13 Months!!!

It is so crazy that my baby is becoming a miniature person with his own little agenda.  David has become quite independent over the last few months.  He LOVES to play play play and completely entertains himself by toddling from one toy to the other.  Often times, he makes you feel like you just might be in his way simply because you are trying to play alongside him.  He has things to do and is on the move.  There is no containing this little guy!  He scurries from one room to the next and has showed no signs of slowing down.  Thank goodness for the baby gate!!!  This past month has brought so much fun and lots of laughing.  He has become really communicative although we don't have any words yet.  He has started imitating us occasionally and as a result goes around the house saying "Hush" all day.  One day he heard me yell "Hush!" at Marley and he has not let the word go since.  As of now though, no real English, just lots of pointing and noisemaking/grunting/babbling.  He loves to drive his little cars all over the floor while making a rumbling engine noise.  I think he learned this from his Daddy.  It is pretty cute.  In other news, he has been boycotting vegetables and has shown quite a liking for spicy food.  He is obsessed with taco meat and Santa Fe soup.  He LOVES to eat and has developed an awful habit of begging for the food off your plate.  We are working on this and it has resulted in quite a few melt downs.  Let's just say he might have a little bit of a stubborn streak on the rise :).  Also, we have been trying to sneak some healthy food into his system by making black bean cakes with corn and peas.  So far, he doesn't seem to notice and loves it!!  Yay!  We will see how long this lasts....We welcome any creative ways of getting healthy food into kids during picky phases!!!

Happy 13 months little man!!  We love your guts and are so thankful for all the joy you bring us.

First Hair Cut

After our trip to the Pumpkin Patch, we headed straight to the Barber Shop.  The lady who cuts Grant and my brother's hair happened to be in Saturday with some open appointments in the afternoon.  I had been putting off this milestone because I was afraid he would look too old with a big boy hair cut.  The mullet actually was curly and cute most of the summer, but as soon as the humidity passed out of town we realized it was not so cute anymore.  Our child was sporting a straight up mullet and seeing it draped over the back of his turtleneck at the pumpkin patch was just the breaking point for me.  It had to go!

He did so great!  He only fussed for a tiny second when she first put the apron on him.  Of course, he was confused and wary as to who this strange lady was and what she was going to do to him.  In typical David fashion, he had this odd confused look on his face most of the time.  It was cute and I was just glad he was not crying.  He looked so old sitting up on the chair all alone.  He even got to play with the buzzer for awhile which he seemed to enjoy.  I think she was trying to expose him to it so when the time came for side burns he would not be afraid.

Overall it went REALLY well and he was rewarded with a butterscotch lollipop which he LOVED.

Pumpkin Patch

This past weekend we went to a pumpkin patch in McCalla with our community group from church.  It really was so fun and a great place to get some Fall pictures....if your child will stay still long enough to be captured by the camera!!  David was a walking machine.  He took off in all directions at once it seemed and could not have cared less about the pumpkins.  All he really wanted to do was run off into the open field by himself and point at tractors.

We had a really great time and LOVED the weather.  We are so thankful for the friendships we have been blessed with through our church.  The Lord has been so sweet to create a place there that is just right for us.  

David's outfit is a gift from his Great Aunt Jamie.  She is always so thoughtful and sweet to bring us outfits for the little man.  We were excited to get some pictures of him in his little Halloween outfit. 

Turtles can "read" too.

"Oh no!!  How will the hungry caterpillar find any food!?"

Here is a little Halloween preview picture for ya.  You can only imagine how cute the entire ensemble is.  He absolutely LOVES it and honestly giggles when I put it on him.  He played in it all day Thursday and smiles as if he is saying "Looook at meee."

And I also am in love with this picture.  He is clearly distressed over the caterpillar's hunger.

Love Pats

I have no idea who David learned this from, but he clearly has been quite the observant one.  He somehow picked up on the idea that when you hug someone you pat them on the back.  

SO, now he is constantly giving what we like to call 'love pats.'  When Grant comes home from work David runs to him and while hugging his neck he pats his left shoulder.  He then smiles at me and looks like he is super proud of himself.  He has gotten to where he will just walk up to you during playtime and pat you on the shoulder a few times and then offer a kiss.  LOVE IT.  

DGE

I am completely obsessed with this little guy.  Today, he accidently hit me in the mouth with his remote control.  I covered my mouth and kind of fake cried for a second.  He then leaned over and kissed the side of my mouth almost like he was saying he was sorry.  I really have no idea what he thought he was doing, but it was PRECIOUS.  It amazes me how perceptive these little people are.  I guess he is starting to show sympathy a little.  Maybe not.  Either way, it was cute and something I hope to remember.

