M and P

Yay for Parental Leave!

The last few weeks have been aaaaaaahhhmazing. Why? Paul began the second half of his parental leave on March 19 and he's home with us until MEMORIAL DAY! It's been wonderful spending so much time with him, and we're only two weeks in. I'm so grateful to Facebook for having such an incredible parental leave policy that is equal for men and women :)

We've mostly been taking it easy these past few weeks. My #1 agenda item is to catch up on sleep. Patrick has been sleeping through the night for about a month now so I'm generally feeling better, but it has been really nice to grab a nap here and there while Patrick and Paul go to the playground. We've been scheduling lots of lunches and dinners with friends. We've found an amazing sitter, Jamie, who has become equal parts sitter and friend, and she's allowed us to spend time with everyone who we love in California.

Patrick is now 10 months old and more active than ever. He is crawling and climbing everywhere. He's very close to saying Mama. We think he says it when he's upset, but I'm not counting it until he says it while happy. He's also close to saying baby and hi. He's not showing a ton of interest in trying to walk, but that's OK with Mom and Dad. These next few weeks should be a lot of fun :)

Time is going to go fast from here. Pam arrives in less than three weeks and the big move takes place four weeks from yesterday! So if I don't update the blog for a while, you know why :)

Posting this pic as proof that Patrick is not happy ALL of the time!

Doing the point just like Daddy!

Pickles and mac and cheese for the first time. Patrick loved both!

Checking out the lookalike baby at Carter's!

Aunt Reebs came the whole way from Seattle to meet Patrick, and boy did they have a great time! So did Mom and Dad :)

Visiting Berkeley for the first time...

Modeling my new shades from Grandma & Papa!

Patrick hanging with his best friend, Jamie!

Ruchi & Aditya thew a goodbye dinner for us, complete with a chef who made that amazing dessert in the foreground.

Paul took an after dinner spin on the treadmill.

There's still nothing better than a ceiling fan!

Except for maybe ending the day with a nice bubble bath :)

First St. Patrick's Day!

And finally, the Patys celebrating their day!!!

Cat's out of the bag!

We recently let everyone know that we'll be moving to Winchester at the end of April! Feels good to finally be able to share our news with everyone, and we're so excited that we'll be closer to our families as we raise our family.

At the same time, we'll miss all of our friends who have become our west coast family. It's hard to believe, but I've been on the west coast for nine years and Paul has been here for twelve! It's been a wonderful run, and we couldn't be more grateful for the experiences that we've had out here, and the friends that we've made. We are so lucky!

9 months old!

After Paul's birthday, we had a special visitor... Aunt Cindy! Time flies when Aunt Cindy visits, and this trip was no different. Patrick was so excited to see her and they had fun together. We did some cider tasting, shopping, saw some kitties and of course, we hung out with Uncle Tido the Great!

Since then, we've been laying low. We've had lots of lunch dates with friends and also spent a bunch of time at the park. We've been lucky enough to find some really great babysitters for Patrick, so Paul and I have been enjoying some nights out with friends before the big move.

Some updates on Patrick: He is so big! He has eight teeth and still enjoys biting (in fact, he chewed his crib this week... pics below). At his nine month appointment, he was 28.5" long (56th percentile), 22 lbs (85th percentile, and still has that giant head (94th percentile). He is babbling, shrieking, crawling, and climbing everywhere. This kid does not sit still! A few days ago, he stood on his own for the first time without holding onto something, though we're not sure he realized it.

Patrick is more of a banger than a snuggler, but luckily the banging is adorable most of the time. His favorite things are reading books, going to swimming lessons and any time he gets to hang out with Daddy. He is also enjoying eating solid foods more and more. We've stopped the purees for the most part and just give him what we're eating and he seems to like it.

Going for the Bud Light Platinum.. just like his dad!