Lots of New Skills!

George has been very busy this week working on some new baby skills. He is getting pretty good at waving, as shown here with my sister:
You can imagine my surprise when I walked into G's room a couple days ago and saw him standing up in his crib! I didn't catch it with the camera, but he did show me how he can reach up and touch that mobile that's been spinning out of reach for the past 8 months. He was pretty proud of himself! Needless to say, the crib mattress was lowered right after these pictures were taken.

Showing off his cheesy smile after pulling himself up to his music table:

Last night, George woke up after only a couple hours of sleep (not too out of the ordinary) but after we let him cry for 5 minutes or so, I checked on him to see him sitting up sobbing! He's been able to go from tummy to sitting and vice versa for a week or so, but he had never done it in bed before, and his problem-solving skills were not at their peak so he was just stuck!! After I laid him back down, about 10 minutes later the same exact thing had happened. All these new skills can be a bit overwhelming when they aren't perfected yet!

Look at That Booty!

Thanks to a few days of teething-related diaper rash, George has gotten to spend some time going commando around the house. Yes, this first picture is of George, not a very tiny old man even though that's what his butt looks like :-)

Aren't these pictures pretty standard for future embarrassment? I love his serious pose.

Where did our baby go? This looks like a little boy!!

8 Months Old!

Our little man is 8 months old today - he's getting so big!! Here's his 8 month photo and some tidbits about George:

• He is almost crawling. Everyday he gets closer and closer to taking off. He can spin around on his tummy very easily and he'll reach as hard as he can towards something he wants, but can't quite move himself forward yet. My bet is that he'll be crawling within the next week or so.
• He is working on his top teeth and they are causing quite a stir around this house! His mouth really hurts and you can see those teeth almost coming out, poor guy!
• Like his birthday buddy, paper is his favorite thing on Earth. He LOVES to reach for paper and crinkle it up in his chubby little fists.
• His favorite book is "I Love Trucks." Every time I start to read it, his face gets a huge smile and he pays such attention to the story.
• He is taking his last swimming lesson tomorrow and we have both really enjoyed the classes. He seems to have no fear in the water at all and I love to see how comfortable he is in the pool.
• One of my very favorite parts of the day is when I am nursing him and he reaches up and touches my face as he is eating. It is such a tender moment between us and I know I'll remember it forever.

Sean's parents have been in town this past week for the triplet's birthday, and here are some pictures of them with all their Denver grandkids:

George enjoying his new front porch swing with his Nana:

I know we'll have a fantastic month with George coming up as he contines to amaze us in every way. We love you Georgie!!

Birthday Parties Galore!

Today was a full day of 1st birthday parties we got to attend. The first was for our friends Alex and Lorena and their son, Salvador. George had a great time in their baby pool with just his diaper on and re-discovering the magic of a plastic cup. The highlight for both George and Sean was definitely the 4-Wheeler that Salvador had that George got to try out. Here's a short video of G taking it out for a spin:

After Salvador's party, we headed over to celebrate the triplet's birthday. Here is the trio enjoying a birthday bottle:Caitlin is showing G how this toy works. We had such a fun day!

Go Rockies!

Today was a big day for George - he and I went to his first ever Rockies game! Katy and James invited us and have great tickets (we'll have to bring him to the Rockpile next time so he doesn't get too used to the good seats :)

We rode the LightRail together down to Coors Field and had a great time. Of course, as soon as we got there, he made it clear he wanted to have some lunch so I am proud to say I nursed him right there in the stands - my most public place to nurse yet! It's a good thing he and I are so good at it now because I don't think anyone was even aware of what we were doing.

Once his tummy was full, he loved being at the game. He was very smiley and loved to hear the crowd cheer. He never got scared of the sounds of the fans and was content to sit on my lap and eat his puffs and enjoy the sunshine. Here are some pics from our day:

I was impressed that he made it all the way to the 7th inning stretch before we had to leave so he got to hear "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" for the first time. He fell asleep in his wrap on the walk back to the Light Rail and slept all the way home. What a fun day!

My First Mother's Day (as a mom)

Happy Mother's Day to all you moms out there! My first Mother's Day was just just right - I got to stay in bed a little late, get my hair cut, plant some vegetables with my mom, and then have dinner with my parents. Sean and George got me some flowers (mums), a nice card, and a necklace with G's name on it. I can't tell you how lucky I feel to be George's mom. Everyday that I look at him, I just thank God that he's my son. Since he's been born, I have had the extremes of every emotion, happiness, pride, worry, anxiety, exhaustion (is that an emotion), and amazement. Being his mom is the best thing that I've ever gotten to do, and I look forward to every single Mother's Day and every single regular day that I get to spend with him.

Here's a pic of G and me from today - George is sporting an outfit that my dad wore as a baby! Evidently, boys' collars were a bit more feminine in the 1950s than today :-) Yesterday we went up to Platteville with our friends, the Peters and Penrods, so Sean could do some work on the Petersen farm in exchange for Mr. Petersen's work in our basement. Grace was there and the babies all had a great time. Here we are out for a walk around the property...

Don't worry, Sean got to have some fun of his own...

Swimming Lessons

George and I have signed up for another round of swimming lessons through Denver Parks and Rec. Our friends Lindsay and George told us about this round and I'm so glad we joined! There are about 5 or 6 moms and babies in the class that all live within a mile of us - they are all so nice and I'm having such a great time. Our first session was mostly just singing in the water and getting the babies used to water on their face. This class is like the polar opposite. From the first minute in the water, the instructor wanted the babies to go under water. She focuses a lot on survival techniques like kicking, laying on their backs, and holding on to the side of the pool (yes, babies!). Since she found out this is our second session, she uses George a lot as her model for the other kids. George has jumped off the side, "swam" in a semi-circle under water back to the wall, been passed between the instructor and me under water, and practiced using his arms to swim. He does such a great job!! He never cries at all, and it's great to see him getting ready to go under when I say, "1,2,3, down!" Today one of the other moms had her own mom in town, and she offered to use my camera to take some pictures. Enjoy!

Practicing his kicking skills...About to be passed from the instructor to me...

Right after I passed him back... It is so ridiculously cute to see all the babies' faces as they come out of the water, we're having a blast!

A Wonderful Sunday

Today was such a great day here at the O'Reilly house. It was such a beautiful sunny day so Sean and I did some work in our backyard. One year ago, our backyard was the world's ugliest yard, overgrown with weeks and covered in rocks and dirt from digging out our basement. Now our green grass looks so great and we did some weeding in the gardens and put mulch in each of the flower beds. It looks so great! George and Leo loved being outside with us, as you can see.

After our hard work, we headed over to Joe and Kelly's to celebrate J.P.'s 6th birthday. Here's a cute picture of George playing with two of the triplets, Ryan and Caitlin. It was fun getting to celebrate with the Crists - it was such a great day!

A Tasty Snack

Here is a cute picture of George enjoying a nice diaper change along with his new favorite snack on the changing table... Have a great weekend!