He's walking. . .yes-sir-ee

There's been all kinds of happenings this week!



First, we had the Paradis birthday party (that will make the 3rd birthday party Cole has had!) and had a great time! Everyone was so generous and I've been having a great time playing with all Cole's new toys, too. We've been playing nonstop with a Little People airplane that makes take off noises. Awesome.


Here he is stuffing his face with birthday cake. . .looks like a happy kid.


I didn't want to tell you all too early. . .before I had proof. . .but Cole is walking! For the past two weeks or so he's been bravely "walking" a few steps from pieces of furniture but today I can say he walked. He walked about 15 feet. . . stopped. . .looked at me and danced a little. . .and then turned around and kept walking. Of course I didn't get that on video. . .but I managed to get a bit to show you.

Apparently you have to turn your head to the right to see the video correctly. . .sorry.

More soon. . .stay tuned.

the family that eats together. . .doesn't get to watch Wheel of Fortune

I've been a neglectful blogger. . .I apologize. Here's the skinny on the last week or so. . .

We had the Goguen birthday party for Cole. It was a great time. There was cake and xylophones (did I spell that right?) and his first bike. We still have the Bob the Builder balloons, too. I strongly suggest forgoing any presents and just purchasing one helium balloon. It seems these one-year-olds would much rather bounce that off my head for weeks than play with any expensive toys. Just a piece of learned advice. . .

Here are some pictures of the day. . .

(that mystery giggler in the video is Uncle Jack, by the way!)

In other news. . .Cole is completely done eating anything that doesn't look like real food. He's usually so picky that we need to pretend his dinner is off our plates. It's helped to make sure the three of us eat dinner together at the table. I suppose that's really just good manners and good teaching. . .although I'm a big fan of eating in front of Wheel of Fortune. We all make sacrifices. ;-)

It's sort of fun trying to make a dinner that the three of us can eat. Definitely made Bill and I try a few new dishes. And Cole's having fun trying new food, too. The only problem is really paying attention to what he's eating all day to make sure I'm giving him what he needs now that we're done with formula or nursing. I've found a good trick is vegetable stock. . .put it in anything and Cole will try it. It's even better that I made the stock myself!

Here's a picture of Cole on his tricycle. You know you're getting to be a big boy when you get your first bike. . .sigh.

He's had a cupcake. . .a Tilty. . .and banana custard.

Here are some pictures from Cole's first birthday party with Memere and Pepere. . .

Enjoying his first cupcake. . .

Really excited about the present Memere and Pepere brought. . .

More excited with the tissue paper. . .

And playing with his Three Little Pigs play set. . .

Big week so far. Clocked in with Dr. M at 20 pounds, 29 inches. Officially a big boy.

We've been given our instructions to slowly wean off the bottle and try a sippy cup. Of course this isn't very easy with Cole. . .he despises sippy cups. He gets really excited to try a regular cup and gets frustrated with the sucking needed to make the sippy work. So I found the "Tilty". . .and it's worked. . .so far.

The Tilty is a BPA-free sippy cup with no valve. This means it isn't spill proof but that seems to be working to our advantage. Cole realizes this is something to eat and not just to bite and throw across the room. At $6 for two shipped right to my door. . .I'm a big fan of the Tilty, too! You'd think I was a paid spokesperson. . .but seriously. . .check it out if you're in the market.

Besides that. . .I'm trying my darnest to find uses for bananas before they go bad. Not sure what I was thinking when I bought two huge bunches of bananas this week. . .but now I have to figure out what to do with them. So far. . .I've made banana custard, banana pancakes, banana-avocado mousse, and have some sliced lengthwise and in a low heat oven to dehydrate for teething treats. Good thing Cole loves 'em.

Have any other banana ideas? Please send them my way!

confessions of a first-time mom

A year ago today we were just being admitted to the hospital. . .I'd been in labor for about 5 hours already, and we still wouldn't meet Cole until tomorrow afternoon! You'd better believe I'm going to relay that story to him every time he does something I don't like. . .



In thinking about Cole's first birthday and how the time has flown by. . .here are some quick thoughts on our last year. . .



- I wished I had believed all of you that told me to sleep before the baby came. . .you weren't kidding. I'm on my 364th day of not getting a full night's sleep.



- It's amazing how quickly you adjust to having any gooey, slimy, stinky, sticky bodily substance rubbed on your face. Just wipe with your sleeve and continue.



- I've never needed more help than in the last year. . .and so many people have never been so genuine and sincere in offering it.



- A baby makes you really put things into perspective. . .what was so important yesterday isn't even on the radar today.



- I've never felt more love for my husband then when I can sneak a peek at he and Cole playing when they don't know I'm watching.



- The intensity of feelings we have when it comes to Cole. . .worry when he was sick, awestruck while watching him fall asleep in my arms, pride when he crawled across the room and looked back at me to make sure I watched, anger when something or someone hurt him (even if it was the coffee table he bumped into!), and that flood of feelings the first time he said "mama" (although he was pretty angry with me at the time, and I'm sure he was yelling "mama" at me).



- I have no problem carrying on a one-sided conversation with Cole anywhere. . .grocery store. . .doctor's office. . .church (yes, we went back there). . .and have no problem with the looks other people give me.



- I can repeat every word to Cole's favorite book (a panda cake, a panda cake, mama is making a panda cake), sing the ABCs, This Old Man, Little Piggy, There Was An Old Woman, and a few other tunes about 900 times a day. . . .but I sometimes forget my ATM pin number.



- Have traded hiring and firing and wearing menacing heels everyday to a busy office for laundry and dishes and having dinner on the table for everyone each night. . .and wouldn't trade it for the world.



- Some things we can't live without: cheerios, his favorite lullaby CD, a board book, socks, Bill's bongos, and recently, baby gates.



- I have an incredibly hard time not going up to expecting mothers and telling them to sleep before the baby comes. . .I luckily haven't done that to anyone yet. . .except my sister in law. . . sorry Aunt Colette!



Today we go see Dr. M for our one year checkup. I'll post our stats tomorrow. We also will have a nice quiet dinner with Memere and Pepere tomorrow and a Goguen party on Saturday. I'm sure I'll have plenty of pictures of both for you soon.


Here's the most modest first picture of Cole that we have. . .