FIRST STEPS

It worked out well that since i was in the posting Mode today, I can update that this evening the kid took his very first steps! Yep! At 5:05pm exactly, he took three steps to me in the dining room... Husband missed this first by about 1 1/2 minutes, as he pulled into the drive around 5:07pm... bummer!! But the kid did do a repeat of the steps for dad - but only two this time. we're super excited, doing lots of clapping, cheering, and laughing.... but also now imagining that the speedy gonzalez we're going to be chasing will now be ON FOOT!!! YIKES!!!

Birthday update - finally!

Not a lot of time for a long post but wanted to get up some pictures of the kids birthday trip to the zoo and him in his new CAR:) He liked the zoo but only really got excited over ONE animal - a horse. We're like @#($ ?? we could have just driven him to a horse farm! Okay, Next Year!









Take Two on the birthday cupcake/candle situation was much more successful - but he still didn't love any of it. the cake, the icing, nothing really but the mess. he seemed to love smearing the icing on his tray and his hands. otherwise, he really didn't eat it. And take note of how far away the candle is from him on take two. didn't want a repeat of finger into flame!





This is when he first spotted and headed towards his car, which we had parked in the front yard after husband put it all together. abram immediately flew to it, crawled on, and was ready for a ride!



he loves loves his car... crawls in and out of his all the time at home. loves going for rides thru the neigborhood and often won't get out, even once we're home and parked in the living room!



He would NOT get out. one night he wasn't feeling well so to make him happy we drove it around and around our downstairs till he was literally falling asleep in it and practically falling out! that is NOT a habit we plan to keep ha.

birthday cupcake take 1

I made cupcakes for the kids birthday... and gave him one all his own with his #1 candle on top....


and yes, i was dumb and set a burning candle right in front of my childs face so i could take a picture...


and yes, he stuck his finger straight into the flame...


and we yelled, not at him like he was in trouble but not wanting him to burn himself! which was now occuring to us. yes, open flame from a candle with 1 yr, not that smart probably?

so we yelled, and he got all sad and scared... and maybe he burnt his finger a little? not sure... but it looks fine now.


and then he would NOT touch his cupcake. but just there staring at it and crying pitifully... would not even try it.


so, i say birthday cupcake take 1, because we must do a redo at some point! and now the kids a bit under the weather (hopefully well do his zoo trip tomorrow!) but birthday cupcake take 2 will be soon we hope!! and hopefully no tears!

Happy First Birthday

His first birthday picture, made this morning... just after he woke up...



Today was the kid's first birthday and we've both been in awe all day, saying to one another, "I can't believe he's one today, can you? ... I mean, it was a year ago ... " and we recount the events of the day he was born, and what we were doing at that exact time, this exact day, last year. "Well, at 8am, you were still feeling pretty good. we were walking the halls, timing contractions..." husband reminded me. "well, at 1pm, i was in some serious pain!" i easily recalled.

He went onto daycare today, since we will do an official celebration this weekend, with cake, a trip to the zoo, and a few gifts as well.

For daycare, i sent him with a special treat to share with his friends and caretakers. Fresh Cut Strawberries:) and he also went with a birthday hat for himself and a couple for his buddies (yes, i was planning at least one pic of the boys in their hats!). Husband dropped him off, and said the staff remembered it was his birthday, and were open arms when he arrived, with many hugs, kisses, and happy birthday wishes! so nice! his buddies daniel and ryan were there as well. husband went by at lunch to have some extra time with him. and then he was able to snap a pic of the boys in the birthday hats.



after daycare, we had a brief time at home for a snack, and then off to the doctor for his well baby one year checkup. He checked out just fine. we saw his other doctor tonight (he has two that work there, and he sees either one) and she wasn't concerned about the lump in his neck, just as the other doctor wasn't. It felt good to hear that from both of them.

no shots tonight so abram was a happy camper the whole visit. we got the okay to try out regular ole cow or soy milk now, as we wish, though i will continue to do some breastmilk for a few more months. slowly converting him to all regular milk.

The doctor listening to his heartbeat...


He measured 30 inches long, 19 1/2 pounds, and head circumference of 18 1/2 - all good. we were excited to turn the car seat around tomorrow but will need to wait for that half a pound she said. bummer! but whats a few more weeks i guess.

We got home and he played in the front yard for a bit...



then he had a friend stop by to say HI and Happy Birthday... and let me just say, he loves Jaylani!



And by this time, the kids hair was well - can we say seriously out of control or what!!



Lastly, by the time we got to dinner, he was getting crabby.... so he opened one gift tonight but was getting so tired and sleepy, we decided to hold off on the others until we do the official celebration. But he opened a gift from pap and mamaw - several new outfits that are too cute! And he got to open one other even earlier in the week from his aunt vicki and family (well mom did!) and mom put it together. A walker/car for him. He's really getting the hang of it and lovin cruising around the house behind it!

A final shot - of abram and me, doing his favorite thing - Pointing!



Many thanks to all for your emails, phone calls, and messages sending happy birthday wishes to him!! We've had a GREAT first year with him, and look forward to many more years of even greater things!!!

Smoothie Time

I've been into green smoothies for the past year or so and while i'm drinking them, the kid started to beg for some... so one day i made it, ensuring that he could have all that was in there, and gave him a bit of his own. he LOVED it and wanted more!


