First Birthday party…kinda

We had a wonderful first birthday party last Sunday, and this Sunday we’ll be digging out of 25″ of snow. We had a professional photographer for the party, so we don’t have that many pictures to share yet. Here are a few that we have so far…

1 year stats

No 11 month stats, I know. What can I say, we were very busy with the holidays and Fred’s amazing walking skills.

Today we had his 1 year well toddler (!!!) visit, and as usual he was stellar. He did happen to put out his bottom lip and pout when the doctor tried to look in his mouth, but other than that, was his charming self.

Stats:
Height: 30.5 inches – 75th percentile
Weight: 22lbs 2oz – 40th percentile
Head Circumference: Yeah, I’m saying she measured wrong because it isn’t smaller than it was at 9 months. His shirts tell us that.

From What to Expect:

90% of babies can:

• Walk holding onto something. Clearly.
• Use a few gestures to get needs met. He can sign for milk and “all done” and does a lot of pointing.

75% of babies can:

• Play patty cake (clap hands) or wave bye-bye. He loves to clap and waves when Dad leaves for work.
• Drink from a cup independently. He prefers his straw cup, which is fine with the pediatrician and fine with us.
• Pick up tiny object with any part of thumb and finger. Oh yes, not a problem for him.
• Stand alone momentarily. Duh.  Of course then he is off and running after.
• Say “mama” or “dada” discriminately. Yep.
• Say one word other than “mama” or “dada”.  He’ll repeat the words “cheese” and “all done”, though he doesn’t offer them up without prompting.

50% of babies can:

• Play ball (roll back to you). He started doing this about 2-3 weeks ago.
• Stand alone well. Stand. Run. Climb…
• Use immature jargoning (gibberish that sounds as if baby is talking in a made-up foreign language). Yep.
• Walk well.  I’d say extremely well.

25% of babies can:

• Say three words other than “mama” or “dada”.  I’d say we’re at three only if you count “All Done” as two words and not one word in his own mind, along with cheeeeeeese.
  
• Respond to a one-step command with gestures. He’s very good at handing us something he is holding or going to get something for us and bringing it back.

Other accomplishments:

• He is totally off of formula and drinking whole milk.  None of us are quite ready to totally give up bottle snuggle time yet though, and since it’s only twice a day for a few minutes, the doctor isn’t at all concerned about that.
• Food time is independence time – he always wants to feed himself these days, including dipping his spoon in his yogurt to feed himself.  He’s a hot mess when he does it with yogurt, but he is great with finger foods.  Of course, he loves to chew things a few time, stick them out on his tongue, and then eat them again.  Such a boy, that one.
• Some of his latest eating accomplishments: Peanut butter bagels in the morning (look ma! no allergies!), oranges, ice cream, cake, chocolate, steak, chili…you name it, he’ll eat it.  I don’t think we’ve found anything he outright won’t eat, it’s more that he needs to be able to do it himself.
• If we say “kiss”, he’ll purse his lips and stick up his chin for a kiss.  He’ll then keep doing it for a few minutes, and we keep kissing.  He’s very kissable.
• We also have his “sleep sheep” which is a giant stuffed sheep that he will pretend to sleep on.  We’ll point out sleep sheep, and say “FLUMP” and he falls down onto him and closes his eyes and giggles.
• When someone says “good job” he’ll clap.  He’ll raise his hands if you cheer yay, or play the Steelers’ fight song. He also claps to music in the car.
• Now that he really walks and almost runs, he loves his walking popper toy, and uses it like a vacuum.   His almost-2-year-old friend Smooch (another boy known for his kissing talents) taught him that one.
• He has eight teeth – four each on top and bottom.
• Definitely mimics what we do.  If we are at a store, he will look at things the way we do, sorting through items and pondering them seriously.
• When we read books, he points along with us.  He loves to bring us books to read, and when his bedroom door is open, he’ll run in there and start pulling them off shelves and flipping through pages.
• He loves to climb into things, especially the laundry baskets.
• He is getting much better at petting Roper, and laughs heartily when he gets kisses from him.  Though Furley had a quick illness and had to be put to sleep last week, Roper has been stepping up and being very sweet with Fred.
• When other kids are around, he’s actually been pretty good with sharing.  He only puts up a small fuss if he can’t get to a toy he wants, but will often bring another toy for a kid to play with in order to trade.
• That being said, if you value your electronics, don’t show him that you have a cell phone or remote control.  He loves them and will get very loud if you take them away.  Just like mom and dad!
• All in all though, he does enjoy the company of other children, though I think he prefers the older kids to ones his age.  They do cooler things.
• We have a small bus that sorts shapes on top and a trunk that opens to let them out.  We showed him how to put the shapes in, and then asked him to try.  He is obviously too young to get the concept of shapes, and couldn’t get them to fit.  However, our smarty pants then opened the trunk, looked at the shape in his hand, and threw them all in the back.  He was quite pleased with himself for outsmarting us.

