New Camera

I finally broke down and bought a digital SLR camera. I went with a Canon Rebel and so far I am LOVING it. Below are a couple practice shots. I'm still learning.

Play Dates

Miss Carina and Mr. Keaton always have a blast together. Carina just LOVES Keaton's play room, especially the slide and swing. Can't usually get her away from it. I'm glad that Keaton has become more comfortable around other kids...it sure took awhile. He would cling to me the entire time or cry. He finally warmed up to "Rhyme Time" at the library and absolutely LOVES it now. I'm looking into pre-schools for him starting in the Fall this year for a couple mornings a week. I noticed that he really is starting to become bored during the day however I know the spring weather will be different once we can go outside.

Speech Delay

Well Keaton will be 19 months old exactly tomorrow and he has YET to say a word...actually he does say "car" but that is IT! Of course I'm freaking out that something is really wrong. All of Keaton's friends his age are talking up a storm! Keaton does not even say mama or dada. His 18 month check-up wasn't the best when I mentioned to the doctor that he is not talking. He told me that he is concerned and gave me information and the phone number for Early Intervention. Immediately I start thinking all these bad thoughts...Am I a terrible mom? What did I do wrong? Do I not "teach" him enough? Did I make a bad decision to not put him in daycare? I can't help but feel that this is my fault. I spend so much time with him everyday reading books, putting in baby enstein videos as much as I can, etc. We go to "Rhyme Time" at the library every week to be around other kids and to learn a variety of things. Anyway, I made the call to Early Intervention and I'm awaiting the call from our Service Coordinator for a therapist to come out and do an intake, followed by an evaluation. We shall see what this brings.

How long will this last??

Another surprise...Keaton loves going to restaurants and he is such a good boy!!! If you spent the day with this kid, you would wonder how I could take him anywhere without him destroying everything in his path. He is literally into everything. Going to a restaurant was something I thought we wouldn't be doing for years. Although money doesn't allow us to go out to eat on a regular basis, we will not be afraid to visit them in the future. : )

B-E-A-R-S, Bears, Bears, Bears!! WOOOO!

We did not take Keaton to any Bears games last year because I just knew that all the noise would freak him out. He still gets scared with louder noises but not nearly as bad as it was when he was real little. This year, we decided to give it a try and take him along to a Sunday game since it was earlier (5pm game) in the day. To our surprise...he did PERFECT! We both were SHOCKED to see him just sit quietly on my lap the entire time. I believe he was just in awe of the whole experience that he didn't know what else to do but sit there. At times he gets a little freaked out but he just turns towards me and puts his head on my shoulder (must admit, I love to hold him like that...I miss it). Since then, Keaton has gone to 4 Bears games and has been great each time...he even fits in a little snooze at times.

Christmas

Holy crap, it's been over 2 months since I last blogged. I admit, I got lazy with this and just stopped posting. I wasn't even sure if anyone was reading it. I would like to get back at blogging so let's play a little catch up, shall we? Christmas has been here and gone already and what a great holiday season it was. The inlaws were here to visit for about a week and really enjoyed every second with my little man. It was such a wonderful time with the family.

Keaton got WAY TOO MUCH stuff for Christmas. The grandparents went just a little crazy! I'm glad we only got him like 3 things because I knew everyone bought tons of things for him. His playroom is busting at the seams with toys. I had to move some things out of the room to make room for all the new things.

All in all, it was a great holiday and I just know they are going to get better and better as he grows up.

Trick or Treat

Silly Geese

Keaton and I make 3 trips a week to Borough Park in New Cumberland to swing and walk around to see the geese. He absolutely LOVES the geese there. Since learning how to make barking sounds when seeing a dog, he now barks at every animal he sees. He barks at the geese the whole time we are there. We enjoy these special days as they will soon be coming to a close as the days get colder and the geese fly south.

These are a Few of My Favorite Things...

Who needs fancy expensive books when Dollar Tree books are just as great! Keaton is loving these books that I got from the Dollar Tree.

These are also from Dollar Tree. You get them in packs of 3. Very simple yet very educational. Keaton will bring these books to me all day long to read to him and when you ask him, "Where's the cat?"...he points right at it. These books are great!!! He is learning from them everyday.

Here is what they look like inside. He loves the cat!

