Cheers to 31 Years

Today is Steve's 31st birthday!  Happy Birthday, my love.  Xavier and I are so lucky to have you!

We celebrated the entire weekend and will continue celebrating tonight!  I took Steve for a night out to the Refectory on Saturday.  We grabbed drinks beforehand at the little bistro inside the restaurant, then moved to the dining area for dinner.  I worked with the restaurant staff earlier that week to make sure we were given the perfect table, waiter, and experience while we were there.  It was a delightful evening.

On Sunday, we went to a cute little cafe for brunch that's within walking distance of our house.  Xavier charmed a couple sitting next to us and we made friends with them quickly!  They even took Xavier on a little walk so Steve and I could finish our brunch without worrying about Xavier climbing out of his stroller (yea, that's normal now)!

Next stop, the pumpkin patch to pick out pumpkins, eat pumpkin donuts, and sip apple cider slushies.  There are tons of pumpkin patches around Columbus.  This one is a small one outside of the city.  We love it because it's never crowded and they have a great selection.  We had tons of fun and definitely took home a few pounds worth of pumpkins!

And my little pumpkin with his pumpkin.

Looking forward to tonight!  Gifts, cookies, and vino are on the menu.  Cheers!

Thirteen Month Update

Age:  13 months
Favorite Foods:  Baked tofu nuggets, watermelon, toast with smashed avocado or nutella, blueberries, and bananas
Favorite Toy:  Sensory balls, toys that light up and make noise when he pushes the button.
Favorite Activities:  Screaming, jumping on his bed, making friends with strangers, closing doors
Least Favorite Activities:  Getting out of the bath & diaper changes
Signature Moves:  Taking Yanking anything out of the dog's mouth, laughing when the dog struggles to let him have it, and throwing it across the room.  Hilarious to watch.
Professor X:  Prof X has taught us how to swipe on the iPad back and forth between open apps (swipe with 4 fingers).  He's also the reason we know the "Guide" button on our remote will switch from a DVD show playing in the player back to the Top Menu.

Other random notes about this age:
Seeing him take in new surroundings is a joy for us to watch!  Lately, he's been taking skills he learns and testing other methods.  A favorite bath tub activity is to stick his bath tub appliques to the wall.  Now, he tries to stick the coasters to the side of the coffee table.  You can just see it in his face that he learns this doesn't work on dry surfaces, only on wet surfaces!  Or, with his ball slider, he'll take balls from other toys that aren't necessarily the right size and test them to see if they'll go down it the same way.  He's using what he learns in one place and applying it to other parts of the house to see if they work.  Love this age so much!!!  The cognitive development in babies from 12 to 13 months is unbelievable.

The word "no" means nothing to him, except that it's a hilarious statement made by Mom & Dad, and it usually results in him continuing to do whatever he was doing to get told "no".  Examples: throwing food or his sippee off the tray table, picking trash out of the can, touching the buttons on the Internet router.

The other day when I dropped him off at daycare, I took some pictures of him playing with the toys.  I wanted him to pose with a toy and smile for me, but he had better things to do.  He crawled over to play with his friends, played with the toys, and barely gave me any acknowledgement that I or my camera was there.  Sad face - my baby boy is growing up way too fast!

Saucony sneakers - These shoes are perfect for the new walker.  They literally do not fall off, no matter how much he crawls around or scuffs his feet.  And with the velcro closure, it makes it easy for Mom and Dad to put them on him!

Punch & Drop Toy - This was one of his birthday gifts and he caught on right away how to use it!  He is using the hammer exactly how he's supposed to.  He likes to watch them fall through and come out the side.
Where The Wild Things Are - A favorite book of his right now.  He really likes the pictures!
Varsity Jacket - This one is very similar to the one he is wearing now that the mornings are so cooolllld!!!

Sensory balls - By far his favorite toys right now!  He likes to drop the balls on the hardwood floor and pass them back and forth with us.  

Nuk Pacifiers - These are his favorite pacifiers and have become his go to when he needs calmed down.  He doesn't like blankets or stuffed animals at all!  These are the only things that stop him from crying or get him to sleep (other than holding him)!

Amazing Appetizers

I tried some new recipes this weekend.  We had friends and family over for the first time in a long time!  The homemade tater skins (just add sour cream) and cilantro avocado deviled eggs hit the spot!  So did dirty card games and wine, lots of wine, lots.

