Park Days are Here

Little man is 13 months old. I can't not believe how much he has grown in the past month. How he squats, walks and carry's things to me. He listens and reacts to me. I love that I can ask him if he is hungry and he will run to the kitchen to his high chair. I tell him it is time to go to bed and he goes right for the staircase and climbs the stairs. He growls when he sees a lion and points to the light and says it's name. He points to the stars in his room and tells me they are stars. He still will not say my name and continues to say DA DA and refers to him in the correct term. He will wave to his Dada when it is time for him to leave in the morning. And he runs to the door when he hears him come home at night. Every day is an adventure with my little man.

Get this swing going for me.

Now that is more like it.  Higher, higher!

I want to try this swing.

Come on mom let me swing on this one.

Catch me if you can!

I love being a big boy at the play ground.

This car rides differently then the one my mom drives.

Drums at the Park

Long Weekend - Sad to see it end

The last morning we packed up and headed back to the beach to enjoy it one more time before heading home. We loved it and it was more beautiful that morning then the days before. The wind was calm and the waves were perfect. Little man still did not like to be anywhere unless he was under the umbrella. He was such a trouper. His schedule was off and he stayed a happy little man all the way home. Here he is in his big boy car seat

We loved Carolina Beach.

Daddy and Little Man enjoying the coastal breeze.

Little Man is ready to roam freely on his own under the umbrella

Are we home yet?

Slurps and Burps.

drinking his big boy drink.

Long Weekend Continued

The next day we went to church and afterwards we met at a park and had lunch. Diana brought her drums and noise makers and we had fun making beautiful music together. Before you knew it kids and families came over to join in. Here is our little man with his new friend Jon hanging out with the drums.

A Long Weekend

Our little family of "three" took advantage of the long weekend. A few weeks prior Adam's sister mentioned about taking a trip and before you knew it we were all heading to the same place for a long weekend. It was so much fun. I wish I had been better about knowing where the camera was at all times and could have taken more pictures.

I am ready for the beach when will we be there?

It was absolutely breathtaking to see the ocean and the rolling waves on the coast. It was wonderful to feel the warm sun and cool breeze. It was wonderful just being with my little family and extended family for a time. Long weekends are the best. Here are some pictures that I did take of our trip.

Little Man's first trip to the Beach.

Little Man did not like the sand or water but was very happy under the umbrella for the day.

Little Man taking his first sip of Diet Coke.  

Uncle Josh and Christine

So past my bedtime, let's eat and get some shut eye.

The group at dinner after the day at the beach.

What's for Breakfast

My normal breakfast is a green smoothie and it takes me a few hours to drink like a 30oz of it. I love it but lately I have been wanting something a bit more hearty in the morning. I have come up with a might tasty breakfast that both little man and myself really like.
 
1 cup Oat Grouts
3 cup water
handful of dried cranberries
2 apples peeled and cored and cut into chunks

Put everything into a pot and bring to a boil. Then put a lid on the pot and turn down the heat to low and let it simmer for about 40 mins.

I have found it is to chuncky for me and little man.
 
I put it in my super duper blender and blend for a minuet, not long.
 
Then pour into our individual bowls. This is when I like to add a little sweetener, sugar, agave, stevia you get the point. This morning I added some heavy cream but you can use milk, almond milk, soy milk. Whatever you drink.

This is what is for breakfast and it was really yummy.

I have also found we like to do the same thing with dried apricots and raisins.

Battle of the Bottle

What have you got for me to try this morning?

It is time I know, yet I am having a hard time wrapping my head around getting rid of the bottle. He is almost 13 months and I still give him a morning and evening bottle. I love that cuddle time with him. We start our day and end our day in the rocker and I feed him his bottle and hold him, cuddle him and enjoy the little baby in my arms.

 Ok he is not little anymore. My arm sometimes falls asleep now with his head on it and if he angles it right it kind of hurts. He sprawls out in my lap, and sometimes he tries to look out the window and forget he is eating. He now throws his bottle on this last slurp. But n those 10 mins it takes him to fill up on the bottle, I love it. I treasure it. I still love to hold my little man and feed him. I am working on getting me ready for his transition. Now it is convincing him that he doesn't need a bottle and figuring out a new night time routine without a bottle. UGH!

I have spent oh so much time on the internet reading reviews about sippy cups, beginner cups, straw cups, spill proof, expensive and cheap ones. Reviews and reviews of parents who love their sippy cups. I have been off to the store to look for these sippy cups and come home to try it out and see if he will take it. He has come to enjoy one cup so far.  Now my hubby gave me the idea that he would take a straw sippy cup because of those pouches we feed him. He sucks them up.

I love these pouches and the grains they put in them.  My little man is eating better because of them.

Well he was right. The kid picked up the sippy and once he figured where his mouth went he started to suck.  The one he took to is a Playtex little gripper Straw cup.

Now here comes the battle of the bottle. I have tried to get him to drink water, milk, juice whatever. He has now decided he doesn't like milk. For the past few months I have been adding milk to his formula gradually. I got to half full of each and he wont take it. Give me a break. So I had to get sneaky with the little man and made him his first smoothie. It contained whole organic milk, frozen strawberries, banana and flax seeds. I put it in this sippy and put it on his tray. I walked away.
 
 
He drank the whole 4oz. Wow, so the next morning I did the same thing. This time I changed it up a bit and added a berry mixture with spinach and milk. Put it on this stray and walked away. The kid picked it up and drank it all gone. He is getting his milk, fruit and veggie in a serving. Love it! I try not to get too excited in front of him. Letting him think it is his idea.


 Well today. I put the sippy on his tray with water and some lemon in the water. I left it there while I was cooking dinner. He was playing around and I saw him reach up and then grab the sippy and drink 2 oz from it. I about died seeing him do that. He has not taken water before in it. Now I am on the hunt to get another one of these sippy cups to have on hand. So now the next thing for me to do is get rid of the bottle. I am working on it. But at least he is drinking sippy during the day right?

The big complaint about these cups is the straw is too short you can't get the last ounce in this cup and he totally let's me know he has another ounce of smoothie and needs help.  So we take of the lid and let him drink the rest with some help. 

Mom stop with the pictures and let me enjoy my smoothie. 

Loving my new sippy cup and smoothie!

One Year Family Pictures

Little Man's one year pictures.

Our little man turned one and so it was time to get some family pictures done

We had too much fun with the balloons.

This is a face to love.

 I think he gets his looks from his mommy.

I love how these turned out.

Little Man is ready to take off.