It just gets better

There are days that I think "oh this is a fun age" and then a few weeks pass and I think the same thing. It seems like each new day brings about a new skill, word, or action that makes us laugh (see pics of him trying on a pair of glasses that were left at our house). Yesterday, he realized it was fun to walk backwards. So as he would walk forward, he would just randomly stop and walk backwards. He's also learned how to ride backwards in his truck which makes him laugh a lot. New words this weekend include: doggie and night night. He also perfected the words nana and diaper. He's still working on perfecting Gracie. He can say mommy and mama but won't call us by either name. When will that start?

I also noticed that he imitates others, especially Danielle. This is pretty funny when she acts silly and he mimics her. He's very focused at times and will work on something until he gets it right(i.e. fastening a clip). I love his determination and love watching him hard at work.

At the end of May, beginning of June, we bought him two pairs of sandals hoping that they would last him the entire summer. One pair were Tevas to play in and the other, a pair from Stride Rite for when he goes out. I think the Tevas are a size 6 and the others a 6.5. Well last week we noticed that he's completely outgrown them (think toe hanging over and marks left from the others being fastened). So we went to buy him another pair and ended up with Keens in a size, brace yourself, a size 9!!!!!!!!! I know 2 year olds who wear a size 7. In Preston's defense, he's truly a size 8.5 but the salesman who fitted him recommended a 9 to give him room to grow stating if we bought the 8.5, we would be back next week for the next size up. At this rate, this child is going to be in adult shoes by the time he's 5- lol.

We are heading to Florida at the end of the week to visit his grandparents. It's a much needed trip. Why? Because my parents dote all over us by making out favorite food, driving us around, taking Preston in the morning while I sleep in. It's great. It a week of no cleaning, being annoyed because the house or laundry isn't done, or cooking. It's just lovely. We are also taking Preston to Disney for the day. What's better than that? The only downside is there's a potential hurricane and I don't want our flight to be delayed or cancelled getting there.

Anyway until next week, here are some pics of my silly bean.










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16 Months

Preston is a few days shy of turning 16 months. At this point in his life he's gained a few more words which includes "banana (a-naa-na) and eye." I'm sure there's more but I can't think right now. He's really in to giving hugs, like really good tight squeezes, I wanna show you much I love you hugs. He loves to climb and this past month, he's learned how to run which for some reason cracks him up. He loves being chased and chasing others, including the dog and cat.

Last week he went on his first camping trip with me, my best friend and her girlfriend. Being outdoors is so refreshing and I loved that Preston had a chance to get down and dirty. We had a lovely stream that ran steps behind our tent. It was wonderfully cold and refreshing after hiking and playing hard.

Being home with Preston during the day is still working out well. We have tons of fun and still have time to get in a good nap. Preston still naps from 12p-4p. However, the other afternoon he swung his leg over the front of his crib and climbed out. I'm so not ready to convert his crib. Luckily, he only tried it one more time but Danielle caught him in the act and he hasn't tried it again. Someone suggested the crib tent. I think my other option is to put him in the pack and play if things progress or see if I can remove the platform that holds his mattress and put his mattress on the floor inside of his crib (granted there are no gaps for him to get stuck in). I just worry that if I convert his crib, nap time and bed time will become a nightmare. Not to mention that I don't think he's developmentally ready to go in a toddler bed yet. When did you guys convert?

I'm working on maintaining patience while Preston tests limits. I know the situation could be worse so I won't complain but he will purposely look at me while he's doing something I told him not to do (i.e. play in the dog's water bowl, unplug things, go after the cat). I'm trying to avoid giving a huge reaction so not to reinforce it but sometimes it's hard.

Food consistency continues to be an issue. He prefers that his food is pureed somewhat (similar to stage 3 jarred food). However, he will eat fruit, crackers, etc in whole form. He refuses things like cheese, pasta, rice, etc. I'll look forward to the day he eats what we eat. I mean, he will, as long as it's pureed. He's mastered using a spoon and fork for self feeding. My newest favorite baby item is the Baby Bjorn bib. It's catches everything and wipes down nicely.

