1 YEAR OLD!!!

In case no one looked at their calendar, today JJ turned 1 and it was a very big day for him! He had a nice big breakfast (8 oz bottle, 1 banana, and of a 1/2 yogurt), then took 2 naps today with the babysitter, both over 1 hour, then had lots of lunch and snacks throughout the day. He got to open some presents tonight (some fun new blocks and books) and had a nice big dinner (cheese, 1/2 avocado, another banana, lots of ham, and a yogurt). After dinner, he got to have his first taste of "real/fake" sugar! We let him have a piece of cake! At first he was poking at it and not too sure, but then he shoved the whole thing in his mouth and cried when we finally took what was left, which was nothing, away! He's definitely an opinionated child! After dinner we gave him his regular evening bottle, but this time used real milk instead of formula. We were prepared to mix in some formula if he didn't like it, but he didn't even seem to notice and ate 8 oz of real milk. Yay for not having to buy formula anymore!

In the last two days, he went from taking a few steps, to taking a few more, to now walking all over the house! Today when I picked him up, he just walked out the door and into the hallway as if it was normal that he walks now! It's such a fun new development, but I can understand why people keep saying that we shouldn't "let" him walk before he was one. He really is already testing more limits than he was before, reaching to new heights, climbing up onto new stuff, and sneaking up on the cats!

It's hard to remember our lives one year ago today, before JJ. The nights we just went out without packing a dinner for him and stayed out past 7 pm, the weekends we went to LA without thinking twice, the sleep we got! Our lives are much different now, but we're so happy he's with us and even though it's disgustingly cliche, the time really does fly by. Sorry Krista, but I had to add at least one paragraph of "mush"!

Walking!

So we had another fun and busy weekend. Our friends Chris and Renee and their daughter Ashley came and stayed with us which was a lot of fun and JJ always loves having other kids around. Ashley slept waaaay longer than JJ for an afternoon nap on Saturday and then he ate waaaay more than her at dinner! He really is only an eater!

On Sunday, we went to a birthday party for a friend's daughter's 5th birthday. They had 2 pinatas and JJ couldn't quite reach it, so instead he enjoyed the time to be on the trampoline by himself! He had a lot of fun and kept trying to hang out with the older kids who all thought he was very cute : )

JJ's been walking more and more every day. For the past year, my mom has said that he's not allowed to walk before he turns 1, so he's been pushing her rule for the past few weeks! He will walk all over holding onto something with one hand and now he's walking farther and farther by himself. He seems to walk more when he doesn't think about it than when we ask him to. It is unfortunate though because I can only imagine how fast he's going to get once he's walking/running!

Swim Lessons!

He seems to like the splashing more than I do

Playing with Tristan

Sorry for the excessive number of photos, but it's been awhile : )

So JJ has been pretty busy lately. He started taking about 4 steps at a time and will then sit down laughing and crawl away. He started doing this on Friday when I was still working and Brian was off early. JJ I guess really took it to heart that Brian wanted to see him walk first : ) He's been getting more sure of himself and will now walk around with holding only one of our hands. It's pretty cute and I'm sure running will be next!

JJ and I (Brian was on duty) went up to LA last weekend to babysit Tristan so that Michael and Krista could go to a CPR class. Tristan and JJ seemed to get along better than ever and on Saturday, I took both the kids to the park by myself. I unfortunately don't have any pictures though since watching a very active 3 1/2 year old and a very active almost 1 year old kept me very busy with no time for picture taking : (

JJ started swim lessons this week. It's a 2 week class, Monday through Thursday. The teacher said the main purpose is just to get him acclimated to the water so he won't be scared. He cried yesterday for about a minute, but then started splashing around and seems to really enjoy himself. The pool is right by our house, so we just walk over there which is really nice. JJ enjoys going out for walks, so it's double pleasure for him : ) Today we dunked him twice and he didn't even cry about it, even though I did! He's been trying to blow bubbles, but can't really get the hang of it. We'll keep working on it.

