Milk and bottles

SO Al is drinking milk now! Yeay! We can finally stop buying formula. I had to slowly wean him and I finally gave him a bottle with 100% milk and he drank it!! Sounds crazy, but I seriously have been afraid he would be on formula for forever. Next challenge: get rid of bottle. He is only getting two a day (in morning and at night). The morning one is the only one he actually asks for, so I figure I will start switching the night bottle to a sippy cup with dinner first and then break the bad news to him about the morning bottle. I am so sick of bottles and my days are numbered until baby #2 gets here and I have to start that jazz all over again. Goal: no bottle by the end of September!
Oh, and we find out the sex of baby baby on Wednesday!

Cute things Al is doing these days

1. Kisses- leans in with his mouth open wide... face full of slobber, but so sweet
2. Walking far distances wobbling the whole way, but doesnt fall
3. VERY interested in cooking, which I am amused by. Beau and I always say he is going to be a chef someday. His favorite toy in the house is our 3c sauce pot; he carries it everywhere. I need to get a picture of him with it. He also loves to watch whatever I am doing in the kitchen. If I am cooking, he is right there at my feet begging for me to pick him up so he can see.
4. He loves to go on walks. We have been going every night recently and he gets so excited. If I so much as go back for my keys, he get so upset thinking that we are not going.
5. He has learned to stack his cups inside eachother
6. He loves to read (or at least pick out the book and turn the pages as I read at lightning pace to keep up with the page turning). I ask him if he wants to read a book and he walks to his basket of books, picks one out and comes over to sit in my lap. As soon as we finish one he is up and off to get another one. The process repeats until I tell him it is time to put the books away and then he helps me put them back. The cutest part is watching him try to walk with the big books (they are about as big as he is) and he has a bit of a hard time.
7. When I ask him where his nose is, he always points to his mouth!
8. If I lay on the ground, he immediately comes over and tackles me. Then we wrestle and I hang him upside down and swing his while he laughs and laughs.

Good times.

Albert's First Birthday Pictures

I blew up balloons for the kids to play in at the party... Al and Hunter had a good time anyway.

This was the beginning of the birthday celebration...

This was the look of horror as everyone started singing

One Year Check Up

So my baby is long a lean... 25th% for weight and 80th% for height. His head is at the 50th %tile, so I assure that though his forehead looks a little large, he is perfect.

The shots, however, were traumatic for him and me. Not only did he get 4 and cry harder than I have ever seen him cry, but he had to get lead tested which requires them to prick his finger and draw blood into a capillary sized tube by squeezing his finger. The process took, I swear like 3 minutes of me holding him down and the RN squeezing the blood from his finger. It was horrible. he better not have lead in his body or Mayor Slay will be hearing from my lawyer.

Walking again...

The link didnt work, so I finally took the time to get another video of him. Al is showing off two moves in this video: his "Charlie Chaplain" moves as Andy says and his horse riding skills.

Al and dad also had some bonding time tonight reading the paper and eating Wheat Thins (probably Beau's favorite food).

He looks so grown up!

On a sadder subject, my best friend Allie's aunt passed away yesterday from a long battle with breast cancer. If you all could say some prayers for her and her family, I know they would appreciate it.

A

Walking

For some reason, I cant figure out how to get this particular video on blogger, so if you want to see AL walking (nana) then click on the link below!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SxMUUUjO0hg

Al vs. Whole Milk

So I was waiting anxiously all last week until Al turned one so I could switch him to whole milk and stop buying that expensive and very unappealing (to me) formula. Al was not quite as ready as I was. The first time I gave him milk it was in a bottle (his preferred method of delivery) and he totally rejected it. SO I reluctantly went to half milk/half formula which he didnt mind at all. By wednesday I had him on 2 oz formula and 6 oz milk mixed together and he would take it just fine and even took plain ol milk from a sippy cup during the day. Then came Friday. He woke up (now stop reading if you dont like gross descriptions) covered in diarrhea. He then proceeded to do it twice more in a one hour period that morning at the daycare, soaking his play pin. Poor baby.
I have NO idea what to do now. The doctor says to lay off milk for a while ( um, ok, what the hell does that mean) and what am I supposed to do in the mean time? I give him yogurt and cheese, so I am not worried about his calcium and Vit D intake, but I am worried that he is not getting enough calories. He woke up last night at 12 starving and downed an 8oz bottle of formula. I hate milk.
One postitive is Al loves water (especially with ice) so fluids have not been a problem.
The battle goes on...

Walking and ONE!

AL is walking! Two days before his first birthday, (which is today by the way). He is a little wably and still resorts to crawling when he is tired, but he just lets go and does it all the time now! He can almost cross the room without falling. So great!
SO on his first bday I am full of mixed emotions; none of them sad really, but excited. I looked at him and Hunter today while they played and realized in just a few short years I would have two babies almost the exact distance apart playing together (hopefully happily). I was not sad because I get to have the baby stage all over again very soon, which helps me to only see the joy in Al growing older. But he is just so sweet. He stood at his bed tonight at we put our heads together and I said "mmmm" with sheer happiness and he repeated it... such an amazing baby.

Understanding

He is just getting so smart and I love it! Not only will he follow simple instructions like "get a book" or "where is the ball", but today I was in our bedroom and Linda was in the living room and I walked out and said, "maybe grandma will take you on a walk". He immediately wanted down and drug me over to the stroller and then cried to get in! Seriously! We dont even take that many walks. I was amazed. one word. prodigy. ;)