Home Visit

Cort and I went to Columbia to visit family and friends that we do not get to see often. We were gone from Monday night until Saturday night. This was by far the longest Chris has ever been away from Cort. He stayed busy as he was installing new floors in our kitchen, dining area, foyer and hallway ( it looks soo good!) when he wasn't at work so the week went fast but still. So much can happen in a week.
The weekend before we left Cort began to stand on his own for a few seconds and while we were in Columbia he began to point, clap( he LOVES pat-a-cake), and said his second word, "hot" (for fire). He also got another tooth!!
We had a wonderful time. I was able to see a few friends , some who had not met Cort before. I also took Cort to my grandparents house in Aiken. They really enjoyed having him there. It was a precious to time to see Cort play int he house that I so fondly remember visiting while I was growing up.

Cort and Grandaddy


Me- Me, Cort, and Granddaddy


Cort playing peek-a boo with Me- Me


My other grandparents came to my parents house for a day and really enjoyed there time with Cort too. Cort kept going back and forth reaching between the two of them. I think it made their day...maybe their month!

Cort with Me- Maw


Cort trying to decide between Paw- Paw and Me-Maw


My parents equally enjoyed having Cort around so much. He settled right in to their house and had such a blast exploring and having never ending attention. He loved their gas fireplace, the little rocking chair that my mom has had since we were little( which Cort just wanted to stand up and rock in!!!!) and for some reason the foyer rug. :)


Cort with Grammie(my mom) at Work


Cort pointing to the fire


Oh, the things that entertain him - he crawled back and forth
on this rug for 30 minutes!!


A terrible case of take the cute picture before you teach



Playing with Papa( my dad)


PS we got Cort's "big boy" carseat. He loved the box - just hope he loves the carseat!!! We had to get the Britax roundabout because it was the only one that would fit in our car comfortably in the rear facing position and at his rate he will still be rear facing for long time!!!!!!!!

10 Months old

Time as never flown by so quickly. I just can't believe that my little baby is quickly approaching his one year birthday. This past month has been full of sooo much fun and so much hardship. Cort has grown up so much and can do so many new things. I just love watching him discover new things and new abilities. So me of his new things this month include:
* cruising really well all over the house
* standing for a few seconds on his own
* pointing
* clapping
* waving
* saying cat and hot
* cut 2 more teeth( one top and side bottom tooth)
* mimics more and more
* signing more and all done but not consistent
* climbing the stairs
I just can't believe everything that has changed this month. I love him more and more everyday. He finds so much joy in the little things. With all of this changes some things remain the same...he still adores music and it just gets cuter and cuter how he responds to songs that he likes. He still loves being outside, chasing our cat, horseplay, solid foods, elmo, and being around people. He about jumps out of my arms when we are out and about and he sees other little kids. He is going to be so much fun to watch as he is able to interact more and more with other kids.
He is still eating three meals a day and taking 4 bottles. The only babyfood he will still really eating is the fruit but he gobbles up "real" food. The hardships have come in the sleeping. Night time sleep is back on track but naps are terrible. We tried extending the 2nd nap and it is not working. Instead he is now taking 2 short naps instead of 3 short naps and continues to get up earlier in the morning. So, he is getting about 2- 3 hours less sleep a day right now. Not fun. He is handling it pretty well but I can tell he is sooo tired. I just pray this passes soon and that I will have the wisdom to know how to help him.
In spite of the lack of sleep, this has been such a fun month. I just love this little baby that is turning into a little boy right before my eyes!!

First Haircut

I took Cort to get his haircut today. :( It was just getting a little too long in the back and it has always been longer on one side then the other and I guess it was just time. I took him to this little place that does the first haircut for a penny and gives you a certificate and lock of hair and everything. He did so well sitting in the chair. I was sad to see some of his little curls go but I know they'll grow back and it does look better being a little more evened out. No more mullet for this boy.










His favorite part was the balloon they gave him. He played with it all day long!!!

Trick or Treat

Cort's first Halloween was fun. We went to a few neighbor's houses and picked some of our favorite candy:) and showed off our little lion. Cort was fine with that part but really enjoyed watching all the trick or treaters come to our door. He was such a cute little lion - I loved watching him crawl all around in his little costume. Mowgli found it very interesting, as well. They even played a little game of peek-a-boo around the coffee table.




oooh, fire.....





A friendlyl game of peek-a-boo



not quite as friendly of a game... but cort thinks it's funny

Blow Pops for Me, Thanks!

We had some left over candy from trunk or treat and I poured it into our candy basket to hand out for Halloween. Cort immediatley ran(quickly crawled) to the basket to check out the brightly colored treasures. He quickly picked up piece after piece and dropped them back into the basket until...





he found the blowpop!! He was very excited about it and immediatly tried to pull the wrapper off(how did even know it came off?)


He then began searching for all the blowpops and would pile them in his lap. How funny. Chris berated me for not at least letting him have one lick. I say, he had plenty fun without the sugar high. No pure sugar for this boy yet!!!

Trunk or Treat

Every year our church does trunk or treat for Halloween. It's fun to see all the creative ideas that people do with their cars. Our small group went with a pirate theme this year. We made a big sail in the back of a trunk and had little cannons coming off the side. We placed a big old treasure chest in the back of the truck with the candy in it for the kids to find. It was fun.






Cort's friend Haley was a lion too!! How cute are they?


Cort loved all the people in Costume. He was so interested in the ones with full costumes on. Looks like we might be able to get some good santa pictures this year - no fear for this baby!!




Cort also really enjoyed the puppets!! He kept wanting to get closer and closer.


Sophie, I mean a lady bug, paid us a little visit. She was very interested in Chris' eye patch.


You can imagine the silly things I was doing behind the camera to get her to look.
Cort thought I was funny... Sophie obviously did not.

One Leaf, Two Leaf, Red Leaf, Brown leaf...

Halloween Party

Logan and Jeremy had a halloween party on Friday night. All the kids came in costume- it was soo cute.We tried putting all of the kids on the couch for a picture - i don't know if anybody got a reallly good one. Most of the babies just sat their - Cort may have been the only one smiling for the camera but he was also the only one that kept trying to dive off the couch.