It's here!

Kyle's 8th tooth finally broke through on Wednesday, only 38 days after tooth #7 (all of the other teeth came in as pairs within a week of each other) We're looking forward to capturing pictures of Kyle's more even smile soon, once the tooth is a little bit further in. He now has 4 on the top and 4 on the bottom.

In other news, we are all over our colds for the most part, and Kyle has survived so far without getting an ear infection, although he is definitely noticing some pressure in his ears and has a very adorable manner of tilting his head to the side. He's "walking" all over the house now, with the laundry basket, a big foam cube, or his toy walker (with the wheels locked because otherwise it is WAY too fast)

We're looking forward to some family time over the weekend, enjoying some beautiful summer-like weather. Hopefully I'll manage to snap some new pictures during our busy activities.

10-months old today

Weighing in at 19 pounds 12-ounces, our big boy now has 7 teeth (we've been waiting on the 8th for over a month now!) and loves his finger food. He's crawling all over the house now, and definitely managing to get himself into trouble, getting into things that he shouldn't be playing with. Our little cruiser continues to test out walking, but hasn't intentionally taken THE FIRST STEPS yet.

Sorry for the not-so-great photo, it was the best that I managed to get this morning! I'll try to update this with one later that isn't in front of the window!

Almost walking!

Today was a big day for our big boy! I swore to Dave that Kyle took his first steps - as I put him down on his feet and was barely holding onto the scruff of his outfit, he took two baby steps forward before sitting down! Then after that, he was playing with the laundry basket (one of his favorite pastimes) and Dave called me into the room to see him using it as a walker... he was pushing it around the wood floor and doing a very good job of keeping up behind. We didn't get any photos of the excitement, but did manage to get a little video, so hopefully we can get it up on YouTube and put a link on here...

Nearly 10-months old!

No new photos taken this week, Kyle has a cold so, well, they just wouldn't be pretty. For the most part, it doesn't bother him, except when we try to wipe his nose or use the aspirator. We didn't know that he could turn quite that shade of red quite so quickly!

Meanwhile, he is becoming increasingly more independent and active. Yesterday morning he went in search of Dave down the hallway, turned around when I told him "No, he's not in the dining room, wait by the bathroom", and sure enough, he patiently sat in front of the door and was pleased to find Daddy inside! Even more rewarding, when Dave was getting ready to leave for work and had walked out of view, Kyle distinctly said "da-da" with none of his other babble that usually follows. Dave and I both looked at each other and said "I think he just said his first word!"

He's constantly cruising, and now able to stand without any support for close to 30 seconds. Yesterday's amusement was playing with is yellow wiffle ball - he'd throw it away, go and crawl after it and then repeat the process. There was a pause when it rolled under the dining room table, but as soon as I pulled back a couple of chairs so that he could see there was a clear path, he charged right underneath.

We had another swim "lesson" on Tuesday which went well - this time with much less water swallowed in the process! His favorite part is "jumping in", in which he sits on the edge of the pool and leans forward for me to catch him as he splashes into the water. Other than that, we are still working up to splashing and kicking in the water, and we probably have a while to go until he is blowing bubbles. Depending on how both of us are feeling next Tuesday, we will try to make it again.

I can't post without adding a photo, so here is another great one sent from Auntie Laura following our visit up north. You can see that he is definitely in need of a haircut soon!

On the move

Here's our little guy in action - a great shot captured by Auntie Laura when we visited last month just before his 9-month birthday.

He's even more on the move now, and on Tuesday managed to crawl from his room to the kitchen in search of me. He is becoming much more independent though, and is beginning to explore on his own or is content playing with his toys. Kyle's balance is greatly improving, and he can manage to stand unsupported for several seconds. We fear that it won't be long now before he starts to experiment with taking his first real steps! He's growing up faster than we can believe.

Kyle had his first "swim lesson" on Tuesday, and although he wasn't as excited about the water as he was when we took him to the pool at the hotel, he wasn't unhappy with it either. His favorite part was sitting on the edge and leaning forward to "jump" into my arms in the water, although he also enjoyed "swimming" after the little toy football floating away from him. I'm going to try to take him on a weekly basis so that he can get used to being in the water and hopefully pick up some of the concepts soon too. Only three more months until we will be on vacation at Lake Almanor!

Happy Easter

We hope that you had a wonderful Easter, celebrating with family and friends. We have just returned from dinner at Noni and Papa's house (Dave's parents) and were joined there by Maemo and Granpa (Fiona's mum and dad), Uncle Mike, and Great-Uncle Charlie & Great-Aunt Doni. Kyle was quite the entertainer and loved being the center of attention - making him quite wired and a bit difficult to get down to bed tonight! Instead of his usual trip to dreamland at 7pm, he was up until 8:30. Hopefully the rest of the night will go smoothly.

Wishing everyone a Happy Easter and Beautiful Spring.

Our little waterbaby

This past weekend, we took a trip to the El Dorado Wine Country for a wine tasting weekend, and couldn't bear to leave Kyle behind, so he came along too. To make it somewhat fun for him, we decided to have his first swimming experience in the hotel pool. Unfortunately, it wasn't heated, so it was a little chilly for mom in there with him, but he didn't seem to mind much at all! He was quite content to splash around, try
walking on the steps, and even have a little floating time on his tummy (with a little support!) Since it went so well, we'll definitely look into taking him to swim classes soon, although those will be in a heated pool!

We visited the doctor yesterday for Kyle's 9-month check up. He is now weighing in at 19.5 pounds and is 2' 3.5" tall! She was surprised to see that he already has 7 teeth, and was also very impressed with how well he can stand and balance all on his own. Before we know it, he's going to be walking!