The Big ONE!!!

Chris and I just can't believe we now have a one year old.  This past year went by so quickly and Connor is growing up too fast!.  In honor of his first Birthday we threw him a little party, well let's be honest it was mostly for us!  Connor did have a really great time though.  This was the first time that he has actually been interested in 'playing' with other kids.  We put balloons up and Connor really enjoyed that.  I blew up some extras just so he could crawl around and hit them.  It was adorable watching him chase them around the room.  I made Connor a carrot cake smash cake. I really though he would have fun smashing it, but he really wan't that into it.  He didn't like the frosting on his fingers.  He did eat some, but I had to feed it to him.  He loved opening his gifts and was great about sharing his new toys with his little friends!  All in all I think his first Birthday party was a success!

    

Connor and Ella playing with bristle blocks before dinner. She will be 18 months next month.

Connor and Jane enjoying some bubbles.  These were actually his party favors, and everyone loved them.  Can't go wrong with bubbles!

The smash cake!

First touch!

Not so sure about this.

Mmmmm, tastes good!

A happy and relatively clean baby boy!

Cake on the face!

Ella and Jane were so excited about this gift.  Connor was too, but he was happy to share.

All three playing.

Connor's first trip to the park!

It was so nice and sunny on Wednesday and Chris was home so we decided a trip to the park was in order!  We've been wanting to take Connor this past month, but when we're both around the weather is not cooperative!  There is a really nice park that is perfect for kids Connor's age just 5 minutes from our home.  All the ones closer and in walking distance are geared toward children older then Connor.  Anyway, I think Connor mostly had a great time.  He couldn't quite decide how he felt about the slide.  I think it scared him, but Chris and I were so excited you could tell he really wanted to be.  His little confused face was so cute!  We'll have to try that again, we'll win him over yet!  He liked all the rocker toys.  We tried a swing, but it was weird...  I couldn't blame Connor for being indifferent there.  There as little play barn, you can sort of see it in the first picture, Connor had fun looking out the windows.  I thought Connor might like being able to crawl around on the AstroTurf, but he did not appreciate it one bit.  I guess in hindsight it is a little poky.  All in all we had a great time just running around (with help!).  

Trying the slide for the first time.

Playing with the gears.  Connor thought this little toy was pretty fun. 

Hating the AstroTurf! 

Bumble bee!

Once he got use to the idea of this toy, he enjoyed it.

Our baby is a crawler!

I can't believe that in just two short weeks our baby boy will be one!!!  It seems like he's gown so much this month.  Connor perfected his army crawl, and then he quickly figured out how to crawl!  So now he roams where ever he wants.  He's so happy with his little self and we couldn't be happier for him.  He still loves to walk, but now that he can move on his own, it's not all he wants to do all day.  He has started chasing his balls around the room and loves to look in cupboards.  His all time favorite activity right now is to knock down towers.  Chris and I will build him towers on the opposite side of the room from him and he'll crawl over immediately and knock them over.  I think he knows those towers are just for him.  Connor has also started trying to comb his own hair.  He loves to turn the pages in his books (sometime before you've finished reading them!).  His other favorite activity is exploring outside when it's nice.  He loves touching everything, bushes, snow, fences... he gets upset when I don't let touch other peoples cars, but there's so much to look at he's never upset for long.  

He is much more vocal then his use to be, and he was always talkative.  He says, 'moe' when he wants more and 'ii' for hi.  He's been saying 'ma' and 'da' for a while now and he says 'may may may' all the time.  I'm not sure what that one means yet.  He says LOTS of other things too, but I haven't figured out what they are yet!  He's started making t sounds and still loves blowing raspberries.  

Connor is getting a premolar!  The poor little guy was sick for a week and we didn't realize they were related until the very end of the whole ordeal.  We had a virus too, so that didn't help either.  I just keep waiting for the other ones to poke through, hopefully it well go a little easier. 

It's been awhile since I posted last, so you get a bunch of pictures!

My little laundry helper.

He like to pull everything out of the basket and roll around in it.

Walking around our living room with Daddy.

Trying out the new car seat!  He was so excited.   

Yay!!! I think he was more excited when the are car seat was in the living room, but he does seem to enjoy being able to see more and he's definitely not squashed any more!

Happy dude cruising on the couch. 

I don't know why, but I love this picture.  He has his curious face on.  I think he's wondering if I'm going to let him play with the camera.

Cruising again.  I just love this little outfit, he looks so much like a little boy!

Trying to get the camera from Dad.

Crawling!!!

