11 Months

My baby boy is already 11 months old, and it seems like he is doing new things every day. Here's a quick update: A late teether, he had no teeth until Mother's Day, until two popped through. He now has five and is working on three more. Otis is getting ready to take his first steps. He pulls up on everything, and uses objects like his highchair, a stool, and a laundry hamper to push in front of himself as he walks around the house. (We should get him a real push toy, I guess!) When he gets up the courage, he can stand by himself for a second or two before either slowly and deliberately squatting down or losing his balance and plopping onto his rear. Otis is a big talker now. He babbles all the time and even pretends to read his books to himself. He can say dada, makes a throaty "kkkkkkkk" sound when he sees our cats, and can also say dog. Another sound he often makes is "O-toe", which makes us wonder if he's trying to say his own name. But cutest of all is his fake laugh. He will babble away, and every once in a while add an "aaaahhhh-hahahaha" and then go on babbling. Otis has figured out how to turn on the CD player and stands up, holding onto the shelf, and bounces up and down to the beat. Besides dancing up a storm, Otis's other favorite past time is reading. He can keep himself happily entertained by looking through his books by himself for several minutes, but he also loves being read to. I would guess that we spend a good two hours a day reading to our boy. This week he has started to bring books to us so we'll read them.

We just added pictures to the photo site, http://tootlefam.shutterfly.com. They include Otis's first swim, playtime around the house, and our anniversary/Father's Day trip to the coast. Enjoy!

9 Months

Otis turned 9 months old yesterday, and to celebrate, he learned how to give kisses. I can now say "Otis! Kisses for mama" and he will look at me, open his mouth wide, and press his drooly little mouth on my lips. Then, he figured out how to pull himself up on things. While I was running an errand tonight, he showed Steve how he could pull up on the TV stand, the ottoman, the end table and the couch. It's on! Yikes!

This blog post is so overdue that I'm not sure what else to say. Some biggies: Otis learned how to crawl, celebrated his first Easter, journeyed to Ohio, and took his first trip to the zoo. He is still toothless. For the record, he didn't do any sleeping through the night.

As I write this, photos are uploading to our shutterfly site (http://tootlefam.shutterfly.com) of months seven and eight. I hope the photos will do a good job of keeping you up-to-date on the life of Otis.

Here are some recent favorites:

Otis loves the cats, but hasn't yet learned to pet gently. Here he is tormenting the sweet and patient Sherman kitty on one of this spring's first warm days.

Otis liked his first Easter basket, especially when he figured out there were snacks inside the eggs!

Otis and Grandma Bein putting their heads together.


Otis found a comfortable spot. He loves his Uncle Wade.

Hmm, I wonder if anyone loves Otis?

Here is Otis on his way home from the farmer's market last Saturday morning.

I'm at the park!! Yay!

Peas, please!

Seven Months

Upon turning seven months old, Otis has decided that he's a big boy. He's going, going, going all the time! Though he is not quite crawling, he is beginning to be mobile. He can roll across the living room floor. I think it's a bit frustrating for him that he hasn't quite figured out how to go forward, though. When I place a toy in front of him, just out of reach, he goes around in circles instead of forward. I imagine him wondering, "Why is this happening?!"

Otis eats one or two baby food meals per day now. His favorites are the usuals: butternut squash, sweet potatoes, pears. The only thing he has completely refused is broccoli. Here he is, eating something green. Maybe peas?


We've had fun during the past month. Otis's grandma and grandpa Lutterbein visited from Ohio in mid-February. We had a great time with them, and Otis was especially cute and lovey toward them. Did he remember them from Christmas? It's hard to tell. But he sure loved them. Grandma Bein (who is a reading teacher) reads to Otis here. She knows what she's doing! He's captivated.


Here are Otis and Grandpa Bein hanging out in the kitchen. Otis thinks Grandpa Bein is the most hilarious and interesting person in the world. They are buddies, for sure!


More grandparent love.


The following weekend, we headed up to the snowy Sierra for a weekend in Ponderosa with Steve's side of the family. What fun! There were eight kids and eight adults packed comfortably into Carie and David's warm and cozy cabin, though most of the kids and half of the adults spent the days outdoors sledding, building forts and having snowball fights. It was pretty darn cute. Steve's mom commented that it could have been the best weekend of her life because all of her grandchildren were together and cute. I agree--I've never seen kids (especially kids who are related) who are so sweet and kind to each other. I'm looking forward to next year when Otis can get in on the sledding action. Here is a photo of all the cousins, with the honorary ninth snowman cousin.