Also, the little red fire truck goes everywhere with us.  He has five little cars like this, but he knows exactly which one is the red fire truck.  I can hand him all kinds of cars and he only beams with joy when he sees it is the red fire truck.  It definitely goes in the diaper bag whenever we head out!  It is a staple for entertainment.

We're alive.

I apologize for the lag in blogging.  I just haven't been in a bloggy-type mood lately.  But life has been going on as usual around here.  This age is such a blast and I am loving spending my days with this cheerful busy little man.  We go to the park nearly every day and he is enthralled by the big kids.  This Fall weather has been wonderful and has brought us outside to play sometimes twice a day!

Let's see--what is new?

Daveman is "talking" all the time.  He has his own little language and I can tell he is getting ready for his first word.  He is constantly pointing at things and trying to communicate with us.  He has become really proficient with using his sign language to let us know what he needs.  Seeing his chubby little fingers sign away is the cutest thing ever!

We are up to 4 bloody lips now.  I attribute this mainly to his climbing tendencies and new walking skills.  He has gotten brave enough to stand up on the seat of his Radio Flyer Rocket while holding the handle bars.  And the other day he pushed a stool over to my mom's coffee table and crawled right up on top of it!  I am hoping this is not a sign of things to come.

I have been delaying his first hair cut and the time has finally arrived.  I can no longer deny that the child is sporting a mix between a rat tail and mullet.  It is classy for sure.  I have been so afraid to cut it because it has been curling every now and then.  Now that the humidity has passed, our child is running around with a full-fledge mullet.  Even so, it is really cute after a bath.  We call it the 'whispy mullet.'

I am beginning to fear that 80% of my child's baby pictures are of him in PJs.  I swear he has cute clothes.

The little man is officially obsessed with his new Radio Flyer wagon.  I mean he LOVES it.  It is our new transportation of choice to the park and he waves the entire time to absolutely no one as if he on parade or something.  He even plays with it inside.

He also loves his new bean bag that Nanny and Papa gave him for his birthday.  He regularly face plants into it and laughs with glee.  He has yet to have enough attention span to actually sit in it and watch Sesame Street for longer than 5 minutes, but he loves it nonetheless.  

We are starting to master a FEW animal noises.  He really doesn't have the verbal skills to say 'ruff-ruff' or 'quack-quack.'  BUT we have found a few clever ways for him to learn a few.  He has learned tiger and it sounds like a hissy growl in the back of his throat.  Elephant is new and he just blows rasperries in response and kitty-kat is a little creepy.  His meow sounds like a sickly cat, but he's getting it at least!!  It's precious and it amazes me how quickly their little brains acquire new skills.

David is also going through a picky phase.  It is rather frustrating because he has always been such a good eater and I really want him eating GOOD foods.  I realize this probably is just the beginning of grilled cheese and chicken fingers, but I am not giving up yet.  We made some black bean cakes and mixed in corn and black eyed peas.  He LOVED it and had no idea he was eating 2 of the dreaded veggies he loves to throw on the floor.  Trickery may be my new strategy of choice.

Oh, and who needs a toddler when you drop your own phone in the toilet??!!  Thankfully, all is well with my beautiful iPhone.  It was a scary time. :)

Birthday Boy

Well, David's birthday week came and went.  We made cupcakes the day of his birthday and enjoyed a family dinner at CPK.  David loved their macaroni and cheese!!  We ended the night by singing happy birthday and letting him have his first birthday cupcake.  He devoured it and loved every second.  Afterwards, there was so much anticipation as we waited to celebrate such a special milestone that I am exhausted this week after gearing up for the big party.  It really wasn't a big party, but I think it turned out to be a fun afternoon and came together fairly well.  The party was at the park on Sunday afternoon, the weather was fabulous and so was the company.  The food was turtle themed because we have referred to David as a turtle ever since he was a newborn.  I had this grand vision in my head regarding the cake and cupakes.  It turned out to be a huge ordeal to pull off, but I enjoyed being crafty and doing something homemade and special for my Daveman.  I was blown away by all of the love and support our family and friends showed David on Sunday.  I want to thank all of them for their unending generosity and joyful excitement they have shared with us.  We cannot believe our boy is 1!  It is amazing how quickly they change.  I can already tell that he is acting older just days after his birthday.  Pretty crazy!