Happy Independence Day!

Okay, Mommy...I'm ready to go on our trip!

Oh, you think I'll need a little more for the 4-day weekend

at Grandma and Grandpa's house?

We did some visiting while we were with my parents for the holiday weekend. We drove down on Thursday morning so that Grandma could show Joshua around at work. Each introduction went a little something like this: "This is my grandson Joshua" (said with a big, proud smile)...oh, and this is my daughter Erin" (totally an after-thought about 10 minutes later). Okay, so I'm exaggerating a little bit...but honestly, only a very little bit.

We met my aunt and uncle at my grandmother's house on Friday afternoon so they could spend some time with Little Man. This is my Aunt Ann, and Joshua's middle name (Brent) is in honor of her son.

And Joshua had fun playing with his great-grandmother too (she's a little fuzzy in the picture, but he was just so darn cute, I had to post it!)



And on Sunday, my friend Kelli came to visit. We've known each other since high school, and she swears that pictures of Joshua are what got her through tough days in her law school program this year...so she had to meet him in person. He absolutely LOVED her right away, and didn't stop smiling, laughing, talking, and crawling all over the entire visit (except, of course, when he saw me pull out the camera for a picture). Plus, she brought him a little stuffed puppy that he was crazy about, so that always helps :)


Grandma decided that since Joshua liked his little swimming pool at home so much, that he needed one at her house too. We had a great time sitting under the pecan trees and watching him play.

Look, Mommy...only one hand!



Do you like my froggy swimming trunks?



Who says rubber duckies are just for the bathtub?



Hey, is everyone watching how good I am at pulling up?



Making my grandma's favorite face...gets her laughing everytime!

What a big boy at 9 months old!

I can't believe my little boy is 9 months old today! He is just growing so fast...and looking more like his daddy every day :)


We've got 4 teeth so far, and a few more that look like they're on their way through very soon! You can see the bottom two here:

And this was the little surprise that greeted me when I came to get Joshua from his afternoon nap!

This is the first time he's been standing up in his crib--he was quite pleased with himself!


Some recent achievements:
Going from crawling to sitting and back again with complete ease
Pulling up on his own
A number of bumps and scrapes from his adventurous ways
Enjoying new foods off Mommy and Daddy's plates
Taking baths in the big tub


Not a fan of:
The booger-bulb (he's had a summer cold and I've needed to use it a lot this week)
When Mommy leaves the room (the past few days have had lots of tears)
Feeding himself (he refuses to put food in his own mouth...but anything else is fair game)
The sippy cup (fun for playing, but not for drinking)


A few favorite things:
Mommy's water bottle and cell phone
Teething on Mommy's finger and Daddy's knee (and those sharp teeth hurt!)
When Daddy comes home from work
Chasing his ball around the house
Being outside (on walks, in his little pool, on errands with Mommy)
Naked time!

We love our big 9 month boy!