Anderson Adventures!!: First steps, 9 1/2 mths, thanksgiving!

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving! What a blessing it was to have both families together at the loghouse in NC for a whole week. Great, crisp weather...delicious meals...and lots of time watching Timothy play. By the end of the week he took his first steps without holding onto anything!! 11 was the longest stretch out of numerous "walk to Daddy/walk to Mommy" promptings. It was the cutest thing. He had a whole audience to cheer him on. Definitely a great memory for the baby book!

T bonded with his Poppy this trip. They played Peek a Boo and "the hand game" a lot...where Tim would slap his hand and T would try to slap back faster. So hilarious. T cracked up over and over about this.

Loved playing outside in the crisp Fall weather!

I wish we knew how many laps around the house T took on his walker. Must have been hundreds.

He just loves it. And it's hysterical cause every 5 to 8 steps he stops and turns behind him to make sure we're still watching/cheering him on. He also giggles and squeals as he goes. So precious.

Yes, we're still watching you baby!!

The guys enjoyed cigar time on the porch after smoking the turkey all day.

Thanksgiving dinner party. Almost 30 people total. Yummy food and great company!

During the day we enjoyed shopping, sight-seeing, etc. around town.

We enjoyed taking Timothy to the new petting zoo area on the Biltmore estate. He was

a little frightened by the rooster though!!! Did NOT like the cock-a-doodle-doo sound and

turned into his dad with some tears. :( Poor thing...yet pretty funny at the same too.

We also loved going inside the Biltmore House and seeing the beautiful Christmas decorations.

67 trees total and lots of garland, wreaths, etc. What a big job to put all that up!

Uncle J was a huge help and really enjoyed extra time with T.

While Thanksgiving leftovers were great, we also ate a few meals out...

there are some wonderful restaurants in town that are just too good to pass up!

We loved this view every night.

Ok, so a few other 9 month updates:

SOUNDS are big these days. He's venturing out from just Da Da, Ma Ma and discovering new sounds like Paaa, smacking with his tongue, squalking (Tim calls it his Donald Duck voice) and Rrrrr (rolling his r's). He also "growls" a lot. His repetoire cracks us up.

NEW MOVES... like folding his legs under his bottom and "bouncing"/"dancing." Reaching out to take steps. Clapping more frequently. Reaching his arms up when he wants to be held. CLIMBING and exploring constantly!! ahhh!

FRIENDS!!... He is very driven to make friends. Turns all the way around in his highchair to visit with the people at the table next to us or or near us on the plane. Giggles and squeals when they talk to him. Eavesdrops on their conversation when they aren't looking. Reaches out when he likes them, etc. Looks puzzled when people disperse and immediately begins looking for others to talk to. (You'd think the boy doesn't get enough attention at home which is clearly not the case. LOL) Currently he shows a preference for blonde haired women.

PROJECTS....Timothy loves a little project. He will engage with some sort of activity and really focus on it for quite a while, determined to figure out how things stack, go together or come apart. When he gets in this serious mode we always say he's working on a project. And we usually let him do it for as long as it lasts, and as long as it's safe. It builds up his attention span and gives him some alone time. Since he's very active when he's in active mode, it's nice that he does seem to do well with some

quiet time on his own where we're not interupting him, just letting him explore/do his own thing for a bit. :)

RANDOM STUFF AND FOOD....The toilet paper roll is very fascinating and a time or two he's unraveled the whole thing. Cabinet doors have to be locked at all times now. And so much for picture frames and pretty book displays on accent tables. Did I mention he snuck away from me and ate a grain or two of Meow Mix? It's nearly impossible to change his diaper without him flipping and crawling as fast as he can away. Loves playing outside. Loves Barney still. Finger foods are all we do now. And the boy is showing his Florida roots. Loves Grouper and Snapper. Day in day out though it's chicken, broccoli, pears, banannas, mashed potatoes, carrots, noodles, ground beef, etc. It's so much easier feeding him what I'm having vs. the messy baby food jars! And now that he's gotten used to the flavors, he doesn't want anything to do with the baby food jars. Puffs are his favorite snack and our go-to for tying him over if we're en route somewhere.

9 mth check up stats: 30 inches long and 20 pounds.