These boots were made for walking...

Andrew had to break in his new boots he got for Christmas from his Nana and Papa.  They came in very handy with the four inches of snow that fell to the ground last week.  We attempted to make a snowman, but unfortunately, the snow did not want to cooperate.

I did make a snow angel, but thank goodness, Dustin decided not to take a picture of that. 

Mission: Accomplished!

Well, this baby finally did it...he finally maneuvered his way under the coffee table.

Once he accomplished his task, he figured he had better find a way out.

No problem, mommy!

It's funny because now that Andrew has figured out how to get under the table, he does it at least four times a day.  Tomorrow, I may find him in the fire place.

Monkeys aren't supposed to do that...

I was always under the impression that monkeys liked to climb trees and such, but imagine my surprise when I found this primate attempting to hide under the coffee table.

Fortunately, this monkey did not realize that all he had to do was lift his leg and he would have accomplished his mission.

Retreat was inevitable.

(On a side note, you can totally see the snot hanging off of his nose.)

0.75 years old!

This crazy monkey is 9 months old!  That equates to 3/4 of a year!  I can't believe that in only three short months my little boy will be a year old!  Andrew has gone through a lot of changes in the past month and some of them within the past couple of days. 

Andrew can now...

- Stand up/pull himself up

- Wave/splash

- Crawl

- Pick up feet while holding onto something

- Stand by himself (without holding anything) for approximately 2 seconds

- Drink from a sippy cup

- Buzz his lips making a helicopter sound

- Stick his tongue out (very hilarious)

- Most importantly: Self-soothes for bedtime (He cries/screams for thirty seconds and then falls asleep)

Andrew has been saying "Mama" and "Dada" a lot and we are hoping that he will look at either one of us and say it with recognition.  He completely recognizes his own name and always looks for the person who said it.

He is a very inquisitive little boy and with him being so mobile, gets into EVERYTHING!  He has spontaneous belly laughter and is very ticklish.  He has outgrown his infant tub (and has for awhile) and will need to transition to the big tub (mommy is still trying to figure out how to do this logistically). 

New foods that he has tried and liked this past month:

- Kiwi

-Yogurt - plain and banana

-Peas (depending on his mood)

- Tomato

- Cantaloupe

- MEAT! The baby is no longer a vegetarian!  Andrew has tried ham, chicken and turkey and loved them all!

Andrew is now up to 3-4 solids a day and loves it!  I was able to get him back to nursing and off of the bottle, so I am very happy.  Only three more months until he is on whole milk!

Andrew still enjoys sticking his fingers up your nostrils or in your mouth.  I can't believe how much he has accomplished in the past month.  Time really does fly!

Standing!

This baby has figured out how to stand!  He has been pulling himself up awkwardly using me as support.  Then he figured out that he could use any inanimate object to do the same thing: crib, ottoman, coffee table, sofa, toys, etc.  Now that he has figured it out, I can't stop him from pulling up!  It is inevitable that he will discover how to pull books from my bookshelf.

Boomer Sooner!

Here is Andrew sporting two of his Christmas presents.  The OU jersey is from Aunt Lori and the Ride 'n' Stride Dino is from Nana and Papa Loftis. 

For the longest time, Andrew wouldn't put his feet down while riding his dino.  He would prop them up by the dino's head and just sit there.  Finally, he figured out that if he put his feet down, he could push himself.  Unfortunately, the direction he goes in is backwards!

And, yes, that is a tube of Burt's Beeswax lip balm in his hand.  You gotta start them young!

Sickness

This poor baby has been sick ever since we got back from visiting family in OK and KS.  It started with a barky cough before we even left to come home.  Luckily, Dustin's cousin is a doctor and was able to look at him the morning before we drove home.

Once we got home, his cough sounded better, but then he started with the runny nose, sneezing and congestion!  He was running a slight fever and when I took him into see the pediatrician, I found out that on top of all of his sickness he was also cutting more teeth! 

Andrew also refused to eat his solids and nurse, which wasn't surprising because he wasn't feeling well, but nursing has not resumed.  :(  So, unfortunately, I am having to give him the bottle instead.  He is starting to feel better and the fever is gone, but now we are working on establishing his bedtime routine again.

You can see he is hot with fever from his rosey cheeks and you can definitely see those bottom two teeth now!

Four generations

Andrew is one of the few 4th generation Loftis men!

Here we have Greatgrandpa Guy, Dustin, Andrew, and Papa Darrell.

All I want for Christmas is my...

...two front teeth!

And Andrew's got 'em!  If you look closely you can see the bottom one poking through!

He didn't feel like smiling in this picture, but I'm sure he was overwhelmed with the Christmas spirit!

Merry Christmas! (Very belatedly...)

Oh, the holidays have come and gone - very quickly!  I apologize for not posting anything sooner, but it seems that the plague has come into my home and is taking a long time to leave.  Anyway, we traveled to OK and KS for the holidays and had a fantastic time!  We were able to see so many of our family members and had a wonderful extended family get-together.

On Christmas Eve Eve, we decided to open up presents with the Loftis side of the family.  Here is Andrew with his cousins Braydanne and Morganne.

If you can't tell, he is ecstatic opening presents...

I know...I know...I've always wanted a little girl...

For whatever reason, we had no pictures of Andrew opening presents with the Vu side of the family.  I don't know if that was on purpose....Anyway, we had a great time and made it back to Indianapolis in one piece.  Andrew must have been so worn out from the trip that we drove 12 hours straight back home and didn't stop at a hotel.