Sunday, January 27, 2013

walking

we have a walking boy on our hands! he actually took his very first (tiny as they might have been) steps a few days before his birthday, but now, he is doing so much better!

today at church, he was getting all kinds of attention (and applause) for his new little trick...and loving every second of it, as he clapped for himself, too. he is pretty proud of himself!

he can't just stand up and walk quite yet, but i'm sure within just a little bit, he will be keeping up with all the other kids...which means he will be that much closer to going into nursery! yay! for now, he walks from chair to sofa to mom to dad, back to the chair, back to the sofa, back to mom, and back to dad. we think it's just about the most amazing thing any baby has ever done. ever.

need proof? well here's pictures to prove it.










































and yes, no pants is normal in our house.
besides, they distract from his awesome new superman shirt :)

the party

{picture overload...proceed at your own risk}


Our Bridger boy sure is loved! 
We had the best time celebrating his party with all of our Colorado family. Bridger loves playing with any little kid, so he would have just been fine with some cousins and a cupcake to celebrate. But...of course that wasn't enough for me, so I did a few little things to make it special. 






He wasn't so sure about his birthday cake. I was totally expecting him to dive right in and be a huge frosted mess, and then I would get to hose him off in the sink, and we would get all these cute bath pictures. Not so much. Maybe he wasn't so into it, because treats and sugar aren't such a foreign thing to him. Truth is, I think he probably had a cookie before the guests arrived. Anyway, the little stinker poked around at the cake for a bit, took a few little nibbles here and there, and other than that, he pretty much just smeared the cake all over his tray.

It's probably for the best anyway. Especially since B's pediatrician said that treats are ok, but I should probably limit them to about 1-2 per month. per month?? Ok seriously. Let's get real.









Steve made Bridger the best present. He made him his very own barn. When I turned one, my mom and dad gave me a little playhouse that my mom had made out of a big screen tv box. It had a door the opened and closed, and shutters, and shingles on the roof. It was pretty dang cute. We played in that little house for years. It was one of the best gifts! Steve and I had a big box saved from a piece of furniture, and I wanted Steve to make something similar to my little playhouse that I had as a kid...except a little less girly (did I mention my playhouse had curtains in the windows? Ya. That definitely wouldn't fly with a boy). A barn was the perfect alternative. Well, Steve seriously whipped this thing together in about two nights. He worked late into the evening so that it would be ready for his party. 

It's safe to say that the barn was Bridger's favorite present. He loves it. It's kind of his happy place. It totally soothes him when he gets fussy. "Just take him to the barn" is a phrase we've come to know well. Steve will just hang out in there with him, and play peekaboo through the windows and door. Bridger gets a kick out of it...and so do I actually. It's a total flashback from when my sisters and I used to play in my little house. 
So grateful I have a husband that not only knows how to build a real house, but a cardboard one, too. 



Bridger wasn't so sure about the whole party thing, and everything being about him. He was a trooper though! To be honest, I think his favorite part of the night was taking a bubble bath with all his awesome new bath toys (thanks Brookie!) But, we sure are grateful to have such awesome family around that came to love on our little boy with us. We are lucky to have so many fun family members to help celebrate. 
Thank you for everyone that came! It wouldn't have been a party without you! 



Monday, January 14, 2013

one

our boy is one. ONE.
one year old.
 
I can hardly believe we are already here. One year later, and we have a boy that is completely different than the tiny little nugget I remember delivering one year ago today.
 
We have had an eventful (in some ways) weekend. My dad flew to Vietnam on Saturday morning, so we decided to have a party a couple days early for the little fella so that the Big Fella could be there, too. All the family came to help celebrate, and we had a blast! We had cafe rio and chocolate/peanut butter cupcakes for dessert. Bridger, of course, had his own little cake that was probably 30% cake and 70% frosting. Surprisingly, he didn't dig into it as much as I thought he would. He smeared it around on the tray, dug his hands into it a few times, and took a few little licks, but that was about it. I was looking forward to stripping the boy down and hosing off the blue frosting in the sink, but that just wasn't the case for this little party animal. He was content just poking around at it for a few minutes, and then he wanted to get down and play with the kids. Of course. He LOVES kids.
 
Maybe if each of the kids had their own blue birthday cake, Bridger would have been more into it. He's kinda a copycat like that.
 
He got spoiled rotten with gifts. He got a cool pirate ship that he loves to dance to, LOTS of fun bath toys, a bag of 100 balls, legos (which may or may not have been our gift to him from Christmas, that we decided to re-wrap because the kid got OVERLOADED with presents on Christmas), a ring stacker thingy, lots of books, clothes, new jammies, a new swim suit, and a little rocking/rolling puppy. Whew! I am going to have to seriously start rotating toys. It's a mad house with legos, balls, pirates, and books EVERYWHERE. Not to mention the tupperware that Bridger still pulls out all over the kitchen, because he's what, bored by all his new toys? I don't get it. Oh well. I kinda love that he is into everything. He's so inquisitve and curious, and I think it's pretty adorable.
 
But, who knows, maybe I will re-re-wrap those Legos for another day...just to keep the chaos a little under control.
 
At ONE YEAR OLD, Bridger:
-TAKES STEPS! He started just a few days before his birthday. It's adorable. He's taken about 4 or 5 at the most, but he's totally doing it!
-says "dadda" and "mama" 
-carries all kinds of things around in his mouth, like a puppy
-eats cat food for fun (Believe me, I try and stop him, but everytime I look the other way, he ends up booking it down the hall to the cat food. It's disgusting, I know. I'm praying it's a phase.)
-gets into everything
-has become a much better eater! He likes just about everything, especially greek yogurt, grapes, spaghetti squash, crackers, cereal with milk, craisins, and chocolate milk.
-still takes 2 naps a day
-still can't totally figure out how to go down the stairs, but going up, he's a champ
-dances everytime music comes on. It doesn't matter what kind of music--if it has any kind of beat, this boy dances. Waves his hands in the air, bounces up and down, sways back and forth, and even sometimes tries to sing along to the music. It's so great.
-likes to chase the cat
-gets so excited when he sees me or Steve (which of course, I love)
-talks all.the.time
-has 4 teeth and one poking through!
 
Bridger is the happiest boy, and has an infectious personality. We love him! He has made our life so much fun. We are grateful to have this little muchkin part of our family.