Our Future Chef

We got home from school today and Miles spent a good 30 minutes playing chef with his "oven" and pot holders. His gourmet meal of choice? Animal crackers.

9MO

This past month has been one of our favorites. This phase in babyhood is so fun! Crawling, giggling, engaging in play, babbling... the best of the best. Stephen and I are both just trying to relish this time :)

To see all of Carson and Beau's pics, go here!

And because this kiddo makes it hard to choose the official photo, as usual, the runner up:

This photoshoot was a fun one. Carson was super pumped about all the bubbles and splashed so much there was water EVERYWHERE. I'd say he was pretty proud.

One thing I didn't quite realize is Carson's reach. I thought Beau would be plenty safe on his swan. Turns out I was wrong...

Carson:   * slap slap slap, splash splash splash, giggleeeee *

Beau took a little dip.... or perhaps a big one :P

All about Car-chee:
- It's official. The nickname has stuck
- He is super expressive. Especially with this tongue
- He's babbling a lot of sounds like yayaya, dah dah dah, buh buh buh, ta ta ta, a lot of ahhs, growls and raspberries. He saw Stephen the other day and said "Dada" pretty clear. Not sure he's coordinated the meaning with the word to call it his official first word, but hey, so cute regardless!
- 90% of what he wants in his mouth makes it there. For better or for worse
- Eating mostly baby food but we're working on getting better at table foods. He has trouble with the textures of some foods I feel like
- His hair is getting noticeably longer :D
- He's waving, but not on command
- 3 teeth!! The top just popped through. The other on the top looks like it will soon follow
- He's all over the place and about 60/40 army crawl vs. traditional crawl ratio

- Can traverse over objects
- Still working on pulling up on things but if propped, can kneel or stand pretty confidently
- His current favorite spots:  Lucy's toys, the lamp's electrical cord (safe, I know), the shoe bench, the dog door & Miles' playroom
- Laughs at himself all the time
- Can feed himself his own bottles
- Gets SO excited when the baby Keurig turns on
- He finds people across the room and just grins and coos at them
- He makes a b-line for shoes. Even if they're on your feet
- Knows his name
- Can sign "milk" but doesn't ask for it by sign
- Still a kicking machine. His legs are always moving
- Him and Miles are playing more and more together. More so collaboratively than before. So fun to watch.

I only caught the tail end but they were playing this game for about 20 minutes. Miles would run around as Carson spun and then plop down behind him. When Carson caught up, they'd laugh laugh laugh.

- We've noticed more that he wants to feel included and be part of the gang. If we set him down away from the action, he gets upset.
- And one of my favorite things this month:  he peers over the crib bumpers while he waits for us to come get him up. So cute :)

I've said it before and I'll say it again. Carson is the epitome of tolerance. Literally, as I'm typing, Miles is laying on top of him and Carson is just dying laughing. He's funny, engaging, flexible, lovable, curious and overall just the sweetest. Happy 9 months baby boy!!

Feekin Festivities

After Christmas, we had a day or two before celebrations with the Feekin side commenced. So we spent some time relaxing and playing with new toys. Busy busy busy!

Carson is even dancing here. haha!

We planned a dinner with my parents where we were able to celebrate Christmas with them. More gifts? The kids were IN!

Miles "helping" Carson

"OPEEEEEEE!!!" (Open)

Playing with Erin's new drone. Miles: "Haaaaaan!" ('Hand' - wants to hold)

Halle got a light show ball so we tested it out. Pretty cool!

Carson was dazed the whole time. ha!

My dad came up with a super fun game which consisted of a huge saran wrap ball filled with gifts - money, candy, lotto tickets, etc. We had to take turns trying to unroll this huge plastic ball as quick as we could before the next person rolled doubles on a pair of dice. Whatever you found while unrolling, you got to keep. The kids thought it was awesome!

The game quickly became - keep the candy away from Miles and pass the baby lol

Carson haha

After putting the kids to bed, us adults got to open gifts. We drew names as a sort of Secret Santa, but soon realized that guessing who you have with no form of reference - ie: previous secret gifts - was a bit hard. And hiding your face while people try to secretly grab gifts for their person.... total fail. But hilarious at that!

A super fun day and great end to the season.

Alright 2020... let's do this!

"San-HA" is Coming to Town

This year was Short Christmas and we traveled down to McKinney to spend the holiday with Stephen's family. This was our first long car ride with both boys, and while Stephen and I were apprehensive, they did awesome! Carson mostly slept or gazed into the distance while Miles played, snacked and watched some shows on the i-Pad. If it hadn't of been for the traffic we ran into in Dallas, the drive would have been no sweat.

Once we pulled in, I got everything ready in the boys' rooms while Stephen played with the kiddos downstairs. We had a chill and relaxing rest of the day just hanging out.

The next day was Christmas Eve and we made plans to visit Chris and Amber to see all the progress they've made on the house renovations. It looked amazing!! Miles was in heaven once Dom showed him his matchbox car collection and couldn't get enough of the big trampoline in the backyard. I thought I'd show off my flipping skills and hopped up there like it was nothing. Yall...I've never felt so old. I got off that thing all shaky. While I can still flip, I might prefer to limit said flips in the future haha! We all headed back to Denise's to hang out, play and have a big family dinner.

Ray let us drive the golf cart over to the playground. Miles' face says it all!

Christmas eve tradition - one gift! 

Miles got a super cool fire truck

Carson - a new toy with all the goods. Crunchy belly, tags, rattles, teethers and more

The wait was over and the day was here! We woke up, snuggled a bit in bed while Stephen and I got ready for the day and headed downstairs for the big reveal. Miles is getting bigger and understanding more and more and this year was so fun! It took him no time to figure out what his job was. Open all gifts!

Chef Stephen made breakfast - french toast, bacon and mimosas YUM while we waited for Chris, Amber and Dom to join. While Miles wanted to tear into everything, we held him back a bit so it wasn't a huge madhouse. He got to open some gifts at a slow pace before everyone arrived which actually worked out great because after each gift, he just wanted to take it out and play. After everyone got there, it was a free for all and so fun to watch. That is...watch Miles open everyone's gift for them. ha!

Love this one!

Stephen was in charge of Dom's gift. Money, inside balloons, wrapped box inside a box inside a box inside a box etc. He had to blow up and pop each balloon to find the cash. Highlight for sure :P

We took a walk out on the golf course - Miles practicing his putting

Santa (San-HA) brought Miles an awesome scooter and it didn't take long for this guy to figure it out. 

All in all, such an awesome day! Merry Christmas everyone!! Love, The Shorts

The next day was mostly spent packing up and getting ready to leave. But, we made sure not to head out of town before visiting my Grandma in Plano. The Gates joined so we could capture another amazing multi-generational photo. So cool

And, after a fun filled stay, we headed back to Austin hoping and crossing our fingers the ride home wouldn't be total a nightmare. 20 min into the drive.....

Hard to see but Carson is passed out

I'd say they had a good time :D

Thanks for hosting Denise!!