Birthday box...

A late arriving box of birthday prezzies makes Fender's first birthday month one non-stop celebration!!! And not only were the new toys and clothes fun to play with, but the big box they arrived in was a hit! Thanks Nana and Pops!!!!
 
 
 

A short video of some of the fun:

Misc fun pictures...

 
 
 

Dallas Aquarium...

We spent the day at the aquarium in downtown Dallas yesterday with Auntie Loren and some friends. What fun!
At once, all the flamingos stuck their necks straight up and turned to look at Fender. Funny!
 

Fender loves looking at fish.
 

The sharks were so neat to watch.
 

These spotted manta rays were another hot watch spot.
 

Well, need to go run the dog and take Fender out to play for a bit so I'll post more pictures later when I have a chance. I highly recommend visiting the aquarium, but go armed with the knowledge that parking is $5 and the aquarium was just over $18 with tax.

okay...here are more pictures. Not pictured were the Jaguar and Jelly Fish which were awesome!

This is where you walk under the big tank with sharks and manta rays swimming all around. And the huge alligator was about the size of three grown men!


Poisonous blue frog and predator puffer fish.

Snacking...

 

The important things...

Daddy teaches Fender how to bring him a coke from the fridge.




Just an overalls kind of day...

Bedding down...

Well, I started to post this after the first night (which is why the date says Monday), but didn't want to jinx anything and really can't say I believed we were successful after one try, but as it turns out, putting Fender down to go to sleep on his own has been yet another transition Fender seems to have taken to without much fuss.

All bias aside, he's just brilliant. ;) Honestly, that first night I even said to his Daddy, "You know, he is smart. He knows we are here if he needs. And I think he will figure out pretty quickly that it is just time to go to sleep for the night." (That was my hope anyway.)

~Monday - he went to bed awake, but tired, and a cup of milk instead of bottle. He fussed maybe 5 minutes and went to sleep on his own. Yea!!!!
~Tuesday - I gave him a little milk in a cup before carrying him to his room mostly asleep, he gave a whimper as I left the room, then was out for the night. Amazing!!!
~Wednesday - not even a cup of milk, and a little more awake then the previous two nights...he cried for 8 minutes and then went to sleep. Good boy!!!
~Thursday, a little milk before bath but none after. Played a little, read a book, put him to bed. He cried about 4 minutes and slept though night. I don't believe it!!!
~Friday, basically just put him in his crib after our evening routine when he was sleepy. No fuss. Just went to sleep.

FYI: Goes to bed around 9:00 - 9:30PM and sleeps through until about 7:30 - 8:00AM.

When I tried this on Monday my attempt was to get him to fall asleep on his own (sans mommy's arms holding him tight with a yummy bottle) but I didn't intend that he should never get a bottle again. It just turned out that he didn't need it or miss it. No big surprise I guess. He is independent and seems to take changes well.

So now I give him the last of his milk prior to "bath time" so we can brush his teeth, bathe him, read him his story and put him to bed. I have enjoyed the past year of holding and rocking him to sleep, and am so thankful that didn't seem to spoil him from going to bed on his own now.

Also, we're brushing teeth twice a day now that molars have come in. His top two molars came in last week (you may remember from the "momma's birthday" post below) and the bottom two are pushing through right now. By this time next week he will be a 12 month old with 12 teeth! Not typical but not out of the norm either.

It's my party...

Pizza first...




Then a break to play with my buddy Caden...


Next we ate cake (not pictured because it wasn't as good as the cheesecake from two days before) and then we opened birthday presents...


And played some more...


I also had my first haircut Saturday before the party...

This is the big ONE...

HAPPY FIRST BIRTHDAY, FENDER DREWRY!

While the first two months seemed to go by so slowly...before he even learned to smile, it seems like the rest of the year has flown by in a quick two months time. Fender now smiles, laughs, sings, dances, plays, feeds himself, drinks from sippy cups, and even through straws. He can ask for things he wants by pointing, crawls through tunnels, climbs up stairs, walks and occasionally runs. He can clap, play peek-a-boo, say Bye-bye and wave along too. He even used our hand sign for "elephant" when he wanted to play with his elephant piggy bank a couple of nights ago. And can throw his arms up for a "touchdown" now. What a lot of learning and growing to do in just one year.

It is hard to say good-bye to this wonderfully sweet year full of so many "firsts." But it is hard not to want to move forward into this second year and see what new things await, for Fender, and for us as parents. I have a feeling this year may be a bit more challenging given his new found freedoms such as walking, running, and more and more talking. And if he is anything like his mom and dad, I'm sure he will be asserting his independence and stubbornness more every day. Oh boy!

He had his one-year check-up and weighed 25lbs 6oz and was nearly 31" tall. He was given vaccinations for Polio, Measles, and Chicken Pox. YUK! But has done well so far. We've had a fun week of birthday celebrations, including a visit from his "Grandmother" (Drew's mom) who got to watch him devour his first cake ever.

He had a fun-filled first birthday party on Saturday with pizza, cake, friends, family, and toys galore. So without further ado...here are the pictures.

Cheesecake from Napoli at his actual birthday dinner on October 4th! Yum!




October 4th birthday cards, presents, and hanging out with Grandmother.

Big boy car seat...

Our boy will be ONE year old tomorrow. Wow.

Forgot to post this before, but early last month we moved Fender from his infant seat to his toddler car seat. Yea. After all the fuss about "he's not going in that seat until he's ONE year old because the safety guidelines say so..." we compromised and at 11 months made the much needed transition. Fender loves his new seat facing forward where he can watch all the cars go by.

"I'm much too crowded here."
 

"Let's get to the new seat...charge"
 

Here's his super safe (only side-impact tested) and super cool RECARO (who make the safe sports seats for race cars, boats, and planes) toddler seat which will grow with him until he no longer needs a seat.
 

"Yea. Room for my legs to stretch out."