Tucker, Tucker, and more Tucker!

Tucker just turned 9 months old. What?! I really can't believe it. He has changed so much from his last update on the blog.

If you remember, he was undergoing physical therapy to treat his torticolis and he weighed in in the 1% for weight a few days after Christmas.

We are happy to report that Tuck graduated from physical therapy right before we moved! Yay!! He really improved quickly! We were told to expect 4-6 months but this kid graduated in 3! We miss his therapist Ms. Monica but we are glad not to have to report to her once a week anymore! :)

Tucker went through quite the growth spurt after Christmas as well. He weighed 13.8 lb at 6 months. By 8 months he weighed 18LB!!!

I know this is not huge for most babies but for some perspective, Hannah and William were both 18lb at a year!

My sweet baby has an unparalleled love of solid food. William had a huge appetite but nothing like this!

Tucker started sitting unassisted for long periods of time the day he turned 6 months. He quickly began scooting and a little before 8 months, started crawling on his hands and knees.

Here is a video of him from Feb 24th. It was a few days after he started really crawling.

Of course now he is super fast and is pulling up on everything. Most of the time he just pulls up to his knees. He doesn't quite have the strength yet to pull all the way up to standing consistently.

His favorite things these days include food, waving HI, snacks, taking toys from hannah and william, food, clapping his hands, pat-a-cake, and snacks!!!

He says Da Da for everything and says, "HI!" when he waves.

A video of some waving and saying HI. No, we are not at the zoo. The crazy loud screaming chaos in the background is hannah and william on a particularly crazy evening!!!!

He takes 2 good naps a day (only he gets woken up a lot to accommodate the schedules of his older siblings) and still sleeps like a champ at night.

He got 6 teeth in 6 weeks! Ouch! Sweet boy did great through it all. He was a little fussy for a few of them but I was shocked how well he handled cutting all of those teeth! He slept, ate, and played like normal!

My resident chunk-a-munk! :) LOVE HIM!!!

Life in the Sunshine state

Well, we have been here almost 3 months now! I can't believe its been that long! I have to say I really like Tampa. The "winter" weather is really nice. I love our location although I don't know if we will buy something in this specific area. We are still looking. I love the scenery and being so close to the beach. I love that my children can start swimming lessons March 1st in an outdoor pool and I love that I have a tan and its not even mid-march! ;) I'm happy with Hannah's school even though we really miss her old one... I love that it takes me 7 minutes to get there!
I miss family. I miss friends. I miss knowing my state as "home". Overall, we are very happy here and look forward to settling in further!
Here are a few...or a lot of pictures from the past few months!

We had a visit from Graham, Laurel and Audrey!!!
The boys at the zoo
Hannah and Audrey. (Hannah pouting...)

Hannah loves climbing trees! Who knew?!

A little trip to downtown Disney. Laurel had a conference in Orlando so Graham and Audrey played with us. They ended up playing a little longer than planned since Atlanta was buried in snow and ice!! Flights were delayed for a few days.
Hannah and William were very concentrated at the lego store.

Fast forward a few weeks... Time for Gasperilla! This was our first Gasperilla experience. Think Mardi gras...but Pirate themed! :) Fun parade+lots of beads=Hannah in Heaven! :)
The parade happens on Bayshore Avenue. It was a cold day in Tampa!
William loves the water!!!
a bull nosed ray swam by to say Hello!
A chilly-willy Tuck!
Maybe Gasperilla should have had its own post. I'm having a hard time narrowing down the pictures!!
Here are the pirates coming to invade Tampa!!!
William (watching the water again) waiting for the pirate ship to fire its canon
Hannah with her beads!
Hannah earning them...
The final pile of loot or booty...or whatever it is that pirates call it... maybe treasure??
We can't wait to make the Gasperilla parade an annual tradition!

I have to say that there are parks and playgrounds galore around here!!! We have tried out quite a few. Here are some pictures from one of our favorites

This is such a Jason-as-a-child smile!

Very Merry Christmas!

For the second year in a row, we visited Disney for Mickey's Very Merry Christmas party. This year we were in town anyways, in search for a rental house. Now that we are an hour away, I guess it will become a tradition to kick off the Holiday season! The kids have so much fun. The parade is great, its not that crowded and the fireworks are incredible, in true Disney fashion! To top it all off, its a tradition shared with Kian, Hannah's life long friend who is now only a short drive away!
William didn't want his picture taken in front of the sign...so he hid IN the sign...

3 men in a teacup! :)
William during the parade. Waved at everyone!
Mickey and Minnie!
The highlight for Hannah
The highlight for Tuck
My favorite part, Cinderella's coach
The castle in lights
The rest of our Christmas pictures are on my mom's camera... But here is one to say
Merry Belated Christmas from The Simmons!!!