Kian is 10 Months Old!

Photos with the Boppy pillow and teddy bear at 10 Months Old:
Just this past week, Kian started to pull himself up to stand in his crib! He can cruise around while holding on to the sides...

I imagine that Kian is thinking to himself: "Man, I can't believe that I was once as small as that teddy bear! Why can't YOU get up and stand, too, bear?!"




And just 4 days prior to the video above, Kian began crawling longer distances, which I captured in the following video. It's amazing how quickly he's becoming VERY mobile! Please forgive the higher tone of voice I tend to use with Kian...how embarrassing, really.





Kian now loves to walk around -- while being supported by our hands-- to places in the house where he can't quite reach from the confines of his walker, such as the stereo to push buttons and the pantry doors to open and close them endlessly. He can now pull himself up on the carpeted stairs at his grandparents' house, too! If we're documenting recent accomplishments, here's one more for the books: Grandma Gei reported that last week Kian rolled a ball back and forth with her 10 times! He loves being outside and is always actively observing the world around him. He gets mad (and really loud!) when we take away something that he is still interested in playing with, but seriously....how long can I stand there next to the car while he fiddles with the car seat harness buckle, when I'm ready to unload my bags inside the house?! After a 40 minute commute home, once I've unbuckled him, Kian is content to sit there for MANY more minutes just trying to fit the two parts of the chest buckle back together again. Well, I suppose being persistent, determined, and patient are great qualities!

Here are a few more photos from a recent picnic play date with friends, Harlow and Cameron, in Lincoln Park:

First Trip to Denver

This past weekend, we went to Denver for a wedding and to visit Nana Joan. Kian had the opportunity to meet all of the friendly and fabulous folks from Ryan's childhood neighborhood community. Here are some pictures from a trip to the aquarium, some pool time on a HOT day in Joan's backyard, and the Sunday brunch the day after the wedding.

















In the following video, Kian cracks up hysterically when I make the air mattress bounce:

First Trip to the Zoo

On the Monday following Mother's Day, I brought Kian to the Woodland Park Zoo for his first visit and met up with three other moms and their kiddos. We had fun in Zoomazium with velcro mushrooms on a fabricated nurse log and in the petting area with the goats, but it was sort of a challenge to get Kian to actually look at the animals! In this first picture, there is an awesome jaguar sitting right in front of us, but Kian is looking at the plants blowing around in the wind! After a few hours of walking around observing a few animals -- but mostly wooden posts, people, and plants -- Kian finally fell asleep in the stroller. Hopefully the next visit to the zoo will be more interesting to him!

Kian is 9 Months Old

Today, Kian turns 9 months old! He is getting very close to crawling, loves flap books (especially Maisy Goes to School and books by Karen Katz), just started to wave "bye-bye", loves dogs, gets a kick out of watching crows hop around on the ground when we're on walks, still enjoys eating Cheerios (now with more precision), has fun with his Baby Einstein "keyboard", and is now totally weaned, which we think may be helping him sleep for longer stretches at night (now waking only once in the middle of the night for a bottle).

Here are the monthly photos of Kian with his teddy bear and Boppy pillow...




Kian's onesie is a souvenir from my solo trip to NYC to visit my dad, Andre, and to NJ to visit my friend, Jen, whose one-year-old twins, Ella and Felix, I had not met yet. Ryan cemented his title of Dad of the Year in my eyes, as he confidently and fabulously took care of Kian for 4 days, 3 nights (with a little bit of help from Auntie Teresa, Grandma Gei, and Grandpa Matt on the final stretch). I had never even spent one night away from Kian before this trip, so it was certainly tough to be away from him for several days in a row, but at the same time, it was fabulous to feel a bit of regained independence and to wear my other hats more prominently: as a daughter, as a friend, and....as a shopper! Still, I was glad to return home to put back on my Mama of Kian hat that I've had the honor of wearing for the first time this year. On this Mother's Day, I've been reflecting on how fortunate I am to have such a beautiful, healthy, happy, and snuggly baby boy, and such a loving, understanding, and extraordinary partner. I'm also grateful for my own parents and our many friends who have given us the support and advice that have helped me to be a stronger mother.

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms who are reading our blog!


Here are a few photos from my trip:

Head Shake Video

Kian recently started shaking his head as if to say "no", and we got it on video. We know that he doesn't associate the movement with the actual meaning, but it's funny in different contexts. Sometimes he looks up at us and shakes his head slowly, as if he's thinking, "I can't believe how ridiculous you look." At other times he shakes his head like this when music is playing, as if rocking out to the cool beats. In this video, he shakes his head while eating peas and corn....

Kian's Laptop

In this video, Kian checks out his "new" laptop - one that crashed on us last year but we've kept around. It keeps him busy while we use our REAL laptop! I think that he still has his eye on the one we use because it actually has lights and does stuff when you press the keys! We'll see how long he's fooled by this new distraction....

8 Month Photo with the Bear

Kian is such a busy-body these days! He gets up on all fours, can scoot forward a bit, and no doubt will be crawling very soon, so we are working toward baby-proofing our home. Kian's 4th tooth has cut through the top gum, and he is taking it in stride. He's been sleeping for longer stretches at night (no longer waking every 3 hours to eat), and we hope that when he can crawl, he'll get thoroughly exhausted and sleep all the way through the night! Kian is super smiley and loves to laugh. We sometimes call him our "goofy balloon".

Remember to compare this photo with others previously taken with the bear near the 10th of each month. He's grown so much... Can't believe he's 8 months old already!!