I'm ONE! --by Shepard

I'm ONE YEAR OLD TODAY! Mommy and Daddy have been making a fuss all week. And I think my Grandma and Nana and Pops and some of my friends are coming over on Saturday.
I like being one except sometimes when they don't know that I want something I have to scream until they figure it out. But I am working on words. I do "bye-bye" really good. And I know the sign for "all done" and usually say "DA!" emphatically when they keep putting cheerios on my tray. My favorite foods are broccoli, blueberries, pizza and graham crackers. Oh and yogurt. I want to eat four yogurts every day. I only get one. I am getting pretty good at walking. I think once I get this no one will be able to keep up with me 'cause I'm fast as lightning. I love to speed down the hall and try to get in all the doors. I can reach them, but there are these weird covers on the knobs that only grown-ups can work. But I'm watching and I will be able to open them soon.
I watch everything. I want to know how everything works....what's inside...what it tastes like...or what noises it will make. I am an explorer. When I grow up I will be able to go outside and run really fast and that makes me happy. I got a car already and can steer it. Mommy made a video about it. There is so much that I have learned all this year and so many great people I have met. It's been a great year. Thank you all for watching me grow and cheering us on.
Mommy made us a video so we can see how little I was and then all the things I have learned. I hope you like it. Here it is.





As soon as we get back from the doctor today I will tell you how tall I am and how much I weigh. Mommy says "heavy."

*UPDATE at 11 am*
OK. I am 32" tall, so I have grown 2.5" in three months! I am in the 96th percentile for height and am 21.5 lbs. so I'm in the 30th percentile for weight. Long and lean. My head is 45 cm. The doctor said I am very healthy and then they stuck my legs and it really hurt for a few minutes. Mommy said it was quick little bee stings and tried to buzz like a bee. I think it was the nurse. She looks nice, but I didn't like that tray she had at all. My blood is very healthy from all the broccoli I eat. Gotta go and do my nap!

Greased Lightning...Go, Greased Lightning!

It's birth-week, so we decided to go ahead and start breaking out some presents. Grandma Jones got Shepard a little car for his birthday a few months ago. Daddy put it together today so it would be ready for the party this weekend. I had no idea that Shepard would like it so much. It's the first time I've really seen him attach to a toy that way. He will usually play with something for a few minutes then move on. We were considering having to feed him in it, and I was thinking he might curl up with his blankie and go night night in it too.

(disclaimer: I had just gotten home from work and threw on a t-shirt with my dress pants and fancy earrings. Don't judge. We only had about 45 minutes to play, so I changed and ran outside before I missed any of the fun. I didn't know I'd be on camera.)



Vroom! Vroom!

(post #100!) Beach Vacation

We just returned from a week at Hilton Head, SC. It was great! Hot. But, there was lots of napping, reading, hanging out, and eating really good food. It was a challenge to work around our little napper...as his naps are still unpredictable. Some days one long one and other days two shorter ones. I wish we could have gotten down the actual beach another time or two...but it was also pretty hot. Lathering up a little wiggle worm with sunscreen is also a 20-minute job. He was not a fan of the sunscreen. He is, however, the only one of us who got zero sunburn. Yay! He also went in the swimming pool for the first time and seemed to really enjoy that. We have no pictures to show for it...but hopefully we'll get back out to a pool before too long. As for the beach...well, he probably would have gone out into the surf alone. Every time we let him loose in the water, he would crawl straight for the waves and occasionally sit and clap for them as they came in.
This week, he also really got into walking as his go-to mode of transportation, resorting to crawling when the balance gave out. He's been waving hello, bye-bye (and saying that sometimes), making the bzzzz sound when you ask him what sound a bee makes and mimicking lots of word sounds. He's also still rockin' his maniacal giggle. Grandma came along and was the source of many silly laughs and good times too.

Without further ado...our week in a few minutes:


Somebody turns ONE THIS WEEK!!!!!!

Family Pictures!

We just returned from vacation. I need a vacation to recover. We had a blast, but I won't lie...it's more work with a toddler! Especially one who doesn't sit still and is really into practicing his walking. In any case, more about that will be up by the end of the weekend. For now, I will link you to our recent one-year-old family pictures taken by the lovely Pranee Loffer. We're thrilled! She really captured our little guy, and we have some great memories to cherish.

Here's the link to her site.

Still pinching myself that he's turning ONE.

Super-Shepard!

I got the walking on video today along with some other fun. FINALLY!