He took right to the straw too, and seemed to enjoy drinking out of it. His first green smoothie was a mixture of banana, apple, rice milk, a touch of vanilla, and a handful of spinach. for those going "ew!" you seriously don't even taste the greens. its yummy good and tasty! Some other combos we do include Kale as the greens, and other fruits such as oranges, pears, berries, and once he hit 11 months old, i tossed in some raw fresh ground flax seeds for the omegas:) his favorite combo is banana, pear, spinach, flax, a dash of vanilla and a few pieces of avocado. but heck, he loves it all...

Clearly - he loves it!

One night we had some post green smoothie puke though. I honestly thought, wow he is drinking way too much of this, but convinced myself that when he'd had enough he would stop drinking it. well, obviously that didn't quite happen. and he was too full. so full that he couldn't get to sleep and (me not knowing) i started swinging and swaying him back and forth to get him to sleep - normally this helps. that night though, he puked. lol and then went right to sleep. ha. needless to say, after that i give him a designated amount of smoothie and when thats gone - thats it! cleaning up green puke = not fun.

He's had several more since and they're a part of his normal diet now! Basically this kid eats anything though. there isn't much he refuses! He's a good eater. and we're hoping he'll pass that 20lb mark on his one year old well baby visit. Then he can FINALLY face foward in that carseat!

Its been too long I know!

I haven't posted in so long ... yikes, time gets away from us so quickly these days, especially now that summer is here. Seems like we've been extra busy lately and each time i've thought of posting, it just hasn't happened. Soon, the kid will be ONE year old - yes, thats the big 1. we can't believe it. i'm sad! i mean, happy that he's growing and healthy and happy but - sad too. his birthday hits on a thursday, so we will do cake that night but an official celebration will be on saturday with a trip to the zoo.

Meanwhile, whats been going on lately? welll -- heres some recent photos to update you all!


abram has recently become obsessed with this ball... when he first received it a couple months ago, he liked it well enough but - wow, in the past 3 weeks or so, he wants to roll this ball around constantly. and has learned the command "go get your ball" and does it... its the first toy he usually grabs and he will play ball for hours it seems!


He's had more trips to Healthy Steps - for the same reason as usual. His right ear is continually battling an ear infection. It improves then declines again. The doctor still seems to think we should wait on tubes and continue treatment with antibiotics. We have tried some natural remedies, as well as the antibiotic treatment. We will continue to just follow his advice. With the arrival of summer, we're hoping he can beat this thing for good! This is him, giving his doctor the eye, like, Uh Oh. what are you going to do to ME this time?!


Well, i wouldn't exactly say we are 'sleep deprived no more' like the photo haha, but its improved. some nights he sleeps thru, and other nights he gets up. but we are feeling more rested for sure. i think the biggest help has been the arrival of SIX teeth! he isn't showing nearly as many teething symptoms as he was, so i think he's just more comfortable. When the ear is troublesome though, its obvious he just doesn't sleep as well. Here he was zonked in the west chester book store. husband thought this was quite an ironic photo... agreed:)


School Picture Day at LaPetite Academy... we didn't know they would do 'school pictures' at his daycare... because when he hit nine months and his life was flashing before our very eyes, we dashed out to sears in a panic, feeling as if we didn't have enough photos already! (like thats even possible). But when he hit ten months, these were taken.


He clearly wasn't Mr. Joyful or Mr. Excited this morning... more like Mr. Sad !


Downright pitiful! but of course, we still bought some of the pictures ha...


And the kid with his whole class:) He's the one on the far left if you can't see the pic that well. i think if you click on the picture, it makes the pictures larger. The two boys on the far right are his buddies. One is three weeks younger, the other a month younger. They're always playing together when we pick him up. and when husband drops him off, abram goes right over to them and plays.

one tooth, two tooth

Husband spotted it this morning. felt of it with his pinky finger.

"Its broken thru," he tells me. "I felt it this morning. He has his two bottom teeth now."

"I've got to write that down," i say, searching for my wallet calendar thats somehow hidden down in my purse. I pull it out to document the event. 'Second Tooth!' i write.

"And his top left is almost there too. pretty soon he'll have top teeth showing!" husband says.

"oh my gosh," i sigh. not an excited sigh. but kinda a sad one. lately the milestones and the firsts, while still exciting and fun, are also coming along with a bit of sadness to me. they are all signs he's growing up. and its starting to happen even faster. he feeds himself. he doesn't need me to. he can hold his own bottle. he doesn't need me to. sigh. growing up. being more independent. doing things himself. i'm a little sad. but happy too. he's a healthy happy growing boy and brings us SO Much Joy.

speaking of healthy - he is still battling the ear infection problem in the right ear. we took him to the doctor last night for a small lump in his neck and a low grade fever he'd been fighting all weekend, which resulted in some very restless nights, for all of us. i saw him messing with his right ear at the park on saturday. uh oh i thought. The doctor confirmed that the right ear is still infected. this is the fourth time. if counting by doctor visits. but its possible its been one long ongoing ear infection thats never really gone away. we feel thats probably the case.

the doctor gave him a shot of antibiotic to really zap the infection this time. we're hopeful it will finally work. we are doing a followup next monday to see. We're hopeful this will do the trick. The next step would be to go to a Ear Nose Throat Specialist. The Dr said they will want to do a tube in that ear. But we aren't there yet and are hoping this shot will be successful. (dr also confirmed the little lump is only a slightly swollen lymph node from the infection, absolutely nothing to worry about).

but when i say Healthy - He is. sure, ear infections have been a battle for him and i hate that. but in the grand scheme of things, its minor and treatable so for that we are very thankful!!