16 months

daxton just celebrated his 16 month birthday!

it's amazing to watch our boy growing up!  this past month dax has been working hard on standing up all over the place.  he'll just be sitting down minding his own business and all of the sudden he'll stand right up, legs spread wide apart for bracing, and look around to make sure you're watching him.  he's now even doing things like clapping his hands once he's standing up or raising his hands into the air like a giant stretch.  he's trusting his abilities to stand and is doing it much more frequently for much longer periods of time.

 

 

as previously noted this month, dax is now walking with his little walker toy.  he's taken one or two steps here and there on his own, but really trucks across the room (until you stop turning the toy around and he's run dead into the wall) in a fast pace now.  it's still so amazing to watch those little legs go, go, go and i always sit there with my jaw dropped.

daxton is still enjoying a plethora of baked sweet potatoes, baby cherry tomatoes, and yogurt these days - but lately he's being adventurous and trying all sorts of new items.  just this week he feasted on a whole grain waffle, broccoli cheddar soup, and a french baguette.  he's also now in love with veggie chips.  it's scary if you have a bag of them and they run out because someone is just a tad spoiled rotten and will cry and cry until you find some more or distract him with something else.  we had this same issue with popsicles a while back and they have not been seen in our house for months!  we tried pho a few weeks ago and he liked the broth and noodles but wanted nothing to do with the "meat"balls, cilantro, basil, or bean sprouts.  we'll get him there one day.

 

we've been so focused on the standing and walking that daxton's vocabulary has kind of stalled out.  he still repeats all of his famous phrases and delights every one with "dank you", but this week we've heard things like "aye, aye, aye", "like it", "mmm", and "go".  he'll chat your ear off sometimes and we just wish we knew what he was saying.  he'll go on and on and is so animated with the stories he tells that he's really passionate about whatever it is he's spilling.  we'll keep working on new sounds and words and hopefully soon we'll figure it all out!

while dax still likes the mickey mouse clubhouse, (well at least the intro and the hot dog song) it's not very fun for the parents, so we've sort of steered him into a new favorite show.  dax now loves to watch doc mcstuffins.  he loves the intro song, doc singing, and any animal toy singing escapades that unfold during the 20 minute episode.  we let him watch one each night before our night time routine and he smiles a huge grin when he sees what's coming on the tube.  we're contemplating getting him a doc doll for Easter since the doll sings the song.  he may be in love.

 

daxton has never wanted to keep anything in his pack and play or crib while he napped or rested, but recently i gave him a toy giraffe (he got when he was born) to play with while he settled into napping.  he goes down really easily for his naps (most days) but sometimes he likes to sit in his crib and talk up a storm before falling asleep.  this week he's gone 8 sleeps with the giraffe in the crib.  usually any item you give him is chucked out quickly with an "uh oh" even though it was completely on purpose.  however, he's sticking with this giraffe.  last night we even watched him nuzzle up with her and look her in the eyes before we turned out the light.  too cute.

 

 

daxton's looking forward to Easter this month and he cannot wait for the egg hunt at church, reading more of his story book bible to learn about Jesus, dying eggs, and Easter church services!  there's a lot going on and we're eager to see how fascinated he is with all of these events!

calling a&e - hoarders - baby edition

i previously posted about dax putting things in the trash can when i was not paying attention, but now he's moved on to a new level of hoarding.  our baby seems to be a kleptomaniac who loves to play hide and seek.  he'll snatch up anything he can find and take it under my desk (where i sit 8 hours a day while i am working) and crawl up behind the old desktop computer case to drop it in and behind the desk.  there's a little area there between the wall and the desk - which is apparently the perfect hiding spot for stuff.  now that i know about this little spot, since discovering it last week, i have to clean it out on a daily basis because some how sneaky mcsneakerton gets back there and loads up his hoarding pile with all sorts of goodies.  yesterday (it seems) he had a field day with my markers.

apparently it's pretty common for babies around this age to play hide and seek with unwilling partners.  does anyone else have past experience with baby hoarding?

walkings

look at my baby go!

it's funny how normal adult speech is totally revamped when little ones enter the house.  we've gone from total adult chatter to turning everything into baby lingo.  i am not sure how it goes that way, but your brain just gets sucked out and replaced with some device that makes everything baby friendly.  so, the other day when dax decided he was ready to walk (yes - he started all by himself), i just started calling it "walkings".  not sure why i added the "s" to the end, or even how that makes it baby speech - but when i say it - and how i say it - it sounds like baby blabber.

so now when you say to dax:  "do you want to do some walkings?"  he will crawl to his little melissa and doug alligator walker and stand up right behind it (most of the time holding on) and will walk a path as far as that little walker will carry him until he runs into the wall, the couch, the side table, you get the idea.  then, if he is really in the mood for walkings he will wait for you to turn him and the walker around so he can go back the other way.  or, if he is done with walkings he will just sit down and crawl away.

it's all sort of funny that this happened when it did because it seems that every time dax has a three month check up the doctor asks us well, does he do this?, does he do that?, on and on and if we say NO to anything dax will within the following week be doing that thing.  this past appointment was for the 15 month check up.  the doctor asked us:  "does he point at things?"  will and i both looked at each other and said that he did not.  (honestly it's been a while since i read the parenting milestone book and i did not even know that pointing was on the charts.  you kind of have to stop looking at it at some point when you get overwhelmed by the plague of people asking you if he's hit certain milestones.  it makes your mom heart worry, and most of the time - for no reason.)  then the doctor asked:  "is he walking?"  everyone loves to ask THAT question and when we confirm NO, not yet - they are somewhat shocked or dismayed.  i am not sure why, since every baby walks at their own pace - but it certainly puts a momma into a stage of fear and useless worry when other people are so aghast at your baby's milestone achievements or lack thereof. 