Finally, I love Otis's bottom lip, cheeks, and eyelashes in this picture. Just had to share. Otis's 6-7 month pictures are uploaded now at tootlefam.shutterfly.com.

Six Months

Yep, it's true. Otis turned six months old yesterday! I probably say this in every post, and it's the total parent cliche, but time just seems to be flying by. From time to time (including the past half hour) I pathetically look at photos from the day he was born and blink away tears. He's growing up so fast, already!

Since my last post, Otis has been a very busy boy. Here's some of what he's been up to lately:

First Christmas in Ohio
Otis had his first plane ride in December, and he did a great job. An obnoxious woman eyed Otis as she was boarding and said, "Oh, great, a BABY." I wanted to push her down. Otis barely made a peep the whole way! So there! Otis also did great sleeping in strange places. Over the course of the week he slept in a hotel, in my parents' house and in our family house near Lake Erie. I was worried that we'd have sleepless nights due to all the new surroundings, but he pretty much kept on his schedule. Yay for Otis!

Here are some pictures of Otis with some of the very special people who love and miss him back in the Buckeye State.

Otis and his Grandma Bein.

Otis playing with Grandpa Bein.

Two cuties: Otis and Uncle Wade

Otis and Great Grandma Snyder.

With Great Grandpa Snyder on Christmas Eve.

With Great Grandma Lutterbein.

Happy about lovey relatives and new toys!

Great Grandma Lutterbein on Christmas with her first three great grandchildren--all born in 2009. Erin's daughter Ella was born in November and Marla's son Oliver was born in February.

California Christmas
The day after we got back from our Ohio Christmas adventures, we celebrated Christmas at Carie and David's new house Springville with Steve's side of the family. We had such a fun day watching all the kids (there are eight now!) open and play with their presents. And we discovered that Aunt Carie's walk-in closet doubles as a quiet spot for Otis's nap.

Otis has the coolest cousins! Johnathan is holding him, while Zachary and Harper keep him entertained.

With Uncle David and Aunt Carie

First Cold
A few days later, Otis got his first cold. Poor boy. Perhaps some gross airplane germs got to him. Otis and I are pretty tight, so I got it too. After a couple weeks of coughing, sneezing and large quantities of snot, we were both fine.


Sitting Up
Otis's newest skill is sitting up all by himself. He's really curious about the world around him, and I think he really likes having this new perspective. He does eventually topple, so if I step away I surround him with pillows. If not, he falls to the side and lands face-first! Yes, I let it happen once. Oops.

Playing is hard work!

Teething
Though he still has no pearly whites to show for it, Otis is definitely teething. He's rocking the telltale drool rash around his mouth and chin, and he wants to chew, chew, chew all the time. His favorite things to chew are his parents' fingers, but we're thankful that he has a couple of little teething toys that also suffice. For a while, he had a hard time figuring out how to get the best parts of the teething toys in his mouth for optimal chewing, but he's got it dialed in now.

Chewing on a favorite toy. Look at the determination! You can see some of his drool rash on his upper lip, too. Also notice how much hair he has now!

Foodie
We started feeding Otis some solid food last week. He's just eating a little bit per day, but so far he seems to like it. So far he has tried rice cereal, bananas, avocados and sweet potatoes. He loves the sweet potato best. I wonder why--because it's soooo sweet. I've been making little batches of baby food by steaming extra veggies from our dinners, pureeing them, and freezing them in ice cube trays. Then I pop them out and store them in Ziplocs. My friend Niki told me about this little technique and so far it's very manageable. I'm happy that Otis will be eating fresh and local fruits and veggies from the farmers market!


Stroller Walks
Steve has been taking Otis in long walks in his stroller in the afternoons while I'm at work. Otis loves being outdoors and looking at all the houses, cars and trees. He also likes to sit on the step with Steve and pet the kitties, but we have to be careful because he loves to pull their hair!

First Christmas

Otis had a lovely time celebrating his first Christmas in Ohio then California. For 400+ photos of the fun, go to tootlefam.shutterfly.com!

More updates soon.