sunny and 72

Loving the tire swing with his dad.

Kristen is one smart mama -- putting Caden on her lap to go down the slide since it was super hot.  My child, on the other hand, could care less about the temperature and wanted to go down a similar one three times in a row.  

I was able to document how he goes down a stair -- butt down, scoot and push until his feet can touch the ground.  Apparently it also works at the playground.

Caden was OK with the picture taking, Declyn not so much.  However, apparently I took one too many because at the end the boys were straight ignoring me.

Caught this sweet moment from a distance -- Nanny with her great-grandson. 

Baby Brent enjoying the breeze.

peter cotton tail

Easter duds.  I have to give credit to Mike -- he added the suspenders.  Nice touch.

Dying eggs for the first time was quite the experience, as you can see.  I was literally freaking my freak when he was done because his hands were black from the dye and nothing could get it out.  Mike washed them with hand sanitizer about three times, and I let him soak in the tub until his entire body was a prune.  Luckily, that combo was able to do the trick.  Not to mention his tie-dyed egg was super cute.

Most of our afternoons end this way -- pantless.  Can you name that movie?  (Answer: Risky Business).

wild thing turns ONE!

I can not believe that we have a ONE YEAR OLD!  Where did the time go??

This was him in the balloon pit the morning of his actual birthday.  At first he wasn't quite sure what to make of all of it, but he got the hang of it in no time.

I saw a cute idea on Pinterest of birthday pancakes.  Clearly they did not turn out like the picture I found, but he loved them none the less.  We also had a candle in it while we sang Happy Birthday, but that didn't last long.  Don't worry, he only ate the top one.

Kristen suggested I do a comparison of him when he was first born, and now.  The picture of him smiling in the NICU is one of my favorite pictures we have of him to this day.

Can you guess the theme of his party?  Wild Things.  Again, all ideas came from Pinterest.

Aunt Jamie caught him twirking before the festivities even began.

I made this collage out of borrowed pictured from friends posted on Instagram.  Everyone seemed to really enjoy themselves, especially Declyn who powered through without his afternoon nap.

One of the presents from Alyssa was these neon green Lebrons.  She kept talking about them, so when he literally blew chunks on the right one after shoving an entire cracker in his mouth, I couldn't help but pee my pants a little and snap a quick picture of the evidence to send to her.

birthday balloon pit

The night before Delcyn's birthday, Mike and I blew up some balloons and as soon as we went in to get him in the morning we dumped the trash bags full of balloons into his crib.  When James came over later that day, the two of them had a blast in the balloon pit.  Not surprising at all, James asked to go in the crib as soon as he saw the balloons.

James thought it was funny that Declyn tried to eat one.  The truth is James found it funny despite Declyn being reprimanded. 

'What are you guys looking at?'

Making them fly.

A day wouldn't be complete without Declyn full on tackling James.

King of the pit.

Straight cheesing.

James got in trouble for not listening to his mom (after being told to stop jumping in the crib), so Declyn manned the pit by himself.

happy birthday to you

After a little family BBQ, we sang Happy Birthday and let him devour a cupcake.

'Back off, Cali, this one is all mine!'

Inspecting the frosting to see exactly what it is.

 'Just as I suspected. Delicious.'

'What's that, dogs?  You want some of this?'

'Not gonna happen.'

(Side note: Anyone else think it looks like he has just one tooth right in the middle?  I'm guessing it's a crumb.)

zoo fun

For Declyn's actual birthday we went to the zoo.  It was a great time, up until the moment when all he wanted to do was get out of his stroller and walk around.  Clearly this is fine, but him walking takes about 10 minutes to get five feet, so you can guess how that venture turned out.

My son -- people watching instead of looking at the amazing seals right in front of him.

 It's such a bad habit to have, but lately he'll do things that are inappropriate (such as what he's doing above -- biting) and after correcting him I start laughing, which makes him laugh, and do it again.

Rock climbing with his dad.

This babe will laugh at anything, including having air blown into his mouth.

 

Welcome to the jungle.

twelve months

Prepping for that money shot.

U-turn: opting instead to be silly.

'OK, I'll smile.  But only at Daddy.'

At twelve months we can't live without...

1.  the sheep sleep sound for night time (and nap time) and LOTS of books to go with our routine.  we started switching things up and also use this one -- it's more musically inclined.   However, we now turn it off before we go to sleep so that he's not sleeping with it through the night.

2. he rips his bibs off, so we're using these ones that snap, so he can't get them off. not to mention they're easy to wipe clean.

3. we are officially back to WubbaNub's but I try to only let him have them while he's' in his crib -- I think it feels good on his teeth.

4. toys, toys and more toys.  unfortunately, there's times when he'd rather climb on my treadmill or go up and down the one step we have from the living room to dining room.

5. a baby monitor to watch him sleep, or in our case, walk in his crib.

6. these squeezable solids are fun for the road; we're not prone to a certain brand, yet.

7. a starter toothbrush and toothpaste. 

8. shorts pajamas and a nice pair of socks to go with it for bedtime.

9. a highchair for when he eats solids.

10. we're gearing more towards 'people' food, but we still carry cheerios with us and he loves mum-mums. blueberries are his absolute favorite. 

11. our nightlight that we love.

12. a breathable blanket for nap time and night time. for these chilly nights we have been doubling up with our comfy blanket. and we've also added one of his many jelly cat's to the mix.

13. now that he's walking, we've upped our game to actual shoes for him. velcroare is a miracle saver.

14. a windbreaker.

15. bath toys to keep him occupied -- complete with a bath toy scoop and whale spout.

16. a sippy cup - this kid chugs water. we recently started one with a straw after discovering he could suck from a straw. and now that he no longer uses bottles, this is what he takes his milk in.

17. not a necessity, but a very nice bonus for parents -- a kneeler for bath time.

18. baby gates -- these ones from Amazon work for us.

19. outlet plugs are a must. we got these.

20. boogie wipes for all those runny noses he's been having, as well as a humidifier to sleep with.

21. we upgraded our car seat so a (possible) front facing one.  this is what we got.

in lieu of locks for cabinets, my sister-in-law suggested thick rubber bands and they work.

deep blue sea

If we can't get a family photo, mine as well take individual shots with Declyn and put them side by side.

Super smart (and cute) animals.

No filter sea creature pictures...

national aquarium

During Declyn's birthday weekend we decided to check out the National Aquarium.  In my opinion, the dolphin 'show' itself was worth the money.

My child for sure -- falling asleep halfway into the exhibit. 

Don't worry, Mike picked is head up as soon as the picture was taken.

Watching the fishes.

Waiting for a dolphin to swim by.

big, green tractor

Tractor riding at Frying Pan Park.

Taking a stroll between the fences while holding a piece of hay.  nbd.

How adorable are these sweet piglets?  They were just sunbathing, minding their own business.

This mama pig had me hysterically laughing.  At first I thought she wouldn't fit through the door, and then once she proved me wrong, she showed me this move -- a little game of peek-a-boo.

Keeping each other safe via the buddy system.