so after we told the doctor that dax was not pointing, within 24 hours he was pointing.  we changed nothing, did nothing different, and were not then pointing at everything on the planet - but he was.  it was kind of odd.  and now he is like a super pointer, pointing it up.  the first time will and i both saw it we looked at each other with shock on our faces and were doing a little victory pointing dance.  now, one week later, its just something he does with everything - all day long.

then, this past sunday morning we'd all gotten up sickly and knew we had to skip church when dax's temperature was over 100.  we dosed him up on his meds, fed him his breakfast, and all headed upstairs to the tv room to let him watch an episode of doc mcstuffins.  even if it's his favorite show he will only watch about 10 minutes of it before he starts to wander off and do something else.  (and i am not a huge proponent of kids watching lots of tv so it's no bother to me at all.)  so, he did just that and decided that he would check out the walker.  we've had it since november and he's never really done much with it, but sunday it was just on his agenda.  so he got behind it, stood right up, and started to go.  he marched across the game room with sheer determination and we immediately praised him and had him doing it round robin, back and forth.  on his second trek across the room, just as he stood up at the handle he actually took a step on his own, no hands holding on, and will and i both confirmed that was his actual real first step!  since sunday dax has impressed us over and over with his walkings as he trucks across the game room back and forth over and over again.  anytime we ask him to "show us his walkings" he goes straight to his walker and gets to work.  too cute.

so, once again its another milestone that the doctor asked us about, we said no - not even close - no way - no how - and boom he showed us all who's boss in this situation.  it won't be long now before he's walking hands free.  dax is impressing us everyday with his mad skills.  it's hard to see this little fella grow up so quickly, but it certainly is joyous to watch.

blog hop

heather over at open adoption bloggers is hosting a blog hop in order to help connect bloggers.

 the question she's posed to everyone is:

"Do you have a favorite quotation?"

 

mine can change depending on the season of life i am currently in, but this past sunday at church i heard one that could possibly be my favorite of all times.  see, the entire sermon was about the fact that God owns us.  He bought us with his blood, and the fact is - we're His and we belong to Him!  so, the quote that just might be my all time favorite is:

 

"i am His."

 

this pretty much sums it all up.

love

1 John 4:7
Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.

we certainly don't need a date on a calendar to remind us to love one another, but having a day devoted to celebrating your love for one another definitely doesn't hurt.  here, we love valentine's day.  we love any excuse to show each other how much we care and to spend time loving on each other.

dax brings so much love to our family and we pray that we always show him even more love in return.  while we love him with all of our hearts, it warms our spirits even more to see both of our extended families find great joy in spending time with dax and showing him love.  they love to play with him, rock him, cuddle him, feed him, sing with him - anything they can do with him, just to get to spend time with him giving him lovin's.  it is truly wonderful to watch your children grow up with the love of family.

lately dax has learned about showing and being shown love through kissing.  he loves it when you shower him with dozens of kisses right on his face, his cheeks, his head, his neck - etc.  he cuddles up deep in your chest and brings his arms in very close, just giggling with every smooch.  he's also learned that when you say "kiss" that it's got something to do with the lips.  he's still not quite sure how to give you a kiss, other than to sit still and hold his mouth out for you, but it's still pretty cute.

we'll have an at home family v-day celebration tomorrow night and all exchange cards.  we got dax some books to add to his growing library, so we'll have some family story time before bed time.  then, will and i have a date night on friday and dax will be hanging out with the neighbors while mommy and daddy enjoy some french food.  it will be great to get out of the house, be dressed up - not carrying a diaper bag, and have adult conversation.  we're looking forward to a grown up night out!  then, on saturday we're watching their son so they can go out on a v-day date as well.  i am sure the boys will have a blast playing with each other both weekend nights this week!

we wish everyone a valentine's day full of love and kindness!

Cracker Barrel

It's just funny how things come together. Yesterday, on our way home from the 'Noke we made two pit stops in Cracker Barrels. I know, If you know me, you know I cannot get enough of them, but they do have great things besides grub.

First of all - they have a good changing station in both the women's and men's room. They are safe and they are clean. Secondly, they have friendly staff who cheerfully greet you, seat you, and thank you all the way. And one last rant love are the rockers on the front porch. I've rocked many a time with many a friend and family member on their porches.

However, our last trip to the Barrel on Sunday night isn't about any of this, it's about our waitress. She came over quickly and cheerfully welcomed us and offered to get our drinks. At the same time we ordered Dax's late night dinner. The waitress (with three stars on her apron) said she'd put it in right away. But, before she left she chatted with us about Dax. She said: "he's adopted right?" And we nodded to confirm. Her face lit up as she began to tell us about her second son, the one she'd placed for adoption 2 years prior. She swelled with pride as she took her cell phone out to show us his 2nd birthday party picture. She smiled and was content with the situation. It made our hearts happy.

We hope and pray that we can give Dax's birthmother the same sense of peace and assurance that this sweet girl had. It really was magical to see what she had, a sense of pride in her decision, a thank you for "people like us", and a happiness for the situation.

We were so happy we made this final pit stop to get Daxton some carrots and applesauce. And, we're so thankful that God put this sweet girl in our lives last night.

15 months

daxton turns 15 months old today!

either his clothes are shrinking or he is really growing!  we've bumped up from our (what i previously thought were) giant 12m clothes to even bigger 12-18m clothes.  things that are strictly 18m are too big, but the 12-18m shirts fit much better than those 12m onesies and jammies i was cramming him into!  he's totally stretching out these days!

this month has included a lot of big boy action. daxton's tricks include crawling over to you while you are laying in the bed and putting both hands on your legs or torso to hoist himself up. he'll then balance (look ma no hands!) and stand there for as long as he can until he goes tumbling down! we've tried to get him to do it on the floor, where his balance would be more stable, but he only likes to do it in the safety of the bed.

some babies are "safer" about standing and walking than others, and we think daxton is totally on the safe side. when he rises to stand he'll brace himself on a window sill or table and then slowly slide down the wall or table leg to get back onto the floor on all fours. he cautiously walks down the couch with both hands pacing along, and has only recently decided to flash the bravery and go for a one handed hold so he can go from one brace to another. he loves to pull up on the couch, tables, trays, armoires, chairs, and just about anything he can lay two hands on.

daxton's totally weened off baby food now.  we're buying all organic so that daxton can eat everything we eat. we let him try whatever i've made us for dinner and then if he does not care for it we resort to baked sweet potatoes, tomatoes, and broccoli.  one night i roasted beets and cooked beet greens and he did not think either one of those items was a good idea, but lately he's tried and loved polenta, roasted carrots, pesto (as a topping on veggies), and marinara with or without spaghetti noodles. it was funny to watch him slurp noodles and eat spaghetti, but we're torturing him less with mini spirals whenever we give him pasta now. he's still a huge fan of the bunny crackers and has lately also added graham cracker bunnies to his repertoire.

daxton's favorite words and phrases are still thank you, uh oh, daddy, and good girl.  we now hear good girl whenever he's referring to amelia.  he's dubbed her the good girl and it's pretty cute how he calls for her.  will commented that it's so amazing how quickly he picks up on things.  recently, after apparently watching too much wheel of fortune, dax has been shouting out letters. his favorite shout out letter is "T"! however, he will also repeat letters you tell him, so if you say a, e, i, o, u - he will too. it's pretty cute and it shocks us every time. he laughs so hard he closes his eyes and we all get a good chuckle out of hearing daxton shout out letters!

although its not my favorite thing for daxton to do, he does get to watch one show a day. his two favorite shows are the aforementioned wheel of fortune and mickey mouse clubhouse. he's a huge fan of the hot dog dance, especially when mommy and daddy play minnie and mickey and dance around like giant goobers. lately he's started doing his own dancing and hopping around on both knees flapping his arms like goofy whenever he hears the song.

daxton loves to watch us do chores. he's totally fascinated by watching the dishes go into the dishwasher or be put into the cabinets. he loves watching us sweep or mop. we promised him that as soon as he was old enough he could certainly help with all of the chores he wanted. we remind him that things like mopping and laundry are fun!

daxton has lately learned to mimic us with different things. he'll want to hold the hair brush and attempt to brush his hair, grab a hold of the tooth brush to brush his own teeth, reach out for his spoon to put it in his mouth himself, take his fake remote to try to "work" the tv, and even take the washcloth to wipe us down.

he's awesome at picking up things like his blocks, balls, and even tiny pieces of food. he'll work those digits to grab everything around him. he opens his one and only free kitchen cabinet door to take out all of (mommy's new) rubbermaids and stack them in various places all over the kitchen. it keeps him busy for quite some time. he loves grabbing the ball when daddy rolls it to him and tossing it back or throwing it over his head. he jumps up and down on his knees and claps when we cheer for his amazing talents! he still loves to clap and dance. he loves all music and loves to wiggle and bounce to just about anything we put on.

he's had a good month and he's learning and growing by leaps and bounds!  we're in love with his curiosity and eagerness to learn and do new things.  we cannot wait to see what fun this next month holds!

working 9-5

recently i was asked how i manage to work a full 9-5 office job from home with a toddler in my care.  i honestly chuckled when i read the e-mail because it has become so second nature that i hardly think about how i do what i do anymore - i just have to do it.  however, since this e-mail came in, something tapped me constantly on the shoulder (maybe its my jimminy cricket) to say "look at yourself - running around like a chicken with your head cut off!"  i jokingly told another co-worker that i was not going to do a blog post on this topic, but here it comes.

it all starts with some cooing sounds coming from the other end of the house.  the awakening starts each morning on daxton's behalf - if it was up to me we'd all sleep until 10am daily, but i have to work, and he has to do things like eat and have clean diapers - so he wakes up.  sometimes he gets up at 6:45 and i try to bargain and plead with him about snoozing with a fresh diaper and a bottle snack for just another half an hour, but he never takes me up on it.  once he's up he has to start his day off with smiles, giggles, and snuggles.   he's waiting there (standing in his sleep sack) with arms outstretched so happy to see me.  he cuddles in when i scoop him up from his crib.  he lays on the changing table while i work on the diaper.  after the diaper we truck down the hall to pour up some milk and i usually hold him in bed while he drinks, for at least 15 minutes or so.  as he wakes, so do our dogs - the dogs who cannot be together in the same room (except while sleeping under different blankets in the same bed - don't ask) or they'll murder each other, so i have to start making plans on how to separate them for the morning, while keeping dax away from trouble and danger.  i usually have to put him back in his crib to make this dog arrangement, and then take one dog outside while the other one barks behind the gate at the door of our bedroom.  dogs each eat different foods, so i have to make sure the appropriate dog food is in the dog dish before i put one dog in the living area, while the other one gets to potty and return to the bedroom until lunch time.  (dog jail...)  at this point i also attempt to get a bathroom potty break, which sometimes does not happen for at least another hour or so.  once the dogs and my bladder are settled i get dax into his high chair and get him excited about morning time.  i usually sing him my rendition of mandisa's good morning - which is just a little more mod than my mom's - "good morning, good morning, it's time to get up this morning - good morning, good morning - to you!"  he laughs and giggles and thinks i am totally hilarious...  after he's strapped in i keep him happy with o's cereal.  he usually takes about 5 at a time now and he'll keep pounding them down until the main course.  in the mean time i am in the background cutting up fruit or defrosting frozen fruit to put in the bottom of his yogurt.  he loves his yogurt and i think it's his favorite meal of each day.  once the yogurt is scooped up and ready i settle into my seat and feed mr. happy.  he delights in the yogurt with "yumm" and other delightful sounds.  he pauses sometimes half way through and looks out the window into the yard to look at birds, dogs, or wind blowing things.  but, when he is ready you better be back to the yogurt in a hot  hurry.  once we get down to the last bite i give him fair warning and he is told that this is the "last bite".  he'll smile and tell me "all gone".  after he's done i offer a few more o's while i fix my own yogurt, get a pony tail holder, take daily meds, and pour a cup of coffee.  i make one trek up the stairs with dax and settle him in his pack and play where i tell him "i'll be right back".  he smiles and says "bye bye" as i head back down stairs to get my breakfast and phone to carry them upstairs.  this all happens most days before 8:30am, but definitely by 9.

by 9am i've started my computer, downloaded email, checked voicemail, and gotten into work mode.  i am shoving in yogurt and guzzling down coffee while dax is pretty content with what's going on in the pack and play.  sometimes answering email takes until 10am and during that time i may have had to let dax out of the pack and play and free in the office.  we've got a gate on the office door and it has bars - just like jail.  (lots of jails in our house.)  so, dax rotates through various toys in the office while i'm buried in emails and phone calls.  he gets very little attention during this hour.  sure, i stop what i am doing for a brief pause to give him a smile, "good job", or a giggle.  but he plays rather contently with (mostly) an activity table and books.  he loves the bookshelf and everything on it.  he loves to look at all sorts of books - art books, computer books, manuals, photo albums - any kind of book.  we usually have at least one dirty diaper in this time frame and i usually change it while on the phone with the phone in between my head and neck bending down to do diapers in the middle of the office floor.  shortly after 10 am he starts getting tired and ready for his nap.  he's generally good to get his bottle and head to his room for his nap.  he used to nap in my office in the pack and play, but lately my phone calls and 70+ wpm are just too annoying, so he heads to his room and i grab the baby monitor and head back upstairs.

if he goes down for his nap with ease, then i know i have until about noon to get some serious work done.  anything detail oriented needs to be accomplished during this time.  i may not have another focused chance.  i work furiously - head down, depriving myself of bathroom breaks, water, and any distraction to focus completely on the tasks at hand.  there may be conference calls, spreadsheets, answering more emails, or sharing information with coworkers - it all works like a well oiled machine.  this all goes on until about noon or 1pm.  then, i hear some babbling on the baby monitor and its time for an away message on my instant messenger.

i hop down the stairs, take a dog outside, switch the dogs, and head to daxy's room.  again, he's smiling and ready to go (as long as dog barking or some other obnoxiousness has not woken him up early).  i get him re-diapered and ready for lunch.  we head to the kitchen and i get him into his high chair.  i give him some kale puffs and take the other dog outside to potty.  after i head back inside i prep his lunch while keeping the puffs coming.  i chat with him while i chop up tomatoes, heat up peas and polenta, mixing in some pesto and white cheddar cheese.  i hide behind the pantry door and do a couple of pop out peek-a-boo's to get him chuckling.  i grab a baby spoon and head to the table for the lunch.  i blow on each spoon of lunch and he now blows too, so we make sure it's cooled off and ready to chow down.  he wiggles in his seat and loves watching the dog run around the living room/kitchen.  he shouts out "good girl" as he sees one of them run by.  we make it through the lunch and i fix myself something, and again take dax up to the pack and play and come back down to get the lunch i made for myself. 

i always eat at my desk, and sometimes dax lets me do that - while other times he thinks we should play instead of mommy eating.  i give him some dancing around the room and sometimes he'll do some jumping - and if he does - he will do it for up to half an hour.  by now i am signed back on at work and plowing back through emails, phone calls, and instant messages that are backed up.  dax is a lot more active in the afternoons and is usually crawling all over the room.  he'll go under will's desk, climb up to look out the window, throw things out of the room over or through the baby gate, scream at/for the dogs, play with his activity table, re-organize the bookshelf, pull down my office phone by its cord and clearly say "hi" to the dial tone at the other end, or work to open all of the drawers in my desk.  he's busy.  i keep buzzing through work tasks, take more conference calls, and manipulate more spreadsheets.  i build shop forms, work on training, and take client calls.  all the while - most people don't know there is an (almost) 15 month old baby at my feet or on my lap. 

by about 4:30pm each day dax has had enough of the 12x14 room i call my office.  he's either ready for another nap or he's ready to bust out of there and sing as we trot down the stairs.  the dogs are ready to go outside again and flip flop spaces.  sometimes i can squeak 5pm or 5:30pm out of all of my office/house mates, but sometimes they are just DONE.   if he goes down for a nap then i can continue to plug through more work and get lots accomplished, but lately he's just not feeling two naps a day - every day.   it all depends on the day.

and not all days start out so smoothly or go according to this routine.  today was one of those days. 

this morning dax was grumpy.  he has been battling a cold and had those sicky icky boogers again.  he was groggy and just wanted to be with mommy.  i held him while i did all of my morning tasks, attempting to answer emails one handed, talk on the phone, and answer instant messages.  he cried and screamed and tried to pull the phone and my coffee off the desk.  i screamed "NO DAX!" as tears fell down my face, because it hit me that its just all too much for a baby some days.  he would not let me put him down.  he did not want to go in his pack and play, in his jumperoo, or onto the floor to crawl about.  he only wanted to be in my lap and on my chest.  no where else would do.  i had to send an email and let everyone know that i just had to step away for a bit.  i wasn't sure if i'd be back.

i took dax into the play room and held him in my lap.  i cried and he'd already forgiven me for being such a big meanie with a lack of patience.  he smiled at me and took my glasses off.  (he usually takes them by force and chucks them across the room, but i think he likes me better without them, so i ordered some contacts.)  i kept them off while i played ball with him and let him crawl around.  he played for a few minutes, but then he just wanted to go back to cuddling and rocking.  i patted his back and rocked him until he fell asleep.  it was just what he needed - just what i needed.

he's a good baby.  i don't have anything to compare his actions to, but i believe he's a really good baby.  he's happy to play on his own, show me things he's proud of, and be happy with books and sunshine.  i don't know that this would work with any other baby, but somehow God knew what baby would work in this family and he directed us into his life.  it just all comes together.

i work for him.  i work so we can live where we live and hopefully fill our home with other adopted children one day.  i work for the hope of affording family fun on weekends, family vacations, and buying organic foods.  i work from home so i can stay home with dax all day long, so i can be there when he takes his first steps, says his first sentence, or has a bad day.  i am not the work-a-holic, but i am extremely passionate about doing a good job at anything you sign your name to and i would never want to let my company, my teammates, or my supervisor down.  they count on me to do good work.  so far, i think i am still doing a good job with that.  luckily i have the grace of God to get me through all of the tough days that don't go according to plan, and i have dax's grace and forgiveness when i focus too much on my computer and phone and not enough on him. 

sure, i'd rather be a totally devoted stay at home mom, but it's just not something we can do right now - so until we win the lottery or some other miracle happens, i will continue to somehow split my focus between my work and the reason that i sit at my desk all day.  praise be to God that i have a son who understands.

bye bye

my sweet little baby is growing up to be a big boy. 

i know, it's no news flash - but it's still shocking to me every time i think about it.

now we're saying bye bye to baby food.  lately dax has been working on saying "bye bye" and he loves to add it to "all gone" when you tell him the yogurt is finished etc.  he's definitely right about one thing - the baby food is "bye bye all gone"!

recently daxton has taken to his sippy cup during meal times and learned that water or water with a "splash" of juice helps you wash down your broccoli.  yes, that's right dax also loves broccoli.  the other night i fixed roasted broccoli with just a splash of olive oil and a sprinkle of lemon juice, roasted at 400 degrees for 10 minutes, and he loved it!  i was shocked that he'd eat something that sounded so grown up, but he loved every bite and ate his entire serving.  it's his first full solid week of no baby food.  it was hard for us to get him off the baby food since it was just too easy to cave when he did not want to eat what we were giving him.  we've learned he really just does not care for the first bite of anything, regardless of what it is, and if you just keep trying you'll get him to eat about 90% of the things he tries.  the battle is a lot easier knowing that the first bite of everything is going to come back out, get tossed across the room, and made a disgusting face at.  he still does not really care for peas and eggs, but that is just about it.  (thankfully the dogs are always faithfully standing by to eat anything he tosses.)  likewise, if you dip anything in marinara he might just devour it.  he tends to love things in sauce - definitely daddy's boy.

he's a good eater and mostly a vegetarian.  he does not really care for beef or chicken, and we have not tried seafood with him yet since his bio dad listed that as a food allergy.

he really loves:

• yogurt
• banana
• mango
• blueberries
• broccoli
• sweet potato
• noodles
• marinara
• pears
• apple sauce with cinnamon
• carrots
• cheddar bunny crackers
• hummus
• tabouli
• rice
• o's cereal
• cheese

we're hoping to ween him off the bottle and get him to drink his milk from his cup, but so far he'll only drink water/juice from the cup.  if you give him a cup of milk he'll just chuck it across the room.  luckily (thank you cathy w.) we have straps for his cups so they don't go flying too far, but it still doesn't get the milk into his mouth.  we're working on that part.

thankfully we still get to feed him about 75% of what he eats, since it's coming to him on a spoon.  it's a cherished time in our house to give our boy his nourishment to help him grow big and strong.  will and i both love feeding dax and are still amazed watching those little chompers work.  seeing him crunch fruit, veggies, and crackers is just so hilarious.  when he slurps up a noodle its just surreal.  however, i think it will be a sad day when he's totally self sufficient in the feeding department and no longer needs us to blow on his food, cut it up into tiny pieces, and airplane it to his lips.  hopefully we've got a while before we have to kiss all of that bye bye.

so right now it's just bye bye baby food - bye bye!

which foods does your toddler love to eat?

snow day

my sisters and i used to pile up in front of the tv just waiting for the newscaster to tell us that there'd be enough snow that they'd have to cancel school.  the school system would wait until the 11pm news to release any school closings, so we'd sit there with our eye balls peeled just waiting for our county name to scroll past.  snow day.

dax has seen snow before, but only once and he was only 2 months old when it happened.  living well below the mason-dixon line people just don't know what to do with the threat of the white stuff.  yesterday morning the newscasters were giddy with excitement about the possibility and a "high likelihood" that there'd be accumulation.  schools started cancelling for the following day around 6pm, when it was only still raining.  just at the thought of their being snow on the horizon was all too much.

since i work from home, a snow day will never be the same again.  sure, i don't have the pleasure of scraping a windshield, putting on boots, being not so sure-footed as you step on a patch of black ice, or having a snow plow bury your car in roadside muck - but there is also no chance i can ever say i could not make it into work (up a flight of stairs) to my desk.  will got excited about the hope that there might be a day to play with daxton in the snow, but by the time i woke he'd already trudged on to work with the evidence in the drive way that there just wasn't enough of it to make the excuse.  somehow saying you could not make it to work in an inch of snow, in 40 degree weather, in a 4 wheel drive vehicle just doesn't fly.

i told dax i'd make sure he got to test it out, so i suited him up in multiple layers of clothes (could not justify a snow-suit purchase when there's a slim chance we'll see snow again this season) to take him outside and see what he thought.  he confirmed it was pretty cold by the chattering of his teeth.  he's sometimes a little dramatic with that, and it was already warming up to 40 by the time we made it outside.  however, he also confirmed it was pretty neat and he smiled to signal he liked what he saw.  i sat him in the snow under a tiny tree and he spent the majority of his time trying to figure out what those mittens were.

once he figured out that his fingers were still hiding under there he started to check out the snow.  he liked that it was pretty crunchy and hard and that when he smacked it he got a loud sound out of it. 

 

he played in the snow and checked out ice on a tree for about ten minutes before he wondered what all the fuss was about.  a school bus drove by and honked their horn and he admittedly thought that was pretty amazing.  (our property sits on the county line so some kids had no school while others only had a delay today.)  i assured him when he was a big boy and went to school he'd get to see what that big yellow bus was all about.   then, he'll see how much more fun the white stuff can be.

mama

everyone kept asking me - "is he saying mama" yet?  i had not ever really thought that he would be saying it yet, just because mama is harder to say than dada.  he says dada a lot and we hear dadadadadadadadada from sunrise to sunset on a daily basis.  i loved hearing him say dada and it always lit up will's face to hear that word.  but, there hadn't been any mamaing yet, and i only tried to get him to say it a couple of times.  i've been working on things more like - love you - Jesus - welcome - how are you - etc.  he's mustered through some of those and we think we hear him say "wel-com" quite a bit after we say thank you.  it's just a matter of time before these words just start sling shotting their way through our ear canals.

however, yesterday was a magical day.  it was the first time that he ever said "mama" and he said it twice in one day.  you know the first time you hear something you always think its a fluke, so you kind of brush it off like maybe you just did not really hear that.  still, i kept it to myself as some sort of little victory that the ever elusive word had actually been spoken.  i did not tell a soul.  but, then at dinner - he said it again - and this time there was a witness.  will heard it too.  then, this morning - he said it again.  i told him he was right, i was mama and he was dax.  he smiled and i melted.  it really happened.

see that word "mama" it's a powerful word.  it's a word we've been waiting on like a confirmation that yeah i am the mom and you are my son.  it's like daxton acknowledging that he knows and accepts this fact.  it's a word he'll use when he falls down and gets a boo boo, or when he wants my attention, or when he's trying to proudly show off something he's done.  it's a word, that now, once its been said will be said over and over again in repeated fashion - just like dada.  and every time i hear it my heart will melt just a little bit more.

it's like just last night after dinner (a dinner that dax actually ate at the same time we ate - eating real big people food - normally will feeds him his dinner first while i am still cooking the adult dinner) i was thinking how perfect this life is.  how, you never even know when you wish to be a parent how much treasure you're about to receive.  we adore cleaning up his sippy cup spills and smashed kidney beans that he rejected from his dinner tray because that means he's growing and trying new things.  we love being able to share things with him - rolling his ball back and forth and watching his face light up because that means he's having fun playing.  and we cherish the words that are coming out of his little mouth - even when he does say something that sounds like "aww gaaahd" because we know his vocabulary is expanding.  it's the little things to us that seem like such big things - even those two syllable words like mama - those are the things we're treasuring and absorbing. 

14 months

its been an amazing month for our little daxy!  he's worked on learning many new things and is exploring everything around him!  he's quick, he's funny, and he's happy!

he's perfected crawling and really knows how to get places in a quick fashion.  90% of the time now he'll take straight off in a regular crawl and get there entirely in that mode.  its only about 10% of the time that he creeps back down into that old belly drag, and it's usually when he's got something in his hand that he's trying to take some where.  it's awesome to see him crawling with full intent.  he knows exactly where he's going and he's on a mission.

one of daxton's latest tricks is climbing up stairs.  we do it in a controlled environment in our game room where there are only two stairs with a baby gate at the top of them.  mommy sits right behind with her hands two inches from daxton's bottom to ensure he does not go "a tumbling down".  if i was not there he would just raise up into a stand, turn to look back and smile at me, and then just go flopping right down the stairs.  usually i let him do a controlled glide back down and he thinks its pretty funny.  hopefully it will be a very long time before he wants to go up the 20 stairs in the foyer.

