Nine Months!

I must admit, I'm rather ashamed at how late you are receiving this post. I appreciate your patience, and I haven't received too much hate mail for my delay. I shall not make excuses, but I will make mention of the fact that my Dad is out of the country and has been since May 11 [the day after my 9 month birthday]. In our day and age, there is this little invention called Skype. It allows you to video chat with someone, no matter where they are, as long as they have an internet connection. This being said, Mom always is on the computer. Okay, maybe not always, but most of the time. [Are you catching my drift of why it's been hard for a guy to get a few quiet moments alone with the computer?]

But that's enough of that. Let's move on to what you're really here to read about. Mom better be glad I have an excellent memory...

I guess the biggest achievement of the month was that I left the army crawl behind. As manly as I felt, hands and knees have become much more efficient.


Now that this has happened, I am ALL OVER THE PLACE. Things are getting moved, doors are getting closed, and my parents are learning that the Pughplex wasn't as "babyproof" as they thought. I prefer the term, "Haddon proof," though. It makes me sound more legit.

I'm still barreling on behind that walker of mine. Unfortunately, I don't have an up to date video of the progress I've made, but for the sake of getting this post to the public, I'll impress you with my skills at another time.




As I predicted in my last post, my top two teeth have come through with full force [and quite a bit of space in between!]. The first one broke through on March 30th and the second followed exactly a week later on the 7th. I haven't been too cranky about them. I'm actually rather proud and smiley.

Rocking the bed head in this one!

These teeth have come in handy when my Mom decided to introduce some finger foods. Surprisingly I don't like any of the puffs or cheerios or anything. They're just too small... I prefer something I can take a chunk out of. Lately, my favorites are Baby Mum Mums and some Happy Munchies rice cakes. I'm trying the Mum Mums in the video below [I eat them much more assertively these days].



I also did lots of traveling in month 9 [I think that's going to be the theme of my summer]. We got to spend some time in Decatur and Florence to meet my new cousin— Baby Cohen!!!!!

Mom said that I used to be that small. Can you believe it? Being around him sure made me feel big.

The picture above is my favorite. I look like a giant!! Don't worry, I'm a friendly beast.

He looked like he needed some help with his seat belt. I showed him how it works.

I had to size him up.

He passed the Haddon test.

I also got to show him how to take a good nap in his car seat. He was a great pupil.

We also got to visit Big Papa [or "Poppy" as Cousin Emma calls him] at his new home.

Here we are! Cousin Emma was in Indianapolis, so I didn't get to play with her :(

His walker was so much cooler than mine!

We also got to spend some time in Tuscaloosa. Here are some of my Big Daddy bonding shots...

One of my favorite things about this past month was our vacation trip to Gatlinburg. It was supposed to be a Lakeview staff retreat for Dad, but that ended up getting cancelled. Thankfully, we still had rooms booked, so we went anyway! It was so good to have that family time before Dad headed off to the Middle East.

I experienced another first in Gatlinburg— the pool! I thought it was going to be awesome [Mom did too, since I love the bath so much]. Look how excited I was before we got in...

Well, then we got in...


Maybe it was the cold water, maybe it was how big and overwhelming it seemed, but something had me a little wigged out.  Don't worry, I'll try it again sometime. This was just not the day to have fun in the pool.

It didn't take much for Dad to cheer me up after the semi-traumatic experience.

Speaking of traumatic, I got quite the head injury during our vacation as well. We were at a restaurant and I decided to do a little acrobatics in my carrier seat that was balancing on top of a highchair [I will say the supervision on Mom's part was lacking a bit]. Before I knew it, I was flipping out on the floor. I'm not sure what hit my forehead, but something sure did.

Thankfully we had already finished up our meal, so the commotion caused was minimal. Poor Mom. She was so sad...

We've all recovered though and it's definitely the last thing I remember from our wonderful trip. Can you believe the next family vacay is going to be in Paris? I'll be turning 10 months over there, so my next blog post might be quite a doozy! Hopefully I'll be a little more punctual on that one— at least I'll have a 6 [or seven?] hour head start!

Thanks for wanting to know how I'm doing. I love my readers!