We are heading to Nana's and Granddad's at the end of the month. My 8 year old cousin is visiting them for the summer and we are going to tag along on their annual Disney World trip. It should be fun.

13 months

My baby boy is totally awesome. Even after a year, I fall deeper and deeper in love with him each and every day. He's just a funny, energetic, and delightful child. He amazes me with his new skills and antics. I tease that he's "all boy" at times because of his antics.

A few weeks ago, he discovered his penis. And let me tell you that this child doesn't miss an opportunity to touch it. Naked heiny time is now one of his favorite times of the day as well as any diaper change.

Preston has been walking full time for over 4 weeks now. He's great at signing "more", "milk" (which he uses interchangeably for milk, breastmilk, and water), and "all done." We will add a few more over the next week or two. Words include "hi" (which sounds more like "eyeeee", "up", "mama" (which he doesn't use all that much), "dadda" (which he uses a lot-lol), and "oh uh." There are some other unidentifiable words that he uses as well.

With the mention of breastmilk, we are still nursing. I feel like once you pass the 12 month mark, there's some shame attached to nursing. People expect you to stop all together. However, the truth is, we both still enjoy nursing, especially in the morning. It's a relaxing way to start the day. During the day, he nurses here and there but he generally gets water or cow's milk. We've opted not to give him juice because at this point, I see no reason for it. He gets fresh fruit at every meal and I'm not sure there's anything juice can provide that fresh fruit can't.

My little guy loves to play. He especially loves water. So bathtime, washing his hands, and playing with his water table are all at the top of his list. He really enjoys cars, or using things to push around like a car. Everything turns in to a phone for him to talk in to such as remotes, tiles, books, etc. He's learning how to throw, which is both good (balls) and bad (throwing a rock at my glass).

He continues to study things to figure out their function and how it works. I find it incredibly adorable when he tries things for himself like after I cut his fingernails, he'll take the closed clipper and puts it to his nail and then moves to the next one. He loves to try to put our shoes on. When we brush our teeth in the morning, I'll make a noise like "ahhhhhhhh" as I'm brushing and he does it too.

Well enough of me going on and on. I'm not on here that much but when I am, I want to highlight where he's at in his development.

Birthday Weekend

A coworker teases that Preston is a celebrity because he is so loved and adored by so many people. God, writing that sounds so narcessistic but it's true, he's loved by so many of my friends and family. So much that my friend flew in from NY for his first birthday and another friend drove in from DC.

We decided to have his 1st birthday party at Gymboree Play and Music. He attends classes there and it's just the perfect indoor place for a 1st birthday party. They do everything. All I had to do was show up with cupcakes and bottled water. A lot of thought went in to the cupcakes. Yea, I could have bought some from the bakery but I really wanted to feel like I contributed something to this party since they do everything for you. A first I made lemon raspberry but found them way too sweet and a little harsh for little mouths and then I found a lovely chocolate cake with mocha frosting. The mocha frosting is to die for but obviously I omitted the coffee part of it. They were a hit, topped off with a fresh raspberry.

The only thing with being a baby celebrity is that my house ends up looking like Toys R Us!!! He received a lot of cool toys and books. Ideally, I'd like to put some toys away and rotate them in a few weeks but I have to find somewhere to store them. I also have to part with some of his older toys. Half of his large sized toys are geared for outdoor play which helps a lot. We are definitely going to have a fun summer.

The following day we went to our first Pittsburgh baseball game. The Pirates have a pretty bad rep but it was fun to get out in the sun. My friend's husband works for the team and gave us really nice tickets. I would definitely go again. I had no idea what was going on but it was nice to be outside and amongst fans.

And for Preston's actual birthday which was on Monday, Danielle took the day off from work and we went to The Children's Museum.

