Kirsten and Mark

What a busy week we’ve had, and it’s sure been fun!

At Brit’s 1 year doctor’s appointment he was declared to be in fine health and just fine in his development.

Stats? Not too different from those I posted last week…I guess I’m getting good at judging. He does weigh a little more… 8 lbs 13 oz. He’s at or below the 10th% in height, weight and head circumference–which is like 3 or 4% but, he hasn’t deviated too far from his curve so the doc isn’t concerned. He may be in his rear-facing car seat till he’s 2, but fortunately he doesn’t mind it much…especially since he still loves his froggy musical toy that’s attached.

His Grandma Karen came to visit too and was so fun to play with. They had a great time reading his books, playing with his farm animals and spending time together. Mark and I even got to go hang out with friends without Brit for the first time. Brit was sleeping, Karen was falling asleep and Mark desperately needed a hair cut…can you say 2 1/2 months! so we ventured to our all-night hair salon aka Kristie and Jared’s. Whenever we’ve gone out without Brit before it’s been to an event or something…not like we’d get a babysitter to just go hang out. But, it was nice.

Then we got to go out again on Friday night…we went to dinner AND an actual movie in the movie theatre! That’s been a while. Thank you Karen!

Saturday we loaded all our goodies up and headed to the park for Brit’s Fishy Party!

Brit’s favorite thing about his party? The balloons!

The spread, consisting of all things fishy: Goldfish, Swedish Fish, Shrimp, Fishy shaped PB & J, Fishy shaped sugar cookies, and of course, his Fish cake!

About the extent of his interest in the cake…boring!

What’s a party without some swinging?

Brit and his Kristie

Buddies Paige and Mav

Grandma! Yay!

Fun Teo!

Thanks to our true and wonderful friends who came and shared the day with us. I appreciate you more than you know.

Sadly Grandma had to leave us the next day. Thanks for everything! It was great having you around.

A year ago we got the most amazing and precious gift. At 10:32 pm Britton was born and we learned about true joy. I can’t even believe  it’s been a year already.

Born 7 lbs 1 oz.  19 1/4 inches

Now 18 lbs 4 oz. 29 1/4 inches

He was so happy and cheerful today. Like he knew it was his birthday and it was a special day. Even without a morning nap–apparently he’s a big boy now–and an hour afternoon nap–an even bigger boy–he was still sweet and excited and had lots of fun.

He loved his bath toys…and books

Then we had lunch with Mark at Sharkey’s–he loved his quesedilla and black beans. Then we went to Crumbs for him to pick out his birthday cupcake. He picked a vanilla one with a raspberry cream cheese frosting.

Then we went to the party store and he got a balloon. I’m pretty sure that was his favorite present.

We went over and played with Mav for a while and then went on a walk.Well, Brit got to play with Mav’s toys while he slept.

We had pasta for dinner and he loved it…sorry no messy face pics this time.

Time for cake! He’s never had any before, but likes other sweets. So I thought he’d love this….

Not so much. All he wanted to do was pick all the sprinkles off. He took bites when I gave them to him, but he had no interest in eating it himself.

We had such a fun day. We’re so happy that he is in our lives and we get to be his parents. He is such a sweet angel! Thank you to everyone for the well wishes. He appreciates them all.

Happy Birthday Baby!

Seriously, he ate his whole portion and half of mine too. He kept doing his scrunchie face in delight.

I think this is Brit blowing kisses.  He really likes to do it now, almost as much as bye-bye. Those poor red cheeks are getting better. I finally took him to the doctor on Friday because I was concerned it was an allergy or a virus or something serious because it started to spread onto his forehead and side. This was only the 2nd time he’s been to the doctor other than his “well-baby” visits. I really only take him when I think there’s something wrong…but alas, both times they came up with nothing. Doc just said it’s dry skin, put lotion on it. Like I hadn’t been. But, we got new stuff, and it appears to be working. They’re just a little rosy now.

