At the Playground with Friends

Last week we went back to the playground with Steven's buddy, Jackson. Notice that in these pictures that they are not actually playing but are in the shade drinking water- we're trying to beat that Texas heat! It's still a little hot to go in the afternoon. =) But we did play some too...in between the water breaks!

Backyard Fun

As I said in the last post...Steven loves to be outside! Aunt Jenn gave him a bubble blower for his birthday (thank you!) so we have been playing with it on the back patio. The first time we played with it, I had to pull the lever down and show Steven how to make the bubbles. This time, he learned how to do it himself and now he doesn't need me to do it- he makes this obvious by picking it up and carrying it across the patio away from me to pull over there. =) That's ok...it frees my hands up to take pictures which is getting increasing harder with him on the move all the time! Look at those muscles!Inspecting pine needles...Inspecting the dirt...

Tasting the dirt...

His Frustrated Face

Playground Comparison

Steven loves to be outside. Last week we went to our neighborhood playground since the weatherman promised us a "cool front" that day. I couldn't help but take pictures especially after I realized that we were doing the exact same things we did the day that he turned 6 months. Steven has grown so much...just take a look:
6 months..................................12 months

He couldn't do this at 6 months:

Toddlerdom

There is a strange virus going around. I was afraid Steven was having an allergic reaction to milk since it's only been a week (last Mon) that we switched over. He woke up congested at the beginning of the week with a rash on his forehead. By mid-week, the rash had spread down the sides of his sweet face and he also had a diaper rash (neither rash was very severe, but they were obvious enough that I noticed). Thankfully, we had his 1 yr old well-visit already scheduled on Friday afternoon and our pediatrician said that it looked like the result of a virus. Apparently (after talking to other moms) this virus has been making the rounds...and now I have it (minus the rashes in case anyone was wondering)! Thankfully, I didn't start feeling bad until Thursday night, so today (Sat) Charlton was home so that I could spend most of the day in bed. All this to say that I am completely drained and worn out. Since all I feel like doing is laying around, I picked up a parenting book I've been meaning to start. When I read this paragraph, all I could do was laugh:

"Ah, yes, the mobile toddler. There is no question that a toddler's mom is a tired mom, and for good reason. The emotional and physical energy needed to supervise an energy-packed tot can take down the most physically fit mom. If your toddler happens to be a boy, add fifty percent more energy."

Wow! Our family has entered toddlerdom. Does anyone have any energy I can borrow?!

Steven's stats at 1 year are:

21 lbs. & 6.5 oz. = 30% weight

30 inches = 50% height

18 1/4 ? = 50% head circ.

Steven's 1st Birthday Weekend

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

These are my comments to guide you through the pictures:

• First two pics are from Sat morning- Steven has a mouthful of banana. I fixed him his favorite breakfast which is scrambled eggs. Kyle and Lindsay spent the night with us Friday night to help us get ready for the big day so some of these pics are compliments of them!
• I made Steven's cake and iced it; then Charlton took over and did the whiting edging. I told him that it totally "made" the cake and he did a great job.
• Obviously, we did a cowboy theme so we tried to have all "cowboy food." It included hot dogs, cornbread, baked beans, and corn on the cob. We also added some veggies, fruit, Twislers (I called them ropes), and chips and dip for Texas flare.
• I had a section of another table for nostalgia. I had Steven's first year scrapbook I'm working on out for people to look through. And the grandmas brought pics of Charlton and I when we turned one. There's a pic of my mom's scrapbook of my baby pics and one of Charlton holding Steven and a pic of himself. We also had a slide show of Steven's first year going on the TV during the whole party. I had his first birthday invitation pasted to a scrapbook page and had everyone write a message for Steven around it.
• Steven loved the tissue paper and took it out of most of the gift bags that were on the floor while I was opening his presents. So, I guess you could say that he opened some on his own.
• Steven did not like the cake as you can tell from the pics. He spit it out as soon as he got a taste.
• The last several pics are from Sunday- his actual birthday. I made him blueberry pancakes (a first of him). He loved the pancake part ( I let him play with a small whole one after he ate) but hated the blueberries. He made a face similar to when he had a bite of his cake. He was generous with his breakfast though and fed some grapes to his Daddy. He had a blast playing in the church nursery as usual and then played with his new toys the rest of the day taking a break only for his nap and to eat.

Happy Birthday to Steven!