Happy Birthday

My beautiful baby turned 1 a few days ago. These past few days I've sat back and relived my pregnancy, his birth and the past year being his mother. To say that this past year has been the best ever would be an understatement. Being a first time mother and working through the challenges most experience the first year has been pretty awesome. I can say that now that we are past some of those challenges but even in the moment, I had a lot of support and knew it was par for the course. Preston is just a pleasant, sweet and incredibly funny baby. There's not a day that goes by that I don't fall more and more in love with him or a day that passes where he doesn't amaze me with one of his antics or small feats. I've said this before and I'll say it again that I truly feel incredibly lucky. Getting pregnant was a challenge and so I never and hope I'll never take him for granted.

So here's to Danielle and I for getting through the first year parenting this awesome little boy and here's to Preston for being that awesome little boy.

First Steps

At 11 months, 2 weeks and 4 days old, my little boy took his first steps.

11 1/2 months

I can't believe my last post was in February. Time to catch you up.

Job: My body is suprisingly adjusting to the odd hours. Preston and I have fallen in to a nice routine during the day where we have time to play, go out in to the community, and rest. I love spending the day with him. The weather is starting to warm up which means walks in the park and local neighborhoods and lots of playing.

Food: My sugarplum still prefers pureed food over anything else. I think because he doesn't have to put much effort in to eating it. There are a few things he enjoys munching on but he won't eat pasta for me on his own, he hates bread (did this child come frome me?) and he's finicky about picking up most things with his fingers to put in his mouth. However, if I serve it to him on a spoon, he will give it a shot. I'm not too worried about it though. He won't go to college this way.

Teeth: He has his two upper and two lower teeth. He has two more lower teeth coming in and two upper. He went so long with just two teeth and now it seems like they are all coming in at once.

Skin: He has terrible dry skin resulting in little dry patches and what looks like a red rash on his cheeks and chin. I bought Eucerin but it doesn't seem too effective. I wonder if I should try aquaphor again. Any suggestions?

Sleep: Cue angels singing! My baby is FINALLY sleeping through the night. It happened when I started my new job. Figures right? I guess he realized he didn't have a boob to wake up to. The other nice thing is that instead of crying when he wakes up, he just chats out loud and waits for us to come get him.

Breastfeeding: This kid is a boob addict. Sometimes I realize he nurses to comfort himself. Other times he really wants to nurse and sometimes I think he nurses out of boredom. He always wants to nurse when he sees me and before I leave for work. I think it's his way of saying hello and goodbye. The only issue I've had is that if he's napping with me and wants nurse, he uses me as a pacifier afterwards which is really annoying. I imagine weening is going to be a challenge. Earlier this week we started to give him organic milk before bedtime. It wasn't planned. I had a 6oz bottle of pumped milk that fell over and leaked out 4oz. I didn't have enough time to pump so we made the decision to give him some regular milk. He seemed to do well with it so we just continued for the rest of the week. I'm actually thrilled with this change. I HATE, let me repeat, HATE pumping. I did it for 11.5 months because it was important to me to give Preston breast milk but man, I won't miss that pump. I think with baby #2, I'll be better at managing my milk stash so that in the later months he can get frozen and I won't have to pump as much. However, I was horrible at rotating my freezer stash and ended up throwing away close to 250oz of milk bc it expired.

Walking: Preston isn't walking on his own yet but will walk with the assistance of someone's hand. For some reason walking cracks him up as he laughs hysterically when you walk him around the house.

Cute things: He loves to wave hello and goodbye very enthusiastically, I might add. He loves to take the remote control and prestend it's a phone by putting it to his ear and talking. He signs the word "more" but refuses to sign the word "milk" and instead just pulls my shirt down (yes, it's embarrassing in public). He says "uh-oh" when he drops things both accidentally and on purpose. He was saying mama and mom-mom the week of Valentine's but then stopped (sigh). He claps at anything that brings him joy. He gives the wettest open mouth kisses with his tounge sticking out. Climbing up the stairs is funny to him and he makes it up there pretty fast when you're not looking. He thinks playing tug-of-war with Gracie is hilarious and this seems to entertain him for a while until Gracie gets fed up and takes her toy away.

Upcoming events: My son is going to be 1 in 2 weeks. It's so hard to believe that the time has gone by so quickly. It's been an incredible year. I never knew a love like this. It's absolutely amazing.