Sage the Lion!

This morning, we headed out to get our Christmas tree and with the weather being cool, had to appropriately dress Sage. We think she looks like a lion in her sweater and just had to take a picture. Enjoy! Sage the Lion... The lion in her exersaucer...

Sage's 1st Christmas Tree Lighting! (November 26, 2009)

On Friday evening, we decided to head to Hyde Park to check out the annual Christmas Tree lighting event. Sage enjoyed herself...especially the lit up Santa we bought her to enjoy. If we tried to touch Santa, she actually growled at us and became upset....sooo funny. As usual. lots of people stopped to say Hello to Sage and she was very generous with her smiles. Sage & her Santa... Sage & Mommy... Sage & Daddy... The tree...

Sage's 1st Thanksgiving!!! (November 26, 2009)

Thanksgiving was such a wonderful and joyous day this year! We have so much for which we are thankful....our sweet little girl is at the top of the list. We spent a fantastic Thanksgiving in St. Pete with our family and had such a wonderful time. Sage had a great day and did not even take her afternoon nap. We think she was so excited to see everyone and was having so much fun she forgot all about her nap. It was really amazing as she did not cry or fuss at all (just at dinner when she saw us eating and decided she wanted some food, too). She was awake from about noon until 7'ish and was the perfect party animal. She had a lot of fun with everyone and seems to really love our family get-togethers. This year was so special and having our sweet angel makes Thanksgiving a reason to celebrate. One thing....we did not take a lot of pictures of Sage and everyone as it was such a busy day - just kind of forgot. We think it was because everyone wanted to hold and take care of Sage so it was nice for us to just relax. Thanksgiving morning...Sage is thankful for her Mommy & Daddy! Sage & Emily... Sage, Aunt Theresa & Theresa's mom, Kathy... Sage & Aunt Theresa... Sage & Mommy at dinner... Sage & her bunny after her Thanksgiving dinner (organic turkey/apples/cranberry & strawberry yogurt)... Sage & Bis Abuela... Finally asleep...

Additional things Sage is doing at 9 months

Some things I left off the last entry on what Sage is doing at 9 months are: ~ She can return to sitting from crawling/sitting/laying on the floor positions. Also, she can now sit up in her crib and this is the position we find her in recent mornings. It is so cute to see her sitting up in the dark smiling at us from her crib. ~ Sage can do a full split! It is the funniest thing...she looks like a little gymnast. The other moms at Gymboree are amazed at the way she does a split, folds forward and takes off crawling. Then when she's ready to return to sitting she puts her legs out in a split and leans back to sitting. Future Olympian?????? ~ She can wave "bye bye". Her movement is not exact and she does not do it all the time but there are occassions where she waves. She especially does this during sign language class. ~ Sage mimics a lot of things we do...especially tapping our feet or hands on a hard surface. She loves to watch us hit the floor, couch or other area with our hands and feet. She will copy us with these movements. Sage is also very good at copying "raspberry" sounds with her tongue & mouth. If we make a "phhhhttttt" with our tongues, she does it right back.

Sage turns 9 months old!

