I can’t believe David is 1 month away from being 1-year-old. Where has the time gone? He’s had a lot of firsts since the last time I posted. He had his first Thanksgiving, which we spent in NC visiting my family & some of Chip’s extended family. It was a nice trip, but David was very sick the weekend before (as was Chip), so it made it a little more stressful. Also, it was a lot of driving, but we had a good time. Also, it was the first time Chip’s cousin Carolyn and her family and Chip’s Aunt Mary & Uncle Gene got to see David. So, we’re really glad we got a chance to go see all of them.
David also had his first Christmas, which Chip & I have been looking forward to all year. It was so much fun to see him react to the new toys he got and the wrapping paper of course. We spent the week before Christmas and Christmas day at my parents’ house. We celebrated Christmas twice since my brother and his fiancee left to go to Michigan on the 21st. So, David got a lot of Christmas at my parents’ house. But, it was so much fun. And he got TONS of toys. We didn’t think about how big the toys he was getting were going to be until we started packing the car. But, he does love playing with them. Unfortunately, the snow prevented us from leaving for Asheville on Christmas Day like we intended, but we did make it out on the 26th.
So, the next week we spent in Asheville with Chip’s family. We got to spend a little bit of time with Chip’s sister Teresa and her husband Jed before they left to go to the Rose Bowl parade. We also got to spend time with Chip’s sister Susan and her husband Jeff, as well as their 3 kids, Michael, James, & Katie. David had a good time playing with his cousins and seeing his Aunt Susan and Uncle Jeff. We also celebrated Christmas with them and David got even more new toys. His play room is quite the place to be now. We spent most of New Year’s Eve at the Asheville Country Club, but decided to leave a little early since there were babies at home and we were all really tired from having colds all week. But, we still had a good time hanging out with our friends Kristina & Eric and Kristina’s parents’ Judy & Bob. Also, David finally got to meet Kristina & Eric’s daughter, Claire who is 4-months-old. The joke in the family is that they are betrothed, so at least David has finally met his future wife :-)!
One other thing that happened while we were gone for Christmas is that David figured out the “army crawl”. So, at least he can kind of get to where he’s going. He still prefers to walk holding onto someone’s hands, unfortunately that is usually me. I was hoping he’d learn how to walk soon so I can stop being his taxi. I don’t know if it will happen before he turns 1 or not. He hasn’t quite gotten the confidence to let go yet and his balance is still a little shaky, but we’ll see. It will happen when it happens.
In addition, David has a few more teeth. I think there are a total of 6 and they are all opposing, which means we have to be careful of the biting now too. I don’t think he realizes what he’s doing until after he’s done it, but I definitely want to nip that in the bud before it becomes a problem.
So, now we’re back in West Lafayette and I am really looking forward to starting the Parent/Infant/Toddler class with David this week. I think it will be good for him to have some structured play.
Chip is starting his new semester and so far it’s going quite well. He likes teaching his class and he’s working on some new papers and grants over the next few months. Hopefully, we will hear back with some good news.
We hope everyone’s Christmas was as wonderful as ours and that your new year is starting well. Enjoy the pictures. I am doing a separate post with his 9-month pictures.
