We're Going to the ZOO, Zoo, zoo...

We celebrated the very last days of February by going to the Dallas Zoo! My sweet friend from church, Erin, texted me at 7:52 in the morning and said she knew it was last minute but wondered if P and I would want to join her and her daughter Felicity (who is all of 4 weeks older than P) at the zoo, since it was just 5 bucks until the end of the month. Of course I jumped on the opportunity (which, admittedly, is one of the fun things about being a stay-at-home-mom), and by 10:45 that morning, we were at the zoo.

Now, our zoo experience was a little less than exotic. ;) We spent most of our time in the kids' area looking at farm animals, birds, and fish, but we still had a great time!

Here are P and I up inside the habitat of some little rodent-y creatures that I forget the name of at the moment. :) We did get to have a close encounter with several of them through the plexiglas. Pretty fun (or at least I thought so!). :)

Felicity and P sharing a saddle. We like to pretend they are betrothed. :)

P riding solo.


The coolest part of the visit was getting to go inside the bird sanctuary. You could buy popsicle sticks with birdseed on them or a cup of mealworms (yum!) for $1 and go in and feed the birds, who are more than happy to take the food off your hands. I love P's face in this picture.

Sneak attack!


Of course, here I have this bird 8 inches away from my kid's face, and he was more interested in looking at the birds in the trees.

Oh, the science teacher in me was absolutely LOVING this!!! :) It was the first time (of many, I hope) that I was able to share my nerdy love of science with my son. Everyone always told me that being a SAHM would still allow me to be a teacher - just with a much smaller class size. But until this day, I had never really had the opportunity to combine my love for my son with my love for teaching science. It really was a significant moment for me, which sounds really dorky, but is really true.


P's lookin' a little unsure here.

Me looking up in the tree trying to figure out what in the world P is looking at when there are 2 live birds right in front of his nose! :)

Another cool close-encounter with a bird.

Couldn't help but think about adaptations for eating when I compared this bird's beak to the the beak of the cockatiels. :)

P was a little more interested in this guy.


Erin and Felicity feeding the birds.


Erin overcoming her fear of mealworms. :)

Erin was snapping these photos of us...I had no idea he was playing peak-a-boo. Pretty classic.

Checking out the koi.

More fun with the fish.


Miss Fliss checking out the fish.


I love this smile!!! :)

Checking out the penguins.

We had such a fun time, and I'm so thankful that we were able to enjoy it with good friends...and one who even snapped some great pictures of me and my kid - something that doesn't happen very often! :) Thanks, Erin!

February Highlights, Part 3

A few more little things I don't want to forget about the Peanut in February...

He LOVES to be outside. If we could live outside, he would probably give us the "Parents of the Year" Award. He lights up when you ask him if he "wants to go on a run" or "go play outside" or "go get the mail." He giggles with anticipation when we unlock our front door. In the mall, he HATES his stroller, but if we're in the great outdoors, he's pretty content for as long as you need him to be. I love this about him.

If you weren't with this little person all the time, you wouldn't know that this face is what you see right before he utters his favorite (and first) word: boom. He says boom when he throws things, bumps into things, slams doors, slams drawers, and falls down. He uses it quite appropriately. This is not to be confused with boo, which he says when he plays peek-a-boo, and although it sounds quite similar to boom, it is not. :) He also officially says kitty. He has said other words, but as J points out, we're just interested in the ones he uses correctly and frequently. :) If verbal skills are like any other milestone, he will just hold out and then start talking in complete sentences.

I adore this picture. I can't believe this little kid is mine. He's so stinkin' cute in-my-very-humble-and-not-biased-at-all opinion.

Same sentiments as above.

More thoughts...

When P wakes up from a nap and you go to get him out of his crib, he has started hugging you back around your neck. It melts my heart. He continues to give "nice pat, pats" on your back when you hold him/hug him because that's what his daddy has always done when he's held him. So sweet.

At the end of February (so 14 months) was when P started moving laterally around a room as long as he could hold onto something. He made giant strides in the area of "getting around" this month.

