9 months...

Wow, 9 months already.  3/4 of year.  *sniff*

Well, this month it was all about the food!  We finally got past the "solids strike", as I was calling it.  The turning point, I would say, came right around the middle of the month when Deacon tried squash.  Don't know what it was about the squash but he loved it and ate the whole container!

Well, after that it was on!  We revisited carrots the next night and he ate them all.  Then we tried sweet potatoes again and he ate the whole container of those.  I was a happy mama.  :)

But it didn't stop there.  Since then, we've been giving him bananas, pears, peas, mixed vegetables, green beans, apple-blueberry, peaches, apple-strawberry-banana.  With the exception of the peas and green beans, he's been eating everything all gone.  The peas and the green beans...well, I kinda don't blame him for not eating those.  :]

We had another couple of big deals happen this month -- we finally saw Deacon roll over!  Just a few days after he started eating his solids really well, I saw him roll over with my own eyes.  I know that he'd been rolling over because I would leave him laying one way and when I came back into the room, he'd be laying the opposite.  Little stinker would wait until I left the room to do his tricks.  :)  But I finally saw him do it one day and I was so excited!

[this cracks me up: he's watching Jay-Jay on Daddy's phone...]

Since then he'll roll over if he's trying to get to something or just not paying attention to what he's doing, but he's not a "roly-poly" by any means.  We do have to watch where we put him now so he doesn't roll off the couch/loveseat or bed.  And he's ALL.OVER.THE.PLACE. in his crib!  My goodness, that boy can get around in that crib, with the sides to help him push off.  You never know how he's going to end up!

Deacon also learned to clap his hands this month!  About a week after I saw him roll over he started clapping one day.  I can't even tell you how excited I was about that.  More excited than I thought I would be!  I mean, it's just clapping, for pete's sake.  But for me, I think I see it as the first step to him being able to communicate something to us.  Right now, he's not really using clapping to communicate yet because he does it at pretty random times, not necessarily when he's happy, and not always when he hears music or something.  But soon we'll be able to see his clapping as a sign of happiness or contentment or playfulness or whatever it turns into.  And THAT is exciting to me.  :)

[Deacon with his great Gram & Buppa, 9 mos]

2nd beach trip...

We took Deacon back to the beach yesterday.  He is so dang cute in his little bathing suits and sunglasses, I can hardly stand it, ya'll. :)  He loves being outside so for the most part he likes the beach.

The sand part of the beach, anyway...

Considering it was a bit warmer this time, we had high hopes that he would enjoy the water/waves more, but no.  It was not to be...

It sure ain't for lack of tryin', though!

The tide was going out so we had lots of shallow waters for Jeff to walk him out in but he was definitely NOT a fan of being any closer to the water.  I could hear him whining from back where I was taking photos... :\

So we brought him back and I sat with him a little bit in the sand, right where the water would only come up just every so often...

He still kept an eye on those waves.  :)

We took him back up to where our chairs were after a bit and just sat him in the sand.  Jeff found a large enough shell that had all worn, rounded edges for Deacon to chew on.

The first couple of times he dropped it I rinsed it off for him.  It was a lost cause.  He left with a mouthful of sand.  Yick.

1st trip to IL...

In my last post, I mentioned that we took a trip up to IL to visit with Jeff's family over the 4th of July weekend.  It was a great opportunity to introduce Deacon to a lot of his side of the family that hadn't met him yet.  Everyone fell in love with him, of course.

What's not to love about this??

We were up there for about 5 days so Grandpa Duane and Grandma Sherry got to spend some good quality time with him...

Grandma Sherry had some little toys and books pulled out for Deacon -- so sweet.  :)  He enjoyed playing and exploring those toys that he didn't have anything like at home...

Grandpa Duane & Great Grandpa Wenzel worked together to add a swing just for Deacon onto the swingset they have in their backyard -- he loved swinging!

[photo credit goes to my husband -- LOVE this shot!]

The main reason we took this trip is so we could be there to help celebrate Jeff's mom & dad's 40th wedding anniversary -- most definitely something to celebrate!  They had an open house of sorts to celebrate.  We had lots of yummy food and a great turnout of family & friends.  It was good to see a lot of Jeff's family there.  We took advantage of that to get some recent photos of the fam...

[Duane & Sherry with their grandkids]

[The Wenzels with their boys]

We had a lot going on that day, and Deacon met a lot of folks -- it eventually got the best of him...