Brit’s also decided to become an escape artist. He’s still in the early learning stages, so this is as far as he got. Seriously–how did he do that? He wasn’t very happy about it either. He was getting very upset the longer I took to get him out. But I couldn’t not get a picture…

This week he’s getting better at saying “this” or “that” and pointing to what he wants. Makes it so much easier when he refuses a bite to know what he wants. Though, he’s getting a bit of an attitude too. When he’s mad he lets me know and loves knocking things onto the floor. Especially his drink.

Mark and I have noses and mouths now. Still eyes sometimes, but noses are the most fun. And, a while ago Mark came up with the fun game of clapping his shoes together and making a loud sound. Brit laughed his head off…lots of fun. Now, Brit tries to do it with all shoes. He picks them up all the time and tries clapping them. Even his own. Awesome. At least he’s not trying to eat them anymore.

One more week…

We had quite a busy weekend cut out for us.

Friday afternoon I met my aunt and her friend at Santa Monica Beach. It was really windy and chilly, but pretty. Brit enjoyed it and we had a nice–but short–visit. That night I got to go to a Pampered Chef party. My friend Ruth is just starting her business and had a launch party. It was lots of fun and I came away wanting a bunch of awesome kitchen things–but, alas, I restrained myself and got mostly little gadgets that I’ve been wanting or needing for a while, but just haven’t gotten.

Saturday’s Schedule:

Morning–meet Brad and Melissa for a visit while they’re in town with a school group

Later–LACMA tour at 4 to see a cool exhibit

Visit Griffith Observatory

Pick up a few essentials at Target where they’re cheaper

Later than that–Baptism at 6 with primary children singing (hence, why I got to go)

Yeah–and with a baby who still naps 2 times a day. Crazy stuff. Well, Brit actually refused his morning nap! He’s never done that before. Acted tired, put him down. Quiet for a minute then cried till we brought him out. Silly baby.

So, we met up with Brad and Melissa at the Grove for a SUPER quick visit. It was great to see them! I haven’t actually seen her for more than 5 minutes since Brit was a month old! We had yummy crepes and looked at all the cheesy souvenir shops at the Farmer’s Market before they had to get on the bus for their next stop. I poached this pic from their site:

Then, we had a couple of hours before our scheduled tour. What to do? Well, Kristie and Jared had invited us to the Griffith Observatory and they were on their way there…so we though, why not?

After a couple of phone calls, we found out that going on the tour was out for the day anyway, so it all worked out perfectly.

So, apparently Brit saw this orange ball from the floor above–there was a railing–and had to play with it. It’s a model of Jupiter. It spins, then when it stops the liquid/gases inside keep swirling.

It made him very happy!

The observatory was really interesting. I didn’t know you could just go there for free. I thought you had to pay, and have tickets and only get in a certain times. No wonder it was super crowded! There are so many displays and exhibits explaining all kinds of things–from how seasons work to tides and eclipses. You can also see models and read detailed information. It was a lot of fun! All the time there may have also had another effect. I got him a Baby Einstein about the sun/moon/stars/planets etc thinking he’d love it; he wanted nothing to do with it. Then, this morning we put it on for him and he sat through almost the whole thing!

Brit has also started saying “ball” that was a new one from Monday. He loves playing with all of Teo’s balls and decided he’d actually say it. No updates on the walking front. He did stand for about 10 seconds (did I post that last week?) but that’s about all. He just wants to go so badly he doesn’t want to wait for the balance.

Oh–and he’s started blowing kisses! I saw him do something like it on Sunday an asked Mark if he taught him that. Nope. It was probably just him figuring he could put his hand over his mouth, but we’ve now taught him it’s “kisses” and he does it a lot. So cute!

He can also tell you where your eye is. He has a bit of trouble with other things, but lately he’s obsessed with poking us in the eye, so each time we tell him what it is. Yesterday I asked him where my eye was and he pointed to it.

He turns 1 in two weeks–I can hardly believe it!