He stood up and walked!

He's finally walking, and we caught it on camera! He has been excitedly walking us around the house for the last week. He will crawl over to where we're sitting, grab our thumb and tug us forward so we'll walk him around and around the house. Finally, today, he just stood up and walked and he was SO proud!

Potty Party!

This is Roman's friend Azlyn. She is 8 months old and they like to play together. He loves to give her hugs and if she cries in her car seat, he will pat her with his hand. Sometimes he gives her toys, and sometimes he kind of whacks her with them, but he's usually very gentle as Gracie has given him lots of practice.

Last summer trip to the beach

This was probably our last trip to the beach, for playing in the ocean anyway. It was a beautifully warm day for Oct. 1, and the shallow water was nice and warm. Roman enjoyed playing in the water so much more than he did just one month ago. He is also well aware that sand does not taste good. He is becoming quite the big boy, grabbing our hand and walking everywhere, and talking like crazy. He's become very aware of his preferences as well, and by that I mean, boy can he throw a fit! It's cute really, and it's usually short-lived as he has already learned that is not very effective with his parents, so sad.

Working on walking and talking

Roman has a renewed interest in walking finally. For a couple of months, he resisted our efforts to walk him around the house, but now he thinks it's great fun and wants to do it all the time. He is standing unassisted more often and for longer and still enjoying walking around pushing the end table. We like to take him outside naked and watch his funny crab crawl as he tries to keep from touching the grass; that should be good motivation for walking!

We finally got a clip of the funny new noise he's been making. Also, he is saying bye-bye all the time now and waving, especially if he sees you go towards the door. He is repeating much of what we say: "good boy," "Jagger," "I love you," "Luv-a-luv," and also loves to say, "quack quack" and "cock-a-doodle-do." And, he continues to give every baby he meets hugs and kisses, and he is finally being gentle about it instead of trying to push them over first and crawl on top of them (like the way he loves on Gracie).

Rub-a-dub, dub, 3 babies in a tub!

Wishful thinking Daddy...

Fun in the playhouse with Mom & Dad

Roman loves the play set. He enjoys swinging and sliding and is even becoming proficient at scaling the rock wall, little monkey.

Beep! Beep! Move it or lose it!

He's already getting picked on by girls... : ( He gets that from Gene, not me!

Fun in the tunnel

Roman likes to hoard his toys in his tent and is constantly pushing toys through the tunnel. The tent is also a great place to go and hid when you need to poop, so no diaper-free playing in the tent!

Roman's First Birthday

(click here for pictures)

Roman's 1st Birthday was A LOT of fun! He thought the balloons, the cake and all the people were grand. He played with his friends and had a ton of fun with his toys. He got such neat stuff and it was all a big hit! He pushed his helicopter and backhoe around and around the room and into his giant new tent and tunnel. He played with gears, a ball popper, puzzles and chomped on his new books; he also received a lovely handmade puppet. He also got an electronic photo album which is already filled with photos and messages for each that he just loves. He absolutely loves his new play set as well, but he's still a little cautious with it which is a good thing! Thank you everyone your thoughtful gifts and cards and my mom for coming and helping with the party. And, of course, Gene worked so hard getting the play set built and helping me taste test cupcakes.

He is just barely 20 lbs. (with a wet diaper), so he is ready to face forward in his car seat; we will let you know how that goes. He is still about 32 inches, but his little legs are squished up against the back of the seat, so I think he will welcome the switch. He will have blood drawn at the doc on Wednesday, but of course I expect everything to be in top shape. He eats a great deal of fruit and vegetables and for his entire first year has NEVER been sick.

Other accomplishments include saying, "quack, quack," a version of cock-a-doodle-do, and Jagger has gone from "ga" to "ja-ga." He says a version of avocado, "a-ca-do," "banana," and loves to mimic us, especially when he is about to do something he shouldn't and we say, "Ah-ah," and he repeats, "AH-AH!" And, most deserving of noting, he is well on his way to being potty-trained. He has been keeping dry at night for a couple of months now and doing all his pooping in the potty. Now, he is doing almost all of his pees and goes days without wetting his diaper, if I'm lucky enough to catch all of them. However, it's about to get a whole lot easier; just today, while Gene was holding him, he got restless and whiney for no apparent reason and when I looked he was waving his little fist trying to make the sign for potty. So, I took him and he eagerly sat down and peed. So, once he starts signing to me that he needs to potty, we're golden! What a year it has been...although it breaks my heart to lose my baby, it's so much fun to watch him play and learn new things everyday. He's also getting quite the sense of humor, which could not be sweeter or more hilarious. : )

"You talkin to me?"

Splash!

Lovin the view

Porta-a-Potty

We went on a beach trip today, so we took a little potty with us.
Roman went the whole day without wetting his diaper. He even pooped
twice in his potty, yay! And, he knows enough to be very proud of
himself, as you can see.

We got tired of bathing him...