9 Months and Counting

Apparently.....

there's not enough room in the crib and .....

this is what happens when you let a 9 month old with 2 bottom teeth play with the puffs container and leave the room. He has learned how to pry the lid off within seconds!

I realize that many of my posts are pretty much centered around Steven, but he has become such a center piece to our lives and I couldn't be happier! He was nine months a few weeks ago but his appointment was this last week so I wanted to wait until I had his measurements. Currently these are his stats:

Weight: 23 lbs (91 %)

Height: 29.5 in (88 %)

Head: 99% I can vouch for that even without measurements because it can be difficult to get his shirts over his head at times :)

Some of the things he has accomplished:

• Sleeping through the night for 11 hours!!!! (Now if only I went to bed at 8:30)
• Waving hello
• Knowing who "da da" is
• Cruising along all of the furniture
• Playing chase with mom and dad
• Crushing crackers rather than eating them
• Eating chunky baby food
• Playing by myself in the crib
• Working on a 3rd tooth on top
• Loving the washer and dryer
• Banging on everything
• Playing with other babies

His little personality is so endearing and quite charming! I love coming home and seeing how excited he is to see me! Also, Adam continues to be the best dad and taking such good care of him, even on little sleep. My sister is his surrogate mother on Monday's and I'm grateful to have her watch Steven! My ward has also been a huge help with watching Steven in the mornings after Adam's clinical shifts so that he can catch a few zzz's. We also have great family and friends who are willing to fill in the gaps when random needs arise! We have truly experienced the tender mercies of the Lord with having wonderful and good people to watch Steven while I'm at work and Adam is at class. I can't wait for the summer when I get to spend all of my time with Steven and not have to leave for work!

Christmas 2011

Steven got to spend lots of time with family and even meet Santa for Christmas this year! He didn't really have a reaction to Santa, just kept staring at him and trying to figure out what he was supposed to do. :) He got lots of wonderful presents that he plays with all the time! He even got to try some yummy new food. Also, his shirt says, "What Santa doesn't bring, Grandma will"! I saw this shirt at Kohl's right before Christmas and I just had to get it for him.

He is the cutest little shepherd that you have ever seen, right?!

Sitting in his new camp chair surrounded by his loot from Christmas! He was really enjoying eating his new book as well.

Opening presents on Christmas morning. As with most children, he was more interested in the wrapping paper. :)

Our little family on Christmas morning 2011!

All bundled up on Christmas Eve at Temple Square with Papa, Nana, Michelle and Blake. P.S. I also got his cute Polar Bear Hat from Old Navy for $5!!

Joseph Smith Memorial Building: We had to find other Christmas trees to take pictures by since we were so bah humbug and didn't put ours up this year.

We really enjoyed having so much time to spend together over the holidays! We had family come in from out of town and it was so fun to be able to spend some time with them! Merry Christmas!

The Best Dog Ever

A few days before Christmas we had to put down our dog Chancey. It all started at the beginning of December when we noticed that she was getting skinnier. A few weeks passed and she was even skinnier than before. We finally went to the vet and found out that she had lost 30 pounds in two weeks. The vet did some tests and decided that her liver was failing. He told us that she would continue to get worse and that it was our choice to either let her die in a few weeks or put her down. It was a pretty emotional decision. We've had her for 14 years and she has really become part of our family. She's also one of the last living things that I have from life with my mom. It was really hard but she was in pain and would just get worse. I still look for her when I go outside but I'm comforted thinking that she is with my mom and sister playing around. :)

8 months old!

Steven turned 8 months right before Christmas and he has accomplished so much this month!

His personality is developing more and more and it was so nice to have two weeks off of work. He's definitely starting to be more clingy but luckily he is still really good about going to other people when I have to leave. Here are some things he has done:

• Sleeping 10 hours at night
• Getting a second tooth
• Crawling like a champ
• Pulling himself up on EVERYTHING
• Helping us baby proof the house
• Going from crawling back to sitting and turning around
• Waving "hi"
• Entertaining himself with toys
• Loving other kids!
• Becoming so aware of what and who is around him
• Crawling up one stair
• Eating more solid foods
• Feeding himself crackers

Hanging out with Aunt Candace
On Christmas Eve with Papa and Nana

The first time he pulled himself up in his crib. It is actually quite a funny story. One morning Adam and I were still in bed and heard Steven moving around in his crib. It was the usual routine where we would wait for him to start crying before we went in to get him. I could hear something he was playing with that sounded like the case of wipes. I figured that he was just throwing it around in his crib as usual and didn't think anything of it. The noise was getting louder so I went in to check and this is what I found! Steven standing in the crib with a big grin, thinking he was so cool! The crinkling sound I heard was him hitting the changing table pad, not the wipes. We lowered his crib that day. :)

The "so cool" look!

His first time sledding with daddy!

Finding a new favorite toy... from the kitchen.

With Great Grandma Tate!

Figuring out that he can crawl through the exersaucer... and realizing how fun it is!

The three cousins closest in age on the Fieber side at Christmas.

The babies with Grandpa Fieber

Two razor sharp teeth on the bottom.

We love this kid and can't believe how lucky we are!

Thanksgiving and 7 months

Thanksgiving 2011

We had two Thanksgivings this year! The first was with my dad and Kathy's family and then we headed up to Evanston on Saturday for a late Thanksgiving with Adam's family. Steven got to eat mashed potatoes, crackers, sweet potato, turkey and peach cobbler! He loved getting to try some different foods and being around lots of family!

Thanksgiving Day 2011

Cousin Time with Duncan

Bath time together while eating their toys

7 Months

He got his first tooth on Thanksgiving Day and now he constantly has his tongue out :)

We let him put on his snow suit and go outside in the snow while we were in Evanston. He wasn't sure about it. He kept touching it and then looking very surprised that it was still cold.

This kid loves to sleep on his belly and he we find him like this more often than not. Here are some more things that he's doing at 7 months:

• Turning around and rolling to where he wants to when he plays on the floor.
• Eating ritz crackers and vanilla wafers
• Growing out of 9 month pajamas-- I swear pj's run very small for what size they say.
• Taking some small steps when you hold his hands. He thinks he is the coolest person when he is standing and always lets out a "huh" after he gets up.
• Putting EVERYTHING in his mouth
• Rocking back and forth on all fours and then jumping with his back legs.
• Crying himself to sleep
• He LOVES other babies and sqawks and squeals at them as much as he can
• Flirts with anyone sitting behind us
• Hold his own bottle when he eats
• Rips off his bumper pads in his crib and tries to pull himself up

SO EXCITED!!!!!

My best friend Bekah got engaged on Thanksgiving and I'm so stinking excited! Here's a picture of how he did it.... all I can say is "AWESOME"!!! I never would have expected that!

It's coming.....

BLACK FRIDAY in T - 3 days!!!! I might be flying solo this year but it's sort of become addicting.