Hi everyone! I am so sorry that I have been delinquent in my posts. I could give you a list of reasons why, but rather than hearing all of that, why don’t I update you on the past 3 months. Holden has changed so much and continues to bring us so much joy!
6 Months:
We had a blast! We found ourselves on another great road trip with friends. In the end of September Matt was signed up to run his second 50 mile race of the year in Vermont. He was heading up with three of his friends and I had planned to stay behind with Holden. At the last minute I decided to hop in the car with Holden and make the trek up to Vermont to join everyone! Yikes, an 8 hour trip with a 6 month old?!?!? What was I thinking? Well luckily I have an amazingly well behaved son and a great friend in upstate NY who let me stay at his house after driving about 6 hours rather than driving all the way to VT in one night. So we hit some bumps along the way with Holden crying on the NJ Turnpike with no exit in sight (turns out he had a major poop in his diaper:)). But we made it. I did not lose my sanity and was very happy to have my friends Mike and Susie meet Holden for the first time. The next morning Holden and I hit the road to VT and we had a great weekend cheering on our friends and Matt in the Vermont 50 miler!
If that trip wasn’t enough of a challenge, I also decided to take Holden’s first plane ride 
this month! Rather than taking a quick flight to visit someone on the east coast, we decided to go all out and travel to California! Why not make our first flight together across the country:) Again, what was I thinking?!?!??! Well I was thinking that I had two wonderful friends that I missed dearly and an amazing brother in California that Holden was dying to meet! So off I went, flying solo with Holden to Los Angeles. I must have an amazing guardian angel because the flight out as well as the flight back were amazing! Holden was so well behaved and calm. We had a whole row to ourselves on both flights and, since he had just started trying to sit up by himself at this point, he really enjoyed the space to play.
We had an amazing trip visiting Kim, Kelly, Adam, and Sofia. Holden learned a lot by 
watching Sofia on the move. She is about 5 months older than Holden. He watched her crawl and pull herself to standing. He also used her as a support to hold himself up when he was trying to sit! Ha ha, he is a smart little guy:) While we were there I got an awful stomach bug but was so happy to be there with wonderful friends who were able to take care of me as well as Holden for the 24 hours that I was ill. Unfortunately though we were unable to see Kevin during the visit for fear that we would get him sick too! But we had plans to see him in the end of October so at least we had something to look forward to! We hope that we can make another trip out to California soon!
7 Months:
Another great month! Matt and I celebrated our 3rd anniversary together and took 
Holden out to a fancy dinner at Chiangale in Baltimore. Yum! Uncle Matty and Aunt Gerri came to Baltimore for the weekend to spend time with us and meet Holden for the first time too! We had a great time as always with them and really enjoyed some great quality time. Holden loved them! Also Uncle Kevin flew out to DC to run the 35th annual Marine Corps Marathon with Matt! Plus, as a bonus, we got to introduce Holden to his Uncle Kevin! Yay! Finally:) We couldn’t wait. We had a great weekend. Matt and Kevin ran the marathon very well and finished it in 3 hours and 33 minutes. They were amazing! Joel, Colleen and I spectated along the course and were really excited to be able to share in Matt and Kevin’s first marathon together! They raised a ton of money for the Injured Marines Fund. It was a great day and a great cause! Oh and it was also Halloween so Holden got dressed up for the first time in a costume made by me! Going along with the No Meat Athlete theme, we decided that Holden should be a carrot this year! He was as cute as can be! We had a fabulous time!
Just when you think that the month couldn’t get any better we had another visitor! Meghan and Will came to visit Holden for the first time too! Will was born just 5 days before Holden so we were so excited for the two to meet! The boys were so cute together, learning from each other, sharing and stealing toys from each other! Plus it was great for Meghan and I to be able to spend time together. We look forward to our next visit with them!
Oh, by the way, Holden just started trying to crawl! What a big boy!
8 Months:
Can you believe he is 8 months old? I sure can’t! I also was shocked to see that in the 8th 
month, so much would change! Holden progressed from crawling very awkwardly to being proficient at crawling across the room. He can now transition from laying down to sitting. He is able to pull himself up to stand at pretty much any surface including his crib! One day I got a text from Matt showing me Holden standing up in his crib. I almost had a heart attack because I was afraid he would launch himself out so I came home and dropped the mattress down to the lowest level possible. Also Holden can crawl up about 4-5 stairs, claps with both hands, and he has TWO TEETH!!!!!!!!! On top of that he is now starting to eat some solid foods and is making tons of sounds like “mama” and “dada.” He also has found a new love…Linus and Sascha! He thinks the dogs are absolutely hilarious! He crawls after them in the house, grabs their toys and plays with them! The dogs are really great with him and very tolerant.
So our lives continue to be blessed every day by Holden’s presence. He continues to amaze us every day and brings us so much happiness. We are so very lucky to have him in our lives!
Until next time…
Erin 🙂
