Mini Bunches: 9 Months

With Mini B’s first birthday rapidly approaching, it’s about time I get out her monthly updates, eh?  Guess I’ve totally fallen into that group of people who can’t keep New Year’s Resolutions.  Oh well–I think we all knew that was going to happen.  So here’s what Mini B looked like at 9 months . . .

It’s getting harder and harder to get a good shot of her on the chaise since the kid literally moves non-stop.  Crazy kid.

But let’s look back at what Mini B was up to in her ninth month of life, shall we?  She tried on her first pair of shoes, which only lasted for about 5 minutes and which caused some confusion but no real concern.

As long as they didn’t impede her crawling, then she didn’t really care.

During her ninth month, she also celebrated her first Valentine’s Day with a rose from her dad (I think he was channeling Sean from the Bachelor with that gift).

She was pretty fascinated with it.  For about 8.3 seconds.  Then she broke it and moved on.  Foreshadowing much?

But she’s still giving kisses, which still might just be the best things EVER.

She also continued honing her Baby Led Weaning eating skills.  Bagels with cream cheese were one of her favorites . . .

She helped her Mom and Dad celebrate their wedding anniversary.

And then she continued her traveling ways with a trip out West.  That’s right, we braved ~6 hours on 2 planes . . .

and ended up here:

Everyone know where we went?  How about this clue:

That’s right–SEATTLE!!  We got to spend a week out in the Pacific Northwest, and Mini B fit right in . . .

The biggest challenge was keeping her on some type of schedule and on East Coast time.  But she managed pretty well.

She had a good time tackling everything in site in our hotel room.

And somehow felt she was qualified to change herself.  Hmm.

And she got to meet some new people along the way.  First–her new bestie, E:

Who gave her a tour of Seattle’s fishing locks . . .

. . . and Microsoft’s campus (they have FREE Starbucks there!  How happy was I to score a free Starbucks hot chocolate?!?!):

Being on the left coast also meant that Mini B finally got to meet her Auntie E and Uncle J for the first time!  She practically melted in Auntie E’s arms and couldn’t stop giving her kisses.  It was so so sweet.

Sadly, Uncle J didn’t get quite such a warm reception . . .

But she came around a little bit (well, at least for enough time to snap a quick pic) . . .

Not only did we get in some good friend and family time, but we also hit the sites.  The Public Market.

In case you were wondering, they have some really good donut holes there.  Just sayin’.

We also took Mini B on the Monorail to check out some of the most notable Seattle tourist traps attractions.

The Seattle Center was pretty fantastic.  If only the weather could’ve been more cooperative, but cold, misty rain is pretty much par for the course out there.

Once we checked the sites off our list, it was time for some shopping.  Oh Nordstrom–how I’ve missed you.

After a week away, we were anxious to get home.  Mini B did pretty fantastically on the plane rides.  She only lost her cool during the last half hour of our last flight, so count us as thankful.  But once we landed, she was all smiles to be back in Buffalo.

While in Seattle, Mini B became a master at pulling herself up to the standing position.  She wanted to stand constantly.  Unfortunately, the only pictures I have of that are when she was naked.  And since I’m keeping this blog G-rated, those pics will remain for our eyes only.

As if traveling wasn’t torture enough, we decided to do a Daddy-Daughter dress alike photo shoot the day after we got home.  Sometimes we just get stir crazy and do nutty things.  Deal.

Somebody wasn’t exactly thrilled with the idea.

Luckily she warmed up.

So there you have it.  I can’t believe how different she looks only a few months ago.  Back then she still had her high-and-tight hairdo, only a few teeth, and lots and lots of chub.  Now, sigh.  So different.  Where does the time go?!  Anyways, Happy Belated 9th Birthday Mini B!!!  We love you.

Luck of the Irish

Her first St. Patrick’s Day? Done. Celebrated in true girly style . . .

Not only did she make sure that she was well-dressed, but she also helped her dad out.

She did fine tying the knot, but then had a little trouble actually getting it off.

Aahhhh.  Finally.

Then of course she had to make sure it was on right for Dad.

Once Dad was approved, it was time for her fifty laps around the bed.

