Bryson's 1st Thanksgiving

For Bryson's 1st Thanksgiving, we headed to New York City for 8 days. This year we flew instead of driving which I think was a much better decision, especially since we had Bryson. I just don't think he could have handled that long of a car ride. I was really worried about how he was going to do, but he did great. I just made sure to give him a bottle at each take off and landing to keep his ears from hurting and I also gave him Tylenol about 30 minutes before take off. Our trip to NYC was not so smooth though. Our first flight was from Birmingham to Charlotte where we were only supposed to have a short layover. It was time for our flight to board and they let people with children board first. So me, Robert and Bryson loaded the plane and got situated. We kept waiting for the rest of his family to board, but they didn't. Instead, US Airways staff sat down in their seats. Next thing we knew, they were pulling the gate away and getting ready for takeoff, without them. The flight attendants were so rude when we were trying to figure out what was going on, but they finally let us off. What happened was apparently a flight got cancelled and they needed to get their employees to NYC to bring back another plane, but instead of asking for volunteers they just told the last 8 people that they would have to wait for another flight. They didn't care that they were splitting up a family. After a long ordeal, we finally got a new flight, 3 hours later. It was a nightmare dealing with those people, but thankfully Lisa got it all worked out. Our main concern was our luggage. Our first flight was heading to Newark and our new flight was heading to LaGuardia. Luckily it worked out where Robert's family was able to get our luggage from Newark for us. So when we finally start to board the plane, we realized they gave us all 1st class seats. It was so nice to have so much room and we all got free cocktails. It definitely spoiled us and I don't think I can fly anything but first class again.
We had a lot of fun seeing all the sites in the city and doing a lot of shopping, but Bryson's favorite place was the hotel room. I think he was just a little too young for such a long trip, but he did great. We tried to not keep him out for very long so we split his day in half. He would either stay at the hotel in the morning or afternoon while we all went out. I think this kept him a happy baby the whole trip. This year for the parade we went to Time's square to watch it. Bryson could have cared less about the parade but once the Smurf float went by, he was mesmerized. He couldn't take his eyes off of it. I'm so proud of Bryson for being such a big boy on our trip. Here are a few pictures from our trip.

 After our first flight

 Bryson was tired after that extra 3 hour layover

 Bryson's first subway ride

 Outside the Plaza Hotel

 Bryson's first time in Time's Square

 Central Park

 FAO Schwartz

 Bryson was flirting with everybody that walked past the window, it was so cute!

 Lunch in Little Italy

 More fun in Time's Square

 On our way to Rockefeller Center

 Bryson having fun in the hotel room

 Bryson's first Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade

 Bryson's first Thanksgiving

 Iron Bowl Day

Bryson sporting his new War Cam Eagle shirt

Bryson's first boat ride, on the way to the Statue of Liberty

 Museum of Natural History

Bryson making "pretty eyes"

9 months!

Bryson turned 9 months old on December 1st. He is growing up way too fast. At his well baby check up he weighed a little over 20 pounds and was about 28 inches long, both in the 50th percentile. That surprises me because he seems so much bigger then the other babies in his class at school. He got a few shots and also got his finger pricked to get a blood test done. We never heard back so that means everything was great. After they pricked his finger, the nurse put a piece of cotton and a band aid on his finger and he couldn't quit staring at it. On the way home I think he just stared at his finger the whole way home. Thank God I have one of those mirrors in the backseat for me to see him because one time when I glanced back there, he was chewing on his nasty bloody band aid. Of course I had to immediately pull over and take it from him, which he did not like too much. It was pretty funny though. Here's what sweet baby Bryson is doing at 9 months.

-He takes an 8oz bottle every 4 hours, but is starting to slack off on how much and how often he drinks.
-He is officially fully on table food. No more baby food for this baby, which kinda makes me a little sad. His favorite foods are yogurt and spaghetti. So far he has liked just about everything we have given him, except for green beans and peas (but I can't really blame him for that).
-He still has blue eyes
-We have offered a sippy cup of water, but he shows not interest in it yet.
-He is a super fast crawler. People joke that they have never seen a baby crawl that fast before.
-He loves to cruise on the furniture.
-He is taking steps and should be walking soon. I think he would already be walking but after he takes about 5 or 6 steps, he tries to run and then falls down.
-He loves to dance. Anytime music comes on he stops and starts rocking back and forth. Sometimes he even dances when no music is playing. It's pretty funny.
-He still hates being strapped in his car seat. I have no idea why but it is a battle every time we get in the car, but once we are in there, he is happy.
-He is starting to say real words. He will say the word "ball" when he throws or rolls a ball. He is also saying "mama" a lot more now and will sometimes say "bye".
-He waves bye. It doesn't happen often but when it does, it is so precious.
-He went on his 1st airplane ride and did amazing!
-He celebrated his 1st Thanksgiving and went to NYC for the first time.

I can't believe that it is already time to celebrate his 1st Christmas and then start thinking about his 1st birthday party. I'm not ready for my sweet boy to grow up. We attempted to take his monthly pictures but it's hard to keep Bryson still long enough. At first he was more interested in the band aids on his legs then taking pictures, but we were able to snap a few. Here they are: