Saying Goodbye

Hello to my loyal followers! Well sadly I must inform you that I will be shutting this blog down! Please follow me and all my misadventures in motherhood here: http://piecesoftam.blogspot.com

~Tam

We've Reached Toddler-dom!

So once again I have to say my baby is no longer a baby because he's officially ONE!!! I swear it's so surreal! I can't believe a whole year has gone by. Toddlerdom is bittersweet for me because I miss my sweet little infant son but then again I just love how much he has grown and changed in this past year. It's truly a blessing to see and I'm thankful that I get to see it and live it everyday! Okay so I know I owe some pictures but of course being the kind of Mom I am (the do-it yourself Mom) I didn't really take many pictures at his party because I was too busy running around making sure everything was perfect. But one of my family members did manage to capture a few with my iPad.

Anyway, the party was a sesame street themed bash complete with a fabulous looking and tasting cake and of course my homemade cupcakes (check out the pic below). So.....I won't take up anymore time blabbing, enjoy the pics!

L.J. splashing in his pool the week of his birthday! Very appropriate since it had been so humid and hot in MD

Happy Birthday Sweetie!

I guess L.J. decided that he'd had enough for the day!

Opening gifts with Mommy

LOL! L.J. is over it in this picture with his Dad

These are my labor of love for L.J. I got the idea from Pinterest. YES I made these myself!

So in case you didn't notice, L.J. got his first haircut! I wasn't there (THANK GOD) because I just felt like that was a moment L.J. should share with his father. I do have some hair trimmings though! I heard L.J. went off!! So I'm glad I wasn't there because he probably would have come home with no haircut. I hate to see him cry. But it was all for the best and I now LOVE the haircut. I was a little skeptical about it at first but my baby looks great!

And now last, but certainly not least, we are off to the Pedi today for his one-year check-up. I can't wait to get the confirmation from the Pedi to start L.J. on whole milk because we are OVER buying this expensive formula; makes me wonder if I should have BF'd L.J. longer??

A Time for Everything

So my baby is not such a baby anymore. Yes, I am a little sad as I realize I now have a toddler on my hands. Mr. L.J. eats what I eat, he walks, talks (hi, bye, mama, da-da, thank-u) and has loads of personality. It is so amazing to think that around this time last year I was just going out on maternity leave and anticipating June 17th. Of course June 17th would come and go with no baby in sight. Even then L.J. was doing things in his own time.

In exactly five days my son will be a whole year old! I'm so excited to plan the first of his many birthday parties. Of course this party will be attended mostly by family and friends. I can't wait for my little guy to go off to daycare and make some friends. Although I'm not looking forward to that weekly tuition, Hubs and I believe L.J. could benefit from being around other kids. Heck, I took L.J. for a playdate with his Godbrother Cameron (almost 2 years old) and ever since then L.J. has been a steady walker! :)

Anyway, I'll update my next post with lots of pictures and video!

Grow Baby Grow!

Ilandus Jr.'s first Easter

So it's kind of hard continuing this blog when there is no commentary what so ever. Anyway, I will continue if only to document my son's first year of life. Obviously, I'm terribly behind. The last couple of months have flown by but here are some updates:

- as of L.J.'s last doctor's visit in March he weighed 22lbs exactly and he was 30 inches tall.
- the doctor advised me to start giving him food from our plates.
- he got another shot and some blood drawn.

Currently, L.J. is walking on the back of his walker and of course using the furniture to keep his balance. He did take a few steps on his own yesterday (a proud mommy moment) but for the most part he is still not confident enough to walk on his own.

He has five teeth with at least 3-4 more little teeth buds. At this point I can't help but feel like he's not a little baby anymore. L.J. has a bundle of energy! He's wild and fearless and gets into everything...I guess you can say he is a typical boy.

Since L.J. is getting older Hubby and I have definitely thought about moving him into a daycare center. I love and appreciate my parents for keeping my lil man all this time but for personal reasons as well as L.J.'s growth and development, we think its best for him to go to a daycare center. Problem is, where do we put him? There are so many centers in the area that we don't know where to start!!!

I did visit this one center with my mom and L.J. It's within walking distance to both of our homes, their tuition seems reasonable (childcare in my area is going to run you at least $1000 a month...sigh almost a mortgage payment), the center itself is bright and decorative, they have lots of activities and the curriculum seems on point. Best of call (don't judge me when I say this....) for an extra fee per month, you can login to the video surveillance system they have in each class and check on your child. I'm sorry but what a relief this is for first-time parents who are apprehensive about leaving their child with strangers. I suspect that I won't have the need to do this for long, but its nice to know that option is available. The center also has an open door policy so I, my mom, dad, hubby, close friends can drop by and check on L.J. anytime!

