Outside Swing

Patrick takes after his Dad in a big way - he LOVES being outside. He has done so much work to our house and has the outside looking great. Since Patrick spends so much time outside, I decided Banks and I needed to figure out a way to join him. I ordered Banks an outdoor swing. He absolutely loves it!

Asheville

It had been over a year and a half since Patrick and I had taken a trip, just the two of us. We had both taken Friday, Aug 8 off work to go to the Terry's lakehouse, but unfortunately the lakehouse wasn't quite finished up and we had to cancel those plans. We also had Banks' 6 week follow up ultrasound and appointment on Thursday, August 7. So, we decided that would be a good opportunity to drop Banks off with my parents after his appointment in Greenville and head out of town for the weekend. We got pretty good news at his follow up appointment (things are "headed in the right direction") so we were in good spirits to take off. We got to Asheville on Thursday in time to have lunch at Wicked Weed Brewery and then float down the French Broad river. It was a nice, sunny day and it was super relaxing floating on the river. We then went and checked into our cute bed and Breakfast (Chestnut Street Inn), got ready, and went to Barley's Taproom, which is a traditional place we go when we are in Asheville. We settled in early Thursday night and enjoyed sleeping in on Friday morning. On Friday, we went to lunch at a delicious local restaurant called Home Grown. After lunch, Patrick took me to get my very first massage. It was great! We then went to a couple of breweries (Green Man was our favorite) and went and took a nap back at the Inn. We then got ready and went to dinner at a place called The Southern before going to the "drum circle" which is where some locals all bring their instruments and make music. It's quite the cultural experience! Then we went to Thirsty Monk to enjoy some local beer, and then we ended our night at a wine bar where they had some live music. We stayed out a little later Friday night, but we got up first thing Saturday morning and headed back to my parents' house to pick up our sweet boy.

8 months

Once again, so much has changed in a month! Banks went from rolling over - sitting up - pushing up on all fours - crawling - pulling up on things, all within 2-3 weeks. He is completely mobile and is ALL over the place. His favorite toys seem to be cords, shoes, cell phones, remotes, and Demi's bones and water bowl. It doesn't matter how many of his toys are in the floor, he still seems to want those "off limit" items. :-) He's definitely already keeping me and Patrick on our toes. He amazes us every day with how much he learns and changes. Of course we think he is the smartest baby in the world! We have already had to drop his crib down because he was standing up and making us nervous that he was going to fall over the rails. He is doing much better at sleeping through the night, which makes Mommy and Daddy beyond excited! He has now transitioned to full formula bottles during the day, and is still nursing one time a day (at bedtime). It's amazing how quick he went through the frozen milk I had stored up over the last 7 months. He has 4 official teeth, and 2 more have just started coming through. First came the two bottom centrals, but then our "unique" boy got the top central and the left lateral. The right central tooth and right lateral are now poking through. He has started this really cute habit of crinkling up his nose and snorting like a little piggie when he is excited or happy. He is still such a happy baby, and loves to laugh. He has started becoming a little fearful of strangers and wants to be held by familiar people. Now that he is mobile, he also really dislikes being strapped into his carseat or swing. Once he gets settled he usually calms down pretty quickly, but he puts up a good fight when trying to get him strapped in.