Today, Sage turns 9 months old and oh how things have changed! Sage is crawling everywhere and can return to a sitting position from crawling. Sometimes this leads to a backwards tumble if she sits up too fast. Of course, a backwards tumble always leads to a short crying spell. Sage wants to get a hold of everything that is in her reach so we try to keep things off the floor. No matter what, she manages to find Max's toys and bones and enjoys them more than her own toys (yuk!). Sage is still very easygoing and sweet-natured and for this we are very thankful! I have read a baby's disposition is sometimes determined by the age of 6 mos. so I hope her sweet personality is a sign of things to come. In lieu of taking her picture today, I am using her holiday pictures we had taken yesterday. I am not including ones we plan on sending in our holiday cards. Landon went with us and we were all pleasantly surprised as this session went extremely well! Sage even acted like she enjoyed having her picture taken. The photographer was amazing with her and really got a lot of smiles out of her. Unlike October, this was a very easy time. Some things Sage is currently doing: ~ Crawling everywhere and getting into everything...especially things she should not get into. ~ Can return to a sitting position from crawling ~ she loves to do this. ~ Sage has 3 teeth - 2 bottom front teeth and her top right front tooth. She looks so funny when she smiles big. ~ Eating 3 meals + 1 snack/daily. So far, Sage loves every food we have given her...she came around on peas. I even feed her some organic meat dishes (she can decide if she wants to be a vegetarian). ~ Trying to master the sippy cup and picking up small pieces of food. While drinking, Sage will hold the sippy but has yet to figure out how to tilt it when it's almost empty. She is just becoming curious about holding her own spoon but not interested enough to try it all of the time. She can pick up small pieces of food but just crushes them in her fist. I guess she's working on her "pincer grasp". ~ Babbles and giggles A LOT. She mostly says "ba ba ba ba ba" and what sounds like "da da da da da". We cannot wait for her real first word. ~ Sage loves books and loves looking at all the pictures and words. We hope this continues as we teach her the joy of reading. ~ Loves her Gymboree classes that we go to 2x/week. All the other babies are boys and she flirts with all of them. ~ Sage is becoming a little wary of strangers. She will not smile as big as she used to but sometimes gives a stranger a big electric smile. She can get a little frightened a large crowd of new people yet she usually warms up after awhile. ~ One funny thing Sage loves is to watch me to run up and down the hall really fast and squealing. She can see from her exersaucer and this gets her going. She jumps, squeals and giggles really loud. It's good exercise for me, too! Here are some of Sage's holidays pics...enjoy!

Women's Running Magazine 1/2 Marathon & 5k Run

This morning, we all woke up bright and early (5 am!) to head over to St. Pete for the Women's Running Magazine 1/2 Marathon & 5k Run. I ran in the 5k and it was an amazing race! We heard there were between 4,000 & 5,000 runners and the event was very impressive. I am still no speed demon yet I ran 20 seconds faster than the last run so very happy about that. Sage was such a good sport as we woke her up close to leaving time (5:45 am) and she kind of cried. After she was dressed and ready to go, she was in such a good mood. After the run, we hung around until about 11:30 for the post-race party and awards. We won a raffle prize....a basket from Saks 5th Avenue! I went up to get the basket and realized it was mostly men's cologne, lotion, etc (my luck...huh!). The announcer asked what I was going to do with it and I said "Give it to my husband". He asked "Where is he?" and I pointed and said "He's right there with our baby". Then he asked "How old is your baby?" and I said "9 mos". Everyone clapped for us...especially when Landon held up Sage and everyone saw her. It was a fun moment! Arriving at the race around 6:45 am... Half-marathon starting line... 5k starting line... Start of the race... Me (far left) at the start of the race in pink t and hat... The winner of the 5k finishing (think she finished in about 18 mins!)... Race/Awards area... Post-race self-portrait... Family self-portrait... 5k medal...most races do not give these! Sage loves my medal...

Landon turns 40! (November 19, 2009)

On Thursday, November 19 Landon turned 40!!!! He had a wonderful day with a lot of birthday cards, gifts and greetings from friends, family and co-workers. On his birthday, we had a nice family dinner (just the 3 of us). On Friday night, we had a "date night" and Sage's grandparents came over to babysit. We went to Bonefish and had such a nice evening. Happy 40th Birthday to Landon!!! Sage loves Daddy's card from his co-workers...it is very LARGE and plays the chicken dance song....Landon said they all gathered and did the chicken dance for him... Sage & Daddy getting ready to blow out Daddy's cupcake candles... On date night, Sage in her "jammies" reading and waiting for her grandparents... Self-portrait before date night...

Sage's 1st tea room experience! (November 18, 2009)

On Wednesday, November 18, Sage and I met our staging friends at Emma's Rose Tea Room in downtown St. Pete. It was our monthly staging meeting/luncheon and the tea room is gorgeous! At first, Sage seemed a little unsure of everyone but she quickly warmed up to all the ladies. She was such a good/quiet girl and even gave out some smiles. She loved all the decor and especially loved grabbing and pulling the fringe on the tablecloth! We had a great time and look forward to our December lunch! Sage getting ready to leave for the tea room... Sage loves her new pink shoes... Sage's shoes...just had to take a close-up... Sage at the tea room (sitting in her highchair with cover)...