First Year in Review

Timmy,
This post is a little late because now I am trying to keep up with a ONE YEAR OLD! You celebrated your first birthday and technically your second Christmas in New Jersey this year. It's amazing that even though you are just 1, this is the third calendar year in which you have been alive. Next year, your life will span two decades. Crazy.

You are a sweet, fun and honestly good little boy and we really loved every minute of your first year. I think this year will be even better. With every day that passes, you become more interactive and we get to see more and more of your personality. You are a huge flirt, especially with young, pretty girls. Lately you have been a big Mama's boy. Most kids your own age don't interest you, but you could watch the big kids play for hours.

You're pretty good at crawling now. You pull yourself up on everything and have been cruising along furniture and walls for a while too. You learned how to climb stairs and climb into your special chair (we're still working on teaching you how to get out of it!). You aren't walking yet unless you are pushing your wagon or a chair. You dance on command now which is pretty amazing. I'll post a video of that soon.

Recently you started feeding yourself with a spoon, which is a big accomplishment for you because it's hard to resist biting the handle to soothe your gums (you have 5 teeth now but we think more are on the way soon). Pretty much any food we eat will end up on your plate. As long as you can feed it to yourself, you'll probably try it. You still love cheerios more than anything, but chicken, bananas, tomatoes, cheese, fish and berries are also yummy. You've been drinking whole milk since you were 11 months old, but now you drink that twice a day every day.

You talk (and sing) all the time, but we don't understand all of it. You say Mama and Dada really well to the right person now and we love it. You can also say a few other things, but you would need me or Daddy to interpret for you out in public: Dog, cereal, all done, ya, no. The other day we thought you said "Elmo" but Grandma threatened to withhold all toys if you said that before you say "Grandma."

Your book collection has basically tripled over the past year. You have a few favorites: "Moo, Baa, La La La," "Barnyard Dance," "Hand Hand Finger Thumb," "Bebe Feliz," "Firetrucks," and "Eight Silly Monkeys." Every once in a while, we let you watch a Baby Einstein video (Neighborhood Animals) and it completely captivates you for 30 minutes.

Every day I count my blessings that I have such an easy going, sweet and charming baby boy. I take you everywhere with me and feel so lucky that I get to spend the first 22 months of your life with you 24/7. It seriously boggles my mind that 1 year has already passed but I have no time to feel sad or miss your baby days because I'm having too much fun watching you turn into a little boy. You have made our life feel so much more complete and rewarding.

Happy Birthday little man!

Love,
Mommy and Daddy

First Year Stats:
Height: 31.25 in. - 90th percentile
---You grew almost 11 inches!!---
Weight: 27 lbs, 3 oz - 95th percentile (hooray, you made the chart!)
---You packed on more than 17.5 pounds!!---
Head Circumference: 19.5 in. - 95th percentile
---Your massive head increased by more than 5 inches!!---

Look at how much you have changed!

First Haircut

We are back from Timmy's birthday and Christmas in NJ and readjusting to normal life here. The 1 year post will be up soon, but I had to write about Timmy's first haircut today.

Before:


Love the little baby curls...

He got to sit in a car and watch a movie while the lady fixed him up.




The finished product:

Timmy's ONEderful Birthday Party

Saturday was a day full of celebration, attention and presents for our little Christmas baby. First was Christmas with Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle Kevin and Uncle Steven. Timmy was spoiled, as were Pete and I. Our entire living area was overrun with presents, and we now need to move to a bigger house or rent a warehouse to store all of our presents.





In the afternoon it was Timmy's first birthday party. Despite skipping naps and being completely overwhelmed, Timmy happily entertained lots of guests.





We played pin the star on the Christmas tree:



Timmy cried when he saw Santa (Kevin) again:


And he rocked his birthday suit, of course!



Too bad for him that was after his very first taste of chocolate. Timmy was a big fan of cupcakes, and it showed in his belly!






Our sweet little birthday boy had a good day and he still has 5 days to go until his actual birthday!

Fresh and Clean

We don't get much rain here in southern California. Last week was only the 2nd time it has rained since ... I don't know... April? A long time. It always throws everyone into a panic...no one knows how to drive in rain, every outdoor event is canceled and people get grumpy. I hate rain just as much as the next Angelino, but there is one thing that no one can argue with: a rain storm produces the best, most beautiful Los Angeles when it passes. Especially in the winter, you can see for miles and miles to the snow-capped mountains.

Our view from our balcony:



And from just up the hill where we live, looking out over the whole city to the Hollywood sign:




Happily, our sunny and mid-70 degree weather is returning so we can play outside and squeeze in some sunshine before our trip the east coast.

He is going to LOVE opening presents

With his birthday and Christmas sneaking up on us, Timmy is going to be ripping open some wrapping paper soon. I know some kids freak out with all the attention on them, and some kids don't get all of the hoopla, but I have a feeling Timmy will be going to town when it's his turn to open gifts.

Last week I brought up the big box of Christmas decorations. Timmy helped me pull everything out and then ripped ALL of the tissue paper that had been carefully wrapped around the fragile stuff to shreds. He had the best time.

Timmy ripping tissue paper from Lisa Ottomanelli on Vimeo.

Traumatizing

Don't expect Timmy to like Santa just because he's a Christmas baby.

Swearing in Ceremony #1

Friday we went up to Pepperdine for the swearing in ceremony to the state Bar of California at the law school. I was lucky enough to have my whole family there and some of my best friends. Timmy was even a dream despite it being way past his bedtime!