So much more that he does, but with all of the growing up he does daily, it’s hard to keep track.

O-Man Comes to town

So much is going on with our man these days, it’s hard to keep track. He’s signing for milk, and “all done”. He walks 90% of the time, and if he’s happy and he knows it, he claps his hands.

We’re lucky enough to have our good friend O-Man, his mom JJ, and Dad Mook in town for the week. Such a treat to see them – especially since all the guys have birthdays within a few days of one another.

Lots of pictures to come this week for sure, as we get closer to the big 1 year mark.

11 Months Old!!11!!1!!

One month to go until the big day is here, and as everyone says, it has gone fast. The holidays were so much fun, and had us visiting with tons of friends and family.

First, Grandmom & Grandpop came up to visit and drop off some wonderful gifts including a John Deere tractor & trailer that will serve him for years to come:

Next we drove up to visit with Great-Grandmom & Pop-pop, Great Aunts & Uncles, & cousins Tori and Zachary. Then it was up to New York to visit with college friends Ron & Stacey, and their daughter, the cheerful and giggly Sophie Ella. After a quick overnight stay, it was off to Grandma & Grandpa’s to see their newly renovated house, complete with nursery for the little man. He had tons of fun there, especially meeting his cousin for the first time.

Lizzie is only a few hours older than Fred, and it was fun to see how similar and different they each were. Fred loved her hair while Lizzie was fascinated by Fred’s walking skills. Granted his skills were tested on the hardwood floor as he lost his footing and collided with a small table, giving him quite the shiner. Mom & Dad were more upset than Fred, who didn’t seem to care at all! He’s 100% boy, for sure.

We hit the road a few days after 2010 began and hit Fred’s first Penn Basketball game. Sadly, they are so bad that not even Fred’s great sports luck could help them pull off a victory. Finally, we returned home, where Fred was beyond excited to see Roper and Furley.

A stats post will follow shortly!

Let it snow!

Chanukah and Christmas have come and gone in these parts, and our gigantic snowstorm is getting washed away by the rain. Here are some pictures and videos of the last few weeks of fun we’ve had.

First, Chanukah at Auntie Mel & Uncle Josh’s house:

Then we went to Zoolights at the National Zoo the night before we got two feet of snow!

Last but not least, Fred’s first Christmas. We spent Christmas eve at Ella’s house with her parents, friends, and family. Christmas Day arrived with gifts, and most importantly, our day together as a family.

At first Fred didn’t quite know what to do with the unwrapping, but he got the hang of it pretty fast.

Then we took a short ride on his new sled. The snow was still a little deep to move, and Fred didn’t get why jostling along in the cold was fun. We bet that next year he’ll be the hit of the neighborhood.

Excuse me sir, I think you have my bucket.

Auntie Stefanie Got Hitched!

This past weekend, our friend Stefanie got married, with Fred as the ring bearer. We all packed up and flew down to Orlando to watch her go down the aisle, and of course party. There wasn’t much downtime, but we learned that V loves guacamole and can climb stairs:

Here are some of the family highlights from the ceremony:

Mommy and Daddy are brave

We let him have the spoon for a bit at dinnertime. He even got some of the food into his mouth!