Playing with toys.  He's great with playing on this own for a little while.

Connor's monkey.  He loves this little stuffed animal.  Every morning this monkey gets a kiss, a snuggle, a bite on the ear and then a ride across the room.

Connor loves pulling every single toy out of his toy box and spreading them out around the living room.  If you try to put them away he's right there pulling them out faster then you can put them in.

Playing the tower game.  We get pretty creative with the towers, but Connor thinks the best part is when they fall down.  He even claps when they fall.

        

Baby in Forward Motion!

Connor is really moving on this mobility thing.  Not only is he cruising around the house on furniture now, but he's also able to push himself around with his little walker (a newly discovered trick tonight!).  He also figured out how to 'crawl' forward yesterday.  It's not really crawling in the traditional sense, more like and exaggerated, extremely exhausting version of an army crawl, but we'll take it!!!  I think he'll perfect it over the next few week or even days.  Or maybe he'll just decide walking is more his thing.  He get's braver and braver with how far he's willing to reach for new objects to support him everyday!  I'd love to upload some videos, but Blogger keeps giving me an error message and I'm too tired to invest any more time trying to figure out what the problem is, so this little picture will have to do, sorry.  He's saying 'oo' if you're wondering.

Connor's New Hat

Connor's adorable monkey hat is getting a little tight!  I was hoping it would make it through the rest of the winter, but it's barely covering his ears these days and it's still cold outside!  So... I made Connor a new hat. I saw a pattern for this owl hat and thought it was super cute!  I think it turned out pretty great and Connor loves the yarn tassels!  Maybe we'll even get some use out of it next winter too, it's a little big right now.  

My camera caught the end of this sweet smile, but the picture still turned out pretty well.

Modeling the new hat!

He was great about letting me continually put this hat on him in hopes of a great picture.

Cruising Baby!!!

It seems like Connor learns something new every day.  This past week Connor perfected the art of cruising! Chris and I were both pretty excited for him.  Connor has been using our hands to help him get around (and still does when there isn't furniture around), he gets so excited when he can cruise on his own!  It warmer outside this past week so Connor and I were even able to walk around the apartment complex.  He loved being able to watch his shadow as he walked! 

This past week Connor also started making a 'vroom' sound when he plays with his cars.  It's really cute!  He loves it when we drive the cars over his legs and tummy, makes him laugh every time.  He also started saying 'oo,' which is also pretty exciting.  I guess I probably say that a lot to him, because whenever I bring out a 'new' toy or we read a book and I turn the page, Connor will say 'oo.'  

This week we also bought some bubbles at the store, we had some when he was younger and he loved them, but we had run out and I hadn't bought any in a while.  Anyway, they were a HUGH hit!  He kept saying 'oo' and then would try to point at them, he even got a few to pop, I don't think that was what he thought would happen, but he thought it was fun all the same.  He got an little upset when we stopped, he just loved them so much.    

All bundled up and going for a jog with Mom.

Playing with his cars.

Vroom!

The sweet smile that always greets me when I get Connor up.  I just love that smile!

"Oo," bubbles!

Ten Months Old

When I was younger it seemed like the months just dragged by and now it seems like they come faster with each passing month!  And with that I can hardly believe Connor is 10 months old already.  He grows up more each day it seems like.  Currently, he LOVES walking assisted around the living room or really anywhere he can.  The halls at church are great!  We even walked around outside this week, he seemed to think was pretty cool.  He loved watching his shadow as he walked.  Connor still isn’t crazy about solid food, but he eats anything in pureed form.  He tired kiwi’s this week and decided they were pretty good.  We also introduced Connor to apple juice.  Each sip makes him wince, but he kept coming back for more.  Currently, Connor isn’t crazy about his afternoon naps, which he definitely still needs!  It’s been making me a little crazy, but at least he still sleeps through the nights! 

And with the time passing faster, we’re realizing that our time here in Ann Arbor is quickly coming to an end.  We found out last week that we’ll be moving to Denver!  We couldn’t be more excited.  We’re going to miss our friends here, but they are all moving on too.

Here are some pictures from the past month.

Trying his first pancake.  None of which ended up in his mouth, but had fun ripping it apart.

Such a handsome little boy!

It was so sunny out during our walks that we decided Connor needed sunglasses!  And would you believe he actually leaves them on.

Out to lunch, celebrating our big news!  Chris got the residency in Denver and we'll be moving there this summer!

Playing the piano!

Yay!  Clean baby!

Connor has decided that playing outside of this jumper is better then being inside, in fact he'll hardly sit in it anymore.