's scared or hurt.  He wants a snuggle and then we can lay him down with his blanket and pat him back to sleep.  The whole thing takes less than two minutes.  When mommy was on Christmas Break, Andrew also took 2-3 naps a day (usually for at least four hours).

Reese actually lets Andrew 'play' (aka hit and pull at) with her most days.

Andrew learned that 'say cheese' means smile over Christmas!

Eating: Still pretty much the same with bottles, four 8-9 oz bottles a day (32-36 oz), and "real food" for most of the month.  We transitioned last week to three meals a day, but it was pretty hard to get everything in during the morning before we get off to work and daycare.  We're still going to need to tweak the breakfast to make it work.  Andrew likes his food thicker so we have also started some of the third stage of baby purees, but we also mix his food with very thick oatmeal.  He eats 1 cup of oatmeal (with 2-3 oz of formula) and 4-8 oz of baby food at each meal.  For finger foods, we added Lil' Crunchies and WagonWheels to his Star/Puffs.  He loves the veggie flavor of the lil' crunchies and will pick those specifically to eat off his tray.  Wanting everything we're eating, he's also found that pickles and mandarin oranges are favorites. We start meats this week (as per pedi recommendations).

Diapers: Still in size 3s--we've used 256 diapers (1152 total in size 3).

Clothing: No change from month eight, Andrew is wearing all 6-9 month clothing with the exception of a few 12 month sleepers.

Playing with Audrey

On Saturday, we visited Des' finished (beautiful) house and Andrew got to spend some time playing with Audrey (Des' niece).  She was very into 'Baby Andrew' and shared her toys, tried to pick him up, and hugged and kissed him!  The above picture is probably the funniest picture I have EVER seen.  She did not even realize that he was licking her.

Andrew played with her big girl toys too.  This little motorized quad was fun for Andrew and Daddy, even though when Andrew figured out how to push the button and go it scared Daddy a bit.

The real fun of the afternoon was riding in Audrey's new Barbie Jeep.  She begged to give him a ride, so we strapped him in and Dave stayed very close.  He loved every second of it!  She really wanted him to drive too, so we tried that... he thought that was even better.

Andrew's First Haircut

Today we took Andrew to Monkey Dooz for his first haircut.  His cute little hair curled all around his ears and make quite a rats nest in the back and he wiggles around on the floor or in his crib, but mainly the stinkin' little curls drove me nuts and I wanted a "real" haircut to be his first cut.

The place itself was really cute.  It was a jungle safari and he got to 'ride' in a Jeep while his hair was cut from the stylist, Sienna.

She showed him the clippers and let him feel them vibrate before she used them on him.  He didn't seem to care and was very interested in climbing up the chair.

 He let her cut his hair without much of an issue.

 To wet his hair, she sprayed the bottle up and let the water land on on his hair, face, and tongue.  This was his favorite part of the entire experience.

Handsome boy practicing his cheesy smile!

Citrus Heritage Run 5K

My first 5K of the year was this morning. 

I was excited and slept strangely as I kept dreaming of the walk.  I set out with the goal of 50 minutes (16 min/mile) and readjusted it to 55 minutes (17.7 min/mile) because that seemed more realistic.

Brenda and I before the 5K started.

The race started with a huge uphill climb that I wasn't expecting and wasn't very good at... let's just say that right off the bat I thought I may actually have been too cocky to think that I could do a 5K after spending a year and a half doing nothing.  Thankfully before the race, Brenda had introduced me to some of her friends from the Riverside Roadrunners.  I could not keep up with Brenda and Andrea, but Becky was there for me!  My new friend and I worked hard and finished at 57 minutes and 37 seconds (18.05 min/mile--although it was a very SLOW first mile, faster second mile, and a very fast third mile).

Becky, my new friend, and me after finishing!

Considering this is my first 5K of the year and I plan on doing at least four more, I now have a baseline number.  I'd hope that I could beat this time next time (Feb. 25th--Raincross 5K at Fairmont).  I also know that I should actually practice some more before I expect that my 40 pound heavier body can perform a physical task it hasn't been asked to do in over a year.

Swingin' with Aunt Melissa

New Years Eve 2011

New Years Eve was pretty laid back at the Pfeffer house.  The beautiful weather allowed us to hang out outside for awhile.  Dave put up Andrew's Little Tykes swing on the front porch as we watched.  I realized a bit too late that Andrew was overdressed.  Inside our house it is a pleasant 68-70 degrees and the long sleeves are okay.  I didn't realize that by 10 am (when the swing was going up) it would be 80 degrees outside.

 Andrew LOVED swinging! After about fifteen minutes we came inside with a sweaty, red-cheeked little boy.  He now looks at the front door like he knows what it out there for later.

 After naps for Andrew and Dave, we headed over the the Webster's house to to hang out and celebrate 2011.  Andrew and Nate played, ate (a lot), and watched Dave play swords with Sammy. 

 The spatula is the sword, the seat cushions were the shield, and Sammy even found his knight helmet somewhere.  He tried to play with me, but I wasn't nearly as fun ad Dave.

 Tawni made yummy food for us (taco soup with ALL the toppings, yummy!).

At this point, I stopped talking pictures (opps).  We ate more, talked more, and played Seven Wonders.  It was a new game for me and I didn't quite understand what was going on until the end of the game; I'm sure I'll enjoy it a lot more the next time. 

We celebrated the New Year with New York at 9 pm and came home to go night-night!  They actually managed to stay up the whole time with the other friends that aren't "old" like me ;)