Miles is 9 Months & An Update on Everyone Else

At Joey's wedding reception

Miles

Miles turned 9 months on the 22nd! Chubs is doing awesome and is right on track for development. His sensory sensitivities have been slowly decreasing which is relieving. Our favorite thing lately is that he can now wave. He'll wave for a little and then stare at his hand as he waves as if to think "Why is this so fun for them?"

Miles has also been pulling himself up on things. He's still wobbly and has been practicing sitting from standing without completely smashing his face in. Miles still loves his baths, especially with Jett. If it even looks like he's going to get a bath he starts waving his arms and getting all excited. If he hears a tub filling up, he quickly crawls to the bathroom in hopes that he'll get a bath too. Chubs loves his doggy Lucy, who, of course, puts up with the pulling, the climbing, and the biting.

Miles loves to give kisses, especially to his Daddy. He, like the other boys, has become quite the Daddy's boy and must be acknowledged by Dave when he gets home from work or even enters a room. He also has started to cry when either Dave or I leave a room.

Chubs is already in 12-18 month clothing but will still fit into his 9-12 month (barely). He definitely has the same physique as Cruise. He loves to eat, especially meats & vegetables (baby food) and enjoys trying new foods, especially if they are from our plate. His new favorite is black beans (pictured below). Miles has been teething for a month and finally cut his first tooth! I haven't been able to get a good picture of it yet, but it's there! Tooth #2 should be on its way out pretty soon.

He eats grass too.

Here are is 9 month measurements:
Weight: 20.77 lbs.-68th percentile
Length: 28.75 in.-64th percentile
Head Cir: 18 in.-70th percentile

Jett

Jett has been having a pretty free summer so far. He gets to play a lot, but that also means he gets super grumpy around dinner time when he is hungry and needing a nap. He plays with Cruise usually pretty well, although they have their usual sibling fights every so often. He also has been having fun playing with his friends Connor, Dylan and Camry.

Remember how I was ticked about Jett finally qualifying for speech services two weeks before school ended? Well I was finally able to enroll him in speech therapy at Orem Pediatric Rehab, which is where I had Cruise for two years doing OT and speech. In fact, the same speech therapist (SLP), April, who worked with Cruise, is working with Jett now! Want to know how amazing she is? These days she usually only subs for SLPs who call in sick since she has 3 boys of her own, but has gotten permission to have regular session with Jett each week. I love that lady! He has had 2 sessions so far and is making good progress. We work on his speech at home but he gets frustrated with it easier. For April he works really hard and doesn't get frustrated as easily. He gets so excited when he knows it's Speech Therapy day!

Jett this past month worked for a bug vacuum that sucks up bugs and traps them into a little see-through plastic chamber where you can study them and then release them. He earned 20 marbles and was finally able to get it! He's been using it to suck up all kinds of creatures and even uses it to suck up crickets to feed the lizards.

Speaking of lizards, the boys now own 2 lizards, one male and one female. The female just laid 7 eggs, so come August, we should have some baby lizards running around! I think I'll send them home with neighbor kids as party favors for Cruise's birthday...good idea?

Cruise

Cruise and his "Clean Potion"

Cruise has been jumping between two personas lately: Jungle Cruise and Dr. Cruise. Jungle Cruise wears a jungle hat and vest (which he also worked for and got with 20 marbles) and is all about exploring, especially the "Lehi forest" which is a dead end in our neighborhood full of weeds and bugs.

Dr. Cruise is more of the indoor persona of his. He wears a lab coat. My mom had given him all sorts of chemistry stuff for him to use. It got so out of hand that I had to give him his own area in the garage for his "lab". We usually just give him water with food coloring in it and he uses that to make "potions". Looks like the science gene skipped a generation, eh Grandma Greer?

Cruise has been doing incredibly well in ABA this summer. He is flying through goals and making so much progress! He is doing 15 hours a week and works really hard every day.

Dave
I finally have pictures of Dave's garden! He has worked so hard on it and making use of all the space we have.

Strawberries

Banana squash, tomatoes, green onions, cilatro

Tomatoes, zucchini, cucumbers, jalapenos, carrots, mint & rosemary in the pots

Raspberries that snuck under the fence from the neighbor's garden. Sweet!

Apple and Peach trees

Lots of peaches!!!

And guess what Dave built today! Seriously, I don't know how he does it, but somehow he does. This bad boy took him 3 hours. Now we just have to sand and paint it and we'll have a nice picnic table for the backyard! Woohoo!

This guy rocks...and planks. 

Emily

I've been doing AWESOME! My meds have kicked in and I've been feeling great for the past week. I met with my psychiatrist this past Thursday and things seem like they are on track. I told her I haven't felt this well since 2008. I finally feel like I'm not constantly at battle with my brain. Another week and my meds go up to 100mg from 50. Hopefully they will keep working well. When I initially went in, I was told to start exercising for the endorphin benefits. The last thing someone on the depressive end of bipolar wants to do is exercise. So I didn't for the first two weeks before the medication started working. By week three I started walking as often as I could (alone, as I was instructed) and doing a bit of this and that like workout videos, treadmill, or walking outside. After day two of walking and having horrible shin splints, I realized it was time to get some decent shoes. I have never had good running shoes, and so I went to Kohls and bought myself some Nikes. Seriously?! These babies are the most comfortable shoe's I've ever owned! And I can actually run without it hurting! 

You know, working out solely for the endorphin benefits versus working out to lose weight is so much more enjoyable and motivating. The weight loss and muscle building are just secondary benefits. But those endorphins are like candy for my brain and I actually like working out for the first time in years. I'm not thinking about how many pounds I have left to lose, how to tighten those jiggly parts, or where I need to build more muscle. I'm thinking about how amazing my brain is going to feel after I finish a workout. Even during it, I feel so happy and relaxed, especially with my own mix playing.

I haven't been doing much else other than getting better and taking care of the family. I have to be careful to not overdo it since I'm not at a full dose yet, but I have been able to cook dinner every night now, which was super hard before my medication. My house is still messy, but I'm not getting depressed about it anymore. Just as long as I keep trying, things are great!