So far, that center is my #1 choice. I visited another center when I was still pregnant and didn't really get a good vibe from them so needless to say I won't be paying them another visit. I'm also interested in the center where my mom took me. Back in the 80's it was called Gerber day care center. Now, its called childtime. I checked their website and I like what I see so I'm hoping to pay them a visit in the coming week.

I strongly believe that soon after lil man's first birthday he'll be in a daycare center. I'm excited about it given that he'll be around other kids, he'll have a more structured environment, and best of all when I pick him up on my way home from work he'll be pooped! :)

Speaking of lil man's birthday, I've been on Pinterest (follow me) getting ideas for his birthday. I've decided to do a sesame street theme! I loved sesame street growing up and its as good now as it was back then. When L.J. is able to sit down and focus (for all of 5 mins if I'm lucky) he loves it too! I've decided I'm going to do the impossible and make my own sesame street cupcakes and smash cake for L.J. #killmenow LOL! I'll of course post photos and let everyone know how it goes...wish me luck!

Moving Forward

Wow its been a while! I guess I shouldn't say Happy New Year as we're 17 days into 2012...but I said it anyway :) L.J. is growing like a little weed! In fact I had to get a new car seat because he outgrew his infant seat. Also, he was getting close to the weight limit (22lbs) so I thought it was time to move on and put the infant seat away. I swear it feels like the end of an era.

So here are some pictures of my lil man I've been meaning to post:





Okay I think that pretty much updates the first 6 months of L.J.'s life. So the stats:

- Weight: 19 lbs (as of his 6 month visit)
- Height: 27.5 inches

Both stats are in the 75th percentile. So L.J. has come a long way! Unfortunately, my lil man has had one cold after another. :( Right now he is on antibiotics for his first ear infection. I'm hoping that he'll be 100% soon. But I must say that through it all he has been a jovial and good spirited baby. He's always smiling even when he doesn't feel well. He truly brightens my day.

Also, L.J.'s first tooth has finally pushed through his gums! Not sure if you can see it in the picture, but it's definitely there. I'm so glad because this little boy has been teething and trying to "cut these teeth" (that's what the old folks say) since he was three months old. At this point the slobbing is back but I don't mind. I'm just glad his has his first tooth...well almost.

L.J. got a big Christmas gift: the gift of real food and water! It's been six months in the making but finally...REAL FOOD AND WATER!!!!

And now for my Product Recommendations:

The Baby Bullet:



I absolutely love this gadget! It makes making L.J.'s food hassle free! It even comes with a food log and a recipe book as well as recommendations for baby's first foods. So my Pedi recommended that L.J. starts eating vegetables first and then fruits later. He can have no more than 4 oz of water and or clear juices (apple, pear, white grape) a day.

We started L.J. with spinach...that was interesting. He didn't like it at first and really I think it was more him getting used to eating this way versus him not liking spinach. But after a week of eating spinach he took to it. Next we tried carrots which he loves! Then we stopped for a little while just because of his cold turned ear infection. But Saturday we started him on peas. I think next we'll do sweet potato and when he goes back for his follow-up I'll have my Mom ask if its okay to start fruits. I can't wait til we can start mixing different foods. I haven't tried giving L.J. juice yet and quite frankly after doing some research even IF I give L.J. juice I will be making it myself from organic fruits. I'm to the point I may start my own vegetable and fruit garden. I swear all the chemicals they put in our food is ridiculous! I mean ARSENIC in our apple juice!!! Not for my baby! So needless to say if I give my child juice I'll be investing in a juicer.

Evenflo Convertible Car Seat:
I love love LOVE this car seat. This makes me wonder why I listed on my friends and even purchased an infant car seat/stroller or travel system. What a total waste! This particular car seat: Evenflo Symphony 65 XL features a secure latch system which is basically two connectors that hook into the anchors in your car. Installation is literally less than a minute using these. The shoulder straps are super easy to tighten and loosen as well as adjust up or down. The picture shown is the exact one I purchased and it looks awesome in the car. The seat also features three recline positions and can hold a child rear facing up to 40 lbs and forward facing up to 100lbs. It was totally worth the money and not to mention it was a the top of the consumer reporter for safest car seat. I highly recommend this seat.

Okay so back to L.J....my lil man is sitting up like a big boy and has been doing so since about 5.5-6 months of age. He's still not quite crawling but he does take steps if I or my hubby stands him up on his feet. I think he'll actually skip crawling and go straight to walking. Yikes! I guess its time to start looking into baby-proofing.