Grace to ya [Dad helped me come up with a new sign off],
Haddon

9 month check-up stats—

[5.14.13]
> 18 lbs. [25th percentile]
> 28 inches long [25th percentile]
> Head circumference of 18" [50th percentile]

Parting is Such Sweet Sorrow

Yes, I went there. I let Shakespeare put into words what I experienced today. We sent this handsome man off today.

No, not Haddon :) I dropped Kam off in Atlanta today for his METS orientation. For those of you that don't know, Kam is going on a Middle East Travel seminar (hence, "METS") for three weeks. This is a trip that involves students from a handful of seminaries and our Kameron was selected to be one of those participants!

He's now in Stone Mountain, GA for a couple of days of orientation and then will fly out on Monday. This trip will include time in Jordan, Israel, and Greece. It really is the trip of a lifetime, but we'd be silly to think it won't be hard around here without him. Pray for our family! We do want to redeem the time and know the Lord has ordained these next three weeks, just as He has every day of our life. No pity parties allowed!

We were blessed to be able to have some vacation time in Gatlinburg this past week, so we were very thankful for a sweet family getaway before Kam headed out. [Shout out to the Speths for their timeshare hookup!]

Haddon and I will both miss snuggling with this guy, but at least we get to reconvene in Paris! For those of you that don't know, as a part of Kam's internship at Lakeview, we'll be spending 3 weeks in Paris. Haddon and I will fly over and meet Kam on June 3rd and we'll return on the 24th. So I can't complain too much ;)

When I googled the Shakespeare quote to make sure I had the wording right [so I wouldn't look like an idiot trying to sound romantic], dictionary.com provided me with this fabulous definition:

A line from the play Romeo and Juliet, by William Shakespeare; Juliet is saying good night to Romeo. Their sorrowful parting is also “sweet” because it makes them think about the next time they will see each other.

Paris certainly will be sweet, Mr. Pugh! I'll leave you with another cheesy line...

P.S. I realize a certain someone's 9 month birthday has come and gone. There will be a post from that cute little guy, just not sure how timely it will be!

Cohen Michael Speth

I'm a little late in publicizing this wonderful event, but I HAVE A NEW NEPHEW!!!!

Cohen was born on Sunday, April 14th at 10:12 am. He was 6 lbs. 13 oz. and 20 inches long. My sister, Valerie, had quite the labor experience and ended up having to have a C-section. She's such a trooper...

This sweet little guy also had a little battle with jaundice his first couple of days. Clearly, he won :) As Val put it, "He even makes jaundice look cool!"

He also has a very proud big sister on his hands. Sweet Emma loooooves baby "Coh-ey."

This face makes even the Bammers say, "War Eagle" :)

You are so precious, my little nephew. The KamPughs can't wait to meet you this Friday!!!!

Eight Months!

Whoa folks... My eighth month flew by! [and apparently a few days of my ninth... sorry about the posting delay] I've been dominating my milestones, so you just hold tight and be ready to be blown away. We might speed through this month since I have so much to share so stick with me!

Since we're talking speed, let me tell you how I'm getting around these days. I guess I'm not technically "crawling" just yet. I opted for the more manly option—the army crawl. I definitely get the hands and knees thing, but when I'm ready to move, my stomach hits the floor and I just get to scootin.  

A little journey down the hall to my room!

Also, the day after my 7 month birthday Dad found me like this—

You guessed it. I'm pulling up! You're so impressed right now...

Time to lower the mattress, Mom!

Sometimes I'm not as successful as I desire...

Staking my claim on the pulpit.

So proud...

I also found out that my ottoman pulpit doubles as a treasure chest! They store all the toys in there!

This pulling up phenomena has made me rather daring. So daring that I've tackled another milestone. A little something the experts would call "cruising" [moving from one piece of furniture to the next for support].

Oh and the amazement doesn't stop there my friends, I might as well be WALKING. Say hello to my little friend...

Unsuspecting $3 toy from a consignment sale about to get DOMINATED by my mad skills...

Picture on the right courtesy of my bud, Michelle. Thanks for making me look like a vintage hipster.

