Declan - 12 Months Old

(July 16 - August 15)

Declan,

You are 1 YEAR OLD now!  I can hardly believe how fast that year went by!  We had a fabulous month to round out your first year.

As I mentioned in your last post, you and I had to take a little breast feeding break.  I still had plenty of breast milk to give you, you just couldn't take it, as dad would say, directly from the tap.  So lucky for me, I had your big brother to help.  He was thrilled to be able to feed you, and you loved the attention from big brother:

Speaking of attention from big brother, you are just loving spending time with Alex.  He likes to help you walk:


And you guys just love taking a bath with each other:


I have no idea what Alex was saying to you in that video, but you seemed to enjoy it!

As much as you love Alex, you also like to have your time without him.  You love it when you get up from your nap earlier than him and you are allowed to play with his toys and play in his chair without him getting upset with you.

We celebrated your brother's birthday this month.  It was so much fun!  We started out with breakfast at Bread Co.  You had your very first egg souffle.  You really liked it!

After breakfast, we headed to the Zoo.  You enjoyed yourself for a very short time while we were there but unfortunately we were right in the middle of your morning nap time, so you mostly just slept in the stroller:

No worries about the snooze though, because you were raring to go when we headed out to Adriana's after the Zoo.  You had your first real taste of Adriana's (as opposed to what you got while in utero and through my breast milk).  You loved the pizza there and you even out ate your big brother!

The next day, we celebrated Alex's birthday at our house with a party.  You loved the party!  You ate pasta like it was your job.  Your Aunt Ann was shocked that you actually finished everything I put on your tray and that you asked for more!

You weren't too sure about everyone singing Happy Birthday to your brother, but you certainly enjoyed eating the cake!

It was a very fun birthday for your brother!

We also celebrated your Gram's birthday this month.  We went to the Museum of Transportation.  It was a VERY hot day on Gram's birthday, but we made the most of it.  We walked around and looked at all the trains and when it got too hot we just headed inside to see the cars.  Gram really enjoyed her birthday!

Another fun thing we did this month is go to Frisco Friday and the Frisco Train Store.  We went with your friends Braden and Cate.  You had a blast and were finally able to actually partake in the cookie part of the event.  You loved the cookie and your face showed it!

After the train store, we headed out for some Frozen Yogurt.  It was a beautiful night and you guys had fun eating your yogurt and running around outside.  We even managed to snap one picture of the 4 of you:

We have been spending a lot of time with Braden and Cate lately.  We went to their house for dinner one night and you were able to join the kids at the kids table.

Aunt E took us all swimming one day this summer.  It was your first time in a big pool.  You really liked the feeling of the water.  Your brother was scared to go in the deeper water even with mom, but you liked the feeling of floating through the water as mom held onto your hands.

You also really liked the slushie we shared.  I must say, mom did not get much of it, so it is a bit ironic that the only picture Aunt E took was of ME drinking it, lol!

Finally, a couple days before your birthday, we celebrated all the August birthdays at a winery.  Grandma Gerry made sure you would have enough to do and brought your whole activity center.  We also ran around and threw balls back and forth.  It was a great day!

We took you to the doctor for your 1 year well baby check and here were your stats:

Weight:  20lbs 6oz (8th percentile)

Height: 28.5" (12th Percentile)

Head Circumference: 17.5" (7th percentile)

You are such a sweet little guy, Declan!  I am so proud to be called your mommy.  You are doing so much to make us so happy.  You are saying some words right now, most of them are only legible to those of us who know you well, but you say momma, dada, ball, balloon, bye-bye and you meow like a cat:


You also clap on demand and raise your arms up when we ask you to (or say we are going over a bridge).  You are such a happy person and you are the life of the party.  Everyone always wants to be around you.  I love you so much my sweet Declan!  Here are your 1 year pictures!

You really hated this hat!

That's all for this month.  My next post will be dedicated specifically to your birthday celebrations!

I love you Little Britches!

Love,

Mom

Alexander's 3rd Birthday

Alex,

We had a wonderful 3rd Birthday weekend for you!  We started it off on Saturday the 19th in the usual manner.  Dad likes tradition, so he thought we'd do what we do every year for your birthday.  So we started off with Bread Co. for breakfast.  We ordered you a chocolate chip muffie even though you told us you didn't like muffies.  We told you that you do like muffies and you were shocked when you did indeed like the muffie.  Yum, yum!

After breakfast, we headed out to the Zoo.  You made sure to put your hands up over every single bridge on the way there:

Since you are so into the Jungle Book this year, our trip to the Zoo wasn't to see snakes, orangutans, tigers, panthers, and bears . . . it was to see Kaa, Cousin Louie, Shere Khan, Bagheera and Baloo.  It was so much fun going to see each animal and seeing your reaction based on the Jungle Book character.

Here you are with "Kaa"

Dad told you to give "Kaa" a hug, silly Daddy!

It was a hot day as it was the middle of July in St. Louis, so they had all the fans going at the Zoo, blowing mist.  You just LOVED that this year!  Every time you saw one you would run toward it and just hang out a while and let it mist you.

We had such a fun day at the Zoo with you for your 3rd birthday!  Our only regret is that we didn't have time to go to the Children's Zoo to take a picture of you by the growth chart.  Bummer!

After a fun morning at the Zoo, we went (where else?) to Adriana's!  You and Declan enjoyed a pizza together while dad and I had our yummy sandwiches.

We had a great morning and early afternoon together, but we had to rest up because the next day was your actual birthday, and boy did we have a fun day planned!

We woke you up in the usual way, playing the Beatles Birthday Song with a camera in your face.  You were a little out of it at first, but once you picked up on the fact that it was your birthday, the smiles and the silliness started:


Right after this video you grabbed your Alex crown and smiled:

While daddy took care of a few things at home, you and I went to the party store to pick up your balloons.  You were so excited to get birthday balloons - I may have bought you a few pieces of candy as well . . .

Once the balloons were at the house we asked you what you wanted to do.  And of course you picked your very favorite place . . .  The Water Park (aka Sylvan Springs Spray Pool).  We had a great time splashing around in the water.  And of course we still couldn't get you to keep you swim trunks on:

After the water park, we went to your other favorite place . . . the snow cone stand!  That was so much fun, because we told the lady that it was your birthday, and she let you come inside the stand and help make your own snow cone.  You were so excited and you talked about this for days afterward:

It had already been a great birthday and it was just getting started.  After our snow cones, we headed back home so you and brother could take a nap while dad and I got everything ready for your party.  Just a couple hours later, your guests started showing up and you emerged from your room.  You were very excited about the Jungle Book Cake mommy made for you and you were so excited to see your cousin Alyssa and your aunts, uncles, and grandmas and grandpas.

You weren't so sure about the way everyone was singing Happy Birthday to you, but you blew out the candle anyway.  And you really enjoyed your cake!

After the cake, you opened all your presents, played with them for a while, thanked and said good-bye to all your guests.


What a wonderful 3rd Birthday!

After everyone was gone, you had to go to bed.  You were so tired from the long, fun weekend you had, but you were not quite ready to go to bed yet.  After we put you to bed, we heard your whistle blowing and you were in your bed with your conductor hat on blowing your train whistle.  It was the perfect way to say good night to your 3rd birthday!

Alex, we are so very blessed to have such a sweet and caring little boy in our lives.  July 20th will always be a special day to your dad and I because it is the day that God gave us the best gift ever . . . you!  We love you so much Pot Pot!

Love,

Mom