What a Mess!

We were eating dinner tonight, and Daddy decided to let Clayton feed himself his yogurt. Clayton was loving every minute of this. At first he just took the spoon and carefully dipped it in the yogurt, all the while thinking...I can't believe they are letting me do this. Every now and then, he would look up at us with this huge grin like he was doing something he wasn't supposed to be doing. Eventually he began to take the spoon, dip it into the yogurt, and actually feed himself the yogurt. He is such a genius! ;) By the end, he was an absolute mess, and so was the floor, the high chair, and even Daddy...but it was a fun lesson. We have a long way to go on the self feeding with utensils, but we sure are having fun learning!

Wild Man...

I swear our Clayton is pure entertainment! He is such a happy, spirited baby with a HUGE personality. He goes absolutely WILD when you undress him for bath time. The child LOVES to be without clothes. He just starts kicking those legs, waving his arms, and screaming with delight the moment you take his clothes off, it's almost like he is screaming...Yes, Freedom! It is hilarious. The other night, Scott decided to let him crawl around after his bath for awhile before he put his PJ's on. He was in hog heaven. He was crawling around squealing with joy, pulling up of furniture and dancing...all the while carrying the trusty green monkey blanky! We should have videoed it instead of taking pictures, but those moments go so fast, you just grab whatever is easiest and capture the moment quickly before it is over. Here are some cute pictures of our wild man.

The Bottle has Officially Retired...

This has been difficult for me, something about giving up the bottle just reminds you that he is getting big so fast! On the other hand, it is so exciting to watch each new phase. I didn't start weaning him until his first birthday, our doctor just recommended he be done with the bottle by 18 months and I didn't feel like it was crucial that we have him weaned by his first birthday. We just did it gradually on his time, and eventually he gave it up on his own. We had some struggles at first, it wasn't that he minded the sippy cup or wanted the bottle, we just had to find the right one. After many sippy cup purchases, we found the the Nuby brand with a straw worked the best for him. The next hurdle was the whole milk, at first it didn't settle with his stomach very well. Eventually, he started to drink more whole milk and it started to settle well with him in time. Now, he just guzzles the stuff! He has been such an easy baby, my friend Carrie who watches him, says she wants another, but only as long as he is just like Clayton, or she said she could just keep Clayton. I'm thinking I am not going to go for that one :) Another milestone accomplished, and many more to come and to celebrate.

Beautiful Day for a Bike Ride...

Well, it is February, and let's just be honest...the weather has been miserable. The snow is beautiful, but after several weeks of it, it gets to be a little troublesome. Today was an unseasonably beautiful February day, it was around 60 degrees! Daddy and Clayton took advantage of this beautiful day by taking a bike ride around the neighborhood. Clayton enjoyed it, so much so that he was asleep 5 minutes into the ride. I am sure that is the first of many family bike rides.

My Sweet Blanky Baby...

I never really had something that I carried around all the time when I was little, but I have always thought it was so cute when a little baby/child had a favorite blanky or animal they had to have all of the time. Scott had a blanky that he loved and carried around as a child, so Clayton is following in his footsteps. For a long time he didn't, but around 11 months or so, he would carry around a burp cloth or blanket, but there wasn't really any particular one that he loved. Gradually he started becoming very attached to this thin green blanket with monkey's all over it. When we would go to pick him up out of his crib, he would have both hands raised to pick him up, but he had to have that monkey blanky in one hand. Sometimes he won't even let go of it to eat, he has to have it with him in his highchair. It is so sweet to watch him with that blanky...he likes to rub it in between his fingers when he is sleepy, or he will take the corner of it and rub it on his nose, and it is with him wherever he goes. Actually it is really difficult to find the time to wash it! I have to wait until he is really busy playing and sneak it into the washer before the next nap. These are memories that I will treasure always, the small things that you want to always remember.

Elmo was a bust...

I was so excited...Elmo was coming to Border's for an Elmo's birthday bash. I couldn't wait to take Clayton to see him in person, I knew he would love it. I was meeting my friend Julie there with her little boy Owen, and I called my cousin Abbie so that she could bring her little girl Macie. We arrive at the so called "birthday bash" only to find out that Elmo WOULD NOT be coming :( All they had was a tiny radio playing the Sesame Street song, a girl reading an Elmo story, and a color sheet. What a disappointment! So instead of meeting Elmo, we had to settle for taking a picture of the boys with a stuffed Elmo we found in the corner of the room!

WHAT DO YOU MEAN ELMOS NOT COMING!?

Month 12 at a glance...

Look at that sweet face
Bathtime fun

Picking up the balls and putting them into the laundry basket

Turning over his ball pit and spilling out all 250 balls, yes that's right 250!

