11 months!

So what's new with my almost 1 year old? I'm trying to expand his cuisine options, which gets difficult for a little dude with only 2 teeth! Some new things that we've had great success with is string cheese, pesto pasta, quesadillas, fish, meatballs, and ground turkey. The fish has to be marinated. I had made fish tacos for Jack and I one night and gave Evan a little try. He couldn't get enough, surprisingly! So I cooked him some more the next day with no seasoning and he didn't touch it. So now I marinate it the same way as the fish tacos every time and he gobbles it up - olive oil, lemon juice, chili powder and allspice. He doesn't like many veggies but he loves green beans and peas. I sneak tomatoes in to the pesto pasta and spinach into quesadillas. I'm trying to think of some ways to sneak other veggies into his diet.

He's starting to self-wean. He's just not as interested in nursing anymore... but he's not very interested in cow's milk either! We've only tried it for a few days, and I know it's a rough transition for some kids, but Evan seems ready to move on!

He hasn't shown much interest in trying to walk but we've caught him letting go of his prop when standing a few times and freestanding for a few seconds. He just got a walking toy for an early birthday present and he's still learning how to use it. He starts moving too fast and ends up on his knees and will then walk across the room on his knees. It's super cute!

I've noticed that he's really been developing his spacial intelligence. He's figuring out how certain objects fit into others. He gets a really intense face when he's learning too! When he tips out his toy bin I notice that a lot of the time he'll pull out balls. I think he's going to be a jock! My nephew did the same thing when he was little and he ended up playing football, baseball and soccer (now college soccer!). He's expanding his vocabulary ever so slightly. A lot of stuff is still "dadadada" but there's more mamama or just "meh" happening, nanana, bababa, bebebe, bwabwabwa and some other random syllables. It doesn't seem like he's associated any sounds with a particular object yet. He will "motorboat" when he's playing with his trucks though. Is that just a boy instinct?

A bunch of videos

Flattulant from Jennifer McDade on Vimeo.

uh yuh yuh yuh yuh from Jennifer McDade on Vimeo.

My new face from Jennifer McDade on Vimeo.

Big cup from Jennifer McDade on Vimeo.

Skype from Jennifer McDade on Vimeo.
Here's Evan skyping with Aunt Catherine

Bathtime from Jennifer McDade on Vimeo.

I wanna be just like Daddy

Ok so Jack was actually copying Evan in each of these pictures, but they're still wicked cute!

It's that time of year

No, not Christmas... although I did see Christmas stuff out at Michael's a few weeks ago. And one of my neighbors has their lights up already. Well, not already...still. They still have their lights up. No, it's that time of year where I let go of my beloved summer and commit to liking fall. I really don't mind the season on it's own. It's the reminder of the imminent long winter that prevents me from fully loving it.

But I'm committed to liking it now. I turned on the heat for the first time this morning. I can handle the house temp a little cooler, but I'm not sure Evan can. Especially since my fellow summer lover hates wearing socks! Plus my thin-blooded now-Floridian parents were coming over and I didn't want them to freeze! The leaves are starting to change. I can get away with cooking heartier hot meals. The flip flops are getting less use since it's cool enough to prefer socks. I bought cider donuts and apple cider. I'm looking forward to going apple picking with my extended family on Saturday (Evan's first time!). And we're going to have a Thanksmas dinner afterwards. We were just going to keep it low key with a bbq or pizza, but my sister Ginger being the adorable kook and cook that she is happened to have a large and small turkey in the freezer and threw that idea out there. My parents are in Florida for Thanksgiving but visit for Christmas but we have a low-key Christmas dinner so this is the second time we're having a big Thanksmas dinner before they head south.

I like this season even more now that it reminds me of the anticipation we had before Evan was born last year and life with newborn Evan. The late night chilly walks trying to trigger labor, cooking up a storm to freeze a bunch of meals, checking into the hospital, bringing him home and going for walks with the stroller running over the crunchy leaves. It all stirs up such wonderful memories of my little bitty guy who is now a chatty crawler/climber who eats solid foods, has a tooth, plays in the bathtub, torments the cat and wears 18 month clothes.

Back online

Ok the title is a bit deceiving because I've been online here and there, but the home-laptop has been on the fritz for almost 2 months now. It would only work when plugged in and would hibernate whenever it came unplugged... even if it was shut. This left me pretty unmotivated to blog. Not to mention that most of our pictures/video end up on Jack's work laptop since we got our new Canon 7D. Well the laptop is fixed now, thankfully under warranty. I still have to get a bunch of video/pictures from Jack's laptop to post but here's a few things I have access to right now.



Playing outside on a blanket. We miss the summer already!



My new face



Who knew Baby Orajel had 2 uses for teething?



Apparently Evan is finished with these childish toys so he took it upon himself to throw them in the garbage.

If I don't want it, you can't have it either from Jennifer McDade on Vimeo.
Here's Evan "sharing" his food with Daddy.

Humph from Jennifer McDade on Vimeo.
I haven't figured out exactly what this means. Sometimes he imitates me doing it. Sometimes he'll do it when he's frustrated. Sometimes he'll do it when I'm changing his diaper. Sometimes he'll do it when I make a different face at him. Whatever it means, it always makes me laugh!

Belly Laughs from Jennifer McDade on Vimeo.
Good ol' changing table fun