Alexander, Declan, and Brendan: Declan

Declan,

You are now 9 months old. You went so long without any teeth at all and within a month you suddenly have all four of your front teeth! This is great news since you are now able to eat more interesting foods, but not the best news for mommy who is still nursing you (ouch!). We had a lot go on in this month of your life, so let's get to it.

We continued going to the park when the weather was nice outside. One day we went with daddy and you thought he was so funny on the other side of the tube. You and Alex just laughed and laughed at him:

After a long, hard day of play, you and your brother just love having bath time together. You are usually ready to get out before Alex so I take you out first. But you are usually not quite ready to stop playing with him, so after I get you all dried off and a diaper on (and sometimes before I even get your diaper on) you stand outside the bath tub and laugh and play with brother. He loves to close the doors and squirt the squirt bottle at you. You also love to put your hands on the glass so that Alex can put his on yours. It's quite amusing!

We celebrated your first Easter this month. You had a nice time watching all the other kids search for eggs. You weren't quite sure what they were doing, but you enjoyed watching them do it. We started the day off at mass at St. Martin's followed by a nice Easter breakfast at Grandma Gerry and Paw Paw's house. After that we went to your Great Uncle Thos's house. It was a beautiful day all around!

We also participated in the Color Run this year. We had you all set and dressed in your little white onesie. It was a beautiful day and I was really looking forward to a nice, fun walk with my boys. Well we pulled into the parking lot and pulled you out of your seat only to discover a major diaper blow out. I had a major parenting fail when I realized I did not bring a change of clothes for you. Dad wanted to just go home, but I really wanted to do the Color Run. So I improvised. We put you in mommy's white hoodie. It was huge on you, but it worked! We ended up having a great time. You were very chill in the stroller and even took a nice little nap during our walk.

The day after the Color Run was your Baptism. It was a beautiful day filled with lots of love and blessings. The whole family came to 11:00 mass at St. Martin's with us and you were baptized immediately afterward. Deacon Fronick performed the ceremony. You were such a good little boy during the whole thing and you hardly cried at all.

Aunt Elizabeth and Uncle James are your Godparents
After the ceremony we had a small reception at our house. Mommy really went all out to celebrate the special day that this was. I made all the food and everyone enjoyed it all especially the cookies and the cake. I also got special shoes for you with your name on them.

You enjoyed playing with your new rosary from your Godfather and you had so much fun with everyone there, but eventually you were just exhausted and you slept really good that night!

We also celebrated Mother's Day this month. It was a great day for me. We started off the celebration on Saturday. I wanted to go to brunch downtown and get some pictures with you guys at City Garden. We all enjoyed brunch at Rooster and you even sat in your own seat and enjoyed some puffs as we all ate. As far as City Garden, you and Alex were not really in the mood to take any good pictures with me, but you both had a great time splashing in the fountains.

On Sunday, you and Alex gave me awesome cards and a big bouquet of flowers. I'm so lucky to be the mommy of two amazing little boys! We went to Aunt Elizabeth's house as well as Gram and Poppy's house to celebrate with all the other moms in our lives. It was a wonderful day!

You are a very busy little boy and your dad and I have trouble keeping up with you sometimes. Your big brother sometimes leaves snacks out around the house and if we don't watch you closely enough, you are always getting into them! We really have to be vigilant of your every move because you are a very busy baby and you always have places to go and people to see.

A few days before Mother's Day, we got such great news! We found out you were finally done wearing your helmet!!! As I've mentioned in previous posts, you never even seemed phased by the helmet, but mom and dad were SOOO sick of it. It was such great news to hear that you were finished with it and that your head is now rounder than the typical male at your age.

You are such a fun little guy to have around! You are crawling around everywhere with ease now. You like to pull up on all the furniture and if you drop something you can easily bend over and pick it up. You love it when anyone plays with you, especially your brother. You two love to have your time in the crib together each morning You like to "give kisses" which really equates more to biting people's noses:

You are also loving eating your purees as well as small chunks of food. Alex absolutely loves to feed you!

You also love ice cream (obviously):
Here are your nine month pictures: