May Days...

Well, since it's been so long since my last post, there's plenty to report. There are four big highlights from the last three weeks, so here goes, in no particular order.

My first Mother's Day was lovely, and Pierce continues to be the best present I could have ever hoped for. We had a great brunch with Marmie and Papa, followed by Erin Bourque's first birthday party! It was a full day, but Pierce remained a charmer throughout, even though he was dressed in his party clothes instead of comfy play clothes. It's hard to believe that first birthdays are already rolling around for Pierce's friends and family. We're headed to Princeton over Memorial Day Weekend to celebrate Foster's 1st birthday (a week late)! Pierce will be 1 before we know it.
Pierce has started clapping, which may be the cutest thing I have ever seen. It is usually accompanied by a scrunched up nose and a smile. He loves when people acknowledge his clapping with a YAY, and usually claps some more. Here's a video catching him in action:

Also, Pierce is feeding himself--both with his bottles and finger foods. He loves all of the cut up food we've offered so far...except tomatoes. We finally found a food he doesn't devour! We're working on getting him to chew all of the food in his mouth before putting more food in...his first lesson in manners. Two new foods he adores--blackberries and goat cheese and avocado spread on bread. Yum.Lastly, Pierce is making some excellent headway in his crawling. He's doing a sidewinder--hard to explain, but shown in the video below. He is making some huge efforts to move, and is starting to show more interest in pulling up on to things! Guess we should finally start babyproofing.

We had a beautiful weekend here, full of lots of gardening and outdoor time. Pierce loves the fresh air, and even helped us garden by tearing up the grass around his blanket! Looks like we've got a weeder on our hands.

This Just In...

No pics today, just a growth update. Pierce had a glowing 9 month appointment on Wednesday, and is continuing to grow like a weed. Dr. Joyce feels like he is finally living up to his "potential" size-wise, since he had such a hard time gaining weight the first couple of months. Pierce tipped the scales at 22 lbs. 11 ozs. (86%) and measured 30" (95%). No wonder he is already growing out of all of his summer clothes that we bought....

He has also decided that reclining in the bath and kicking up a storm is no longer fun and would much rather sit up, splash, and dump his toys over the edge of the tub, then try to see where they went. He is also a big fan of drop the sippy cup on the floor over and over to see if Mom keeps picking it up. Basically, anything he can tip over, knock over or dump is the best thing ever!

Creep! Crawl!

Look out world, Pierce is on the move! Though not yet officially crawling, Pierce has been making great strides (no pun intended) toward crawling. At times he does a series of 5-6 rolls to get from one end of the room to the other, at other times, he moves across the floor as if he is using an ice axe to climb a mountain. He looks for anything to grab onto, plants his little arm around it, then pulls himself that much closer to the desired object. He looks a little like a soldier creeping through the underbrush. A couple of times he has scooted his knees under him, but then usually ends up pushing himself backwards. Along with this movement comes great frustration at not getting anywhere fast enough. Here's a video clip of his attempt:

A couple of weeks ago, we got a quick visit from cousin Foster. There are limited pictures of the two boys together, though, because Foster was in a bit of a confused state having flown up here on his first plane flight. It probably didn't help Foster's mood that Pierce got right up in his face to say hi just as Foster was waking up from his nap. Luckily, we are going to see Foster, Chris and Liz at the end of the month for a celebration of Foster's 1st birthday and Chris' graduation from Princeton. Hooray!

Pierce loves using his new (and sharp!) little chompers for food now. He is enjoying string cheese, veggie burgers, pieces of banana and avocado, crackers, puffs and Cheerios. He is still developing his pincer grasp, though, so a lot of his food ends up on the floor. Sadie loves this stage, and is happy to do her part to help clean up. Last night we had a particularly messy meal. Pierce wanted to feed himself with the spoon, but ended up grabbing the meal off of the spoon and spreading it anywhere his hands could touch.

We've started a new class at Isis--Jelly Jam babies--which is a music and movement class. Pierce is the only boy (and has 6 new ladyfriends) and is quite the ham in the class. He chats and "sings" his way through each session. There are 12 classes in all and each week has a different theme. So far we've done: under the sea, trains, and colors. Next week's class: the jungle! It's been great for the whole family to go to--he is so fun to spend time with.

In our last bit of news, Pierce has his 9 month check up on Wednesday. It's about 10 days earlier than his actual 9 month birthday, but I can't wait to see how much he's grown!

All I want for Christmas...

Is my two front teeth! Pierce got his two lower teeth this past week (the bottom right peeked out first), and it looks like his two top teeth are on their way in. Hopefully once those four are in, the drool and chewing subsides a bit. Though teething hasn't been easy on Pierce, he's been a real trooper, and only had two crabby days--one at daycare last week, and yesterday with me. No pics of the teeth yet...they're barely visible, but soon!

In other firsts, Pierce is no longer a vegetarian. He tried ground turkey yesterday, and like most foods, ate it up. It was actually quite the dinner--turkey puree served with asparagus risotto. So far, the only food Pierce has not been a fan of at first is plain yogurt, though after multiple attempts he loves it (especially with blueberry or mango stirred in). He's getting closer to being able to try finger foods, so real meals (not just fruits/veggies/cereal) are right around the corner!

Easter Bunny!

We celebrated our first Easter together with a visit from the Easter bunny at home. We had lots of visitors for the occasion! Nana, Pops and Aunt Darcy were in Boston for the holiday, so Pierce had a fun and family filled celebration. We started off the day with opening our Easter baskets. Pierce got some great new books and toys, and spent the morning playing with them before church. After church we headed up to Myopia for an Easter brunch with Nana and Pops, Darcy, and Marmie and Papa. The Easter bunny made an appearance and Pierce took advantage of the photo op. It was a really special day, and we felt lucky to spend it with family!

Aruba, Jamaica, baby why don't we go...

I have been remiss about posting since we got back from our amazing trip to Aruba! Pierce proved once again to be an awesome traveler, and he made friends with everyone on the trip down and back, even with a 2 hour delay on the return trip.

We had a fantastic time with Megan, Zach and Erin Bourque and had quite the daily routine by the end of our trip. 6 am wake-up. 7 am breakfast and beach palapa reservation. Morning beach time and play. Mid-morning nap. Lunch and field trip. Afternoon nap, swim time, then sleep. Pierce loved digging in the sand with Erin, and even indulged in eating some. The water was crystal blue and calm and Pierce loved dipping his toes in the water. The weather was perfect (85 and breezy every day), and we would return to the island in a heartbeat. Here are some pictures to capture the trip--there were too many to choose from!

Getting ready for the afternoon swim
Field trip to the butterfly farm

Soaking up the morning rays (in lots of SPF!)

Springtime Swimming and Swinging

This weekend was stunning and the whole family ventured to the pool and the park to enjoy the first day of spring. The morning was filled with swim class at the Y. Pierce is the youngest baby by quite a few months, but he loves the water, and even got to go down the slide, landing in Halsey's arms.

At the park Pierce tested out the slide (with assistance from Dad) and the swings. He loved sitting in the bucket seat and having Mom and Dad push him. We got lots of smiles and giggles from the ride!