Awww, husband picked this up for me because of my love for chalkboard art.  :) :)

Xavier picked up a new skill this weekend.  His favorite thing to do now is to share whatever he has with whoever will take it!  We first saw it when he shared his food with our waitress at a restaurant.  And he has no bias - he will take chewed up food right out of his mouth and share it with you.  He's moved on to sharing the torn up pieces of toilet paper with me while I'm taking a shower.  The most perfect present I've ever received :)  

Friday Favorites

Things are starting to fall into place for us with Xavier's transition to the new daycare room.  Although his routing is more predictable, he is going to bed at 7 on the dot!  Meaning Steve and I have to race home from daycare, stuff the kid with some bites of food before he gets too fussy to eat, and fly him through his bath.  I imagine it's a humorous Olympic show to watch us do this every night!  He doesn't wake up until 7 or 8 the next morning.  Rinse and repeat.

Changes in a baby's routine are a rough part of raising a kid.  I think we are all finally getting used to this routine after a few weeks of it.  Even though it's not ideal with him sleeping in so late sometimes, at least we have the flexibility in our work schedules to allow us to go in to work late and not have to disrupt his sleep.

Well-rested baby and his best friend.

I was recently introduced to the The BabyLit children's books and it's a wonderful series!  We like the Alice and Wonderland book for colors and I've got my eye on the Frankenstein anatomy book for Halloween.  This weekend's house project will be to mount the photo ledges we bought onto Xavier's wall to display some of his favorite Halloween books in his room.  Nobody ever said we weren't festive over here!

With cooler weather upon us, I'm craving comfy clothes (wearing my hoodie and leggings as I type this) and fall decor.  Have you gotten your hands on any of the new Bath and Body Works scented candles?!  My favorite ones that just hit stores are the Blackberry Bramble Tea and Vanilla Chai.  Since chai tea lattes are my all-time favorite Starbucks beverage, I'm partial to the spicy, vanilla scents!

Vests are hitting stores now!!  I saw this adorable vest for Xavier in the store window the other day and I also saw this one for myself!  How cute would we look to both go out in our matching tops?!

Happy Friday!  We are excited about have friends & family over for the weekend!

Hump Day Randoms

The week is more than half over, YEA!  Here are some activities Xavier's been up to the past couple weeks.

His "Mean Mug" face.  Along with sticking out his tongue (no clue where he learned that *blushing*), this is a new favorite.

These chubby cheeks are just so pinchable!

Oooh, new toy?!

Such a boy.

I'm already planning for the weekend.  We are having some friends over for game night and appetizers on Friday.  I'm so excited because with Xavier getting used to a new nap routine and all of us getting sick, we haven't had people over in a while.  I'm planning to make some over-the-top, over-sized potato skins, stay tuned! :)   I also want to try this recipe for Cilantro Avocado Deviled Eggs, along with some other perfect game night appetizers!  

Weekend Happenings

Fall weather is here and the house is completely decorated for fall (with the exception of pumpkins)!  Halloween costumes have been purchased for the whole family.  I'm excited for our little family of three theme!  And Xavier now owns a festive pair of glow-in-the-dark pajamas, thanks to Carter's.

His all-time favorite thing to do lately is to wake up in the morning, make no sounds (so we won't disrupt him), throw the pacifier across the room (usually we hear it hit something), and jump on the bed.  It's the cutest thing to hear the mattress springs and no other noise :)

We took Xavier apple picking, but once we got there, he decided he'd rather take a nap instead.  It actually worked out better for us because apple picking can be quite messy.  While he snoozed, I picked up honey crisps (hoping these translate in to apple pie soon) from the little store and some gourds for decorating the table.

 Once we pulled out of the apple orchard, Xavier woke up (obviously).  We stopped at a mall and picked up White Bean & Basil hummus from Trader Joe's.  This stuff is the best hummus I've ever tasted.  Pair with some pita chips and you have a healthy snack!  #dropwhateveryouaredoingrightnowandgobuysome!

We let Xavier experience his very first flaming onion volcano!

He actually took the massive, hot flame jumping up before him really well.  Probably because he was drawn to watching the other table's flames as we walked in, he already knew what was coming, or he's just a badass.  And this kid rocks the charm when we take him to restaurants.  Here he is making friends with strangers.

Friday Favorites

Steve and I cancelled our cable a few weeks ago and you know what?  We don't miss it!  Since having Xavier, we've filled our free time with renting movies on Vevo, Redbox or finding football games on the Internet and shooting it to our TV with the Chromecast.  Plus, it's been so nice lately, we spend most evenings on the backporch.

Last night, we rented The Other Woman with Cameron Diaz.  It was funny and totally the type of movie I'd watch with my girlfriends, like total chick flick.  Think girls grouping together to ruin a player type guy's life!  There's also enough eye candy for the guys that it's a perfect date night movie too!

My list of favorites has a touch of a fall theme.  Let's get to it!

1.  BBW lemon pomegranate cream body wash.  Have you smelled this?  It's the perfect transition scent from summer to fall.

2.  Carmel Apple Spice from Starbucks.  It isn't coffee or tea, just steamed apple cider with cinnamon and whipped cream.  A fall festival in your mouth!  And, they are available all year!

