Ms. J and Ms. R...LittleBear's fabulous teacher's this year!
Today, was the last day of Mother's Day Out (MDO) at Harris Creek Baptist Church, and it was definitely a bittersweet day. Since he was 18 mos old, LittleBear has been going there one day a week and loving some playtime with friends, fantastic teachers and a really great playground that he raves about every time I pick him up. We started sending him because we thought it might help him start talking (we didn't know his hearing was poor) and, I won't lie, the quiet time to myself was nice :)
One of my favorite paintings from 2011...
He grew and learned so much and we have gotten so much more out of it than I originally expected. I have an amazing catalog of treasured craft projects (I have taken pictures of every one, have a box of my favorites and plan to make a coffee table book one day), LittleBear has even more treasured experiences and I truly looked forward to hearing about how he thrived from every one of his teachers. We have loved each of his teachers and each year it has been harder to say goodbye to them.
This one illustrates his minimalist preferences when he was younger...
It's sad to say goodbye to such a great program, but we're excited to start school together in the fall. This year, he had two especially amazing teachers...Ms. J. (who he had twice and has really gotten to see him grow from not really talking to chatting up a storm) and Ms. R. who went above and beyond to make every day packed with learning fun. Both of these amazing ladies loved my little man and I truly can not thank them enough for investing so much in LittleBear. I wish I could keep them :)
This pizza and box are played with almost every day (not kidding) and is a VERY treasured piece around here...
We'll start full-on homeschooling in the fall with Kindergarten (more
on that later), so today we said goodbye to this chapter of LittleBear's
journey. We love you HCBC MDO!!!!!
Hand print sunflower for Mother's Day 2012...can't get enough.
Today, as we were playing together with a rainmaker toy that we have, LittleBear and I got to talking about different sounds, particularly the sound of the rain falling.
Somehow from there we got to talking about how we can make fun sounds with our voices and hands. In an attempt to help, I showed him this video that Jeff found a while back that shows a pretty impressive acapella performance. I think we all enjoyed it (LadyBear in particular)!
I'd ask you to "Guess who's one year old?", but if you've been reading the blog, you already know -- it's BabyBear! We've already recapped the party, but a 12-month-old update is in order.
BabyBear had his official 12-month checkup today. He weighed in at 18 lb., 12 oz., and is 29.25 inches tall. Though still considered small by percentile, it actually isn' too much less than what Bethany was at the same age (19 lb., 15 oz., and 30 inches tall). Daddy was a little heftier, apparently -- 24 lb., 9 oz. at age one, according to the ol' baby book. Here's each of us at 12 months -- from left to right, me, BabyBear and Bethany.
(Which parts of us do you see in him? Let us know; comment on this page!)
So what has our now 1-year-old been up to? He's certainly starting to talk in sentences of his own making -- full of baby babble, but varying baby babble. We're expecting him to stand up in his crib any day; I think the design of the crib is the only thing holding him back right now. He's also getting close to taking a few steps on his own; he walks very well holding just one of our hands, and he tears around in his walker standing up (just using it for balance, not as a supportive seat).
He's starting to show some definite likes and dislikes (or even just opinions), which has gone hand-in-hand with being a bit fussier of late. (Teething may have something to do with that, too.) In the last month, he has successfully pulled himself up to a sitting position (something he does with ease now), finally starting crawling regularly (he scoots all over now) and has even appropriately "signed" a few times (doing the sign for "milk" before nursing).
All in all, we may need to come up with a new name for BabyBear -- he's not really a baby any more!
Happy First Birthday, BabyBear! Last week we celebrated our beloved BabyBear's one year birthday! We can't believe it came so quickly!! Thanks to Robbie Rogers, Thursday we were able to get some pictures taken on Baylor's campus outside Waco Hall- more of which you can see here (on a side note, read more about Waco Hall's 80th birthday in the latest issue of the Baylor Magazine, hitting mailboxes soon). He's growing up so much!! Definitely looking more like a little boy every day and less like a baby. When people say the time flies, they are really not kidding. According to unofficial numbers (i.e., taken by mom and dad at home), BabyBear is now 28.5 inches tall and weighs 19 pounds.
On Saturday we had BabyBear's first birthday party, and I think everyone enjoyed themselves (I hope anyway). :) Our families, neighbors and Lifegroup had some great food (thanks everyone, it was yummy!) and fun celebrating the big day with BabyBear.