the largest miracle that has occurred this month has been the interest in the sippy cup.  just tonight he saw us pouring water from a water bottle and decided he wanted to play with it.  within minutes he was putting it up to his mouth like he wanted to drink from it.  will filled a sippy cup with water and dax spent about 30 minutes playing with the sippy cup and taking little sips from it.  hopefully we're trending into sippy cup land and leaving bottles in the dust.

daxton has 7 fully emerged teeth now.  we love seeing his little grin and he flashes it all the time.  he thinks we're pretty funny apparently.  he loves for daddy to brush his teeth and he sticks his tongue out to try to lick the fruity tooth paste off the brush.  he's tried doing some biting and gave me a bruise on my wrist, but i think i yelped so loud that he won't try it again. 

daxton is still working on trying new foods.  lately he's started enjoying basmati rice and likes it mixed with applesauce, green bean puree, or even bananas.  he loves cinnamon on his baked sweet potatoes and banana oatmeal.  he's tried pickles for the second time and really liked a cornichon!  we just gave him a taste on new years eve and he started chomping away!  he still loves his little cherry tomatoes and had 8 of them for lunch today.  he prefers them over most foods he's been offered, so we go through quite a few of those each week.

daxton still uses all of the words he's come up with, but this month he's brought out "thank you", "welcome", "get it", "choo choo", "did it", and "good girl".  he loves to talk right after he's woken up in the morning, or after a good long nap.  you never know what he's going to talk about, but he wakes up a chatter box and just babbles away.  his eyes light up when he sees the dogs and he screams "doggie"!  we're trying to be very intentional with telling him everything we're/he's doing to help him build his vocabulary, and it's pretty adorable when he gives or takes something from you and says "dank you"!

daxton has some new tricks like moving things from one place to another, putting things into and taking them out of baskets and bags, rolling and throwing balls with dad, trying to put on his own socks by laying them on the top of his feet, and rocking in his jumperoo from one leg to another like he's riding a rocking horse.  i told daddy he'd need to sign up for gymnastics as soon as he was age appropriate.  he still loves to work on opening and closing anything he can find and we have to keep putting more and more baby zip tie contraptions on closet doors, cabinets, the bathroom doors, bedside table drawers, and anything else he can lay his hands on.  he also still loves examining things like papers, tags, plastic bags, tissues, baby wipes, and different kinds of fabrics.  however, his all time favorite past time in my office is still taking books off of the bookshelf, flipping through them, laying down with them, throwing them into his pack and play, and occasionally attempting to rip out their pages.

daxton's sneaky move of the month happened just yesterday.  daxton plays freely in my office while i work all day.  he rotates between jumperoo, pack and play, crawling around the room, playing with toys, looking out the window, and taking all of the books off the bookshelf.  he has some odd toys such as a wireless keyboard because he watches mommy bang away on the lap top all day and so he thinks its fun to have one of his own.  i put it down on the floor for him and he played with it for a while and then moved on to a little toy dinosaur that sings songs.  later on in the day i looked at the keyboard and noticed the number 9 was missing.  i looked all over for it, did not see it, and thought i just must not have previously noticed it.  i went on with my life.  then, a few hours later, i saw daxton with his miniature van gogh book making a b-line for the waste basket.  he crawled right to it and proceeded to toss the book into the trash.  i told him that was not a good idea and took it back out.  he giggled and threw it back in.  repeat about 4 times, when i really looked into the trash can and found - not only the missing number 9 - but an ink pen, a computer book, and a block - along with all of the other trash...  sneaky mc sneakerton was really making a stash in there.  the waste basket is now sitting on a desk.

it's getting more and more fun!

first haircut

we've tried to get this done several times before today, but it just never seemed to work out.  we weren't in too much of a rush to make it happen, so when we ran into failed attempts to make an appointment, rainy weather, or a lack of ideas on where to go get it done - we just let it rest.  however, little man's hairdo was getting a little out of control.  we love the mohawk, but some parts of the hawk were about 75% longer than others, and it was just not rockin' like it used to be.  so, we bit the bullet and yesterday i called an made an appointment.

when i called i told them my son needed to come in for his first haircut, told them he was aa, and told them he had a mohawk.  the receptionist assured me that "nicole" was great with curly hair and could handle it no problem.  appointment set for 10am saturday.  then, this morning at 8:35 we get a call from "nicole" who says she was just told about the mohawk and she was not sure she could "handle" it.  i told her i appreciated her letting us know and that we'd pass on the appointment.  back to the drawing board.

a friend referred me to a dominican salon back before Christmas and we tried about 20 times to call them during the month of december and never got an answer, so we had given up on that place.  however, this morning - i tried again.  a fellow answered the phone and i told him we needed an appointment to have my son's hair cut for the first time and wanted to know if they had anything today.  he said it was not necessary to make an appointment and to come in "at any time" and let me know they closed at 9pm.  great!

so, we loaded dax up in the car and headed about 20 miles down town to the salon.  we walked in and the fella behind the desk (seemingly the same dude i spoke to earlier) just stared at us.  we told him we needed to get our son's hair cut.  he said the barber would not be in until noon...  umm, hello?  why did you not tell me this before?  grrr.  so, back in the car we got - me driving and will googling and reading yelp reviews for barber shops in the area.

