Family Cabo Trip 2012!!

For Christmas last year, our gift to our parents was to bring them to our timeshare in Cabo this year.  We just got back, and we had a blast!  Knox had been battling a tummy bug for several days before we left, and thankfully the vomiting stopped before we got there.  By the end of the week the rest of him was better too, and he was feeling more like his usual self. 

The waiters at Girasoles (the rooftop restaurant on the property) loved Knox, and put a sombrero on his head when we got there.  :) 
Nonnie and Knox hanging out in our room.  Ron Ron being silly.  :)
Iguanas always hang out by the pool!
I loved this picture of Logan carrying Knox to dinner. 
I also saw Ron Ron and Knox out on the patio one morning and snapped a sweet picture before they saw me.  Love it.  :)  
Having breakfast together.
La La giving Knox kisses by the pool.
Ron Ron relaxing!  He doesn’t sit still very often, so I had to take a picture to prove it really happened!  :) Pool time!
With my little love bug!
The property had opened an entirely new pool area since the last time we were there, and this one is focused on the kids.  It was actually really great!  Not crowded at all, plenty of fun stuff for Knox to do, and the water temperature was perfect.  Logan took Knox down the water slide.  :) He loved it!
Family photo… and I’m getting a sweet kiss from my little man.  :) Knox and Nonnie hanging out under the waterfall.
Dinner time!  The Lowrys…
The LaPrades…

And a baby with a mohawk.  :)

Playing with Daddy.
Sweet picture…
The grandparents stayed in with Knox so Logan and I could have a date night at Pitahayas.  It was really, really humid – but also a really, really good time.  :)
Our dinner view.

Knox and Ron Ron soaking up some sun!
He loved playing in the waterfall, and trying to climb up the rocks. 

Knox’s first time on the beach!
He wasn’t quite sure what to think of it.  But he did think it was funny when his feet would sink into the sand as the water washed over them.  :)
Our happy family.  :)
Hanging out with Daddy in the water.
His swimsuit was so full of sand after this! 
He kept trying to eat the sand.  :)
Our favorite part of the Cabo beach.  My sweet parents.  :)
La La, Knox and Logan.
Trying to eat sunscreen.  Part of a balanced diet, right?

Eating cheerios out of my hand instead of picking them up.  Silly boy.  :)
  Playing with La La and Nonnie on the plane ride home.

Two peas in a pod.  :)
We had such a great trip.  It’s definitely different traveling with a baby, but we still had so much fun.  I can’t wait to bring him back next year!

Knox is 10 Months old!!

I’m a few days late in taking Knox’s 10 month pictures because he hasn’t been feeling well for the past few days.  He’s had a tummy bug and the only thing he’s been able to tolerate is breast milk.  Fortunately I have a stash of frozen expressed breast milk in the freezer, but unfortunately it’s limited because I stopped pumping a couple of weeks ago so that I could go “pump free” on our vacation to Cabo.  We leave in just a couple of days, and I sure hope he’s feeling better by then.  Our first airplane flight with a baby will be adventurous enough without adding vomiting and explosive diarrhea to the mix! 

Anyway, needless to say, he wasn’t feeling his best in these pictures, and it was pretty hard to get him to crack a smile at all.  You can tell by looking at his eyes that he just feels yucky.  Still handsome as ever to me though.  :)
Our most exciting news this month is that Knox is officially sleeping through the night!!!! It.Is.Wonderful. After 9 very long months of him waking up in the middle of the night to eat, he’s finally decided to sleep the whole night through! Yay! This trend started August 10th, 2012. He’s usually in bed between 6:45 and 7:00 pm and sleeps until around 6:00 or 6:15 in the morning. I’m so happy I stuck to my guns and followed my gut and didn’t do any harsh “sleep training”. He learned to put himself back to sleep on his own when he was ready. (When he was about 7 months old, I tried the “cry it out” method 4 nights in a row, and every night he’d cry for over and hour and a half and never be close to falling asleep. It wasn’t working for us, and I felt horribly guilty for even trying it since every fiber in my being told me it was wrong before we even started. I’ll be sticking to my instincts more often!) Everyone has their own opinions, and mine are pretty strong that the bond between parent and child should be nurtured 24/7 – not just during waking hours when it’s convenient. Forcing your baby to “cry it out” breaks down that bond. The only reason they stop crying is because they’ve given up on you coming to comfort them, and that breaks my heart. I like to think that the reason Knox screamed his lungs out so long for those 4 nights was because we’ve got such a strong bond. (That, and he’s very strong willed!) I realize that every kid is different, and you do what works for you and your child – but for us, even though I love my sleep, it was more important to me to do what I felt was best for Knox. Anyway, I’m just happy he’s finally sleeping through the night! (Stepping down off my soap box now.) ;)
A small smile??
10 month baby feet!
  On August 18, 2012, he waved on his own in response to me saying “hi”.  Love seeing him learning new tricks!
On August 19, 2012, I noticed that the new nap routine we’ve been doing is actually working.  While I was nursing, Knox preferred falling asleep while nursing.  I usually only resorted to this if I couldn’t get him to sleep any other way because I didn’t want him to be dependent on it and create a habit I’d later have to break.  Well, once I stopped nursing I had to come up with another way to settle him for a nap.  We started going up to his rocking chair, reading a few books, then turning on the white noise machine and rocking to sleep.  He fought it for a while – he’d rather keep reading or play – but these days he knows when the light goes out and the white noise machine is turned on, it’s time to snuggle in and go to sleep.  It’s great. 
On August 21, 2012 I noticed his third top tooth poking through!  This one is on his left side next to his front left tooth.
On August 28, 2012, when you ask Knox where Mickey Mouse is, he’ll look around the room until he sees him, then get excited and crawl as fast as he can over to him.  He’s not big on stuffed animals, but he does like Mickey! 
On September 3, 2012, he became consistent with using his pincer grasp correctly.  Before this he’d do it every once in a while, but now he’s got it down!
On September 5, 2012, he started making “kissy” noises when you ask him to.  It’s pretty cute.  I have a video of it on my phone that I’ll try to post.  He also started covering his face with a blanket all by himself for peek-a-boo games.  (He loves that!)
On September 6, 2012, I’d just finished giving him his bedtime bottle and was rocking him to sleep when he raised his head off my shoulder, looked at me, cupped my face in his hands and gave me a sweet kiss before laying his head back down to go to sleep.  That was the first time he’s really ever initiated affection on his own, and it completely melted me.  I will remember that moment for the rest of my life. 
On September 9, 2012, his fourth top tooth started poking through!  This one is on the right of his front top tooth and brings his grand total number of teeth to 6!
He has this musical toy with wheels and a handle bar, and on September 10, 2012, he pulled himself up and started walking behind it!  It’s cute to watch him do this – sometimes it starts rolling a little too fast, and he’s gotta work hard to keep up with it!  :)  And when it runs into a wall, he’s not quite able to turn the whole thing around on his own yet so we have to help him out there.  It’s only a matter of time now before he’s walking by himself…
This cutie is growing up way to fast, but we’re loving every second of it.  Wish us luck on our first big family vacation out of the country!