My mother – we call her Oma, which means ‘grandma’ in German - came to visit for Halloween.  Magglio was a frog.  His frog hat didn’t stay on for very long, but I was able to snap a few pictures…

….and then he took it off…..

….I tried to put it back on…..

and tried again….

…and it finally worked!

All in all, Magglio had a fun time at the Halloween party. 

In other news, we think he’ll be walking within a month or so, since he’s already a pro at standing.

And he’s still very handsome (of course):

And here he is spending some time with Oma:

That kid loves his books. 

On Sunday, Magglio and I attended a birthday party for his friend Mia.  Mia turned 1 year old.  Mia’s mom, Michelle, is a good friend of mine who I met here in Miami.  There are a group of us who hang out quite a bit.  They are the same moms who come over for playdates and who attend the baby sign classes.  Here we are, holding our darling babies:

(l to r: Meg holding Amina, Tammy holding Oscar, Me holding Magglio, Alexandra holding Sayer, Michelle holding Mia)

Magglio’s favorite part were the balloons.  Magglio loooooves ballons!  He kept squeezing them, swatting them and biting them.  Luckily, nothing popped.

Because it was 85 degrees and we were outside in the hot afternoon sun, I had to unbutton Magglio’s shirt, Miami Vice style. 

He didn’t mind, as long as there were balloons to play with.  Here he is again, doing his baby model pose.

And here’s Magglio and I with our neighbor, Carolyn, who Magglio adores:

All in all, a very fun day.  Here is a picture of Mia, the birthday princess!  Happy Birthday Mia!

Magglio has SIX teeth now – his top two came in about a week ago.  Six teeth!  My apologies for not posting lately, but last week was super stressful (more about that below). 

Magglio had his 9 month appointment on Sept 14th.  He’s in the 50th percentile for weight but in the 90th percentile for height!  He’s grown over 3 inches in the past three months, which explains why I’ve had to cut the feet out of all his pajamas. 

At his 9 month appointment he also got a vaccination (I space them out) and we think he had a reaction to the shot.  Two days later he was running a fever of 103.5.  Both he and I were miserable – I just felt bad for my poor guy and there wasn’t much we could do other than give him lots of Tylenol and breastmilk.  After a few days, he was back to his normal bubbly self.  Of course, then I got sick and had a fever of 102 which lasted for three hellish days.  I suspect it may have been H1N1, so hopefully now we’re vaccinated for life.  

Here are some new pictures of Magglio that I took today.  You can see his chompers in all their pearly white glory:

He was eating a ham and cheese sandwhich ALL BY HIMSELF.  So, please excuse the food, but these pictures are cute!

And he’s such a big boy, he drinks from his sippy cup.

Another picture, slightly unfocused, but a good shot of his new teeth:

And then in this picture he was thinking, “Mom, you’re a NUT!”

*Crib is slang for “home”.

On Friday I hosted a playdate at our apartment.  Four babies, four mamas.  LOTS and LOTS of fun! 

The only thing more fun than hanging out with Magglio is watching Magglio hang out with three other babies.  He’d make a great big brother…(not yet, everybody, calm down.)

And of course once mommy started snapping pictures, Magglio had to ham it up for the camera.

That’s my boy!

When I eat a peach, I give Magglio a few bites to nibble on.  Today, however, he wanted the whole peach to himself. I placed it on his highchair tray and he wouldn’t let it go.  He sucked and gnawed on the darn thing until it was reduced to pulp.  It was like his own personal sweet and sticky teething ball!

Once he got the hang of it, he really started to chow down.

And then he squeeeezed it, and got super messy!

Up for some air and to smile at the camera…

… And then back to business.

The aftermath of Magglio and The Giant Peach. (now do you understand why I usually feed this kid when he’s naked?)

And then a quick giggle because he knows how much mommy *loves* to clean up peach pulp all over the place!

So today we went to a baby “Sign, Sing and Play” class.  The class is supposed to teach children basic sign language so they can effectively communicate before they can speak clearly.  Basics are eat, drink, more, all done, milk, sleep … you get the idea.

There were 4 other moms with their babies, and all were within about 2 months of age.  The kiddos were so active! They crawled, flopped, pushed, played, poked, screamed and drooled all over everything.  We moms looked on with such pride! 

Probably the coolest part was the armless bear.  Yeah, really.  The teacher sticks her arms into the bear’s shirt so she can demonstrate the signs.  Magglio wasn’t a fan of the bear at first.  But he eventually warmed up to him and even crawled over to inspect him.

And then he got a *little* bit closer:

Finally, he conquored his fear and looked the armless bear right in his face!

And after that confrontation ended peacefully, the bear was old news. 

Then it was time to crawl around and explore:

But mommy is the best toy of all!  (and mommy’s camera.)

            ********** News flash: I cut my hair! ********** 

It needed to be done.  It’s not really smart to have hair down to your waist in 90 degrees weather. 

Right after my $15 cut (thanks Gigi at The Hair Cuttery!) I snapped these pictures, and all I can say is - I look like a mom!  (which is a good thing.) 

Now all I need are some high waisted jeans, a grey hoodie and some Keds.  JUST KIDDING. 

one more Glamour shot:

Can someone please tell me where the past 8 months have gone?  It seems like just yesterday I was holding a teeny tiny baby, and now I’ve got this big cutie pie who crawls and coos and laughs. 

I’ll admit – I’m loving every minute of it!

Recently, we’ve introduced some small table foods.  This one in particular I like to call “the big cheerio”. 

Just like his mommy, sometimes he tries to bite off more than he can chew:

And, just like his mommy – Magglio really likes food!

Our newest toy addition:

We bought this colorful playmat because I’m paranoid about dirt.  The floor is such a high traffic area, and who knows what kind of bacteria is lingering on our hardwood floors.  In addition, as Magglio learns how to crawl, pull himself up and eventually walk, he’ll need more cushion to avoid some of those head-konks.  

What can I say?  I’m a first time mom.

We bought the playmat at One Step Ahead, which is the coolest children’s magazine ever.  *cough, Christmas, cough.*  It’s got everything from toys to clothes to safety items and everything in between.

In other news, here are some pictures of Magglio munching on his cereal:

The highchair was another recent addition and it’s been a GODSEND.  Magglio is now able to join us when we eat our meals at the table, and sometimes he babbles and coos along with us.  Edgar likes to strap him in and wheel him around the apartment – which the instructions explicitly state NOT to do – but as they say, “boys will be boys”.

Magglio and I took a trip to the beach today with our friends Claudia and her daughter Sofia, 13 months.  IT WAS SOOOO HOT.  Thankfully we stayed cool in the shade provided by the umbrella.  Here are some pictures from our day:

His favorite part – by far – was the sand.  He kept picking it up and then pouring it out of his hand.  Fascinating!

And lastly, we had to take a picture being goofy.  (Ok, I’m goofy, Magglio just goes along with me):

I slathered so much sunblock on Magglio that his whole back, arms and torso were white.  But, of course, I neglected myself, so I’m burnt to a crisp.