I love his translucent hair...and so does everybody else. People ALWAYS comment on it.

Playing with leaves in our backyard.

Those baby blues still get me.

Studying a leaf...maybe he'll love science like his mama. :)

Getting ready to "boom" the leaves.

It's a bird...it's a plane...

More exploring.

The grass is almost as good as the leaves...but not quite.


A good out-take shot. :) Look familiar?


We love you, sweet boy. Do we ever tell you that? ;)

February Highlights, Part 2...

Here are some more pictures of the Peanut from the month of February. :)

Hanging out by the window in our PJs.

Possibly contemplating "booming" some blocks...

I love his little waking-up face.

Cheese.

Crack monkey at the windowsill. Life is good.

Crack monkey and some stackable cups at the window sill...life is really good.


I could just eat this child up.

Laughing at his Daddy.

Being oh-so-kind and sharing his food with me. :)

Good, Not Good

P has a series of books that he loves by Leslie Patricelli. They are hilarious. Most of them teach opposites, courtesy of a tiny baby dressed only in a diaper. :) (See below.)

{source}

Seriously. Go and buy these books for all the little people in your life. They will thank you.

I've snapped a few pictures with my phone over the past couple of days that I thought I could turn into my own book...I would creatively call it, "Good, Not Good." Below are some pictures I would include...

Big, comfy, big-boy car seats are good.


Swinging outside is good.
(Thanks for the picture, Aunt KiKi!)

Ice cream is good.

Ice cream goatees are good.

Pensively thinking about ice cream goatees is good.

Being constantly on the move and unwilling to stay in the same room my mom is in so when she hears a dramatic CRASH and intense screaming and comes sprinting into the family room where she finds me face-down on the mat at the back door, which she assumes (you know, since she wasn't in the room with me) slid out from under me when stood on it and pushed against the door so I fell face-first and most likely hit my forehead on the door jam at the bottom, which is why I have a scrape and a blueish bump on the left side of my forehead is not good. (True story.)

What do you think?
A bestseller?
Simple and to the point, no?
Kids are gonna love this one.

News Brief

This weekend was chalk-full of family time.

Friday night we were spur-of-the-moment, living-on-the-edge-of-our-seats parents and halted our dinner preparation to join in on a last-minute dinner invitation to Mi Cocina with my parents and Kristen and Barrett. (This should tell you how we feel about Mexican food...all it takes is a phone call, a little arm-twisting [which in our case came via my dad with the words, "You can have your leftovers tomorrow night."], and we'll pretty much stop whatever we're doing.) And when I say "mid-preparation," I mean it...case and point, the next morning J was going to make some eggs. He asked me if the skillet was clean (it was sitting on the stove top with some liquid in it), and I told him that I remembered cleaning it after making P's lunch the day before (this was true). I guess he didn't trust my response, which, as it turns out was a good choice on his part, because when he stuck his finger in the liquid to check it out, he discovered that it was some EVOO that I had intended to cook the veggies in the night before. Oops. Give a girl the opportunity to eat some Sunset Fajitas, and she'll just leave a dirty pan on the stove...(it should be noted that this is the ONLY reason I would EVER leave a dirty pan on the stove...just ask my husband.) :)

Here we are at Mi Cocina. Sorry about the picture quality, I was using my phone, and as you can see from the blurry images, these three were having a dance party while we were waiting for our bill.


We spent Saturday night over at Grandma Judy's and Pop's. We had a great time, and P entertained all of us at the dinner table.
You can see for yourself here.
Every time a napkin was placed over his head, he screamed. :)
Watch the video. It'll make you laugh. :)

We rounded out our weekend over at my parents' house on Sunday night, where P got to experience his first taste of Grandpa Ron's famous salmon. P took a couple of bites but didn't seem to understand that leaving any bites of salmon on your plate (or highchair tray) is completely unacceptable. Not to worry. I ate the pieces he didn't eat...off his tray...hey, don't judge. If you'd had it, you'd understand.

Here he is hanging out with his grandpa.

And here's Grammy Share getting in on the fun.

