9 Months Today

Today Truman turned 9 months! This morning we went to Salsa (we were a few minutes late because I wanted to take these pictures!) and then we walked around Bayview Village for a little bit and of course had a coffee with the other Salsa moms at Starbucks! Today Truman "mastered" blowing a kiss. He saw Jerry blow a kiss to Morrie this morning and he copied his daddy right away. He doesn't always imitate on demand, in fact many times he leaves me hanging! It is amazing how fast these little ones can pick things up!

Truman over the last few days is really enjoying standing (without my help) while holding on to things, and really likes only to hold on with one hand. He also likes me to help him walk and chase Morrie around the house. At Gymboree yesterday Truman stood on his own for a good 10 seconds. I think we will have a walker on our hands soon. Crawling? Not interested!

Bobbing for Blueberry Yogurt?

These days feeding Truman can be challenging. He loves to eat, so there is no challenge in trying to get Truman to eat, the difficulty is trying to get the food in him instead of on him, on the floor, on the tray or on Morrie. Before Morrie got his haircut, I would find pieces of food in his fur. Truman just loves to feed himself, and it is taking a long time for us to finish a meal. Take this afternoon for example, I prepared some blueberry yogurt for lunch. Truman was watching Morrie so as I tried to spoon some food in his mouth most of the yogurt ended up on his tray. The next thing I saw was Truman slurping up the yogurt from his tray! He proceeded to eat like this for the rest of the meal and I played along (this time). What a mess! But super cute!

Saturday afternoon we had Ryan, Rebecca and Jake, and Jeff, Bronna and Macayla over for a backyard BBQ. We were hoping that the weather was going to be a little warmer so the kids could play in the pool. We were out of luck! But the kids enjoyed themselves playing with toys and watching Bronna blow bubbles. Both Truman and Jake tried Ryan's sirloin burger and I think they both enjoyed it!

On Sunday afternoon we invited my friend Jenn and her husband John over for brunch. Poor Truman must have been exhausted because he stayed awake for half a bagel and then slept for almost three hours! I am glad that Jenn and John were able to see him for a little bit, but it did give us time to catch up without the distraction. Sunday evening we headed to grandma's house for and Indian food feast. Truman tried naan for the first time and he loved it! I am not surprised since he seems to love food, at least for now.

Here's a picture of Ryan with his son Jake

Feeling Hot! Hot! Hot!/Another Weigh In

Wow! What a warm one! Truman and I had our weekly swimming class on Thursday and we had a lot of fun splashing around in the pool. We are so sad that next week is our last class, so we may have to sign up again for the summer session. After my caffeine hit I took a little longer walk home, well actually I ended up in the opposite direction, and I am not sure how this happened but I ended up in Winners! I was a good girl and just browsed around. Truman fell asleep on our walk home, so I wheeled the stroller into the backyard and into some shade. He had such a good nap outside while I did some gardening. I caught a picture of him...how cute that he has his little foot resting on the bar!

After lunch, I decided that Truman needed a pool for the backyard, especially if yesterday and today is any indication of the type of summer we are going to have. If I had known that the trip to Toy R Us was going to be such a fiasco, I think I should have stayed home! A few weeks I saw a great little pool that came with a shade cover. Why I didn't pick it up then who knows! Of course Toys R Us did not have it in stock anymore. So I picked out another small pool that cannot deflate and came with a parasol. Perfect! I paid for the pool, went around back to pick it up. It was taking them FOREVER! Finally they brought me the pool, sans umbrella and no plug! Somehow, sitting in a dry pool would not be my idea of fun. It turns out, ALL the pools are missing their plugs. So, I had to return this pool and in haste I bought another one. On my drive home, with the pool scrunched up beside me, knowing that we have limited space I decided to go to Canadian Tire. Can you believe I found the pool that I originally wanted! Woop! Woop! I bought it, and then had to return the other pool. OMG! Honestly, why did I have to complicate things so much!

Today Truman had his 9 month check up, he weighed in at 8.60 kg (just under 19lbs) and is 74cm long. He is in the 25th percentile for weight and 75th percentile for height. I thought for sure he would be over 20 lbs, but Jerry was right, he is still is fairly light! I am just happy that he is gaining weight. Our next appointment isn't until Truman is 12 months.

Today Truman pulled himself up again on his little puzzle bench that Macayla gave him. He desperately wants to walk and stand by himself. Whenever we "practice" walking, he tries to let go of my hand, well more like he tries to rip his hand out of mine. Truman still has very little desire to crawl, but he is moving more towards that direction. Yesterday he was sitting on the floor and then kicked his legs out from under him, but one leg was caught and he started to get frustrated. We will have to keep trying!

Let's Toga!

Truman and I are so happy that Jerry has returned from his trip to Alabama. I think Truman really missed his father. Truman and I did our best to keep busy and keep out of trouble! On Friday night, Aunt Tina and Misty came over for dinner and spent the night with us. Truman did not sleep well and kept waking up. I felt horrible for Tina as she had to get up early for work the next morning. At one point I was sleeping on the floor in the nursery with Truman on my chest. He hasn't wanted to sleep on me since he was about 4 weeks old. For whatever reason he did not want to sleep without me, nor did he want to sleep in my bed. Weird! I guess there must have been something calming about his own room. After a period of time and me being really uncomfortable and afraid of straining my neck any further I brought Truman into bed to sleep with Tina and I.

Saturday we decided to take poor Morrie to Sherwood Park for a little off-leash time. Morrie's tri-weekly group walks ended on Monday and I thought he would want some time to play with other puppies. He stayed close to the troops like last time and did not want to play with the other dogs. He again, was very protective over Truman. I think Truman was the only one of us who actually enjoyed watching the other puppies run around and play. In particular there was one bulldog who kept coming right up to Truman and they were nose to nose. Saturday night Truman really wanted to go to a toga party so Misty and I decided to have one for the three of us at home! :) Silly baby tricks, I know.

