9 months old (sniff, sniff!)

We've had a fun past week. On Wednesday the 4th, we celebrated our 3rd Anniversary by going out to dinner. William came with us and was a VERY good boy. Instead of worrying about him crying and disturbing other diners, we actually have the opposite problem - he's SO happy and excited to be sitting up in a high chair in a new place that he SCREAMS in delight the entire time. We had a nice time but were quietly "Shhh"ing him for a good portion of our meal. Luckily while it was a nice restaurant, there were other families with kids there and we tried to get in and out quickly!

That same day happened to be the exact one which marked William's "in and out" day. He was born at 38 weeks and 2 days, and on our Anniversary, he was 38 weeks and 2 days old. When asked what he thought about his two different experiences - "baking" and then being out in the big world, William said that he's getting used to it "out here," and that he can't wait to continue exploring. (Actually, he said "Gah, gah, gah. BA!")

This weekend was Musikfest in Bethlehem, which neither Esch nor I had heard of, but is actually a huge festival - we missed buying tickets for the bigger names' concerts (Norah Jones, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Heart, Doobie Brothers, Styx, Blue Oyster Cult, and my favorite band of late -thanks to Johanna- The Avett Brothers). However, we went over to walk around on Saturday and had a great time. There are plenty of free concerts on 10+ stages. We found a fun cover band playing everything from The Stones to Van Morrison.

I decided this past week that it is high time I venture off of "Auto" mode on our nice camera, and begin learning how to shoot in "Manual." So off I went, with nice lenses in hand, trying my best to figure out f-stops and shutter speeds. I think I got a few decent shots for my first try (can you tell the difference?).

Here are W and his Daddy enjoying Musikfest. William was really singing (i.e. screaming) in the first one! Apparently he likes Tom Petty very much. It was hilarious!









The next day, we made two big purchases - one much more fun than the other. A BIKE for me (we are also in the market for a baby trailer for the bikes, so we can go on family rides on some of the many trails in the area), which I am very excited about, and a baby gate for William. Poor little man. He looks like a little jailbird looking longingly into the kitchen/stairway area where he is NOT allowed.

I plan on doing William's monthly photo shoot today, so I will post a few pictures of our 9 MONTH OLD boy tomorrow.