10 months - At the airport

The only person who had more fun at the airport on Saturday than Augie was Augie's mama! We had an entire gate area to ourselves, so we had fun playing peekaboo, eating watermelon, and being meack attacked by each other. He's such a fantastic little guy.

Crawling between the seats at Chicago Midway:

By the way, he made 10 months on Saturday, when we traveled. The 10-month update is coming soon.

9.5 months - Maggie, Chicago, and Lake Michigan

We spent two nights in Chicago with Sabrina & Eric and their daughter Maggie (and Eric's mother, Colleen, who was fantastic with the little ones!). It's always so much fun to see Augie with other babies - especially when he gives them "hugs" and "kisses", which are really more like full-body tackles.

Both babies had their first dips into Lake Michigan:

Helping Uncle Eric take off his sunglasses:

Little dumplings on the grass:

Sharing the love with Auntie Sabrina:

The double-team take-down:

9.5 months - Last day in Michigan

Thanks for your patience as Augie and I continued our adventure with a couple days in Chicago (pictures coming soon) before returning home last night. (And I'll warn you now that we're traveling again this week, Wednesday-Sunday, so we'll miss another couple days of posting.) We're home, unpacked, laundered, showered, fed, and exhausted.

Some fun shots taken while Augie was saying goodbye to Grandma and Grandpa:

9.5 months - Last day in Kalamazoo

As it turns out, I haven't been posting on the blog while we've been here in Michigan. I probably won't be back to posting regularly until Sunday, after we're back and settled into home in New Jersey. I did, however, finally get a couple pictures (though not enough, and I am woefully missing pictures of Augie with his little cousins and aunts and uncles and even his grandpa.)

Tomorrow we'll drive to Chicago to spend two days with Sabrina and Maggie (and Eric and Colleen).

Fun on the swings with Grandma this afternoon:

 

This evening we got together with Jodi's cousins and their families (and dog). I loved watching Augie amidst the chaos of all the bigger kids (including us parents!):

A man moment with Uncle Matt:

9.5 months - Traveling

Sorry I haven't posted the last few days - we traveled from Princeton to Chicago and then from Chicago to Kalamazoo on Thursday and Friday, respectively, and since then we've been busy entertaining Grandma and Grandpa.

We had a photo shoot in Union City, NJ, the morning of our flight. After the shoot we spent an hour at the park before heading to the airport:

Exploring Uncle Lee & Uncle Chris's living room:

 

Baby napping, Mama relaxing in Michigan:

9.5 months - Baba naps

Last week I showed you that Augie still likes his naps, and that I jump in to join him when I can, too. Turns out Baba got in on the action this weekend for a little afternoon snooze with the babe.

9.5 months - To market, to market

From our trip to the farmers' market last weekend:

9.5 months - On the move

Augie is getting ever closer to walking. He's been cruising for weeks now, and he's begun experimenting with letting go of what he's holding onto as well as run-cruising, which looks far more dangerous than just plain running.

Here's a peek at Augie on the move (email subscribers click here to view the video). He's wearing shoes his Baba wore when he was a baby!

He's also learning how to ride on things. Doesn't it look like he's having fun?:

And one with Mama at the park:

9.5 months - Highchair high jinks

After lunch, Augie and Baba had fun playing around. Email subscribers click here to view the video.

(Please ignore the doorknob on the right side of the frame that's perfectly in focus while the rest of the video is not).

9.5 months - Mama naps, too

Augie has his first cold. I was going to write that Augie is suffering from his first cold, but that would be all wrong -- he hasn't seemed to notice it at all, even when he's blowing green snot bubbles out of his nose. He's mostly fine - just snotty and at times congested.

But he's also had a hard time going down for his morning nap recently, though probably for reasons unrelated to the cold (but unknown to me).This morning was no exception, and by the time I *finally* got him to sleep, I had moved through my own stages of frustration and anger (not at him, but at the situation) to arrive back at sympathy and love for my tired little boy. I stayed with him as he slept, partly because it felt like he needed me, partly because I knew I needed him (and a little extra sleep).

He ended up napping for 2+ hours, with a little wake-up in the middle. We rarely snuggle quite this close when we're all in the bed in the wee hours of the morning, so this was a beautiful, soft, sweet extravagance.

9.5 months - My little napper

I still try to nap with Augie when I can - when the emails are written, the bills are paid, the phone calls are made, the house is in reasonable order. Sometimes I do it not because I'm tired, but because I want to lie beside my baby when he's quiet, when the house is quiet, when I have nothing to do but listen to him breathe and feel his tiny little presence resting beside me. Augie and I are together almost all the time - sometimes reading, sometimes banging on the drum, sometimes walking, sometimes doing different things in the same room - so it seems silly that I should follow him to the bedroom when nap time comes. But those few moments when our bodies rest together in the stillness of the day recharge me, and not just in my minute-to-minute, day-by-day life; they revitalize me as woman, mother, and human being. They fill my soul in the way that only things unspoken can.

And, it means that I get to have another wake-up with him, and waking up with Augie is wonderful....

Which reminds me of this great blog post that a friend passed along. Sometimes doing "nothing" is actually the most important thing you can do.

9.5 months - A visit from Auntie Holli

Today Augie and I enjoyed an afternoon with Auntie Holli, visiting from Chicago.