One other thing we got to do is take Deacon to this AWESOME park they have up there, Krape Park.  I'm in love with this park, ya'll.  Everytime we go up to IL we try to fit a trip to the park in somewhere.  It's great in the winter because there is usually snow and there are lots of beautiful photo opps to take advantage of.  It's also great in the spring & summer because there are lots of playgrounds, trails to walk/hike, a pond with paddleboats and even a merry-go round!

So guess what we did?

Despite the intense expressions in some of these, I think he did like the carousel and swing.  :)  He got on the teeter-totter with Grandma Sherry and cousin Brittany and he also got to "drive" the old fashioned fire truck they have in the middle of the park for kids to play on.

I told you -- this park is awesome!

The rest of our time there was spent just relaxing at the house -- playing, eating, reading, sleeping.  Deacon didn't last long enough to go see fireworks with us -- he was sound asleep at home with Grandma Sherry while Jeff, Duane, Brittany and I went to find some locally.  He'll enjoy them much more in future years, I'm sure.  :)

We had a nice visit with everyone and we're glad that Jeff's family got to spend some time with our little guy.

meeting more family...

Over the July 4 weekend, we made a trip up to IL where Jeff is from and where most of his family still lives.  This was Deacon's 2nd trip flying on an airplane -- he is a jet-setter, for sure!  :)

Jeff's mom & dad celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary on July 10 this year so that was the main reason we went up -- they had an open house/party to celebrate (another post to come on that and the rest of the trip), but we also had lots of family to introduce Deacon to for the first time...

Uncle Scott (Jeff's older brother)

Aunt Jill (who showers Deacon ridiculously w/gifts :)

cousins, Brandon & Brittany

Uncle Daniel (Jeff's youngest brother)

Great Grandma Wenzel

Great Grandma Buss

And a very special photo opportunity happened while we were there:

:: 5 Generations ::

We were able to introduce Deacon to his Great Great Grandma Pontnack, Jeff's mom's grandmother.  I don't know how aware she was of who we were, or who Deacon was, but I think she enjoyed meeting him just the same.  :)

8 months...

8 months...gone like THAT.  Craaaaazy.

So Deacon now has 5 teeth.  Yes, that is FIVE.  Teeth.  In his mouth.  He has both bottom center teeth, both top center teeth and then one over on the side, top left that popped through but not much else.  And that happened probably 3 or so months ago.  Nothing much is happening with that one.

He also moved up to size 3 diapers around 7.5 months.

He is growing SO fast...

[handsome little fella, all ready for church]

Around the middle of June Deacon got in his first big pool.  My sweet friend who keeps him for me Mon-Wed each week has a really nice above-ground pool and one night we went over to grill out, hang out and swim.  Deacon loved the pool!  He was so relaxed in it, whether one of us was holding him or he was just floating by himself in the little floaty that the Squires' family had.  I'm so glad he likes the water.  :)

[7.5 mos]

That same week, we had friends over to do the same (in our itty-bitty pool :).  Deacon's buddy, Grady, came to play so that was fun to see them interact together.  Grady is just about one month older than Deacon.

We've still been trying to give Deacon solid foods here and there.  We're not super-diligent with it but we try different things here and there.  So far there's still a lot of frustration as he just doesn't seem to be interested in solids, only taking a few bites each time we try.  We've given him green beans, sweet potatoes, carrots, bananas, apples and most recently peaches.

The peaches were not a hit to begin with -- I'm thinking they may have been a little on the tart side -- but the 2nd time we tried them, he actually started leaning in with an open mouth for more by the time we were done.  That was VERY encouraging for this mama...

You've never seen someone get so excited about their kid eating some peaches!  :)

This kid loves his pacifier. 

We try to limit how much he has it but there are definitely certain times of the day that he wants/needs it and we don't mind letting him have it if it calms him (which it does) and helps him to fall asleep (which it also does).

He's pretty funny with it now because he can "do it himself".  If it falls out, he just picks it up and pops it right back in.  If he wants to play with it a little bit, he just takes it out of his mouth and plays some and then pops it back in at will.  That's kinda nice.

I distinctly remember a recurring thought in the early days...

"How can I strap this pacifer around his head so it won't keep falling out?!"

Aaaanywho, I don't think I've included enough photos in this post, do you?

Here.  Here's a few more for you... :)

[yes, he gives kisses now!  I LIVE for those.]

[8 mos]