Almost 10 months!

I cannot believe Banks is almost 10 months old. He's been alive for as long as he was in my belly. It's almost impossible to compare the two because it felt like I was pregnant for forever and it doesn't seem like he's been a part of our lives for long at all!

He's really so much fun now. I love watching him explore all over the house. It's like I can see the wheels in his head just turning and learning. He loves to play peek-a-boo, loves standing on his tip-toes, loves cruising around the furniture, and loves opening and closing any door. We're still working on "no" because he also loves the plants, the fire place tools, Buford's bowls and the wireless router. When I catch him about to do something I don't want him to do I'll say "Banks, don't touch that." He stops (probably because he hears me call his name), looks at me, and then touches whatever it is I don't want him to touch. I can't tell if he just doesn't gets what "no" means yet or if he gets it but doesn't care.

What happens if he doesn't get his way...

His little personality is really showing and he's developing preferences. He does not like sleeping in as of late. We've resorted to old school fraternity style in his room; hanging a blanket over the window to block out the early morning sun. So far our little experiment is working and he slept til 7:45 yesterday morning! We're really working on introducing all kinds of pick-up foods and have completely cut out baby food at breakfast. It's fun to see what he likes/dislikes in the food world, although I must say that he'll eat just about anything I put on his tray.

Just getting a taste of some grass. He looks like a good ole country boy to me in this picture... He's really developed a close relationship with his hair brush, measuring spoon and mixing spoon. They go with him just about anywhere he goes and how dare I try to use one of them for their intended purpose! He loves to crawl around with the brush and spoon in his hands. And I love seeing him crawl and then sit, crawl and sit, crawl and sit. It's like he needs to take a rest or something.

He "talks" up a storm and FINALLY said ma-ma last week. Music to my ears. Not that he knows that I'm ma-ma or anything but, hey, it's a step closer. He's got SIX teeth (4 are in the process of coming in at the same time) which I think makes him look so much older. We're heading to the beach Saturday and I can't wait to see what he thinks. I really feel like he may just take off crawling and never look back. Well, that and eat a boat-load of sand. I'll post some pictures when we get back!

Weekend

We went to Nashville this weekend to see our friends Lauren, Wes and Will. We had a great time seeing them and letting the boys play. I was able to make several observations while we were there. The first being it is nearly impossible to get a decent picture of two on-the-move boys. Most of my pictures look like this. Someone was always blurred.Or this: Banks with something in or going into his mouth. And yes, the matching pj's were planned. And we loved it.
Second, I feel like we spent the majority of our time fixing their meals or letting them eat their meals. It seems like to me one of the boys was eating something the entire time we were there. That can also be said for napping...on Saturday one or both of them were asleep from like 9-3 with a small window around noon when we all ran out to eat some lunch (again, with the eating). Here I have captured a rare moment from the weekend when the kiddos weren't sleeping or eating.
Again with something in his mouth. When does this stop????

Mother's Day Weekend

We celebrated my first Mother's Day with my mom and Matt's mom. It was so special spending it with our moms! We played, ate ourselves silly and had a big ole time watching Banks. I realized after they left Sunday (and I put Banks down on the floor to play and he commenced to screaming bloody murder) that someone was either holding or playing with him the entire time they were here! He's one spoiled little boy and is climbing up my leg as I type because he wants me to hold him! He's in for a rude awakening getting back to our routine! We took advantage of the beautiful weather and got some great pictures.

Mimi (Matt's mom), Banks, Matt Gram (my mom), Banks, me
Saturday we went to the park and Banks went down the slide for the first time!Swinging with Mimi and Gram
We also tried out the baby pool for the first time! He loved it but I think he spent more time climbing in and out than actually playing in it. By the time we were through ,the water was full of grass and mud.

Mr. Big Stuff

What's in a name? A lot, actually. Before we knew we were having a boy we agonized over what to name our baby. We studied the family trees because we knew we wanted to do something family. We had numerous phone conversations with our mothers about family names. Man, we have some strange ones. Hortense, Muncie and Estelle to name a few. Although I must admit I like Estelle...we could have called her Stella...but somehow Stella Still seemed cruel. The girl names were hard. Really hard. But we found out we were having a boy and that name came quite easy. Michael Banks. Michael after my dad and Banks is Matt's middle name and his mom's maiden name.

Now, you must know that just because Micheal Banks is his name doesn't mean that we actually call him that. My family is known for having an obscene amount of nicknames for each other. Growing up we had a dog, Lucy. At one point, Lucy had THIRTEEN nicknames. And she was just the dog. My favorite is one that my dad gave her: Louis Earl Kimbriel Junior the Third. I didn't say that the names had to make sense, now did I? And so the tradition continues with Banks. Most of his nicknames make zero sense and I'm sure if I thought long and hard I could track way back to figure out how we ended up with the ones we have but that would take too much time! And, not that we call him any of these in public. We'll save the public humiliation for when he's older. So without further adieu here's a list of what we've got so far:

Banksy

Banksy poo

Banksta

Beezer

Biz

Mister

Mister Pister

Biddle

Tooker

Tooker B

Little Took Took

Little Tiddle

Babykins

and the most recent addition to the list: Mr. Big Stuff

I just can't help but sing the song when I see Banks doing all this big boy stuff lately! He's pulling up to his feet on everything, we're trying the sippy cup, and he's eating like a man. He waves hello and bye-bye. He's such a mama's boy and I love it when he crawls up to me, climbs up my legs and stands there wanting me to pick him up. Oh, it just melts my heart. We have to say "no" a lot now. He only has a bazillion toys but thinks it's much more fun to play in Buford's water or in the magazine rack. His favorite "toys" right now are his plastic clothes hangers, a measuring spoon and a metal mixing bowl. Right. If I'm going into a different room I'll say "come on" and he'll follow me into the other room...Mr. Big Stuff, right? I told Matt the other day that I just didn't think he was old enough to be doing some of these things but reality is that he is NINE months and will be a year before I know it!

We had his nine month check up today and here are his stats:

weight: 21.12-75%

height: 29-75%

head: 47-92% (wowza)

So, here he is doing some Mr. Big Stuff stuff:
looking out the window
Only holding on with one hand (while perfecting the over-the-shoulder-am-I-in-trouble look)!
Again with the window and now attempting to pull down the curtains. Check out those chunky legs!
Climbing into the dishwasher
Climbing over the pack and play (or is it pack n play?)
Eating plenty of leafy greens

And loving this maneuver whatever it's called!