I like talking about Allen...Have you noticed? :)

Once again, I haven’t gotten around to updating the blog in quite some time. Allen is now nine months old…actually in just one week he’ll be ten months old. I can’t believe it. We’re excited for his first Christmas. Here’s just a little review of how he’s doing:

He started to crawl right before he turned eight months.  At first he army crawled but it wasn’t long before he was crawling like a pro and zooming all over the place.  He likes to stick his butt up in the air when he crawls too, it’s really funny. Now he pulls himself up and walks along things. He loves to pull up on a kitchen chair and push it all over the house.  So anytime I hear that screechy sound of chairs moving around I know Allen’s up and walking.  Haha. He loves to hold onto our hands and have us walk him around. It won’t be long before he’s walking on his own.  You would never guess this little boy was born with club feet.

Allen can even walk along the table while wearing his brace. I’m seriously impressed watching his moves, he looks like a pro skateboarder or snowboarder the way he balances and rocks back and forth. He looks like he’s about to do tricks. Speaking of his brace, we were able to get a Dobbs bar for him and hoped it would help him sleep. Turns out, we don’t like it as we’d hoped. We went back to the Ponsetti bar and like it just fine. The Dobbs bar was weird so it was hard to stand in (Allen likes to be able to stand up in his brace, and the Ponsetti is more like a snowboard that he can stand in). And because the Dobbs bar is a hinged bar (which is why we thought we’d like it) it actually twisted too much. Anyway, Allen’s feet are perfect and we accept that he’ll be the brace until he’s four or so. I do tend to pout about how he can’t wear footed jammies though ;)

Going back just a bit, since I wrote last Allen had his first Halloween. He was the most adorable baby sea otter ever. I was a zookeeper and carried my little otter around. I even took Allen trick or treating. His favorite candy/chocolate is Reeses. Every time he sees the orange wrapper he squeals with excitement…so funny.

At the end of October we got some pictures of Allen and even a few family photos (for like the first time).

He also had his first Thanksgiving. I’m pretty sure I somehow managed to forget to feed him Turkey because I was too busy juggling him and eating my own dinner. Oops.

With Christmas approaching, we took Allen to meet Santa for the first time. He just looked at Santa questionably but didn’t cry. Allen has never been one to be stranger shy. He loves everyone J If anything, he just looked concerned about Santa’s beard. I don’t think he’d ever seen a beard like that.

I’m pretty sure Allen’s favorite thing about Christmas is the Christmas tree. He loves to pull the ornaments off and is gradually undecorating the tree for us.

At 9 months, Allen weighed 18 pounds 9 ounces and was 28 ½ inches tall. His checkup was actually on his 9 month birthday and I was at the hospital at the same time that Allen was born (4:52 PM).  Something about realizing I had my little boy exactly 9 months prior made me emotional. We went down to the labor and delivery floor and I just glanced at the doors and thought about what a special day that was. Then we stood by Allen’s NICU window. It brought back so many feelings. I’m just so grateful to have this little boy in my life. We love him more than anything.

Looking back...

Allen is SUCH a character. He loves to play with Kodi, our dog, and giggles when Kodi takes toys from him. He also likes to play tug of war and makes the funniest face ever when he tugs (like eeeeerrrrrr)…don’t know how to explain it but here is a video of me tugging something from him.  Hilarious.

Allen loves to clap everytime we say “Yay!” and he understands when it’s appropriate to clap too. We saw a Christmas dance performance and after every song he clapped. He’s such a smart boy.

He also loves music and dancing and especially loves listening to Larry play his guitar. Oh and he loves to copy his daddy. He’s even learned this really creepy voice (anyone heard Larry do this?) well now Allen can do it. Coming from my sweet baby it’s really funny but scary. Lol.

So that’s just a little update about our little guy. As for us as a family, well nothing much is going on. We’re just enjoying having Allen in our lives and we’re so grateful for the joy he brings into our home. Allen has really been the strength that I need in my life and I just want to say that I’m so grateful to be his mom and learn from him.

I’m grateful for this Christmas season to reflect on the baby boy that our Heavenly Father sent so we could have all the blessings that we have. Our lives aren’t perfect and we have our challenges, seen and unseen. But it’s such a miracle that because of our Savior, everything just works out. I hope we can all remember the true meaning of Christmas and thank our Heavenly Father for sending his Son. I hope you all have a Merry Christmas J Hopefully I’ll update the blog again before the New Year!

Our Awesome Baby

Sir Cuteness at 6 months

Let's face it...I hardly ever update the blog...and it's all Facebook's fault. Chances are if you're reading my blog, you've been following our lives on Facebook. (Unless you're one of my wonderful blog stalkers. Hehe)  So if you want to see pictures of the past three months of Allen's life, you can check them out there :) I'll post a few though.

Super Cool Dude 5 months old

At his first concert (Peter Breinholt)

He's a really good jumper! He loves that thing.

Church goin' baby at 5 months

So Allen is six months old now! Make that almost seven months old. Time is flying and he's growing up so fast. He is sooo handsome, smart, and well...he's pretty much awesome.

Earlier this month, I took him to his 6 month check up. He was like 6 months and 10 days at the time. Here are his stats:
16 lbs 11 oz
28 inches

His 6 month picture...we just took it in our backyard on our new patio furniture

The doctor mentioned that he seemed a little pale. Well, that's really just the way he is. Fair and handsome (That's what his name means). She thought it was worth checking his Iron levels so he got a little toe prick. Turns out he's anemic, though he's still quite the white boy. That's just how he is :) He also got his shots and only cried a little for a minute.

