Love Day and Some Other Firsts

1st outdoor experience with snow

Hanging out with Stuart Little at Chuck E Cheese

1st Valentine's Day

Trying sooo hard.

Showing off his do. It is almost time for our 1st haircut!

Our little swimmer

It seems that Winter is not only driving Jason and I crazy, but Evan is now experiencing the effects of being cooped up. We have done our best to try to get him out and about, but not more than needed. We were attempting to keep him away from all the sick parents and kiddos, germs, and bad outcomes of cold weather. After this year, we will feel much better about Evan's situation with becoming sick. The older he gets, the less we will have to worry - or so we hope. He had a close scare, but it all turned out fine. We are just being a little more cautious - hoping to not have any hospital stays. So far, so good.

In the last week, we have done something new nearly every single day - just to keep our sanity! We went to Chuck E Cheese yesterday with his best friend, Ayden, played in the snow today (gotta let the kid live a little), and we are going to Tokyo Japanese Restaurant tonight for a friend's birthday dinner. This is a place that cooks in front of you, so I know that the boys will absolutely love it!

Life seems to be moving in a flash, while Winter seems to stand still. Yesterday it was in the high 40's and it seemed like Summer. I look forward to getting our backyard into tip top shape, to have an area for the little man to play! He will be unstoppable outside, getting into anything and everything. I cannot wait! Evan enjoyed his first Love Day and got a card from his grandparents and Uncle Jon. Grandma H. got him his own little Valentine's Day balloon. Mommy and Daddy got him a little stuffed frog to enjoy - or chew on.

A few new things we have started. We now take a bath, and then he will flip on his tummy and do a little 'swim' move. This kid LOVES water! We start swimming lessons next month, so I am super excited .. I know he will love it! We now have 5 teeth, and are working on more. I still have yet to find something that this child will not eat. He eats anything from green beans to avacados, toast, chicken and noodles, carrots, raisins, lunch meat, honey nut cheerios, mangos, scrambled eggs, biscuits, and much more. The Parents As Teachers lady has warned me that his tastebuds will most likely change and so will his wants, but I am praying that with introducing nearly everything to him, he will still have plenty of things that he likes to eat. We cannot be a picky eater when he has a limited and strict diet to begin with. He is still not crawling, but will do it on his own time. I thought the playmat would really help his skills (since we have all hardwood floors), but he has proved me wrong. He will do it when he wants - that is his personality in a nutshell! He is, however, getting up on all 4 and rocking. We do an army crawl to get things we want. :) He is standing up wonderfully and can stand on his own for a period of time. We walk him around the house to get him to learn to take steps. I am not sure if he will be walking by his 1st birthday, but like I said - he will do it when he is ready!

With his 1st birthday nearly a month away, I am having a really hard time. I started his birthday planning in January and I am so thankful I did. I am not wanting to do much with it right now, because a huge part of me is sad. I am happy and cannot wait to see him grow into a little boy, young man, and adult. But a part of me is very sad that this first year is already over, and so quickly. In the last couple of months, he has become soooo independent. He doesn't want you to help him and he will not eat anything that he has to eat with a spoon. He wants to do it on his own. We are going to start working on using the spoon so he can learn to eat on his own. I am no where near ready for another child, and I am not sure that I will ever be. The thought of having another child makes me happy for Evan to have a sibling, but sad because I want to spend all my time with him and watch him grow. I keep flipping back and forth about having another some day, but it is not even my choice. It is in God's hands and he will lead us in the right direction.

Well that is all I can say for now, as if it isn't enough. Seems I need to be updating much more frequently because these posts turn into books. But who has time for that?!?!? Take care.