His new favorite "ride"

I can hardly believe he is one, much less 13 months. He surprises us everyday with something new. He is so smart and has such a big personality. Everywhere we go people continue to say the same thing..."Is he always that happy, does he always smile that much?", and the answer is yes! We are so lucky, he is such a sweet, loving, and happy baby.
Here are some of the highlights of the past month...I am sure there is much more, but I can't remember everything and now that he is on the go, there I can't remember to write everything down right away :)
This month:
*Had his first birthday party
*Went to Build-a-Bear for the first time
*can stand by himself...although when he realizes it, he immediately sits down
*Began drinking whole milk and eating all table food (no more baby food)
*Does not like meat or veggies...but we keep trying
*Loves yogurt, grilled cheese, bananas, cereal, Mandarin oranges, peaches, and cereal bars
*cruises the furniture
*walks behind toys
*walks while someone holds his hands
*loves to put things in something and take them back out...he will get in the ball pit and throw the balls out one by one, and will then take the balls and put them back in...the other night I dumped the laundry out to fold it and he put all of it back in the basket one by one
*new words - says ball, puppy "pu pu" anytime he sees a dog, even on TV, "na na" for banana, and "mo" for more
*LOVES to dance...takes after his mommy ;)
*like to take things apart and put them back together
*He is really into books now and will sit and listen to a book attentively or will sit and look at them by himself
*Drinks from a straw
*Went to the Mullins' January birthday get together (post to come)
*Loves, Loves, Loves bath time and sometimes screams when you take him out...he now is in the bathtub all by himself, no seat just him and lots of bath time toys
*Loves to play in the refrigerator and take everything out of the cabinets...you have to hurry and get in and get out because he is fast and throws a fit when you make him get out
* Likes to be pulled around in the laundry basket or pushed on his airplane toy...he is a thrill seeker...Lord help me ;)

Valentine's Day

The 14th of February was not only Valentine's Day, but our little Valentine also turned 13 months. We started the day out eating lunch with my mom and aunts, and for the rest of the day we just played at home. Clayton loves magnets, so we got him the Leap Frog magnetic Letter/Phonics set. He LOVES it! Here are some pictures of mommy, daddy, and Clayton opening their Valentine gifts. We love our little Valentine...

"Reading" his Valentine card

Watching Daddy read his Valentine card

Mommy and her little Valentine

I think he likes his Valentine gift...look at that face :)

Just pure sweetness...

Eating his favorite...mandarin oranges

Eating mommy's homemade blueberry pancakes...couldn't get him to look at the camera because Mickey Mouse Club House was on!

Mommy and Clayton snuggle time

Story time with Daddy...so sweet!

Wild hair and wild rides!

Today we had a snow day, but it was so bitter cold that we decided to do our own version of sledding inside! I tied a belt to the laundry basket, put Clayton in and off we went all around the house. He loved it...so much that every time I quit pulling it, he would rock forward and scream for the basket to move again! I ended up pulling that basket around for at least a half hour...I would just pull it to the laundry room and do laundry, pull it to the kitchen, etc. all the while Clayton was just sitting back enjoying the ride...oh the memories we made today :)


Daddy decided to take Clayton for a ride the other night in the carrier. We used this carrier like crazy when he was little, and he would fall asleep minutes after we would put him in it. Anytime he was fussy or we needed to get something done we would just strap him in and to sleep town he went. The other night, Scott decided to try out again, and Clayton thought this was really something. Daddy has big plans for the two of them to go hiking this summer. I am sure Clayton will love it!


Wild hair!!! Clayton's hair is getting rather long these days, but we just can't bring ourselves to get it cut just yet! When he gets out of the bath, he has these little curls in the back that are beyond precious. This particular night, we decided to spike it up, and make it wild. It is sort of hard to see in the pictures, but the look on his face in the second picture is beyond priceless.

Buddies...

The other night our friends the Stucki's came over. They have a little boy, Owen, who is just a few months older than Clayton. It is pretty neat to see them together considering that the mom's have been friends since kindergarten and have remained friends all these years. When we found out we were both having boys, we were so excited about them being able to grow up together as good friends. So the other night we had them over for pizza, ice cream, and movies. It is so fun watching them together, they are little blessings indeed!

Here they are in their matching Elmo pajamas with their names on the butt...they are going to love us for this when they are 16!

It took us about a million tries to get this picture of both of their bottoms...let's just say they don't sit still long

BUT...they will sit still for icecream :)

Like baby birds...

Into Everything!!!

Clayton is a busy, busy boy these days. He is so curious about things, and really takes everything in. He loves to figure out how things work, and gets frustrated when they don't (like his mom and Pops). The other night we kept trying to get him to play with us in the living room with the millions of toys that he has and of course he wanted nothing to do with that...instead this is what he wanted to do!

What, I'm just checking things out!

What is in here...this looks interesting