Exhaustion

Trying to wear out a dog and a one year old? Might I suggest a Roomba?

One Year!

Andrew Edward Callegari, you made it.  WE made it.  A whole year!  Our lives changed dramatically a year ago, but at the same time it feels like you have been here all the time.  Your goofy personality fits RIGHT in with our family.  We are having a blast watching you grow up.

You were born at 4:12 on October 18th 2011.  Ironically, at 4:12 on October 18th, 2011 I was getting a sneak peak at your brother-or-sister-to-come.  My two kids.  That just amazes me.  (Note: the doc said Peanut was really opening and closing their mouth a lot..... please prepare yourself for a sibling who is a talker).

I will recap your birthday party and birthday day in different posts, but let's talk about the changes in the last month.

The biggest thing (and hardest for mama to swallow) was you had your very last bottle on October 17th.  We were running out of formula and I thought there was no reason to buy more, so when you woke up on your birthday you drank whole milk.  Which you LOVE.  No problems transitioning at all.  You have also finally figured out how to hold/tilt your sippy cup, so you can give yourself the milk.  I thought that day would never come.  Now if we can just teach you to use a straw!

You do 100% solid food, and are still a pretty good eater.  Your favorites are fruits and breads.  You don't seem to love meat, and your veggie preferences have gotten more specific.  On occasion I will sit you down in your chair and just give you veggies for the first part of your dinner.... once you have other options, you pretty much ignore the vegetables.  I'm not sure how the milk is going to work into all of this.  You seem to like it so much that you would be willing to sit and drink an entire cup full before you eat anything.  We will have to watch that.

You've been battling a lot of "yuck" this month.  Not really sick, but not 100% well, either.  I have been taking you to MOPS at Grace Covenant Church, and I think you tend to get sick a couple of days after you spend time in the nursery.  Nothing terrible, but goopy eyes and a snotty nose.  But I would prefer you to get sick now and get those immunities before you head off to school.

You are still on the same sleep schedule- 7PM- 6:30AM at night, then a nap around 9 or 9:30 and a nap around 1:30 or 2.  Today (October 19th) you tried to drop that morning nap.  I hope that isn't going to become your new normal!

You are an absolute monkey these days.  You are walking everywhere- your days of crawling are gone.  You open every door or drawer you can.  I keep finding our remote control in your dad's bathroom drawer.  You get into the smallest spaces.  You are a handful, but a constant source of FUN.

We love you, Drew.  This last year has been a blast.  Can't wait to see what the next year brings!

It is Birthday Party Day!

For the last several hours I have been dreaming that I forget to put food out. I remember 30 minutes into the party, go into my kitchen to find uninvited guests making quesadillas. I start to cry, wake myself, roll over, and have the exact same dream again and again.

So as long as no one makes a quesadilla, I will call it a success. How's that for setting the bar low?!

Growing Up

This post is about me, not Drew, believe it or not.

As Drew gets closer to a year old, I realize he isn't the only one who has "grown up" this year. Becoming a mother has done so much for me and my priorities. And I am so thankful that I learned this lesson at 28 rather than 58.

I have always been a "do-er." I signed up, I volunteered. I was especially flattered if someone asked me specifically to do something. My answer was ALWAYS yes.

And then came along this wee little man- who grew like a weed and quickly became one of my greatest sources of entertainment. He was a great source of entertainment for his daddy, too. I got to where I loved the part in the day where Rob came home and played with his son and I could sit back and just watch them. Problem was all the things I had said "yes" to took me away from this special hour of the day. Meetings, happy hours, events.

And then the most simple, most profound thing hit me- "only do what you WANT to do, Lindsey."

Huh.

I'm not giving up everything-- mama has to stay sane somehow-- but I am thinking everything over and learning how to gracefully say no to the things that aren't as high on my priority list.

Because really, the very best "happy hour" happens at my house, anyway.

Sometimes....

We like to dress our baby up like an extra from an 80's exercise video and then laugh at him.

What I am not doing today

(besides sleeping....)

It's my 1/2 marathon day, and I am not out of bed getting dressed, and I didn't have a big pasta dinner last night. I asked the doctor at my first appointment for peanut if I could still run, and she was concerned about my training in the 100+ degree heat.

I hated to hear her say "no," but as I lay in my bed and listen to the rain fall outside I don't mind quite as much. Next year.