we found one.  we followed google maps and got to  man-mur barber shop.  the place was straight out of a time warp with two barbers cutting hair just like you would have seen sixty years ago.  dax's barber mentioned he'd been cutting hair for forty years, so we're safe to assume he knew what he was doing.  men lined up waiting for their turn, and after about 5 people went for their turns before ours a man walked in who was 89 years old.  the two barbers cutting hair jokingly told him he should cut some people's hair while he was there.  not missing a beat he hung up his coat, grabbed a drape, and called for the next person.  the men waiting looked around at each other and finally a fella said he'd be brave and let him do his hair.  (i breathed a sigh of relief because i was not sure if this man really knew how to cut hair or what.)  however, after some time passed it all came out that he actually used to be a barber himself and so he did apparently know what he was doing.  finally, it was daxton's turn.

the barber suggested dax sit on daddy's lap while he cut his hair.  dax sat up big and tall and was ready for whatever was about to happen.  the barber asked us how much we wanted trimmed off and we explained we really only wanted a very minimal amount off the mohawk and none off the sides or back, except where there were long patches.  the barber got to work and dax remained sitting still until the razor went towards the back of his head and then he thought that was a little odd, but he just shrugged his shoulders and leaned far forward.  within a matter of about 10 minutes daxton's long locks had been trimmed down to a much more even level.  he did really well and seems to be no worse for the wear.

we'd been nervous to get this done and even chickened out completely right before daxton's birthday party.  we'd read old wives tales that it was bad luck to cut aa baby's hair before one year of age and we never discussed it again.  then, the longer we put it off, the more nervous i became about it.  once you cut it, its gone, and you can't get that baby hair back.  however, it was not nearly as sad or scary as i had made it out to be, and i think the sweet fella looks pretty dapper with his new do.

wake him from sleeping

we were told - by the "experts" - never wake a sleeping baby.

are we the only parents that miss their child while he's sleeping?  we literally have discussions about going and peeking in on him, who gets to wake him up, and missing him dearly while he's napping or before he rises in the morning.  it's all we can do to keep ourselves from barging in on his sleep and picking him up and putting "sugars" on him.  

our hearts just burst with love for this little fella.  he's more than we ever dreamed of, more than we ever hoped for, and more amazing than we could have ever known.  he makes us smile, laugh, cheer, clap, dance, make silly faces, sing funny made up songs, and be happier than we've ever in our lives been.  it's just unbelievable how someone so small can make such a huge change in two people's lives.

we resist our urges 99.9% of the time, and we let him sleep until he wakes.  but sometimes, just sometimes when it's a little too late on a saturday morning, or the nap time has spilled over into the night when daddy gets home from work - we just quietly open his door and happen to be there when he wakes up.  when he wakes himself up he's happy, talkative, and gives us his toothy grin.  he's all smiles, he's jovial, and he'll stand right up - waiting there for you to scoop him right into your arms.  

maybe we're a quirky family or we're a little obsessed, but he's our joie de vivre - no doubt about it.

2012 year in review

this past year was the best year of our lives so far.  we had such wonderful times with our sweet son dax and we've cherished every memory that's been created.

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we rang in the new year by celebrating with our tiny 7 week old son.  he didn't make it until midnight, but he watched us eat an early fancy dinner at home.  later on in january, daxton met his cousins, went to my office's holiday party, and even saw snow for the first time!

in february we celebrated dax's first valentine's day.  it was chilly so we did lots of resting and snuggling to pass the time.

in march we were honored to celebrate dax's adoption finalization and his baby shower.  we had a great time with friends and family who were all excited to meet daxton for the first time.

in april we enjoyed a visit with dax's birthmom and half brother at a park.  we also celebrated daddy's birthday by wearing party hats and making him a cake.  we took dax to his first trip to the beach and he became an instant beach baby.  we celebrated daxton's first Easter and he went to an egg hunt, an Easter performance at church, dyed eggs, and enjoyed a visit from the Easter bunny.

in may we celebrated mother's day with three generations of mommies.  we also dedicated dax to our church.  we traveled to richmond, va for my cousin's wedding and dax hung out with all of his family and got to swim in a pool for the first time.  we had our first family photo shoot and got some great pictures of our sweet boy.

june was a father's day celebration and my two boys had a great day of fun and laughter.   daxton also enjoyed walks in the park in his stroller and floating in his next door neighbor's pool.  near the end of the month dax took his first plane ride to chicago to visit his auntie conti and his uncle keek.  he did great on the plane and looks forward to more traveling!

in july dax celebrated his first trip to the lake and even "swam" in the water and snoozed on the boat!  he wasn't awake for fireworks, but he did try watermelon and loved every bite!

daxton enjoyed a visit from his namaw and poppie and entertained everyone with his dinosaur roar!  daxton's increased mobility was an exciting event for them to witness!

at the end of september daxton got to go back to the beach.  this time he really enjoyed the ocean and the pool.  he loved feeling the sunshine and spending a week with his great-granny, his gran-gran, his nani, his auntie conti, and his uncle keek.

in october daxton dressed up like a dinosaur for his first halloween.  he had a great time riding a hay ride and a train at the pumpkin patch.   he passed out candy to all of the neighborhood children.

in november we had a huge turn out for daxton's first birthday party.  we were all overwhelmed by the love and support of friends and family who came from as far away as chicago to celebrate in dax's special day!

later in the month we hung out at the park with dax's birthmom and half brother.  they swang on swings and had a wonderful time together.

december brought dax's second Christmas.  he was much more excited this year about what was happening.  he loved ripping the bows off, scratching at the colorful papers, and seeing what was inside of the presents.  he watched a choir presentation at church, sat on santa's lap, rode around to look at Christmas lights, and even made a hand print ornament.

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we've been blessed to have a happy and healthy 2012 and cannot wait to see what 2013 has in store for our family!

glory be to God!