Terrible Ones?

Ok so here we are, 1 week and 1 day away from Kaleb's BIG DAY....he's turning the big O-N-E!! I can't believe it. In the midst of all the excitement, I am beginning to notice quite a change in my little dude. He has been very aggressive lately. Ok, REALLY aggressive lately. Things like....slapping the spoon away from his mouth, grabbing Oliver and Zilla and pinching them until they yelp, hitting his Mommy in the face and laughing (that one I just LOVE!) and then there was today. Hmmmm, we'll call it a great lesson for the both of us.

I knew the day was shot when he woke up at 5 am and had absolutely NO interest in going back to sleep. none. I finally gave him a bottle about 6:15 and he settled back down for about 45 min. All throughout the day, he would just get fussier and fussier and then in the early afternoon, it happened. A total baby breakdown.

I was on the phone with my Mother and Kaleb decided he wanted to say hello to Grandma by grabbing the phone. Well, let's be honest-that's cute for about 2 min. and then ok, it's time for Mommy to chat again. Oh no. When I took the phone away from him it was like I ripped his right ear off. He threw himself down on the floor kicking and screaming with tear drops the size of Texas rolling down his cheeks. I tried to distract him with another toy, coax him with an afternoon bottle and carry him around to calm him down. NOTHING worked. I had to put him on the floor and let him be....there it was-unfolding before my very eyes. My baby boy was big enough for his first tantrum.

All I can say is...WOW. If they handed out an Oscar for the lead role of maddest baby he would've won hands down. I was at a loss of what to do. Afterall, I'm a new Mom. I don't know about these things. not yet. I thought kids didn't start doing this stuff until maybe two, three if I'm lucky. But one, ONE?? He's still supposed to just be cute and cooperative. (ha, you experienced Mothers are laughing, right?) I finally mangaged to wrangle him close to me and hold him. He was still crying but the kicking and screaming stopped. Then, just as soon as it started-it stopped. He was talking and pointing at things out the back window. Like nothing had ever happened. He needed to get some stuff out and then, he was over it. I guess it shouldn't have shocked me that bad really. I mean, I act like that every once in awhile only I try to use words instead. Kaleb just doesn't have words. not yet.
I read in one of my favorite books, My Baby's First Year, that tantrums are actually a healthy part of growing up. They mean your baby feels comfortable enough to "express" their emotions with you. They feel safe.
Well, Kaleb must feel extra safe with me :)

Rockin' out and tossin' peas

Kaleb loves to rock out in his high chair and pretty much does it every day. It's so cute that I just had to get it on camera. Well, this particular day he had just about had enough of his peas. check it...

Quite the personality

So Kaleb has always had a great personality ever since he started smiling, but recently....wow is all I can say. The last two times we have taken him out to eat he will wave at anyone that walks by, flirt with all the waitresses and if there is a baby/small child anywhere in a 20 ft. vicinity he proceeds to yell and wave until that child acknowledges him. For example, we ate at Pei Wei the other night and there was a baby about 2 tables over. Kaleb would not even eat his food (which if you know Kaleb is very strange for him) b/c he was so busy trying to get this baby to react to him. The other baby wasn't having any of it and it drove him CRAZY. Needless to say, we left shortly after :)
Don't get me wrong, I love it that we have a social baby but I must be honest-I miss those days that we would take him out to eat or to the nursery and he would just quietly observe things from afar...
His recent faves for food are: Edamame, peas, green beans, strawberries, pizza crust and vanilla ice cream. (in moderation of course)
His recent faves for toys are: his activity table, his plastic PF Changs cup, his big Tonka truck that he pushes all over the house, his stuffed puppy Spot and of course, the real puppies. God bless em' they still want nothing to do with him-maybe that will change soon. doubtful :-~

Pine Lakes Park

Wow, I am actually updating this thing two days in a row!! Back in business...
So a group of my friends all got our hooligans together at the park on Friday and we had such a great time! My friends Liz and Julie took some great photos of Kaleb and I and all the babes together while we were there! Here are a few...

Happy New Year!

How long until you can no longer say Happy New Year...I guess it's still alright on Jan. 9th, right? Well, it's been a long time since I last updated. I've missed you all! I hope you all had a great Christmas and New Years! Although our Christmas was plagued with the stomach bug (yuck!), it was still great getting to spend time with family and friends. One of the highlights of our trip was getting Kaleb dedicated at the church I grew up attending, First Baptist Church. It was so incredibly special to me to have his dedication there b/c that is the same sanctuary where I was baptized almost 18 years ago!! He was quite a ham the whole time and when the pastor held him up in the air to present him to God, he grinned from ear to ear! Our boy doesn't like to be the center of attention at all! ha!

Thanksgiving

We always have so much to be thankful for each year, but this year was very special with the birth of our precious little guy. He is turning into such a big boy right before our very eyes!
We are also so thankful to the Limongellis for always welcoming us into their home for Thanksgiving. We had a great time being with them and their family! They are expecting twins in March, so it will be quite a full house next year!! We are so excited for them. Here are some pics from our weekend!


Family pic!

Nae and I!

Nice spread!

Kaleb and I outside our house!



Don't mess with me, I know KARATE!

Alf's family

Alf's Mom and brother came to stay with us for a few days and it was great to see them!! Kaleb enjoyed getting to know his Lola (Grandma) and Tito (Uncle). Here are some pics from their visit. (Oh and by the way, they brought us this adorable Chihuahua puppy, which you will see pics of below, but we didn't keep it.) I'm already too busy these days chasing around a hairless puppy. ha!