Which ended in getting mad because her attempts at launching herself off the bed were continually thwarted by Mom.  Damn Mom.

But no problem–as always, the iPhone solves everything.

No toy is nearly as entertaining, or even drool-inducing, as the iPhone.  Go figure.

Of course, Mom isn’t such a huge fan of the whole chewing-on-the-phone thing, so a quick switcheroo was finagled.

Do you think she noticed?

So there it is–Mini B’s Irish parade on Mom & Dad’s bed.  Oh, and just for kicks, here’s an almost-decent shot of Mini B’s current mouth full of chompers . . .

Oh, and I have to conclude with a little shout-out to Auntie E for keeping Mini Bunches always attired in the most up-to-date tutus.  Thank you!  Thank you!  Thank you!

Mini Bunches: 8 Months

This month finds me exactly one month behind.  Oops.  But let’s look at some pictures of Mini B on her eight-month birthday while celebrating her nine-month, shall we?  Why yes, we shall.

Now that she’s a crawling fool, it has gotten that much harder to get pictures of her sitting still.  So I’ve had to get creative in order to solicit her attention.

With her propensity to roll every which way, I also had to make our canvas a bit larger.  No longer was she safe on just one chaise.

And she was also way too interested in everything else happening and not her mom making crazy noises while holding the big black camera.

In addition to all the crawling, rolling, and general non-stop moving, Mini B also sprouted another tooth last month.  Of course, you’d think it would be one of her two front teeth, but it wasn’t.  She got one of her lateral incisors first.  Nice, eh?

And in a slight departure from the past monthly updates, I thought I’d go ahead and give a little rundown of what Mini B was up to during her eighth month of life.  She started the month by giving a tour of Niagara Falls to some fantastic visitors . . .

Despite what it looks like in the pictures, it was actually an unseasonably warm day.  It just also happened to be super windy.

Niagara Falls is a perfect place to contemplate life.  Just take it from my cousin . . .

Of course, Mini B just wanted to snuggle in to her dad.

After our super fun visitors, Mini B and I headed to Texas (as you may recall from here).  Mini B spent a lot of time sitting since she still hadn’t mastered crawling (although her army crawl was pretty down pat).

She also spent a lot of time pondering.

But didn’t take herself too seriously.

And of course she hung out with her cousin a lot.

And even played a little game of footsy with Mr. Squishy.

Besides eventually learning to crawl in month 8, Mini B also made some strides in eating.  Lots of yummies.  Lots of mess.

She went through a bit of a phase where she only wanted to eat Cheerios, but the positive of that was she really honed her pincer grasp.

I was actually worried for a little while that she might turn into a Cheerio.

There you have it–Mini B’s eighth month.  Or, in other words, the Month of the Cheerio.

Mini Bunches: 7 Months

As today is Mini B’s eight-month birthday, I am officially a month behind.  Oops.

Why the orange and blue?  Because we had a little UVA-related celebration in January . . . I’ve been playing fantasy football as a fundraiser for the Virginia Men’s Rowing Team for quite a few years.  And my biggest achievement to date in the league has been garnering respect for my oh-so-witty team names (the best was BADONKADONK).  But I’ve never actually had any fantasy-football-related success.  That is, until this year.  See, I roped Mr. Bunches into the league as well, and guess who still seems to have rainbows coming out of his a$$?!  That’s right–Mr. Bunches won the whole shebang!  Which meant that all the proceeds were donated to Virginia Men’s Rowing in his name (over $5,000!!!!!).  So we’re I’m feeling nostalgic with school pride.  And yes, I am claiming Mr. B’s victory as my own.  Deal with it.

It’s hard to think back to what Mini B was doing at 7 months now that we’re at her 8 month birthday, but there was a lot of sitting up, and a lot of yoga practice.

She was pretty fanatical about making sure she got in her daily planks.  Sometimes on just one leg.

And while she wasn’t quite crawling, she was getting up on all fours quite a bit . . .

And the constant motion made her 7-month photo session a two-person job.  We didn’t want her leaning her way off the chaise, now did we?

So there you have it–7 months and still smiling.  Sleeping?  Not so much, but that’s a whole ‘nother story.