January
Happy 2011! This winter has continued to be snowy and cold and Daddy had at least one snow day each week this month. On New Year’s Day, we had brunch at the Tuttle’s and you loved playing with all of Kelsey’s toys and sharing her snacks. That same week, we started our Sprouts class at Isis with some of your friends – Avery, Amelia, James and Emilie – along with some new kids too. Daddy met us at the Aquarium for lunch and we went to the Children’s Museum with Belle and Avery. You spent lots of time at the bead maze table and climbing in the play area. All of your friends turned one this month too, so we attended lots of parties to celebrate. We watched a Pats game at Peter’s house and you couldn’t get enough of his new bulldog puppy, Maeby, even when she was nipping at your fingers. We had a play date at Evan and Ryan Mahere’s around the block. You liked watching the baby sleep in his car seat and you played with Evan’s hundreds of cars and trucks before we had to head home for your nap. We started a new music class in Charlestown called Groovy Baby Music. You’re still warming up to it but I think you’ll really like it once you get used to the new space and kids and it incorporates a lot of the Music Together songs we already know. We took Dad to the Science Museum so you could show off your favorite spots and watched a live show about a lizard. At the end of the month, we had a big “Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?” party for your first birthday. Grammie and Pop-pop flew in from Arizona and Jared & Margaret and Ashlyn & Ben came up from NY and stayed with us for the weekend. It was a full house and we had a great time at the party. You ate lots of food with A. Ashlyn while I got things ready in the kitchen and then were so full, you weren’t interested in having any of your birthday cake – yellow cake with vanilla frosting and raspberries. We shared a piece a few days later and you seemed to like it (but you’re much more into healthy foods than dessert!) On your birthday, you slept in super late and we said goodbye to Grammie and Pop-pop as they flew back home.
This month, you mastered bending to pick things up without falling down. You’re understanding more and more – “kiss,” “all done,” “read a story,” “bath time” – and you’ve started saying “whoa” a lot too, which is adorable. Your babbling is really starting to sound like real words these days. You are getting good at copying sounds and motions (“touchdown!”) and mastered clapping right after your birthday. You love to play, “Where is Sebastien?… THERE HE IS!” especially when I’m drying your hair after the bath. You hate cheese (which is crazy!) but love raspberries, clementines, any kind of soup and V-8. You always want to try our cans of seltzer but then act like it’s awful once it’s in your mouth… but then come back for more. You’re able to play on your own for longer and longer periods and are happiest running around the house with balls or blocks in both hands. Balls are definitely your favorite and you LOVELOVELOVE the new ball pit from Grammie and Pop-pop that has taken up residence in the living room. You love when we chase you around the house, but you’re a little scared of the big blue exercise ball. You poke it and then run away when it starts to roll toward you, either out of the room or into the corner. (I don’t blame you – it’s practically bigger than you are!) You love to watch me cook and always want to be in my arms while I’m cooking (which makes it awfully hard to chop vegetables!) You’ve started to feed us your food, although you mostly do it to Daddy. You’ve stopped nursing before your morning nap and often before your afternoon nap too if we’re out and about.You’ve had some very clingy periods this month, when you want to be held all the time, and some trouble sleeping, where you wake up at 1am and are up for an hour or more before we can get you back to sleep. We think it’s probably teething and have been giving you Tylenol, but you don’t have any new teeth to show for it yet.
And so, you are one. One whole year has passed since we brought you home from the hospital. It’s hard to believe that you’re officially a toddler and not a tiny baby anymore. And at the same time, when we leave class and a group of newborns and their moms are coming in, I can hardly believe you were ever that small. But you are so much fun to play with now that we hardly miss those newborn days at all.
