My baby is 1 Year Old! What a great year it has been to watch him grow and learn. I've been feeling happy for the past few weeks knowing this day was approaching.
Alex's Birthday:
Alex's big day began with Mommy working from home (on a Monday!) Around 4 pm, he ate a birthday cupcake from Main Street Cupcakes in Rocky River. We've been HUGE fans of the Hudson location, therefore Mark and I decided to take Alex to the new location yesterday. We purchased a Classic Vanilla cupcake for him (along with 5 other cupcakes for us!) At first, he just looked at it; then he picked it up; then he analyzed it; then we took some of the icing and put it in his mouth; then it fell over; and finally he squeezed it until it crumbled all over his high chair and table. Most of it ended up in the chair itself and on the carpet. He never actually put any of it in his mouth himself. I thought this would be a BIG DEAL, but nope! Alex was perfectly happy just playing with it. Nevertheless, we video taped the event and took a bunch of pictures. :-) His next cake will be at his birthday party next Sunday. This one will be Zee and covered in blue icing. I'm sure this one will be nice and messy...
Last night, we started our evening at Toys R Us, so Alex could pick out a birthday toy. He selected the baby laptop (not much of a surprise there, considering he loves cousin Joee's laptop). Mark and I also picked him out a Spiderman walker car to open at his birthday party next Sunday. Then, we headed to Chuckie Cheese for dinner, but they didn't have a Toddler Zone at the location we visited (so disappointed). We knew Alex wouldn't have anything to do, so we decided to go to Famous Dave's where we would enjoy our dinner. All in all, it was a really nice day.
1-Year Doctor Appointment:
Alex had his 1-Year doctor appointment this past Friday. He weighs 20 lbs. and 12 oz. (25 percentile), and he is 30 1/2 inches long (75 percentile). So, we have a tall and skinny toddler. His doctor wasn't too concerned about his small weight because she usually recommends for children to triple their birth weight during their first year, and he has met her goal. She gave us some tips on food including: giving him the square mushy carrots (to increase his usage of finger foods); making him smoothies since he loves yogurt (protein powder, yogurt, frozen fruit); giving him no more than 16-20 oz. of whole milk per day; as much water as he wants; giving him 5-6 mini meals to increase his calorie intake & reduce any spit-up (as opposed to 3 square meals per day); and using a sippy cup with a straw because he already knows how to suck. I asked about how to make sure he is getting enough vitamins and minerals, and she said we should be fine, but if we are concerned, we can buy him vitamins. He was supposed to have an anemia test at this visit, but it is now scheduled for his 15-month visit in July, in addition to both the MMR (Measles, Mumps, Rubella) and Chicken Pox vaccines. We do have a finger-prick test scheduled for Lead at the Department of Public Health for him next Tuesday.
1-Year Pictures:
We took Alex for his 1-Year pictures last Saturday. We went to Sears this time, but I wasn't thrilled with our experience. I doubt we will return. The backgrounds were cute, but the service wasn't very good. I had 2 coupons that I received in the mail, but of course, they would only allow me to use one of them. Then, if I used my coupon [which included (1) 10X13, (1) 8X10, (2) 5X7s, 16 wallets, and 16 minis of only 1 pose], then for any other purchases -- they would be $20 per sheet. If I didn't use my coupon, each sheet would only be $10. She also tried to upsell me on an $80 package 3 separate times and mentioned repeatedly about their photo-finished montages (instead of the natural setting poses). While I sat there confused trying to figure out all of this math as well as what size & how many pictures we actually needed, she just stared and smiled. She offered absolutely no help when I was stuck multiple times trying to understand their pricing. We ended up with no take-home CD and only 3 poses, 1 of which was a single sheet of (2) 5X7s. After reviewing the proofs, I noticed that she cut off the background in 2 different poses -- not very professional. Finally, at the end, Alex almost fell off of the little box he was sitting on, and I caught his face in the palm of my hand before he hit the floor. We followed up our less than stellar visit at Sears Portrait Studio with a trip to Chuppa's for our favorite peanut butter and a trip to the B.A. Sweetie Candy Company -- walking out with approx. $50 worth of candy for Alex's birthday party next Sunday. :-)
Milestones:
There have been soooooo many milestones lately! I finally cried about it on Sunday. (Don't laugh - Dad!) Starting with...
First Haircut:
Yes, the day AFTER we got his 1-Year pictures taken (not very good planning, huh?), Aunt Dawn cut Alex's hair for the very first time. We stripped his clothes, leaving him in only a diaper. He sat on Mark's lap, and we gave him things to hold in his hand for distraction. He only cried once when she used Uncle Jason's clippers, which made a buzzing sound that scared him. Me on the other hand, I cried 3 separate times. At that moment, it just hit me with all of these "Firsts" that have been happening lately.
Whole Milk:
Since we received his doctor's approval, we officially took Alex off of formula and are now giving him whole milk. At Wal-Mart, I spent $3 on Horizon's Organic Whole Milk as opposed to a $25 can of Enfamil Premium. I know that we will be buying 3-4 containers a paycheck, so I am only saving a little bit of money after all.
Furniture Crawling:
While standing on his legs and using the couch and side table in our living room for support, Alex has been standing up during the past few weeks. In fact, I came into his bedroom one morning last week after he woke up for the day, and he was standing in his crib. Yay! He's getting stronger. I hope he will walk in the next few months. Mark sure thinks he will be ready soon. Which leads me to...
Crib Lowered (AGAIN!):
We have officially lowered Alex's crib to the lowest possible setting. He can still pull himself up to standing while holding the side of the crib for support. However, he can no longer possibly fall out. Before it was lowered, and while he was standing, it was at waist-level!
Forward-Facing Car Seat:
Using his birthday money, we bought Alex another car seat last week. (Thank You Mimi!) He now has a Britax Roundabout 50, in addition to the Graco MyRide 65 that now stays put in the Camry. We changed it to forward-facing since he has reached the NHTSA recommended 1-Year and 20 pounds requirement. He LOVES being able to see out the front window. I'm a little curious whether the middle seat is still the safest spot, now that he is forward-facing. It seems like it would be for a side-impact crash, but for a head-on collision, I'm not so sure. It seems like either behind driver's-side or passenger's-side would be safer.
Couple of other misc. stuff:
We're almost ready for the big family birthday bash next Sunday! I think we will have about 25 people, and Mimi, Hannah, Auntie D, Nana, and Pepaw are all coming up too!
After staying up many nights last week and finishing up homemade decorations for the big party, Mommy & Daddy are reminded how much we love this little boy. I must say that for next year, we will be sure to pick a party-theme where we can buy merchandise with the characters. Moose & Zee merchandise anywhere (in-stores or online) is practically non-existent. However, I certainly enjoyed drawing the 2 of them on large "Science-Fair" tri-fold poster board in Yellow and Blue. I used to draw when I was younger, and completing this project sure brought me a lot of joy over the past few weeks. It was nice to concentrate on something artistic and not on the everyday dreaded job, job search, workouts, domestic duties, etc. I am encouraged to do something creative again in the near future.
Alex has been doing this "Funny Face & Breathing" trick that Daddy taught him. He scrunches up his nose, puts on this half smile, and huffs/puffs through his nose. It's hilarious...
And finally: Alex's doctor said to look up the definition of "brat" in the dictionary, and we would see "a 1-2 year old child" as the answer. I think she is referring to the tantrums that we are beginning to see as Alex gets older. Oh boy... here we go! TODDLER YEARS!
