We just celebrated Andrew's first birthday! Seems like just yesterday we were bringing him home from the hospital, and now a whole year has come and gone! I sort of can't believe it.
This past month has been one of a lot of change for Andrew. In addition to Mama, Dada, and cat, Andrew says high five and waves and says bye bye! He has also become a profession fake sneezer and cougher. He thinks he is so funny! And when he gets really excited to see someone, he shoots his arms up into the air like he has just scored. He has seven teeth- four on top and three on bottom although they aren't all completely out yet. And the biggest news for the month is that he is walking! He had been taking a few steps here and there and a few weekends ago, I noticed that he was taking one more step than normal. I didn't think much of it and that night we left the kids with Mimi and Paw Paw, and when we came back, he was walking way more than 5 or 6 steps! The next day we headed out to the beach (more on that later) and he didn't really do it that much while we were on vacation so I was wondering if it was a fluke. But, as soon as we got back, he was at it again! He still crawls more than he walks, esp if he has to get somewhere fast! But he is doing really great with it.
He likes to play peek a boo, and loves to dance and watch Mom make a fool of herself. He likes to crawl through tunnels and play in tents with
Izzie. He LOVES to get into Lucky's food and water bowl. Yes, yuck. If I forget to close the door and it suddenly becomes very quiet, I know where he has gone! And speaking of Lucky and Lulu, he just adores them. Lucky will bring him toys to play with and Lulu will usually let him "pet" her- although she did slap his hand the other day and it TOTALLY hurt his feelings! But the biggest thing BY FAR that happened this month is that he got released from his helmet!!!
YIPEE! Although we had seen some progress over the past few visits, I really wasn't expecting that news and it was
soo good to hear. While his head is still a bit flat in the back on the bottom, the doc said that it will continue to grown and correct itself over the next year. The helmet had done all it could for him. And we do not miss it at all! It did take some getting used to. He was so used to crawling under tables and knocking his head but not hurting it, so he had to learn to duck a little more. And we really don't miss the stares or the stupid comments. Women would just come out and ask what was wrong with him, while men not knowing how to handle such situations would try and make jokes which were never funny. For example, I had one old man literally knock on his helmet instead of asking me what it was made of; another man asked if it was a crash helmet; and probably the best was when a man compared Andrew's helmet to a dog wearing a cone around its neck- "You feel sorry for the guy, but you know it's for the best." Yes. That really happened. But some good comments were made too. People would tell me about their child wearing one and how it helped and that was always nice to hear. But, moving on!
Here is the bday boy getting his first taste of cake!
Drunk off cake!
Presents time
And his party! I didn't do that great of a job taking pictures :( But before everyone arrived, I managed to take some of the decorations.
The sign says "Muddy Tires" since you can't read it in the picture. They were the party favor- chocolate covered
oreos.
And before we could get one of
Izzie and Andrew, people started arriving and I forgot :(
We were
sooo excited that Mary Pat and Evie stopped by! (And that is my tank top, not my bra, thank goodness. My photographer was not about the details apparently!)
Pinata!
Yes, she is double
fisting lollipops.
Just a cupcake for the birthday boy!
He wasn't as into it this time.
And more presents after everyone left. We had lots of helpers opening!
We had such a great time and had such a great turn out and it really is a shame that I was such a dingbat as usual about the pictures. There were so many wonderful friends there and I'm so sad to not have good pictures of them :(
Where was Isabella during this group shot with Nonna?
Over here, making this pretty face!
She beat me in the head about 10 times with it before I showed her to just stick her finger in the middle and shake it out!
He likes to play peek a boo, and loves to dance and watch Mom make a fool of herself. He likes to crawl through tunnels and play in tents with Izzie. He LOVES to get into Lucky's food and water bowl. Yes, yuck. If I forget to close the door and it suddenly becomes very quiet, I know where he has gone! And speaking of Lucky and Lulu, he just adores them. Lucky will bring him toys to play with and Lulu will usually let him "pet" her- although she did slap his hand the other day and it TOTALLY hurt his feelings! But the biggest thing BY FAR that happened this month is that he got released from his helmet!!! YIPEE! Although we had seen some progress over the past few visits, I really wasn't expecting that news and it was soo good to hear. While his head is still a bit flat in the back on the bottom, the doc said that it will continue to grown and correct itself over the next year. The helmet had done all it could for him. And we do not miss it at all! It did take some getting used to. He was so used to crawling under tables and knocking his head but not hurting it, so he had to learn to duck a little more. And we really don't miss the stares or the stupid comments. Women would just come out and ask what was wrong with him, while men not knowing how to handle such situations would try and make jokes which were never funny. For example, I had one old man literally knock on his helmet instead of asking me what it was made of; another man asked if it was a crash helmet; and probably the best was when a man compared Andrew's helmet to a dog wearing a cone around its neck- "You feel sorry for the guy, but you know it's for the best." Yes. That really happened. But some good comments were made too. People would tell me about their child wearing one and how it helped and that was always nice to hear. But, moving on!