Sunday morning I packed an over night bag and went to my parents house. Truman, Morrie and I were pampered as usual and had a fun time with Nanny and Oopa going for walks and many cups of Tim Horton's. Starbuck's would be shamed by my lack of loyalty for those few days!

Truman and I have been visiting a number of daycare centers this past week. We have seen three in total and every time we leave, my heart breaks and I end up calling Jerry and crying. It's not that I think that these facilities are horrible, the contrary, I just can't even come to the thought of someone else caring for my baby. I am sure that he will be OK, I just have to get over this and learn to let go of him, a little. I have also dropped a feeding, so knowing that breastfeeding will also almost be over and knowing that Truman is growing into a toddler are all new steps and changes. Almost too much for a new mommy to handle!

Tooth Number 7

For the past few days Truman has not been himself, he hasn't been chatting or smiling as much as usual. Thursday night he woke up at about 3am screaming and would not let go of me, so I brought him into bed with us (both Jerry and I did not get any sleep as a result). Although I was fairly tired, Friday Truman and I headed downtown to visit Jerry at work and met up with Misty for lunch. During lunch, Truman was in so much pain he would not stop screaming...poor thing. However, after some meds, Truman had some fun visiting with Jerry's coworkers but only wanted me to hold him. I am not sure what has happened to my social butterfly?? I can definitely see a little white nub emerging from his top gums. He's finally getting his two front teeth!

On Saturday morning, Jerry and I took Truman for his first Tim Horton's experience. We gave Truman a plain toasted bagel to try. He ate about a quarter of a bagel and it took him almost an hour to eat it, but I honestly loved every moment. Such joy!

Sunday I celebrated my first Mother's Day and was spoiled by my son. Jerry, Truman and I hosted a nice brunch in our backyard (thankfully the weather held out) for the Topolski mom's (Wanda and Baba) and then we had my parent's over for a light dinner and walk later that evening. It was such a wonderful day! A special thanks to Misty for helping me prepare the afternoon feast!

The Great Outdoors

What a beautiful weekend...so nice in fact that we spent most of our weekend outside enjoying the weather. On Friday afternoon, Alie and Alexis came for a visit. The four of us went for lunch and then enjoyed a nice long walk where our two little ones crashed out. It must have been the heat!

On Saturday we packed a lunch and headed for another trip to the zoo where we met up with the Thornton and Starkman clan. Here's a picture of Christine with her Coach purse...she has such good taste in bags at such a young age. Ben and Steph, I think you may be in trouble with this one...start saving now!

On Sunday, we decided to take Morrie to an off-leash park so he could have a chance to play with other dogs and run around a little. Morrie was not himself at all. In the past, Morrie would have been the center of attention playing with other dogs and having them chase him. Well, not on this time, he sat as close as he could to Truman, it was if he was protecting him. Honestly, it was so strange. Even yesterday afternoon, Truman fell asleep on our walk, so I wheeled the stroller in the backyard so that he would continue sleeping, Morrie sat in front of the stroller. Don't get me wrong I like the protective behaviour, I just felt bad for Morrie, he should have been running around and having a good time.

Sunday afternoon we met Pam and Ashu's new daughter Ana-Sofia (I apologize if I have not spelt her name correctly). What a beautiful little girl! Congratulations! Truman is anxiously awaiting a play date.

Dumb Mommy Moments

Honestly, I feel over the last few weeks I have had too many dumb mommy moments. Maybe I am being too hard on myself, but even when I was a sleep deprived new mom I have never felt this disorganized. Where do I begin? Last week, I packed Truman in the car and we headed to Salsa. I was so happy that we were going to be early so it would give me some time to feed Truman before class. I unloaded the stroller, put Truman in it and started towards Loblaws when I realized I had left the Baby Bjorn at home. Dumb Mommy Moment Number 1. So, I put Truman back in the car, unfolded the stroller and drove home breaking every speed limit, ran into the house, grabbed the carrier and raced back to Bayview Village. I only missed a few minutes....good thing we live so close!

Yesterday Truman has his swimming lessons...so at about 10:20am I wake him up from his nap and then dress him in his swimsuit (I am already wearing mine). I've had a pounding headache all morning, even after my caffeine fix. Pack up the stroller and we're on our way to the community center. I look at my watch when we arrive and notice we're a little early. So we sit outside and look around and play for a little. I approach the reception to let them know we've arrived. She looks at me as though I am the stupidest mommy on the planet. She asks me why I am there and I tell her we're here for our lessons. She looks up our information on the computer and tells us that our lessons are at 10am not 11am. She then looks at the attendance sheet, because she probably can't believe how dumb I am...and then she blurts out "You've been here before!"....well, yes, yes we have been before (about four times already but whose counting?)....yes ladies and gentlemen this is my Dumb Mommy Moment Number 2. The only thing that made me feel better was my tall non-fat latte from Starbuck's. Please stay tuned for more DMM's! I am sure I have not seen the last of them!

More importantly, how's Tdot? Truman has been such a little ham lately....he loves to mimic everything we do whether it is nodding our head, clapping (he loves to clap), or making certain sounds. It is honestly so adorable I want to eat him up! He's also started to move. He will scoot in circles on him bum and move backwards on his tummy...although he still gets frustrated very quickly. He's also been a very clingy baby over the last two days...he's often grabbing at my legs if I try to get up off the floor and always reaching for me with his arms. Don't get me wrong, I love it, but it's difficult to get anything done!