As you may have guessed, the theme of the party was the card game UNO (as in, BabyBear's birthday numero uno). I found about six decks of UNO cards (some 1980s original and some newer) and with those was able to make the invitations, banners and most of the other decorations for the party.
Two of BabyBear's favorite things right now are straws and balloons, so I wanted to incorporate those things into the party. The balloons were easy enough; we blew up a bunch of clusters and hung them all over the house. We also bought some helium-filled ones and let those wander around from room to room (the kids enjoyed those a lot). We hung UNO cards from each balloon and two from each cluster and I really like the way it came out. When BabyBear woke up from his nap and came out before the party he loved seeing all the balloons. That totally made my day!!! The straws were a bit trickier. I ended up ordering some loopy, crazy straws from a nice gentleman in England via eBay and then added some labels with each guest's name on them. These worked really well as party favors and also as markers to distinguish one person's beverage from another! BabyBear really liked his crazy straw too. In fact, he's still carrying it around the house on occasion.
BabyBear had a carrot cake cupcake with cream cheese icing (recipe is here if anyone is interested) and while it took him a little while to decide that it was food, once he tasted it, he polished it off in no time and with very little mess. See what I mean?
He didn't get to try any of the chocolate zucchini cake (recipe is here if anyone is interested- I used all King Arthur's Whole Wheat flour) this time around, because he really liked the carrot cake. We'll save the chocolate cake for another day, I think...if there's any left.
A HUGE thank you goes out to Grams, Gramps, Grandma and all the others who helped or made something for the party. Without you there would not have been nearly as many balloons blown up, banners made or hung well, or UNO cards strewn about the house, and there would have been a lot less food that probably wouldn't have been quite so tasty. You guys are wonderful and we really appreciate everything you did to help make BabyBear's day special!
After the big party, we enjoyed a few hours together with family we hadn't seen in a few months. It was definitely fun times!
Baylor's Mayborn Museum was having a "free day" today (no admission charged), so we thought we would take BabyBear and check out the new Lego exhibit. Unfortunately, "free day" equals "busy day," and BabyBear's approaching naptime meant we had to leave before we were able to see the Lego exhibit. We'll have to go back for that.
BabyBear was probably still a little bit young for most of the exhibits and activities, but definitely was interested in what was going on, if a little overwhelmed by the crowd. For instance, here's a short video of him attempting to push a shopping cart while others race around the room.
He had fun banging on a drum and petting a bison, and he got to see a BabyBear-sized replica of the Liberty Bell (appropriate, eh?). But his favorite thing was simply standing on the second-floor balcony overlooking the model train exhibit. We're not sure if he was that interested in the trains, or the people, or just the unusual viewpoint, but he seemed like he would have been content there for a long time. See?
We promised in our last post to get up some video of BabyBear in his walker, and who are we to leave you, his adoring audience, hanging? Without further adieu, here is BabyBear on the move!
Even three days after his 11-month birthday (and a day early for Aloha Friday), BabyBear was rockin' the Hawaiian styles today while hanging with Fred E. Bear for the photo shoot. (Special thanks to Fred for his cooperation and to Miss Sarah for her help as today's photo assistant.)
So what has BabyBear been up to in the past month? Plenty! For starters, he now very clearly has four teeth -- the center two on top and bottom. We both agree he looks more like a little boy and less like a baby.
I suppose those teeth are helping BabyBear tear through his favorite food: berries! Blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, dewberries, berry yogurt, anything berry is devoured. Other favorites: raisins, graham crackers, cheese, and the ever-popular O's. He's also recently discovered the world of fruit -- apples, oranges, peaches, watermelon, etc. -- and loves that, too. Really, I think bananas and taco meat are about the only things he hasn't liked.
The other big thing has been BabyBear's newfound ability for getting around, thanks to the walker Bethany picked up for him. (Yay for coupons!) It only took him a couple of days to get used to it, and he now easily tears around the house (non-carpeted surfaces, anyway), easily executing three-point turns when he gets stuck and gleefully chasing the cat all over the house. (Orbit has been a very good sport, though after a few weeks of this, I think it may be growing old for him.) We'll get some video of that up soon.
We're now less than a month from BabyBear's first birthday, and while there likely won't be any moonbounces, multi-course meals or Swarovski crystal-embellished pacifiers, it will still be a grand affair. Stay tuned!
