The First Brush-off

Connor is getting more independent every day.  He crawls less and walks more, goes into rooms and entertains himself, tries to stretch his boundaries and our patience.  It is amazing every day to watch him grow, and learn, and become his own little chunky person.

Today we were playing outside in the front yard.  After discovering that, no, he wasn't allowed to eat rocks, and no, that pipe was not for playing with, he decided to head down the driveway.  I think the act of walking downhill was super exciting for him.  Well, he stumbled, as he often does, and I picked him up, as I often do, he said something to the effect of "Hen Dah!" insisting on being put down.  My first brush-off.  The first time Connor said to me, "No, Mom, I can do this myself and I want to do this myself and not with your help." 

Well, honestly, he's probably done this before, but not with something as independence-giving as walking.  It astonishing to me that at just a year old, he can be so grown up.  He is so different from the tiny baby we brought home, but I still recognize things about him that I observed in the hospital.  My intuitions about his personality have been dead on.  He's sweet, calm, and really stubborn.  He's also very silly, which I didn't observe between bouts of nursing and sleeping!

Some other examples of his new independence and self awareness are:

• He chooses his own clothes.  I set out a few shirts and he picks the ones he wants, and then I set out some shorts that go with the shirt and he chooses the ones he wants.  I've done this several times, but it still astonishes me every time.

• He started signing!  So far he just does one discernible sign (all done) which I think he enjoys doing, since it's basically shaking his hands at me.  Sometimes he does it when he's annoyed at us too, which is funny to me.  I wish I could get him to sign "milk" to me, but he either signs "all done," smacks me on the chest, pulls at my shirt, or just yells.

• He has very decided opinions on what books we should be reading to him, even if he starts looking at another book.  Often he will ask for the same book three time in a row.  He definitely has rotating favorites.  Right now the book champion is "Oh My, Oh My, Oh Dinosaurs".

•  He gives us things when we ask for them.  If he's really into the object, he will usually just hold it out to us and get mad when we take it away, but if he doesn't care, he'll drop it in our hands.

• He knows what a lot of phrases mean.  He knows what it means to "go outside," "go on a trip" (in the car), "come get (whoever)," and "where's Mama/Dada."  
  

Walking Man!

Connor took his first few steps on his own first birthday, May 4th.  Then he did his first real walking on mommy's birthday, May 7th.  He is quickly getting more and more confident and sure-footed.  My new nickname for him is Rocksteady.

Rocksteady was a stupid villain henchman from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles,
but as a kid, I thought he had the coolest name ever.

I've been falling behind on getting videos up on the blog.  I will do my best to go through and get some more good ones this weekend.  Until then, here are a couple of recent videos of Connor walking:

I like how Connor screams as if he's pumping himself up.

It's amazing how far he's come in only two weeks!

If I fail to post new videos any time soon, feel free to pester me for them.  I might need the push to make me do it!

Birthday Weekend

I had so much fun this past weekend!  I had been planning Connor's party for months and months.  I have a multiple page document on my computer with a guest list, menu, recipes, and a shopping list.  I worked on the decorations for a long time, which was really fun.  I made paper mache dinosaur eggs, and a lot of banners out of paper to hang up around our front room. 

Our friends Leslie and Kevin and their daughter Ella, who is 5 months older than Connor, came to stay with us and Leslie helped me a lot!  Connor had been a whisper away from walking, and he finally took his first steps on Saturday!  I'm pretty sure Ella inspired him with her ease of getting around and her ability to get to all the toys.

Connor and Ella watching Elmo with Kevin

 I'm really proud of all my decorations and all the food I made!  So I will subject you all to many pictures.

A chain garland and egg in a nest

Another egg and garland

I was most proud of the bottom garland!  It was because of making it that I had all the scraps to make the other garlands.

We had a slide show on our TV of Connor's first year in pictures.

A dinosaur left his footprints and some eggs!

My first attempt at a fondant decorated cake.  I think it's both cute and really stupid looking.

All my food.  Thanks to Andy for the chocolate covered pretzels (not pictures) and Robin for the cupcakes!

I was really busy during the party and didn't really take many pictures.  I'm kind of sad, but I know I couldn't have done any differently.  Connor's godfather took this one of the birthday boy and his daddy.

Eating some cantaloupe on Sani's lap.  My mom was such a huge help during the party!

On Sunday we went to a restaurant called Connor's Steakhouse for lunch.  I want it to be a yearly tradition!  The food there is really good and it's surprisingly kid friendly.  Connor tried a ton of new food, including eating part of a lemon slice, rind and all.  He didn't make a sore face once!

Connor's Sunday bedhead.

Connor with one of his new toys.  The dog talks and sings and is customizable with a lot of options and even incorporates Connor's name into a lot of what it says.

Connor's First Birthday!

The Birthday Boy!

Connor is a whole year old today!  He doesn't understand what a birthday is yet, of course, but that doesn't mean we couldn't have a lot of fun!

This morning when Connor woke up, I got him out of his crib and Becca and I sang birthday songs to him and I played with him just a little before I had to go to work.

I left work early so I could spend more time with him today.  Connor got to play with two of his birthday presents today: his sandbox from Happah and Nanna, and his water table from his mommy and me!

Connor had a blast with the water table, but he doesn't understand the tower yet.  He just likes to throw it on the ground.

Connor also had a great time in his sandbox, but when I ran to grab the camera, I came back to find that he had put a handful of sand in his mouth.  Guess it was inevitable!

Here are some other recent photos from Sarah's visit on Wednesday.  She went with Connor and Becca to the Greenway.

Fun on the swing!

Wading with Aunt Sassy

Playing in the Wildflowers

Happy Birthday, son!  I hope you have as much fun at your party tomorrow as you did with your Mom and me today!

Love, Dad