Keaton is definitely all boy...he LOVES his trucks! He will push them around the house making "brrrrooooommmmm" sounds just like a truck. So cute!

Man, this Vtech car carrier is amazing! It is ridiculously smart. There are sensors all over the thing so when you take something off or put it on, it knows. It freaked me out when I put the jeep on it and it says..."yeah, here's the jeep!" I was like, "Whoa, how the heck did it know that?" Very cool toy and Keaton loves it.

Developmental Stuff

What's going on in Keaton's world? Well, here ya go...

1. Not walking yet but getting closer every day. He does stand unassisted for a few seconds more and more everyday. He cruises the furniture and anything he can pull himself up on. He is all over the house now and you really need to keep a close eye on him or he will get into everything.

2. He loves to open cabinet doors and drawers in the kitchen and laundry room. We have about 50 cabinet doors and drawers all over the house so he is constantly in them. We did close off the dangerous ones that have poisonous items inside (ie cleaners, detergent, etc.).

3. Babbles constantly...always has something to "say". We think he is saying doggie but sounds more like doo-doo. He "says" a lot of the same things over and over so I'm not sure if he is trying to say something or if its just babble talk. He does say mama and dada to the correct person.

4. He is pointing and using his index finger all the time. Pincher grasp is completely mastered. He picks up the smallest little things...like tiny pieces of lint off the carpet. Then he tries to eat it...haha.

5. Learning body parts more and more. He knows where mouth, nose and eyes are right now. He is way more into animals and is constantly giving me this little picture book of animals that I got from the dollar tree. He points to the correct animal when asked. So cute to see them learning.

6. NO.MORE.BOTTLES! I pretty much just stopped cold turkey right after his birthday. I was obsessed with making sure that I did not start any bad habits throughout his first year. I never let Keaton fall asleep to the bottle at bed time. I always gave him his bottle before his bath during our nightly routine so he did not depend on it to fall asleep. Never gave him the bottle to "calm down" from any tantums or before putting him down for a nap. All of this made it a breeze to ditch the bottles cold turkey. He never missed them!

7. We were down to one nap a day for about a week but found that he needed to go back to two. I thought he was ready and he was doing great for a couple days but then he started falling asleep at his high chair during lunch so I knew that I was pushing him too hard. He is a great napper for me and I'm blessed in that department. He is excellent at putting himself to sleep on his own. Again, I did not want to start any bad habits so I always put him down awake and did not rock him to sleep. He always "talks" to himself for a couple minutes until he drifts off to dream land.

8. Eats like a champ! He is completely eating "big boy" meals now which is so nice when planning meals. I don't have to make a different meal for him anymore...he eats what we eat. : ) Big fan of homemade mac n cheese, spaghetti, tuna noodle casserole, yogurt, and bread.

9. Picks toys up and puts them in containers, puts his blocks in the correct shaped holes, and puts puzzle pieces in the correct spot. My big boy!

Keaton's First Birthday!

Well, my little man is ONE YEAR OLD!! Where the heck did the past 12 months go?? His birthday party was GREAT and everyone, including the birthday boy, had a lot of fun. 28 adults and 4 kids (including Keaton) all came to celebrate this momentous occasion. The "theme" of the party was monkeys because Erik calls Keaton his little monkey man so we thought it fit to do this for his party.

Keaton was very scared of his cake and did not want to touch it plus 28 people staring at him flashing cameras did not help...he started crying and wanted nothing to do with it. I had to feed him a little just so he could have a taste.

Keaton had 3 friends here to play with...Madison, Olivia, and Evan. Keaton has been having a hard time interacting with other kids but he did GREAT at the party. It looks like he may be turning a corner. : )

Below are a couple pics from the party...I missed a lot of good moments but my friends and family were able to capture them so I will have more later.

Picture table of Keaton through his first year of life.

Favor table out in the foyer. Monkey chocolates that I made and homemade banana bread to go with the "theme". These were a big hit.

Another pic of the favor table.

Happy 1st Birthday banner

Napkin holders

Dessert table with MONSTER cupcakes from Dingledein Bakery in New Cumberland. So good!!!

Close up of cupcake and cupcake toppers

Food table

Keaton scared of his cake

Still unsure...

Playing with the ladies

Playing in the rocket ship tent

Olivia pretending to be Marilyn Monroe over the air vent

Keaton playing with his new toys with Grandpa