3.  Essie nail polish in Big Spender (pictured above) - This is a cranberry color that's perfect for right now.  I am switching out my bright corals and pinks for deeper reds and browns.  This color is perfect for the in-between season months.

4.  Camo.  To keep in with the camo trend going on right now, I am digging this camo baseball tee.  And it's almost half price!  Xavier has this LL Bean camo lunch box and some camo shorts and pants.

5.  Rain boots.  I have my eye on these Hatley rain boots for Xavier.  They are such a cute rain boot for a little guy.  I also like these Hunter rain boots for the little ladies out there!  Also, if you have small feet (like size 7 or smaller) you just might be able to fit into the largest size of these.  They are half the price of the women's Hunter boots!

My hometown favorite, Cincinnati Bengals, start their season Sunday!  Who Dey?!

Bath Time is the Best Time

Glad to have this week in the books!  Our ice maker and dishwasher weren't working earlier this week and I felt like my life was going to end.  There were so many dishes that piled up it was ridiculous.  I don't know how moms pre-dishwasher era did it.  They didn't even have online shopping!  Anyway, our repairman couldn't come out to mid-week, but finally everything is back to normal!   We are still going to battle Xavier's bizarre nap schedule, just when Steve has a bunch of friends coming to town for the game!  But, we hired help to take Xavier out with us and then bring him back home for naps, so it shouldn't be that much of an inconvenience.

We always look forward to bath time with our little chunk.  Somehow, when he's in the infant tub he's outgrown, it makes it harder for him to climb out.  Bath time is so wonderful.  We have lots of tub toys, including these bath tub appliques.  He's old enough now to understand that when they get wet, he can stick them to the wall.

We get creative with bathtub fun.  For his birthday, he got this Little People bath toy.  I think Steve and I actually enjoy it more than him!  We'll sometimes turn the lights off, throw in some glowsticks (Yes, they can go in the tub!) and pretend we are having a rave.  We've even had a glow-in-the-dark Easter egg hunt (see pics on this post) because everything's better when it's glow-in-the-dark!  This winter, when it's miserable out, I plan to throw him a beach party in the tub, complete with beach balls, sunglasses, and Jimmy Buffet on the radio.

Here are some pics from our last bath tub session :)

Lately, he's become intrigued by where the water comes from.

Clean, happy baby!

Shark towel found here

When it's time to put on his pajamas, he has better ideas.  You can't blame the kid.  I almost want to get naked and join the fun.  Ha!

Happy September!

September marks the unofficial beginning of fall in my opinion!  I may have already put out the first of my fall decorations :P

Saturday was the Buckeye's first game WIN!  Yea!!  We showed our spirit a day early and went to daycare as a Buckeye Family in our Buckeye gear (Awww).  Football season is finally here!  And my hometown favorite, the Bengals, start their season next weekend.  Excitement!

Xavier has been in his new, big boy, room at daycare for 1 week now.  We now understand why there is such a thing as "transition week."  The teachers in his new room are all really nice, but it will take some time for them to know him and his cues for needing a nap or quiet time.  We will see how he adjusts, and if it doesn't work out, we will explore other options for his childcare.  We can't continue to have an exhausted baby, especially with cold and flu season around the corner!

He went from a room where there were 3 kids per teacher to a room where there are 6 kids per teacher.  He's independent and can play by himself now, which should make things better.  But this weekend, he slept 13 hours Friday night, 14 hours Saturday night with a nap right after he woke up, and 13 hours Sunday night.  Kid was wiped!  We are still working with the girls to get him on a good nap schedule with the new room's intensity.  He went to bed at 6:30 every night last week!  His usual bedtime is 7:30 or 8.  The new room is a lot bigger and the kids are already walking, so I'm sure playtime is more intense.

We took Xavier to his very first ball game on Labor Day.  He wore his baseball outfit, complete with his ball cap.  Steve scored us some killer seats behind home plate, it was dime-a-dog night, and even though we got there in the 8th inning (had to go around the nap schedule) the game went in to 12 innings.  It was the perfect night! Xavier got to try his first stadium dog.  He ate two of them and wanted a third.

The amount of fun I have with these two is just ridiculous!!

We took a wrong turn on our way out of the park and somehow ended up on the field.  Whoops!  Minor league ballpark security at its finest!  I mean, just anyone could streak naked out here!

After putting Xavier to bed, Steve and I rented the movie, Her.  It's set in the future and is about a guy who dates his operating system.  Very unique and makes you wonder about our future reliance on computers.  For a movie treat, we popped corn on the stovetop, using Coconut Oil.

We lined the pan with oil, warmed on medium heat, added 1 cup of Orville Redenbacher corn, and popped it while covered.  It's scary the first time you do it.  Watch out for the flying kernels!  It was the absolute best home popped corn we've ever eaten!!