DADDY!!!! -- by Shepard

I heard that tomorrow is Father's Day. So I am writing an extra-special post for my daddy. He is the best daddy. He loves me a lot I just know it. He can never resist picking me up when I shoot him my cute face and stretch my arms up and say "Dada." He gets up with me early in the morning and makes my bottle and then snuzzles me on the couch and we look at Sesame Street and sometimes I fall back asleep and he lays me back down. He's a good snuzzler. He is always ready to help Mommy with a bottle or diapers or anything, except a bath, 'cause he has to lean over the tub and his back is cracked and it hurts. But Mommy gives good baths, so it's ok. I like to sit on his shoulders and see everything in the whole world. It makes me taller than every kid I know. I also like to watch my daddy's fish in the tank and he takes good care of them too so we can all watch them swim. They are pretty. I love my daddy and so I made a video for him for Father's Day. Well, my Mommy mostly did it, but I am in it and I tried to help her by pressing buttons on the keyboard and pulling on the mouse. I'm pretty sure that was what made it really extra good. Mommy said it's kinda long, but if you're here, then you like us and won't mind watching it. I hope my daddy has a really good day tomorrow and we are going to go to the beach and have some fun. There will be pictures of that when we get back but not before because we are going to be unplugged whatever that is.

Happy Father's Day, Daddy. We put some special stuff about Papa Jones in there too because it's our first Father's Day without him. So we will be happy and sad at the same time and that's ok.

Shoot! I mean, I didn't.

I promised a video of walking. You are tuning in saying, "Where's the walking? She promised walking." Folks. I tried. Jerod tried. Shepard walks on his own terms, namely, when the camera is NOT rolling. It's hit or miss now. I think I got him standing up on his own but don't have time to check the footage. Because I have about 15 short clips of him taking three steps and deciding to crawl toward the red thing that mommy holds up and has pictures on it.
Now I'm a little obsessed with getting it. But I'll have to wait until he's ready I guess. I'm really looking forward to his grasping a little of the sign language we're working on. It has been a weekend full of short shrieks to let us know what he does or does not want. Usually at mealtime. Unfortunately, I lost my secret decoder ring to shrieking. I can't differentiate between "MILK!!!!!" and "MORE CHEERIOS!!!!"
One more week 'til vacation. Hallelujah. Surely I can get him walking with a whole week's worth of trying!?
Looking forward to hanging out with Grandma and Great-Uncle Jim and Great-Aunt Linda tomorrow. I mean, I'll be mostly at work, but Daddy and baby get to hang out.  :)

Curiosity

I may as well make "curiosity" its own category. I have a feeling that we'll have more than a few posts about it in the years to come. On his third day in his new class, Shepard tried to make a break for it. I think they're very nice to him in there, but his room opens up into the gym. And there were lots of cute older kids in that gym playing with balls and cars and wagons...so the little yellow wall that they put up as a barricade was more of a dare for him. He made it over. I guess they caught him before he got too far. But now the problem is he knows he can make it over. The center had to make several modifications to his last classroom because he got into things that other kids had not been interested in before (he stayed in there longer than average, so they weren't used to curious 10-month-olds). I'm guessing there might have to be a new, taller yellow wall soon. Have I mentioned that he can already reach the doorknobs? I'm pretty sure I saw him with his hand ON the doorknob yesterday. After hearing a story about a new friend's 2.5 year old getting out of the house with truck keys, starting the truck and driving it into a tree, I'm a little nervous. In his defense, he told her he was going to "go drive" and proceeded to the garage...but he has his own toy car in there. Why would she think he meant the TRUCK!? I see chain locks in our near future.

On baby tricks news, Shepard started standing on his own this morning. Just right in the middle of the floor, then standing right up without pulling up on anything. He's still just taking a few steps at a time, and I will document that on video this weekend. Lord willin' and the creek don't rise...

Here's some cutie pics from last week.

Walker, eater, dancer

I left Shepard in the care of non-Mommies for the first time this weekend. And what does he decide to do?!?!? WALK. I mean, really take 7-8 steps in a row without falling. Geez. Poor Jerod tried all day to capture the walk on video, to no avail. One of his attempts though ended up being some fun times with Grandma and Gloria Estefan. Yes, you heard me. Gloria Estefan.

I still haven't captured the walk, but you can enjoy the play, the dance and the eating of the swim trunks.


We are also experimenting with table foods. I try something new on him pretty much every day. His favorites right now are broccoli, grilled chicken (!), cheerios, mozzarella, pizza, and pasta with tomato sauce. Tonight we had yellow rice and black beans. I wasn't sure he would eat it at all. And then he started double-fisting it!



In terms of milestones, yesterday (Monday) was his first day in his new pre-toddler class at school. He will learn basic signs, more finger-food-eating and generally get his play on. We even got a certificate of graduation. We will miss Ms. Pebbles, Tasha and Veronica. Ms. Pebbles was with him since he was 10 weeks old. Sigh. Growing up is hard on mommies.

Crazy baby laugh

Shepard has a new laugh. I won't lie...it sounds a little maniacal! We haven't captured the full-on crazy version quite yet, but here's a teaser...



He pulled out the real thing while I was trying to change his diaper and wrestle him to stay still...let's just say there was poop, poop on his foot, poop on me, kicking, rolling...and the crazy laugh. There is no video of that exchange of course. It's like he was plotting the most insane diaper change ever and his evil plan was coming together just the way he thought it would. Of course, he was smiling and thoroughly enjoying watching Mama trying to keep his limbs and body from going over the edge.

Oh my. If this is a taste of what's to come...this really is going to be a crazy roller coaster ride!