UPDATE: I checked my email after I wrote this, and they canceled the race due to rain. NOW who looks smart for not training?!

Celeb sighting!

Not the best picture of Drew and I, but we weren't the point of this picture.  Check out the man right about my head.  Yessiree, it's Mr. Mack Brown.

There was a baby at his table, too, and Drew was completely obsessed.  Which gave a good excuse to chat with Mack himself!  He even called my baby "adorable."  Yes, it was a good day.

Dada (From Dads perspective)

It is time to make it official.

Drew,
Your first word was Da Da. To this point your only word is Da Da….and we waited over a month just to make sure. It is very cute when I come home and from 3 rooms away I hear “Da Da…Da Da…Da Da!!!” There is no better feeling in the world. I think we owe a big thanks to Momma for teaching you your first word and for making that feeling happen for me.

Love you both,
Dad

Da da!

My kid spends all day with me, so naturally he would show his love and appreciation by choosing "da da" as his first word. :)

He has been making the "dadadadada" noises for some time, but when he happily squealed "da da" when Rob walked in several nights, we decided we had to call it his first word.

Still nothing close to "mama" when trying to summon me. Maybe I should make myself less available?

Anyway, here is a cute picture of D and his dada.

11 Months!

Drew, you are 11 months (ok, at this point 11.5 months) old! And you are a man on the MOVE, which  means when your mama has a break from chasing you around the house, she lays down and takes a nap.  :)

The biggest thing that happened between 10 and 11 months were your first steps, which quickly turned into walking all over the place.  It's funny, I definitely see a difference in your ability to walk depending on the time of day.  You have much more control the earlier in the day and/or if you just woke up from a nap.  Generally you start off walking wherever you want to go.  When and if you fall, you just crawl the rest of the way.

You suddenly also have the memory of an elephant.  If you do something once and enjoy it, you want to do it over and over again.  I made the mistake of letting you pull on the cord and turn the light on the fan earlier this month.  We cannot pass under a fan without you trying to climb me now.

You seem to be developing a neat-nick gene.  You spend hours taking blocks out of your tub and putting them back in.  You have also determined that your wood blocks make a satisfying "clang" going into the metal trashcan, so you enjoy that greatly.

Your "elephant memory" also now extends to food.  You used to eat everything.  It was great.  Now you remember that some foods are better than others, and show your displeasure at certain foods by tossing them over your tray and/or trying to hide them in your lap (which your dog truly enjoys).  I am now getting you kids meals with more and more frequency when we go out, which is hard to imagine.  You really do eat quite a bit and (quite frankly) I got tired of ordering only foods that I could share with you.  Sometimes mama needs her own food!

You watch PBS in the morning while you have breakfast.  Usually we hit the 8:00 Curious George and 8:30 Cat in the Hat.  I'll tell you a secret- I think your dad likes Curious George more than you do.  I've caught him watching it in the bedroom when we aren't even in there.  You love the theme song for the Cat in the Hat and will dance along with it.  Your dad and I die laughing every time you do it.

Oh, you now have a "lovie."  It was a gift when you were born, but you have recently decided it is the greatest thing.  If I leave it in your crib after your nap you will reach through the slats for it.  You have also been known to carry it around in your teeth.

Your sleep schedule is generally the same- you wake up about 6:30, nap around 9:30 and 2, and head to bed between 6:30 and 7.  I would still love to push your bedtime back 30 minutes or so, on the off chance your morning wake up time would shift back about 30 minutes, but you are a pistol at 6:30 and I can't bring myself to try to keep you up.

Ok, now for some stats:
- you have 7 teeth
- you can wear 9 month clothes if they are shorts, but pants are too short.  I suspect you still fall in the "stringbean" category on the growth chart- tall and skinny
- you get bathed every day, thanks to your new found mobility.  You like the bath.  You do not like getting dressed after your bath
- You have a bottle in the morning, followed by "second breakfast" (usually a waffle and some fruit) and sometimes "third breakfast" (cheerios while we go on a walk).  After you nap we usually have lunch around 11 (turkey, goldfish, fruit), then a snack (cheese) and dinner around 5.  Your favorite dinners are leftovers from what mom and dad have- you enjoy flavor and are not at all deterred by spice.  Then another bottle before you hit the sack.

Love you bub!