CHECK ME OUT!!! So when Mom initially introduced me to holding on to this thing, I would keep my feet firmly planted, even as she moved it forward. I didn't quite grasp the fact that I could go where it went. Well, I can now walk behind this thing by myself. I can sense your disbelief, but believe it. I really am that awesome. Lest you think I'm getting too prideful though, the only videos Mom and Dad have of me doing this, I fall. [For some reason they think this is hilarious] But for the sake of my dignity, I'm not going to show you those. We'll work on making a better video for you.

Speaking of walkers, Mom got the silly idea that I needed this new toy. [If we're being honest, she just wanted something that would provide some form of containment!]

I may look like I'm enjoying myself, but don't let that cute little smile fool you. This thing gets old real fast. Maybe because my feet don't quite touch yet. Whatever it is, I don't last very long. Unless you let me attack the trash can while I'm in it...



Well I think that about covers my mobility milestones of the month. Moving on to other impressive things— say goodbye to the gummy smile!

My first tooth broke through on March 21st. The second followed on the 25th. The shots above were early documentation. Check me out now!

I know you're distracted by my eyes in this picture, but don't forget to take a gander at those pearly whites!

If I were a betting man, I'd say I'll have some top ones to share with you next month.

As usual, I'm still chewing on everything. Having teeth makes this more fun. If Mom and Dad just let me roam in the living room, this is how you'll often find me...

I love chewing on our dining table and chairs. Surely I get tons of nutrients from this practice.

Speaking of nutrients, Mom moved me to 3 meals a day this month. At first I was not a fan. I went through this phase where I'd get really crazy at meal time and smack the spoon away and yell and get really whiny even though I was hungry and wanted to eat [I know, hard to believe, right?]. Well, Mom was distraught and somehow decided to try having meal time in silence. No silly songs about bananas or chickpeas. No conversation. Just straight up putting the food in my mouth. For some crazy reason, that worked! I guess I was just overstimulated by all that was going on, along with the new eating schedule. What can I say? We take food seriously in this household.

Don't fret, I don't actually eat with this spoon. Just another thing I like to chew on.

On a not so serious note, I really enjoy clapping.

I don't necessarily do it on cue. Just whenever I feel like it. So it's not always contextually appropriate, I just randomly decide to show my support of the situation and clap.


This month, I also started helping Mom with laundry. She emptys the hamper and I fill it.

This is a really entertaining activity for me. Sometimes I forget that I'm not really trapped and get a little anxious, but most of the time it is lots of fun.

I'm still having lots of fun in the tub as well. So much that Mom tried out a new tactic that Mama T told her about.

This was nice, but Mom still had a little trouble reaching all my crevices to wash so we've switched back to big blue for now until I get a little less wobbly. I look forward to seeing you again, my slotted plastic friend!

I definitely like playing with water, but am not so sure about drinking it. When Mom first tried the sippy cup in Month Six I would drink an ounce or two with my food, but now I just like chewing on my cups. I get a little water here and there, but no guzzling for this guy. I do, however, love "drinking" from big cups. I use quotation marks because I don't really drink from them. Once the water hits my mouth, I'm slightly alarmed that it's there and just let it dribble down my chin all over me. But everything else about it is really fun!


Speaking of being big, I've moved up in the stroller world as well! No more strapping that carrier in. Sit me up like a big boy, Ma!

Now that the weather has gotten nicer [and because I'm getting more restless inside], we've been taking lots of walks. I love being outside. It can calm me down if I'm pitching a fit [yes, that happens—I've really put my sin nature on display this month]. But the only problem with that is I'll get really upset once we go back inside. So I'm not sure if that's a helpful tactic...

Nothing like being barefoot outside in Spring.

The pictures above are from times when Mom will take one of my little play stations and put it outside on our front porch [a.k.a. a slab of concrete located outside our front door, nothing glamorous by any means] and sit with me in a folding chair while we soak up some Vitamin D. This part of our day is always very refreshing.

Lastly, this month I experienced the Madness that is March. [see what I did there?] I got to watch some basketball with Dad [don't worry, I didn't OD on screen time] and also filled out my own bracket. AND WON.

I guess success has just been the name of the game this month!

Well, thanks for sticking with me through all this. Forgive my boasting, I just really can't believe all that happened this month. As usual, we had our monthly photo shoot that you can check out on facebook. She got creative and tried this one outside. Yet again, another success for Month Numero Ocho— I loved it!

See ya next month, Lord willing.
Love,
Haddon