He hit a few milestones recently :)

At 5 1/2 months we took him to Shriner's for his follow up appointment and we got the go ahead to wear the brace only at night, or 12-14 hours a day. It's been sooo nice to have the brace off! (Before he had to wear it 23 hours a day.) I've absolutely loved being able to kiss his soft, squishy feet! He loves the freedom so much. The day he went to part time wear he rolled over all by himself for the first time! I suppose it's easy to do once you're not attached to a snowboard. Now, at 6 months he rolls over like crazy, making him mobile via rolling. He's also working on learning to crawl right now. I'm not ready for a mobile baby! Oh and he can sit up all by himself without falling over. I guess at his age that's to be expected but I still think his sitting up skills are pretty impressive. Haha.

Sitting up, checking himself out in his mirror

Workin' on those scootin' skills

More milestones...
At 6 months he said his first words!
First word: Dada 
Second word: Mama

I'm pretty sure "Dada "was his first word because it's easier to say. Yeah. that must be it. Anyway, he has the cutest little voice ever.  He just started saying it out of the blue and he hasn't stopped. He'll usually sit and whisper Dada when he hears or sees Larry. A few days later he started saying Mama. He usually only says Mama when he's sad or wants me. He cries"mama mommm."  It totally melts me!

He's also eating baby food...er should I say, supposed to eat baby food. We can only get him to eat pizza and oreos. But "apparently" that's not the best diet for a baby, especially a baby that doesn't have teeth. :D Speaking of teeth, the little guy is teething now. He should be getting his first teeth any day now. I'm sure they'll be adorable but I'm a little sad he won't be my gummy bear anymore.

Oh so back to the baby food deal. He's not a fan at all. My sisters in law gave us tons of free baby food and he won't eat it. He looks completely repulsed by it. I've spoon fed plenty of babies and they all get over it pretty quickly. But not Allen. He just thinks it's gross. I've tried it and I don't blame him. We can get him to eat a little if and only if we let him feed himself, which makes for quite the messy baby.  The doctor said his dislike of baby food and desire to feed himself means he's smart and independent. Yup, sounds like my Allen. We've also introduced the sippy cup. I need to get him more of a trainer cup though but I haven't gone to the store yet.

Taking the spoon away from mommy

Now he's happy!

Got mess?

My sweet little boy today.

Allen is showing a lot of interest in animals, which makes his mama proud. He loves our dog Kodi and giggles when he gets kisses from him. They're really cute together and seem to thoroughly enjoy each others company.

He also loves music. He smiles and wiggles to dance. He especially loves when Larry plays the guitar for him.

Allen took his first plane ride earlier this month when we went to Kansas. He was so good, like he usually is, and slept the whole time (something he doesn't do a lot of). It was also his first time going there.  (Though I just had a flash back to the miserable looong drive there when I was 8 months pregnant.) It was great to visit our family there. Allen's cousins ADORE him. They all kept asking to hold "Baby Allen" and continuously told him how adorable he is. Smart kids, that's all I can say. We also saw our new niece, Sarah, get blessed. She's the newest baby on the Balsmeier side, and very cute I might add.

Let's see, what else is going on with Baby A? Oh yeah, he has a really hard time sleeping with his brace. We're often up every hour with him. Poor baby. Needless to say, he has to have something about him that makes him a little bit of a challenge. Because, let's face it, he's pretty much perfect :)

I can't describe how much we love him. He is the funniest, sweetest, most precious little boy. He loves to interact with us and play with us. He also loves to snuggle. What can I say? Our baby is AWESOME.

"Don't Blame Me, I Was Born AWESOME"

Picture Post...Growing Up So Fast!

Allen is now four months old! I can't believe it. At his last check up he weighed 14 lbs 4 oz and was 26 inches tall. He is such a blessing to us. He has the best sense of humor and is always making us laugh. He loves to giggle, give kisses, and squeal when we play with him. He's just so full of personality! He seems to learn something new every day...I'm pretty sure he's a genius ;) Haha. He's been doing great with his Ponseti brace and even scoots around with it. Okay so this may sound a little cheesy but it's the truth...;) Not a day goes by that we don't thank Heavenly Father for sending us such a precious little boy!

K, so these pics start at the present and go down to when he was 2 1/2 months old...

Smile!

He loves to go swimming!

Larry with Allen on Father's Day

I'm so glad he loves kitties!

We moved him to his crib...but he seems to wake up a lot. Makes me very sleepy...

He loves playing with his daddy

He's looking SO grown up

Yay for summer!

After bathtime

Me and my boy

Just chillin' on the couch

Looking like a giant next to cousin Tristan (Who was born 10 weeks after Allen by the way. He's Kaylynn's little boy)

Did I mention he's growing up too fast?

I call him Sir Cuteness...

So sweet

Yeah I know...a rocking chair is probably not the best place for tummy time ;)

Looking very dapper (Larry dressed him while I was at work.) Very cute!

Yup. Still cute.

Allen and his cousins (on my side of the family) From left to right: Makai with Allen, Jonas with Caysa, Vaughn, and baby Tristan. (This picture and the rest of these were taken by my sister Emily when Allen was 11 weeks old)

Handsome boy.

He's so yummy!

He was looking over at me :)

This picture captures his silly personality

Perfection. Enough said.

I can't even count the number of times I've heard "He looks JUST like his dad"...I  guess I better get used to it!

I love his expression.

Got handsome?

Very angelic

He's quite photogenic :)

Pretty sure I'll never be able to say no to this face.