Friday, March 25, 2011

Samuel turned one

The candles have been blown out, the balloons are deflated, and family has gone home. Samuel's first birthday celebration has officially ended and I can finally relax and look back at his first year of life and look forward to the years to come.

It does seem like I just had him but that is because labor, delivery and his first days of life are memories I refuse to let fade. This year has been long, productive, and exciting. Some days were just us getting by and others were filled with outings, friends, and new adventures.

I am more excited for what toddlerhood holds then I am sad about no longer having a "baby". He is learning so much every day, there is no time to be sad. For that matter I won't write about all the things he has done this past year since most of you have either seen it for yourself or heard me talk endlessly about it. So, I want more so to focus on the now and what is to come.
Development- As of now Samuel has a large vocabulary for a one year old;
Ma-ma
Da-da
Na-Na
wow
uh-oh
meow
hi
woof
moo
ball
bird
this (often said "wsthis" meaning "what's this")
and that's the order he said them all. I didn't realize how many there were untill just now...wow! He is quit the chatter box when he wants to be and often refelcts my jestures and sounds. He also has learned to shake his head yes and no but often combines the too and looks likie a bobble head...it's hysterical. Cognatively he is making leaps and bounds. Physically he is still a peanut and sees no need for walking. Sam and I were "walking" him yesterday and he just looks too small to be walking alone. But all it will take it letting go of one hand and he will be off. I wonder where he will go first. I really do look forward to chasing after him despite all the negative things I hear.

Eating habits of a one year old - Samuel is still nursing..often (thank you to my other nursing mommy friends who support us in our choice to breastfeed past 12 months). Along with that he is eating three meals a day and a snack. It seems that our entire day revolves around food either being cooked or eaten. Right now his top food choices are; capers, cottage cheese, rice, chicken soup, salmon (any fish really), lentils, scrambled eggs, and pasta with marinara sauce. These are just his favorties, he loves almost anything...except birthday cake of any kind. Find by me. Infact, his excellent eating habits have inspired Sam and I to make many changes in our diets.

Friends and favorites - Samuel is charmer, gaining the attention of store clerks, waiters/waitresses, cashiers, and complete strangers everywhere we go. But when his friends are around (ie. little ones close to his age) he doens't seem phased...and neither do they. I do look forward to the days when he specifically asks for his friend Jayden to come over. However, he may request a visit from Juliet becuase he has a little crush on her Mommy.

Toys for boys - Any kind of ball or anything resembling a ball is the toy of choice. It's even better if it's a toy that involves the use of many balls so then he can hold one in his hand and play with the others. We thought it was appropriate to have a baseball themed birthday party for him complete with peanuts and crackerjacks...it was a big hit (pun intended).

Potty time - I know I've been talking about it so much but I am super proud. Samuel is still using the potty daily and I am still handing out stickers....and picking them off my feet later.

I have learned so much in the past year from this little person and am so amazed at how much he has learned. I lookforward to all the excitment this next year holds. I don't care to hear antying about terrible twos becasue I refuse to go into that time with a rotten outlook. So far this method has proved well.

Thursday, March 17, 2011

Stickers, stickers everywhere!

I just picked yet another sticker up off the floor. As I unstuck it from itself I couldn't help but smile.
Lately I have been pulling stickers off the bottoms of my socks, peeling them off the rug, scraping them off the side of various pieces of furniture, and I believe I removed one from the fluffy cat’s tail. Each time I find one of these once loved but quickly forgotten about mementos my heart melts a little more. I smile, sigh, and find a place to display the little reminder of how much my little boy has learned and grown in the past year.
I imagine that in most homes stickers are forbidden for anyone under the age of five for the reasons I mentioned above. I also imagine you are waiting for me to explain why I so much enjoy finding them all over my house.
Samuel LOVES stickers. We discovered this some time ago and after a few tries he learned not to eat them. He loved them so much that I thought it best to put them away and use them as a reward sometime in the future. As most of you know we recently bought Samuel a potty and began the attempt of potty training early (for those that don't know, we started a few weeks ago, around 11 months). After his first success I decided he needed something special.... A STICKER! He loved it. He stuck it on his leg, held it between his fingers, talked to it, and brought it to lunch. Unfortunately that particular sticker didn't survive lunch. I was bummed that I couldn't save it as a reminder that he actually used the potty but I figured he earned it and could do with it what he wanted (except eat it) and in the years to come there would be plenty of opportunities to hand out stickers. I never thought I would have so many opportunities in the next few weeks.
Since then he has earned at least a dozen stickers for making pee-pees in the potty. I am so proud of him and that is why I smile when I see these stickers, even if they are plastered to my laminate flooring and need a warm compress to remove. I even had to pull one out of the pee filled potty but I did it with pride. My little boy, at 12 months old can now use the potty regularly at least once a day!
A side note; I hesitated blogging about this. I know some will read it and make snide remarks. I have heard it all before regarding my choice to cloth diaper, make my own baby food, and breast feed until he self weans. After more thought I figured those people should stop reading my blog because I plan on there being many more posts bragging about his accomplishments.