I can officially announce that JJ is no longer a vegetarian! I was getting so worried, but he has found his current favorite meat. . . ham!!! We just buy a ham steak and cut it up for him and he'll eat the whole thing in 2 days! He also enjoys chicken, especially in a quesadilla. Since he'll be giving up formula in about a week, I was getting worried about his protein intake, but luckily he loves cheese, avocado, ham, and now chicken, so I think he'll continue to grow.

Brian's Home. . .

The first thing JJ wanted Brian to do when he got home. . . read him his favorite book!

Playing Peek-a-Boo!

Read me a book please!

Book reading stance : )

Well, he's not home today because he's on duty, but Brian got home Thursday evening and had Friday off and got to spend all day with JJ. They both seemed to really enjoy being back together : ) JJ wanted him to keep reading his favorite little car and truck books and play with him all day. Just what Brian was hoping for : ) They're not scheduled to go on deployment now until mid-October, so we're all looking forward to a few great months together as a family.

JJ definitely is developing his own opinion these days. He has been showing his opinion by throwing himself on the floor and crying for a second. Luckily he gets over it fast, so I can't help but laugh at him! My mom calls them "snit fits" and says I shouldn't be surprised since he is my child! Today, I let him play outside for awhile before dinner. When I picked him up to bring him inside, he wanted to stay outside and play, so he yelled at me and then head butted me so hard I thought for a second that he'd broken my cheek bone! He now has opinions about what he eats, what we're playing, and mainly what book we read! He will hold a book in the air until you take it and read it to him, and then wants it read over and over again until he's done! I'm sure he'll just keep forming more and more opinions and get more vocal about what he wants. Fun times ahead!

Sandcastles in the Sand. . .

We (Brian's mom, JJ, and I) had a pretty packed weekend. We went to the park on Saturday and picked out the picnic area where we're going to have JJ's 1st Birthday party. Then we went out to dinner at The Cheesecake Factory. I know, not very creative, but they bring a plate of bread and bananas for JJ as soon as you sit down. You can't beat that!

Then on Sunday, we went to the 30th Annual Sandcastle Open down in Imperial Beach, along with 350,000 other people! One upside of having a baby who wakes up early and takes a very short morning nap, beating the crowds. It was a lot of fun, but we were glad to leave just as the real crowds started to arrive. JJ seemed to enjoy himself, especially when we let him out of the stroller and he enjoyed eating some sand. Yum : ) I was reminded of how impossible it is to push a stroller on the beach and had flash backs of a few years ago when I went to the Sandcastle Open with Michael, Krista, and Tristan.

We've had a great time with Brian's mom here, but JJ has decided to wait and walk until Brian gets home. He'll take one step, then sit down and laugh. I keep threatening to start pushing him down if he takes more than a step. He only has a few more days to wait until he's free to do whatever he wants : )

Last night he was awake "screaming" and crying, with real tears, from about 10 pm until midnight. I'm not sure what the problem was, but I'm really hoping it's not going to be molars moving in. I hope it was just bad dreams/wanting to be in bed with me/missing Brian/afraid of the dark/just wanting to be awake. I had a very stern conversation with him though, so hopefully he won't do the same thing tonight!

New trick. . .

The woman that watches JJ during the day is on vacation for the week, so Brian's mom is here watching him. It's been a lot of fun and I know JJ is really enjoying it : ) He's been standing for longer periods of time, so he's definitely on his way to walking. Brian found out he will be home August 13 for awhile before deployment, so hopefully JJ will wait to walk until Brian gets home!

As you can see in the video, JJ started a new trick today. . . climbing onto the chair all on his own! It's just one more thing he's doing to prove that he cannot ever be left alone, even to go to the bathroom!!!

11 Months!

This is the chair that my grandpa made for me when I was a baby : )

Notice he's standing on his own!

I really can't believe JJ is 11 months old today. At 11 months, he still is a horrible sleeper (I haven't had a full night of sleep in over a year!), is a HUGE eater, has 5 1/2 teeth, crawls everywhere like a maniac, always wants to be a little bit higher and will climb on anything to get there. He stands on his own for very short periods of time, but is gaining more confidence everyday. He is very squirmy but does seem to enjoy a nice hug : ) He loves to wave and clap. He is the happiest baby I have ever had!