While the weekend would have been complete with just spending good, quality time with our awesome families, there was an exciting event that took place that is important to update you all on...

THE PEANUT TOOK HIS FIRST STEPS THIS WEEKEND!!! :)

Of course, we don't have any of those documented because we weren't encouraging him to take steps. He did it entirely on his own with no coaxing from us! We were at a friend's little girl's first birthday party and were actually talking to another set of parents about how P wasn't really walking but was pulling up on everything and walking around things as long as he could hold on to something. Then low and behold, we look over, and P lets go of the couch he's pulled up on and proceeds to take 2 steps! We were so excited. :)

He repeated this trick at Grandma Judy's and Pop's house later that evening, and then last night at my parents', he took 5 steps to my mom!

In not too long, our world is going to change...famous last words, I know. :)

February Highlights, Part 1...

The month of February was a fun one in our house. P is changing daily. There are so many times when I look over at him and think, "You weren't doing that yesterday!" I feel like I've blinked my eyes and all of a sudden I have a little boy instead of a baby, and I'll admit...I'm loving my little boy (and I know his dad is, too!)

This picture brings to mind TEETH. :) We have quite the set at the moment. As of mid-December, P had 3 teeth. As I write this today, he has all 8 of his front teeth AND 3 molars!!! And not surprisingly, we went from no molars to 3 molars almost overnight.

A couple of weeks ago P was in a bad state of mind. Poor guy. He is normally in such a good mood and easy-going and happy, but we had a few days were he was fussy, whiny, and just not our typical Peanut. For what it's worth, at the time we did check his mouth, but he didn't seem to have any molars coming in (or at least we thought). We did give him some Tylenol one day, but other than that, we just cuddled him and took him for walks and played outside, and it seemed to pass. Then, we had 2 HORRIBLE nights of sleep. The first night P woke up at 1:30 and was awake and crying until 4:15. The second night he woke up at 3:15 and was awake and crying until 5:45! We thought it had to do with the fact that he had been sick the week before and had gotten used to me getting up with him in the middle of the night. Since he had been in a perfectly good humor those two days during the day, I didn't even consider molars being the culprit. The next night, P slept fine (thank you, God!), and I thought we were back to normal...and we were...but with one extra tooth in the back of his mouth that I discovered during his bath. :-/

I would like to take a moment to publicly apologize to my child if he was experiencing teething pain in the middle of the night. Your mommy and daddy are new at this thing, Peanut. We thought we had ruled the teething thing out. We were obviously wrong. Don't worry. We'll make it up to you by hopefully not making the same mistake with your hypothetical sibling years from now.

I should also add that a few days later when P was in the bathtub, I checked his mouth again, you know, to see how his one molar was doing. The top left one was doing just fine...as was his top right one...and his bottom left one! P, we can't keep up with you! :)

UPDATE: I've been coming back and working on this blog over the past few days, and this morning (3/9/12) when I checked in P's mouth, the 4th molar was poking through!!! No wonder he was a little fussy yesterday. What a trooper! (And as a side note, I just looked it up and found that most babies get their first molars around 14 months, so doesn't it make sense that P's would all come in within 2 weeks of being 14 months!? Seriously. This kid is like clock-work.)

In this picture, artistically speaking, I think P is trying to imitate the octopus bath piano (yes, you heard me right) in the background. The octopus is definitely one of P's favorite TOYS at the moment (which, now that I'm thinking about it shouldn't be so surprising, as he spent months 3-5 of his life obsessed with the green, plush octopus that hung above his play mat). Although we try to relegate this toy to bath time, it does make an appearance from time to time during the day when we are in the bathroom and slamming cabinet doors, another favorite past time.

P also loves to play with his crack monkey (which I just replaced the batteries in for the 3rd time - thank you Aunt Debby for the battery charger! It worked!!!), empty yogurt containers, anything stack-able, his singing Potsy (a rather flamboyant cooking pot from Leapfrog that he got for his 1st birthday), large plastic magnets, his wooden puzzle (where he "booms" the pieces one by one onto the floor - although he does take the pieces out the tiniest bit and puts them back and then claps for himself), his singing tool bench, a yellow plastic ball that rattles, and a funny little toy where you put a ball in the top, and it rolls out to either the right or the left. He loves to chase the balls down and repeat.

