Declan - 9 Months Old

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:

Life just keeps getting better and better with you in our lives!  You are such a wonderful baby!  I love you! Love, Mom

Declan - 8 Months Old

Declan,

You are 8 months old now!  We had so much fun leading up to this point.  This month of your life started with St. Patrick's Day.  We headed downtown for the parade this year.  It was a gorgeous day and you enjoyed the fresh air and all the crazy stuff going on around us.  We met Gram and Poppy down there as well as your Aunt Elizabeth.  We even gave you a couple hours of a helmet break so you could wear your cute little hat.

You did quite well with all the stimulation, but we did have to take a little break for some food.  I love how your hand is reaching up out of the nursing cover here:

We hung out as long as we could, but eventually both you and your brother were exhausted.  You fell asleep in the car on the way home:

It was a great day!

We continued to take advantage of the gorgeous weather we have been having by going to the park a lot.  You love to watch your brother run around the park and you think it is so funny when he shouts your name from the tunnel.  You love to play with the rocks (sand) in the pits.  You pick it up with your little fingers and let it fall back to the ground.  Sometimes you even try to eat it, but brother reminds you that "That's not food, Declan!"  You ride down the slide on mommy's lap sometimes and Alex likes to sit next to you on the slide until mommy can get up there with you:

You and your brother have been getting along quite well lately.  Alex just loves being your big brother.  He likes to read books to you too.



You love hanging out with Alex and you always want to play with him.  Sometimes, however, he does not want you messing with his stuff, namely his trains.  

But in general you guys get along quite well.  Shortly after he freaked out on you for getting his trains, he was calling for you to come play with him:

You and Alex have also started taking baths together too.  It's so much fun to see you guys play together in the bath tub.  You don't last as long as your brother in the tub, but it won't be long till you are just splashing right along with him.  It's fun to see you guys growing up together:

It has also become possible for me to take you both to the grocery store together.  You can now ride up front while brother rides in the basket:

It was about time to start getting ready for Easter this month, so the Easter Bunny came to Alex's school.  You were both pretty indifferent to this bunny, but I did get a cute picture of you guys:

Your Auntie Jackie came to visit you this month too.  You two had not yet met so this was and even more special visit.  Since Easter was upon us, she brought you an Easter Basket.  You love the little chick toy she gave you as well as the monster truck!  We did so many fun things with Jackie in town.  We spent some time at the Zoo.  You loved looking at the Hippos and the fish as well as all the other animals.   

We also went to Adriana's.  She let you play with her straw while the two of you just laughed and laughed.  You loved hanging out with your Auntie Jackie!

That Sunday was Palm Sunday, so we did the DeSmet Easter Egg Hunt.  It was a rainy day that day, so the hunt was moved indoors.  You and your brother searched for eggs in the library.  You weren't quite sure what was going on, but seemed to enjoy grabbing the eggs and sucking on them anyway.

You and Alex also sat on the Easter Bunny's lap after the DeSmet Easter Egg Hunt.  Alex thought this bunny was pretty funny.  You just wanted to chew on his hand:

There is a reason you wanted to chew on the Easter Bunny's hand.  You got your first tooth exactly on your 8 month birthday.  Your bottom right tooth poked through on 4/15/14.  You took it like a champ and were not too terribly fussy through the whole thing. 

You are such a wonderfully happy baby, Declan!    And you are so easy to make laugh:

I love you so much!  Here are your 8 month pictures:

Love,

Mom