A Day in the Life of a Peanut in January

Sounds kind of like the title of a country song, doesn't it? Or maybe a non-fiction, kid-friendly science story? :)

Since I never did an official "January update," I feel like I should at least throw in P's stats from his 1 year doctor's visit, so that I have it documented somewhere. :)


Weight: 23 lbs., 13 0z. (65th percentile). Slowly, but surely, we have slowed down on the weight gain. It's funny to look back and see the progression: at 2 months he was in the 90th percentile for weight, at 4 months was in the 80th percentile, and 6 months the 75thpercentile, at 9 months 75th percentile, and now down to the 65th.

Height: 30.75 inches (75th percentile), which makes perfect sense, since J and I are obviously taller than 75% of the people our age. ;) Other than 4 months (where he was in the 80-85th percentile for his length), he's actually been in the 75th percentile for height his entire life, thus far.

Head: 19 inches (90th percentile), which I know means he is very smart. (Must be all the books he reads). :) He was in the 75th percentile at 2 months and 4 months, down to the 70th percentile at 6 months, back up to the 75th at 9 months, and is now hanging out at the 90th percentile.

Okay, now that we have those stats out of the way...we'll get to the pictures. Starting in January, I started taking fewer pictures of P (as pointed out by J), and at first I wasn't sure why that was...until 3 seconds went by, and P disappeared around the corner and out of sight. :) To say that this child is on the move is an understatement. As soon as his first birthday came and went, we think P decided that he was a big kid now and was ready to see the world. It has been AMAZING to watch all the changes over the past 2 months...especially in the "busy-ness" department.

If you were to come and spend the day with us back in January, here are some things you might have seen/done...

We still enjoy playing with drawer pulls...

Reading books...especially those by Leslie Patricelli (this one happens to be Big, Little).

Playing with our yogurt containers (J and I have said multiple times that we don't need to buy the kid any more toys, as his favorite thing to do is chase after/roll around these empty yogurt containers, which, as you can see above, can also be worn as a hat)...

And more reading...this time it's a Sandra Boynton book (I believe this one is Birthday Monsters).

And more reading...

And more reading...

Spinning/balancing our pacifier on the side of the bed. :) I should also go ahead and mention here that starting in January we decided to start relegating the pacifier to his crib (we're not perfect at this, but decently consistent). One morning when I got P out of bed, I told him that he wasn't in his bed any more, so he needed to drop his paci back in his crib until later, and low and behold, he took the pacifier out of his mouth and threw it into his bed, and he's done that ever since...sometimes accompanied by the word, "Boom!" :)

When you can't get your hands on a yogurt container, an applesauce container will do in a pinch. I love this head tilt, which is also a pretty common thing. :)

Hanging out and smiling. :)


I love this sweet little profile with the turned up nose (and the duck-tail hair). :)

Playing at the front window, while looking rather sweet, I might add.


We seriously spend a lot of time here...

But most of the time it includes a yogurt container...


If people walking by would only look up. :)

In January we finally mastered the stacking rings (with dad's help). You still have to clap when the red one goes on.


I will have to write a post dedicated to this monkey...it is P's go-to-toy, with out a doubt. When you squeeze its hand it plays the song "Dynamite" by Taio Cruz (everyone's favorite artist, I know). It has been renamed "Crack Monkey" by P's Uncle Bear, and there couldn't be a more perfect descriptor.


Hanging out with our favorite toys.

Again, staring longingly out a window...poor kid. You'd think we never let him go outside.

I love P's sweet little curls. :)

But his hair has a mind of its own. :) It ALWAYS looks like this when we get him out of his car seat.

We spend a lot of time behind our dino...P loves this thing!

We just book it back and forth between the front door and the door to the backyard.

As I said, love the dino.

There are those front teeth again! :) I just think they are so sweet!

A happy Peanut.

Another head tilt. :)

65th percentile for weight doesn't mean you still can't have some good arm rolls...

We enjoy playing with blocks...

He even decided that throwing the blocks back into the bag was just as fun as pulling them out...Mom liked that game! :)

P LOVES to eat pasta...especially with some dried basil and a little Parmesan cheese. Starting in January, he also started playing peek-a-boo by covering (or at least trying to cover) up his eyes. For some reason, he seems to enjoy playing peek-a-boo the most while he's eating foods (such a Parmesan-coated pasta) that stick to his face and hair. Sigh. :)

So that was January in a nut shell, we'll see if I can get February's picts up by April.

Happy Heart Day! (Belated...go figure!)

It's hard to believe that this time last year our little stoic Peanut looked like this:
I tried to recreate this picture...but I had several things working against me. 1) P has been under the weather for about a week, so we weren't in the best of moods...2) Our time was limited, as I had spent most of my day subbing in PE back at my former school (glad to know I did not miss my calling as a PE coach, nor as a Kindergarten teacher - I might add, so I don't need to lose sleep over that anymore)...3) I was alone while taking this picture, and unlike last year, the child is rather mobile, so my attempt to keep him from falling out of the chair while keeping him from eating the sign while taking his picture proved futile, as can be seen below...

Fail #1 :)

A little bit better, but still fail #2 :)

We felt very loved this Valentine's Day...thanks to all of our sweet family members for thinking of us!

Heart Day is pretty low-key at our house (and always has been), but J always gets me flowers. :) Since his love language is not gifts (which is really hard for me to accept), I showed him my affection with this:

I know. Exciting stuff. I'm thoughtful like that.

The only plus to P not feeling well is that he went to sleep early that night, so things were quiet around here a little before 7:00, which is when J came in the door with our Valentine's dinner from Mi Cocina...because nothing says, "I love you, Happy Valentine's Day!" like Sunset Chicken Fajitas...well, that's not entirely true. Really nothing says, "I love you, Happy Valentine's Day!" like their spicy blue cheese dressing. :) (Seriously. Have you ever had it? It's pretty awesome. So awesome that next year, instead of candy, I might give J a bowl of it...) In addition to our fancy dinner (which also won bonus points because it was cooked by someone other than myself), we had some fancy-schmancy wine that we received as a gift at Christmas that was to be saved for a special occasion (like eating take-out Mexican food at home). :) It was really good...like some-of-the-better-wine-I've-had-in-a-long-time good. So in case you're interested...here it is:

And as we ate our dinner and sipped our wine, we watched the first movie we had seen in FOREVER...

...cause nothing says, "I love you, Happy Valentine's Day!" like Brad Pitt (that may be a little more like it). ;)

To round out our night, I made a rather exciting dessert. We normally do fondue, but this year, we decided to spice things up a little and try something new. Say "hello" to the Molten Lava Cake, courtesy of the Neeleys. :)

I know, I know, you're thinking, "Wow, L is quite the chef!" But you shouldn't be too impressed. This was ridiculously easy to do. You can try the recipe yourself...here's the link! My only suggestion would be to add a little salt to bring out the flavors...and to use a good quality chocolate chip.

As J pointed out, from now on, Valentine's Day has a bigger meaning for us than cards, flowers, special dinners, fancy desserts, and candy...it's a day where we get to remind P about how much he is loved by us, his family, and his heavenly father. So from our family to yours...

A Very Happy, albeit belated, Valentine's Day!