Other past times include stacking blocks and knocking blocks down, banging on the piano, walking behind the dino, getting his parents to chase him around the house, tormenting the cats, pulling up on EVERYTHING, banging drawers and cabinets, reading, reading, and reading, grooving, listening to music, singing songs, and standing at the windows (most likely with some stackable cups).


These pictures were taken on a rare occasion where I was giving P a bath. Our normal night-time ROUTINE involves the following: P eats dinner around 5:30. J is home by 5:30 on Tuesdays and Fridays so we can eat together as a family (we also aim to do so on the weekends). After we eat, J gives P a bath while I get dinner ready for us or clean up the kitchen. We try to be good parents and calm things down for P by reading to him before he goes to bed, but honestly, most of the time, the kid won't hear of it. He wants to play...and most of the time, we let him because he willingly goes to bed about 7:15 every night after he nurses. In fact, I've told people that as I'm saying his prayers, a lot of times P is lunging out of my arms towards his crib, and I can just hear him saying, "Say 'Amen,' woman. I'm exhausted!" :)


Sleeping has gotten a lot better...A LOT better. J and I always tell people that P has many redeeming qualities, but being a good sleeper has never been one of them. Right after P turned one, he was waking up in the middle night...EVERY NIGHT...at 3:50 for no apparent reason - just ready to hang out, I guess. When we finally worked that out, he got sick, and then he got his molars, and now, he's been going to sleep at 7:15 and sleeping until 5:30, when I get up and nurse him, and then he normally goes back to sleep until 7:30ish, although this morning, he made it all the way until 6:30. :) So things are improving. Just a few short months ago, I was thinking to myself that I hadn't had a solid night's sleep in over a YEAR (and that is kind of depressing...), so to sleep from 10:30-5:30 (or 6:30!) without waking up has been such a gift! I'll never take sleep for granted again.

As a side-note, one thing that P really IS good at is sleeping from the hours of 7-12...no matter where we are. :) He is more than willing to fall asleep in his pack-n-play at someone else's house, which is so nice! He comes to our small group with us each week and pretty easily makes the transition from crib to car seat to bed...not without waking up, mind you, but he just willingly falls back asleep. So, thank you Lord, for P's ability to do this. :) We don't take it for granted!


We don't just eat washcloths at our house. :) P has a lot of FOODS that he's loving right now. These include, but aren't limited to, pasta, chicken, Kashi blueberry waffles, whole wheat bread, cheese, cheese, and more cheese, yogurt (on the days he'll let me feed it to him), beans (especially white beans), any type of veggie (including carrots, peas, green beans, corn, broccoli, red pepper, zucchini, yellow squash, mushrooms, and onions), and any type of fruit (including apples, grapes, oranges, clementines, kiwi, banana - sometimes, and blueberries- ALL THE TIME...I often picture him turning into a male version of Violet Beauregarde from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.) Unfortunately, it looks like we're allergic to eggs...I gave P some scrambled eggs the other day, and he got red splotches all around his mouth and up towards his eyes. :( Neither J nor I had any food allergies growing up, so we're not sure where this is coming from or what to do with it. Sigh...hopefully he grows out of it quickly.

Overall, I would say that P is a pretty good eater. He is as slow as molasses in January, but a perk is that we can sit down and eat with him, and he's not done before we even take our first bite. :) My struggle is to find healthy things that are easy and fast, and thankfully, a mom's group that I stay connected with has LOTS of good ideas that I'm looking forward to trying out. Right now we're trying to introduce regular milk, and he doesn't seem to have a lot of interest, so we'll see how that goes. I would also say that he doesn't love eating meat (maybe it's his granola-y Austin connection) :), but I just keep trying things out with him.


Oh sweet Peanut, you are so loved. Thanks for being so much fun to be around! :) You make our little world a better place to be.