We had the privilege this weekend of not only spending some quality time with Grandma, but also visiting with some dear friends in Galveston. Tim and Jenn (who we know from our time in Pennsylvania) moved to Galveston a year and a half or so ago to serve and do relief work alongside victims of Hurricane Ike, and it had been too long since we saw them last. Mike, another really good friend from PA, was visiting from the East as well, and we all enjoyed a day of hanging out, dining on some tasty meals, watching the Derby, talking baby stuff (congrats Tim & Jenn on the upcoming arrival of Curly Bean!) and enjoying a bit of Galveston, TX.
For part of the visit, we got to spend some time on Galveston's famed Seawall and give BabyBear his first taste of the beach. He loved it!
(Click here and here to see the above videos if they're not embedded for you.)
It was so fun to spend the day with them and see a bit of Galveston. While we enjoyed our time there, it was a bit humbling to every now and again see reminders of the devastation Ike brought to the island in buildings that have yet to be repaired (check out the Flagship Hotel behind us in the pic below). As someone who went through Hurricane Andrew, this brought back memories, and again impressed upon me how important the work that Tim, Jenn and others have been doing is to the people here.
Lots more pics here from our quick weekend trip. So good to see everyone; thanks, Tim, Jenn and Mike, for a great day!
This was a bit of my morning with BabyBear today, as he discovered a new toy: the doorstopper. Unfortunately, that darn door just keeps getting in the way.
It seems to both of us that he's growing up really fast. Cutting his first tooth wasn't enough; both of his bottom teeth have broken through, and one on the top as well, all in the past couple of weeks.
He continues to eat most anything, and quite a bit of it. For instance, for dinner tonight he ate an entire stuffed shell, some green beans, 4 oz. of yogurt, and about 6 oz. of formula -- all in about an hour and a half. His favorite foods include broccoli, blueberries, yogurt, unsweetened applesauce and peas.
He can get around the house very quickly "walking" with someone's assistance, holding onto two hands for balance. He's also finally showing some interest in possibly crawling, as well, routinely propping himself up (like a pushup) and looking around before rolling over onto his back (then back to a crawling stance, and back to his back, until he gets tired of that.).
Another fun thing he's started doing a little bit just recently is giving "kisses" -- a big open mouth leaning towards your face (or arm, or leg). Just in the last few days, he's also started smacking his lips to make a kissing sound, which is really cute.
Here he is -- the 10 month old himself:
Today also happens to be Orbit's fifth birthday (as best we know). We figured Orbit should get his picture taken with Fred E. Bear too; as you might guess, Orbit had other plans, but he was reasonably cooperative.
Orbit continues to be better and better around Ben, as you can see from this photo of them "playing" together.
For those of you familiar with Texas, you'll love this one. But many of our other readers might not be familiar with this, so let me provide a bit of background. The bluebonnet is the Texas state flower and one of the prettiest flowers I've ever seen. Throughout late March/early April they can be seen scattered across medians, fields, roadsides and are one of my favorite signs that spring is here.
One tradition that many Texans hold dear is the annual picture of the kids or the entire family in and amongst the bluebonnets. Since we have our first Texan in the family (BabyBear), I couldn't let him go through his first spring without taking part in this tradition.
We managed to find a good spot that had been used before by several people for this very purpose. I wanted to call ahead and get permission, but there was no one there, no signs that prohibited trespassing and no other indication that this would be wrong, so we went ahead. We wanted to leave as many of the flowers as possible in the condition we found them, so we tried to be very careful and in the end only two fell prey to BabyBear and did not survive the experience. Thank goodness it's not actually illegal to pick bluebonnets (it's a staunchly held myth), or BabyBear might be in trouble.
Unfortunately, I could not compete with BabyBear's interests over the nearby traffic (*SIGH*) or the vast amount of bluebonnets (understandable), so most of the pictures weren't really usable. That and I was in a bit of a rush. We did get a few though, which I am happy to share :)
By this point I imagine you don't really have to guess anymore; it's BabyBear! Amazingly, the little guy has now been out here in the world as long as he was in his mommy's tummy; time sure flies!
BabyBear has a really fun personality, and it continues to show more and more every day. He's already a lot more outgoing than his parents, and he loves to laugh (as you can see in the previous blog post). He's up for going anywhere, and loves to people watch.