10 Month Pictures

Wait, he used to be smaller than that Elephant?  No way, I don’t believe it.

Coming this week: Pictures of Fred’s trip to Universal Studios and dressing up in a tuxedo for Auntie Stef’s wedding as the ringbearer!

10 Month Stats

No doctor’s appointment until 12 months, so it’s another guesstimation month for height and weight. For the last few weeks he’s been a bit fussy with food, only being interested in adult food or his bottle. I can’t blame him though, have you tasted baby food? That stuff is bland!

Stats:
Height: 29.25 inches
Weight: 20.5 lbs
Head circumference: 18 inches

From What to Expect:

90% of babies can:

• Stand holding onto someone or something. Clearly.
• Pull up to standing from sitting.  As if he even needs to hold on at this point.
• Object if you try to take a toy away.  I pity the fool that tries to take away the clicker from him.
• Say “mama” or “dada” indiscriminately. He says both!
• Play peekaboo. It’s one of his favorite games, though it is now resulting in him always wanting to take off his hat.
• Exchange back and forth gestures with you.  Yup.

75% of babies can:

• Get into a sitting position from stomach. He can get there from wherever.
• Play patty cake (clap hands) or wave bye-bye.  He has started to do both pretty well over the last week or so.
• Pick up tiny object with any part of thumb and finger. Oh yes, not a problem for him.
• Walk holding onto furniture. Duh.

50% of babies can:

• Stand alone momentarily. He can do it more than momentarily. He can do it for minutes on end.
• Say “mama” or “dada” discriminately. As we learned last month, yes.
• Point to something to get needs met. Especially when it involves food, wires, or the cats.

25% of babies can:

• Indicate wants in ways other than crying. He’s a definite grunter for sure.
• Play ball (roll back to you).  He started doing this about 2-3 weeks ago.
• Drink from a cup independently. He prefers that we give him his drinks, but he has held the cups on his own plenty as well.
• Pick up a tiny object neatly with tips of thumb and forefinger.  Especially cheerios.
• Stand alone well.  Yes.
• Use immature jargoning (gibberish that sounds as if baby is talking in a made-up foreign language). Yep.
• Say one word other than “mama” or “dada”. Yesterday at breakfast, we said “all done” when he finished his yogurt, and he said something that sounded like “Ahduhhh” but it also could have been “dada”.
• Respond to a one-step command with gestures. He’s very good at handing us something he is holding.
• Walk well.  Yes.  He was walking all over the house this weekend. He still crawls more, but his first instinct seems to be to try to walk first these days.

Other notable achievements:

• Walking walking walking.  If he’s not standing and observing the older kids that are around, he’s trying to do his best “Frankenstein Monster” impersonation by moaning and waddling towards Furley.
• Waving to people.  Again, I know it’s above, but it’s really freaking cute.
• Navigating steps.  My mom pointed this one out.  By crawling onto the treadmill and back off of it (a favorite game of his), he is effectively climbing steps. A month ago he would crawl onto it and then whimper for us to lift him off. Now he gets into a plank position and crawls down with no problem.
• “In” and “Out”. He loves putting things in to other bigger things, baskets, his toy train, whatever, and then taking it out again.
• Amazingly he still hates the car. Backwards, forwards, it doesn’t matter.  The kid hates to be confined.
• Apparently though, when in this state, if I sit in the back with him and sing to him, he calms down…until I stop singing.
• New foods: Baja fish tacos, calamari, French toast, all of the food from Thanksgiving, and more. Unless it’s baby food, he will eat it. If on occasion he doesn’t like something, he’ll just stick out his tongue and let the offending item fall out.
• When something falls off of the coffee table, he doesn’t need to sit down to get the item. He actually squats, picks it up, and then returns to standing.
• He is showing an increased interest in books, though we think that’s attributed to Ella loving books, and him needing to impress his girlfriend.