Saturday, May 09, 2009

Peter's First Birthday Fun and Presents


Getting tangled up in crepe paper.
Peter loved playing with his birthday balloons.
Opening his present (look how patient Eddie was being, letting Peter unwrap it! Of course, Eddie did help eventually.).
Peter: What is it?
Eddie: Look what it is! (Eddie helped wrap it.)
Peter loves his present. He plays with it so often and gets really excited and giggly when he sees it. Eddie loves it just as much as Peter, and I love that they can and do play with it together. The perfect birthday gift!
Cuddling his new Sunday shirt from Grandma.
Yum! Packing peanuts!
So adorable!

I could not get those balls open fast enough.

Peter's First Birthday Cake

Because of Peter's love for rubber ducks, I decided to make him a rubber duck birthday cake. It was simple and so fun for Peter.
Eddie put the candles on (and blew them out!).

Peter loved playing with the rubber ducks, but he loved pulling the sprinkles off and eating them even more.
Birthday cake makes Peter so happy.
Sharing some with Mommy.
I let him do whatever he wanted with the cake, but it didn't get too out of control before I took it away and cut it.
This frosting is soooo good! We learned that Peter won't eat cake that doesn't have frosting on it!
Holding a piece of cake (who knows why I wasn't smart enough to take his clothes off before giving him cake!).
Ending the birthday-cake-eating by taking a birthday bath. What a cutie! I love you, Peter Thomas! Happy Birthday!

Friday, May 01, 2009

Peter At One Year

Favorite Foods-meats, especially ham; vegetables, especially carrots; yogurt; pizza (he can eat a whole slice!); cheese; scrambled eggs; waffles;
Favorite Toys-balls, cars, rubber ducks; shape sorters; stuffed animals
Favorite Games-peekaboo (he hides his face with washcloths then wants us to do the same); chase (he loves us to carry him and chase after Eddie; he giggles the whole time; he also enjoys us crawling after him, as well as crawling after us);
Favorite things to do-read(he's very often handing me books; he likes to sit on my lap; he points to pictures on each page and talks about them; often he will turn and intently watch my face as I read; he will often take the book from me, just so he can hand it to me again and have me start reading it all over again), take baths(he loves splashing, playing with tub toys, pulling the plug out of the tub drain, and reading-we have a tub book that we read at least ten times during each bath); play on and lay on Mom's and Dad's bed; ride in the stroller (he dives from my arms to the seat of his stroller); dance (he dances every time he hears music, usually dancing is swaying left and right); wash his hands (he gets all giggly if we walk into the bathroom because he knows what's going to happen; he really likes washing his hands because he likes to suck water off his fingers!)
Unique Things-Peter has never responded excitedly to icecream before this week (didn't hate it, but didn't care if he had more or not).
Peter doesn't eat many fruits (strawberries are the only fruit he will eat thus far).
Peter eats an oreo by taking off the cookie and pinching off pieces of cream and eating it; he never eats the cookie!
Peter's really talkative. He has a lot to say about a lot of things. He really gets close to your face, looks into your eyes, and just talks and talks. He can be really loud when he wants something; he doesn't let you ignore him. Ben is always surprised at how loud he cries at night, and he will cry even louder if it's Ben that goes to get him. He wants to really know the names of things; he holds things up to us or points to things and waits for us to name them; he studies our mouths intently while we are telling him the word.
There's really nothing that Peter hates to do or gets upset about doing.
Peter seems to prefer orange or red things (especially orange); he seems to pick up blocks, etc., that are those colors. Things he shows me are very often those colors.
Peter doesn't mind playing by himself some times. He will often crawl into his room and play with toys. If I come by, he will show me what he is doing, but doesn't stop and doesn't mind if I leave the room again.
Peter loves sippy cups and has since he was six months old, though it's only been about a month since he has been able to drink from them.
Teeth-Peter has five teeth-the top two and bottom two, as well as the one to the left of the top middle teeth
Words-Though Peter has said more words than this, the only word he consistently uses correctly is ma ma. Every time he wants something or is upset, he looks for me and says ma ma. If he wakes in the night, he calls out ma ma as he cries. I don't know if ma ma means me or "I need something", but, I guess since I am the one that takes care of his needs, it doesn't really matter. He says da da a lot, too. He uses it for Ben, but also uses it as a naming word for his toys and a sound when he is talking.
Songs-Peter likes to open and close his fist while we sing "Popcorn Popping". Ever since Peter was first born, he has calmed quickly to "Teach Me to Walk in the Light". I sing that, "I am a Child of God", and a song I made up for Eddie when he was a baby ("Mommy loves you") to Peter every night when he goes to sleep. He falls alseep much faster with singing, but with singing these songs in particular.
Sleep-Peter naps twice a day, at 10 a.m. for about 45 minutes and at 4 p.m. for anywhere between an hour to two hours (he often wakes up halfway through this nap). He falls asleep in the car really easily. He goes to bed at 7:30 or 8 p.m. He wakes up many times in the night, I would say an average of five times; the first time is 15 minutes after he goes to sleep. Sometimes he wakes up twice before I go to bed. If I bring him to our bed in the night, he sleeps really well. I am sure he would sleep better if he didn't like breastfeeding so much.

