Drew is now one year old, and I am now 400 years older. I thought I would share some of my favorite baby products, and things that didn't work out so good...k.
A few things that were unnecessary:
Things worth their weight in gold:
Here are the things Drew is eating these days..... I'm trying to expand his menu because I want him off that dang baby food because it's so expensive. Any suggestions for things a 12 month old can eat (that are also nice and convenient for Mom to prepare)? I've been reading menus on the web and getting ideas.
Breakfast
1 jar fruit
1/4 cup baby oatmeal
1/2 banana
puffs
Lunch
1 jar fruit (or a veg)
1/4 cup oatmeal or whole grain brown rice cereal
puffs, goldfish, crackers, rice cakes, etc.
Supper
1 jar veg
1 jar fruit
1/4 cup brown rice cereal
bite sized rice cakes or crackers
Snacks (varies)
goldfish
puffies (these are falling out of favor--he gripes when he sees 'em because he wants something better)
crackers (whole grain minimally processed if I can help it, like Kashi)
mini rice cakes
toast w/ margarine
fruit (banana)
daddy's waffles
graham crackers
fruit cup
Beverages
breast fed 4X per day
drinks water throughout the day
I offer milk at each meal but he's not accepting it yet
With Dave's sister and her 3 kids, and Dave's brother in town this past week, we've had our annual Week of Fun! We usually do more activities in this one week than we do in the entire summer. Most notably is our trip to the beach that we do every summer, which is my favorite part.... even though it's less than an hour away, we just don't get there as often as we should. Drew was only 6 weeks old when we went last year! But we sure do have a good time when we go with the whole family. We were shocked that Drew actually seemed to have a good time that day--it must be a first for him!!! He actually laughed being carried out in the surf, and played in the sand a little bit. I cannot believe he even touched it, I thought he would be gagging at it (like he does with cake, flower petals, wet sponges, etc) The pictures speak for themselves!
As we all know, 1st birthday parties are not for the kids, they are for the parents. And I had a ball planning our little shindig. On Friday evening we just had close family come over to our house for a cookout, and cake & ice cream. Even though it rained and sort of thundered, it was very comfortable (except maybe for Dave who was outside grilling) and pleasant to stay on the screened porch.
The cake was sooooo yummy and I had it special ordered from Just Like Mom's Pastries in Weare. She did a fantastic and beautiful job, and I will definitely be using them again next time I need a cake made.
Drew got lots of great birthday presents: a Learn & Grow piggy bank, lots of bath toys, a car wash, a set of stacking/nesting cups and snap-n-lock beads. Some great toys! He also got a savings bond! I tried to let him tear some wrapping paper but he wasn't interested.
The cake thing didn't really go over like you imagine it might. I've seen tons of pictures of babies digging their hands into their cake and smearing it all over their faces but Drew had other ideas about it. Apparently the texture of the icing grossed him out, because he started gagging all over the place when he touched it.... and gagging and gagging, and finally he just puked from looking at it! Oh my GOD it was so funny (to me, anyway....) The odd thing is that he actually does love sweets and cake, but I guess he just doesn't want to touch it. After he was taken out of the spotlight, I was eating my cake and he helped me with it, so he did get to have some of his own birthday cake after all.
Today Drew had his one year well visit and here are his stats:
Weight: 21 lbs, 8 oz (30-35th percentile)
Height: 32 inches (97th percentile)
Head: 52 cm (I think that's what she said)-- off the charts, as usual.....
Happy Birthday to my little June Bug! I can't believe he's one year old, and a toddler now. What happened to my baby?