Since we're introducing more and more "adult" foods, he also seems up for trying anything; in fact, we have yet to really come across anything he actively dislikes. His favorites seem to be broccoli, turkey deli meat, and beef ravioli. Yet, at his official nine-month checkup, he had barely grown from the last time he was in, and is below the fifth percentile in height and weight (though his head size is in the 30th percentile - go figure). So, we're going to have to work a little harder to make sure he's getting enough food as he's still nursing, getting a bottle (formula) and eating regular food. He doesn't complain and seems to be happy with the amount of food he's been getting; this is just one of those things we're going to have to learn how to make work.
Besides food, the other big thing in the past month has been his quickly improving ability to walk (with assistance). He now routinely motors around the house, holding onto Mommy's or Daddy's fingers for balance (like in this video). He sits very well on his own now, but would usually prefer to be standing or walking, and is already getting close to being able to pull himself up.
Here he is -- the 9 month old himself!
As a bonus, here are some other photos from the past week -- playing with a beach ball and additional shots from the 9-month-old shoot. Enjoy!
Cleaning, exercising, playing, who knew you could do all these things at once? And yes, I hesitated to share this because you can obviously tell I have 15 more pounds of baby weight to lose (and then some), but thanks to Beth Moore's new book and blog studySo Long Insecurity, I know that I am clothed with dignity and strength according to Proverbs 31: 25 and am claiming that word. :) So here it is (I just love his laughs!!!):
Baylor's men's basketball team is headed back to the NCAA Tournament -- this time as a No. 3 seed, the best in school history! (You can read more about that here.)
Our family attended the team's gathering at the Ferrell Center for the Selection Show Party Sunday afternoon; can you find us in this crowd of several hundred?
You have to zoom way, way in -- there we are, up near the top left. Find the second Baylor player from the left (sitting on the floor in the white t-shirts); directly above his head is a girl in a gold t-shirt, and just above her is another gold t-shirt -- that's Bethany! Here's the zoomed-in version:
Yep, even BabyBear is rocking the green and gold, and proudly waving the Baylor blanket Bethany made for him!
No, BabyBear's not walking on his own (yet). But he is pretty clearly getting the foot motions down (left, right, left), even if he can't yet balance on his own. He took his first "steps" on Valentine's Day, and he's been getting better since then. For those of you who know the layout of our house, a couple of days ago he "walked" out the doorway of his room and all the way down the hall to the dining room where Bethany was. Today, he hoofed it from near the front door around the coffee table, around the dining room table, and over to our kitchen island. Pretty good for just under nine months, eh?
So yesterday was a fairly big day for Wacoans around town because it snowed all day...yes, the whole day. I think at the max we had about 3-6" in our yard, but the official tally was 3" at the airport. Still, it was fun and really rare for Waco to get that much snow. There were snowmen popping up everywhere!! If you're curious how many were on the Baylor campus, go here and read about it or view a fun slideshow.
Of course I couldn't resist another opportunity to put the $6 snowsuit to work, so BabyBear and I went out in it a few times. Needless to say, he was very confused and less than thrilled about it. I misplaced my ski gloves, and would have lasted longer in it myself if I had found them, but it was still fun nonetheless. My only regret is that I neglected to take a photograph of my child actually in the snow. *SIGH* I did get some video though and some other pictures of the backyard, which I will happily share with you.
So here we are when the snow had just started falling:
And here we are just before lunch time when there was a good amount on the ground:
And here are some photos of the backyard.
I loved the crunch of the snow under my feet and the quite stillness that happens when it's snowing. I especially loved the fact that I didn't have to go anywhere in it :) Not quite like the snow we got in PA, but that's ok!!
Yes, our little man is three-quarters of the way through his first year... How time flies! Month No. 8 was not nearly as busy as month No. 7. The biggest development is that he now sits pretty well by himself; he'll still lean over if he's not paying attention or if he reaches too far for something, but he's able to sit and entertain himself much better than he was a month ago.
We didn't do much for Valentine's Day, but he enjoyed all the valentines he got -- thanks Grams and Gramps, Grandma, Aunt Sue and Uncle Vic, Aunt Kim, Uncle Josh and cousins J, E, R and P!
He talks and laughs a lot and really seems to enjoy his toys. He'll bang his bowls together (in what we like to think is a good proto-"Sic 'em, Bears!" motion) and can handle a ball well (both picking it up and scooping it up, as necessary).
BabyBear keeps wanting to eat what we're eating. He's enjoyed carrot, rice cake, broccoli and more banana, plus a whole boatload of different baby food flavors. He also has one more skill he's been working on; as soon as we get good video of it, we'll share it here.