Thursday, April 30, 2009

Peter's First Year-In Pictures

May 4-two days old-Welcome home, Peter! We love you!
June 19-one month-I can't believe how little Peter was! Look at those adorable little features!
July 5-two months-What a cute little bottom and tiny little toes!
beginning of August-three months-Peter loves his mommy! What a precious smile!
September 25-four months-Peter loves to pull blankets on to his head!
October 19-five months-Peter loves baths!
November 1-six months-What a happy, smiley boy Peter is!
December 7-seven months-Peter's sitting up more confidently.

January 15-eight months-Peter's pulling himself up on things
February 27-nine months-What beautiful eyes Peter has!

March 16-ten months-Peter has his top two teeth!

April 8-11 months-Peter loves to play!

I can't believe how fast this year has gone by! I have loved watching Peter grow and develop. I am so happy to be his mom!!! I can't imagine being a mom without Peter. He has made motherhood more fun and more fulfilling. My heart is so full of love for him and gratitude to Heavenly Father for giving him to me.

Sunday, April 26, 2009

Ten Years Ago Today

Ten years ago today I started a summer job at American Express. That morning I was walked from the door of the department to my cubicle and introduced to my trainer/cubicle mate, whom I would spend roughly 640 working hours with that summmer. I remember he had to remove headphones he wore on the back of his head and turn from his computer in order to be introduced to me. He never turned back to his computer that day. The training began immediately. He took me to get a file that needed keying, talked me through keying it, then observed me keying files all day long. Each person that came to our cubicle that day complimented him on his haircut. From their surprised reactions, I assumed his hair must have been really long. I couldn't really get a feel for who he was; he wasn't easy to read. I never would have imagined that, ten years from that day, I would be his wife, that we would have the two most perfect little boys together, and that I would be so happy all because of him. I love you, Ben!

Monday, April 20, 2009

Easter Basket

Eddie found his basket in our scripture basket. He picked out each item one at a time, starting with the candy.
He took a bite of each then laid them on the windowsill in a nice long row.
Peter was able to grab candy and thus got a bite of chick peep
and a chocolate Easter bunny.
When Eddie pulled out his new ball toy, we went out to play.
We had a lot of fun. Too bad it was so hard to pull the ball off the velcro mitt.
We did a little Easter egg hunt around the front yard. Eddie only likes "choc-it" candy.

We had a very fun Easter.

Coloring Easter Eggs


Eddie was much more interested in coloring Easter eggs this year than he was least year. He simply dipped an egg in each of the six colors. He didn't want to do anything fancy.

Peter enjoyed playing with plastic Easter eggs while we worked. It was the only chance he had to play with them when Eddie didn't take them away or smash them.
Neither Peter nor Eddie want to eat hard boiled eggs, though. I don't blame them!

Peter's Learning

Peter's learned to do cheers (he really hits the cup hard!),
give fives (he thinks this is so much fun),
and talk on the phone. He has also learned to clap and throw balls really well, but I haven't gotten great pictures yet. He is so much fun!

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Chef Eddie


For my birthday Eddie and I received aprons from my mom. Eddie's is adorned with cats-his favorite! Ever since we went to Macaroni Grill for dinner on my birthday, Eddie likes to pretend he is a chef (he could see the chef in the kitchen cooking with fire!).

Eddie is as excited about my birthday present as I am. He loves to uses "Mom's mixer". He has always loved all things kitchen. I love my little chef!

Wednesday, April 08, 2009

"B is for Bear"




Peter is really into reading right now. Whenever he gets his hands on a book, he gives it to me and waits for me to read it. The other day he held a book, looked at the pages, and said "bah, bah, bah", like he was reading! Every night we read "B is for Bear" before bed. He often giggles when I pull it off the bookshelf because he is so excited to read it. Here are some pictures of him reading "B is for Bear" on his own.

Helmet


Eddie always puts his Easter bucket on his head like a helmet. When Peter got his hands on the bucket, he put it right on his head. He was a little worried when he couldn't get it off.

Picnic on the Floor


We enjoyed a picnic on the floor during the first session of General Conference. Once Eddie got over the fact that the picnic wasn't going to be outside, he loved it. Peter was so excited about sitting in his booster seat on the floor. He loved that his feet could touch the floor. He loved that he could reach a lot of things he dropped. We had a lot of fun and would like to make this picnic a tradition.

Cutting



Eddie's so into cutting right now, but so not into me taking his picture.