My adventures in pregnancy, motherhood and beyond

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Wednesday, November 20, 2013

12 Months

Due to the nature of moving and all the stresses that have come along with this particular move and my tendency to freak out and shut down, this post is massively, massively late. It will be accurate to the month though--I take notes throughout the month and then write up these posts. Sometimes, if I'm way ahead of the game, I even fill the post in throughout the month. So let's see. We took G to Disneyland for the first time this month. He was completely mesmerized and totally confused. He didn't smile much, but you could tell he was taking in every little detail. We went to meet Mickey Mouse (with his crocheted hat!) and he tried to grab Mickey's nose and eyes. He was fast asleep in the stroller before we were even out of Toontown. Our schedule: Peter Pan's Flight, Dumbo, Tea Cups, Meet Mickey, lunch, Story Book Land Canal Boats, Casey Jr. Circus Train, home for a few hours, Little Mermaid, King Triton's Carousel, Monster's Inc, World of Colour, Indiana Jones (for mama). As you can see, we did make it to both Disneyland and California Adventure, which was awesome. Unfortunately, the King Arthur Carousel was closed for maintenance and they had to close Small World because of high winds and debris, which was a bummer. But we've saved something for next time!
It feels like just yesterday I was holding him for the first time and marveling at his tiny hands and how much he slept. Then again, a lot of our time in the hospital and the first few weeks at home is a blur of dirty diapers, teensy clothes, 20 minute naps and tons of pumping. It's amazing to see how much he's grown. Not just physically, but in terms of his personality and development too. I feel like something deep and pithy should go here, but really it's just been crazy. Being a parent makes time go so much faster and so much slower, it makes you appreciate 5 straight hours of sleep, it makes you know all the Disney Jr theme songs by heart and it couldn't be any more amazing. We have been so blessed with our little man and the way he has made our lives brighter, sometimes frustrating, hilarious and most of all, filled with love.

G:
-is a little foodie baby: filet, shrimp scampi, stuffed bell peppers (loves those! From Costco), blue cheese, asiago cheese, basil and sundried tomato wheat thins, French onion soup, spaghetti (kinda) and even that Lingonberry drink from Ikea. Sometimes I'm amazed at his adventurous palate!
-cruises like crazy, almost every waking moment!
-regularly holds his bottle on his own (finally), which makes driving when he has to eat so much easier
-pulls himself up on everything!
-fed himself with a spoon (so messy!)


Little Moments: (Finally outnumbering the milestones above!)
-Baby snores!
-He spent ten minutes one night alternately kissing and biting my face, then pulling my hair. (We're working on it)
-I love watching him play with the dogs, and caught him actually tugging on Pippin's toy while she gently pulled on the other end!
-Moose was trying to get the wheat thin in G's hand, G was intent on getting Moose and it turned into a beautiful, intricate, hilarious dance.
-I was trying to get G to take a nap, so we were curled up in bed together. Finally, after about an hour, he laid down on his back, stared at the ceiling and just started babbling, like he was having a conversation with me. It was so adorable! And again, I wondered what he was trying to say.
-G and I played in the water while I was watering the bushes outside. I'd turn the sprayer up into the air, and let the water fall down on us. He'd always get this shocked look on his face; I think the cold was surprising. But then he'd break out into a grin and clapping. We were both completely soaked, and he was in a giant puddle, but we were both grinning.
-I fed G some toast with a berry jam on it for lunch one day. He loved it! Everything within reach of the high chair was covered with jam, and I was sure his pants were ruined, but he ate almost the whole piece of toast (minus the few pieces I snagged)
-I came to pick him up at daycare, and he was curled up asleep, holding his bottle like it was a stuffed animal or lovie.
-Every night, and every store we go into, we have the same conversation. G: *tried to stand up in high chair or shopping cart* Me: *sits him back down, usually by grabbing his legs through the leg holes* G: *starts to cry* Me: No, honey, you can't stand up there, you'll hurt yourself.  Repeat every 5 seconds.
-One morning: I couldn't sleep the night before, and neither could G. I was so ridiculously sore from a new workout DVD I'd tried the day before that I could barely move. As I was cleaning up the yard, G got a hold of dog poop and managed to get it into his mouth before I could spring across the yard (remember that workout DVD?) to grab it from him. Pippin was barking her head off at the parrots and planes and running crazy circuits around the yard. It took over an hour and a half to get G down for his nap.
- We were sitting on the bed, and G was getting fussy. I started to scissor my legs up and down on the bed, and G thought it was hilarious. We sat there for probably 10 minutes, with him laughing and me getting a good leg workout.

In lieu of the normal photo, I will post some photos from Disneyland:
Doesn't he look thrilled? (Promise it was just the sun in his face)

Meeting Mickey. Trying to keep his hat on.

We may have had to hold his hands down, but we did get a photo with the hat on and everyone looking at the camera! Yay! Success!

First carousel ride. Sooo confused.

Pooped out baby!! 

My absolute favourite photo from this month! Look at that handsome boy!!