21 Months- New Years Eve

Sorry for the delay. Thought this was good news and just had to post it.

Klaus has been evaluated and has serious speech delays and high markers for autism. He went from waaay way ahead to reverting several months, losing not only his words but also his babas and dadas and mamas. We have had a hard time getting government programmes to cooperate. While we totally love him however he is and personally have no hangups whatsoever (Klaus is Klaus is Klaus) and feel he is very high functioning if he isn't neurotypical, we do want to have a speech therapist come and see if we can do anything differently to help him along with his communicating.

Anyway, today he was saying "Hi Kitty" and with some prompting he actually said it on video! Thats a great new years eve present for me :)




For the past few months, the USB cables on my computer have been malfunctioning, hence the lack of photos. I'm going to try again here soon after fiddling with them, if that doesnt go well we will go to a target or something after we get taxes back and get our pics from the camera put on a CD. I will try also to get a collage done for this year by his birthday. Sorry for being such a rotten updater, hope you enjoy the video.

Train Park Pictures :)

The only one with a haircut!
























This is our lovebird Basil :)

Some pictures!

Pardon the mess! Here is the baked apple plate I made with the hard crack caramel I showed Jim how to make. He was amazed!


Sneaky Klaus being cute after dismembering our Dyson.


We stripped some diapers I bought- look at all the detergent that was stuck in them! (The bubbles on the bottom of the washer)


I guess I fed him something gross.


Sorry, little man...


The first time I made papperkash :)


It was good!

17 Months

Doing the milestones has been more of a chore than a pleasure so I'm done. I guess thats the end of an era, when you no longer pour over your baby's milestones! I haven't touched a parenting book of any sort in a year.

Whats new... well he has regressed a bit on the speech. Okay, he doesn't say much at all anymore. I feel like this will go by way of the walking- one day, he will simply start babbling and making sense and we will all be amazed for a week then forget and move on to the next Big Thing. I'm not worried about him at all, I just feel blessed to have such a healthy, happy awesome baby. He has been such a bundle of fun lately.

I'll admit here to being Crappy Mama and say Klaus watches more TV than we do. I've been trying to cut down on it the last few weeks, which makes him cranky of course. Its like a stupid drug. If it was actually teaching him anything relevant I would have less of an issue with it, but it's not. I mean the signing video yeah but you know he doesn't want to watch that he wants to watch Spongebob.

Mommy fail.

I am headed back to work this week, Klaus will stay with Jim hopefully (who is recovering fine from his surgery, more of that in my non-Klaus blog). I am excited, especially since one of my best friends works there now, plus being surrounded by likeminded mamas.. you know. It's all good for me.

We are talking about transitioning Klaus into a different bed for the beginning of the night. I'm ready for some time sleeping in a comfortable position but I don't think either of us are ready to give up cosleeping entirely. I know Jim and I are going to need to do some sort of weekend trip or something over a weekend, and have friends who we are comfortable leaving Klaus with, but I do want it to be easier on the sitters themselves so we are preparing.

Other than that, more of the same. Still working on those pictures! And will for the rest of my life LOL

A non-Klaus post...Cookie!

Cookie is coming back home to Arizona to live out his days with Jim and I.
We bought Cookie as a rescue from a store that was closing. I had Cricket, a parrotlet that I was very attached to. He was our baby. Cookie was not handfed and was very skittish when we got him.He lived with me in my room when I lived with Dana... I couldn't make up my mind whether I wanted to rehome him or keep him. When Jim and I decided to move to Arizona, we figured we would make the decision there.

Cookie named himself. We took too long I guess. Organic animal crackers (or rather, the legs of them LOL thas a biiiiig cookie for a little bird) were his favorite treat and he learned to ask for them by name.

Simon, Oreo, Cookie, and Cricket were crammed into my orange Beetle on the trip down. Cricket unfortunately died of unknown causes (we were mid drive and had to send his body back to my mom to be buried on the farm) and I was depressed over it for a long while when we first moved here. It still upsets me to see blue parrotlets but you know, Klaus doesnt let me think about it too much ;) I resented Cookie for being the surviving bird and gave up on having him bond to me, so he bonded to Jim. I still thought of him as a rescue bird. Jim spent a lot of time in the Bird Room with her. We had a few more rescues and kept it small, then when I got pregnant I placed them in their forever homes. Cookie took a while longer. I felt he would be a great breeding bird and I found a local green cheek conure breeder and gave him to her. We would get a baby of his that was handfed and would be more pet-ish after my baby was older.

I guess I didn't realize how much we would miss him. (We thought he was female until the breeder had him DNA sexed) Jim sulked over it for a very long time, kept pictures and videos of him on his phone, etc. but I was able to emotionally distance myself because I had a baby to look forward to and thought I may never want another bird again after the death of Cricket.

I guess the feathered part of you never dies. A few weeks ago (or actually June LOL) we were talking about getting a bird. The breeder had told us she sold Cookie to someone else and we were upset and didn't know where he was. I decided that one of the birds Id like to have "for life" would be a green cheek and likely an Amazon. We were just in the bird store the other day talking about Cookie and how much we missed a little green cheek in our lives.

Earlier today I was browsing websites looking at different Amazons, and I saw a little thumbnail picture that lept out at me. Just a tiny thumbnail. Like I said, Cookie was a VERY good looking bird, some green cheeks have little substance and look spooked all the time whereas Cookie had perfect bulk and a nice flat planed head. The description listed the bird as "Cookie- breeder male" and went on to say he talked and danced. I interrupted what Jim was saying to read him the ad. I didn't think it was him at first, just coincidence.. but that picture.

We brought up the website and compared pictures of Cookie to Cookie. We called the current owner and left a message asking for them to call us back, that we thought her Cookie was our Cookie. She was located in Indiana. I sent a message to the breeder I gave Cookie to, asking ifhe had been sold in IN. We went back to staring at the picture, when all of a sudden we heard the most familiar little wolf whistle (my wolf whistle is funny because I CAN'T do it, so I would just say Wheet Whewww!) followed by an even more familiar and eerie voice saying "Cookie?"

"That's him!" We both said. The woman in the video even asked Cookie to dance, and he did the little bob Jim taught him to do. We called her back immediately and said that it was definitely him, and a list of things he could say. She kept saying "Whatcha doin?" in the video and I know exactly what she wanted him to say- WhatchaDOIN? was his most popular phrase.


She called us back about an hour later and we spent a long time on the phone recounting Cookie stories. I remembered things I had long forgotten and parts of me that had lay dormant for so long. The guilt I have been living with for rehoming him melted away into relief and happiness and we both had tears in our eyes when he squawked a familiar squawk in the background. She told us how wonderful and polite he is and how she could tell he was so loved. I honestly thought he would be better off as a breeding bird and would improve green cheeks with the first breeder- always within reach and we hoped to be in a place to give him a wonderful retirement home someday. We definitely wanted a babyCookie. But her stories and the video- man. Knowing he's remembered that for this long and still steps up and is a gentleman even after being a breeder (He has many babies, a few with Jeanie in incubators now and a few grown that were born back here, see pamperedpeeps.com and the bird "Lindbergh" is Cookie's son!) just makes me melt for him and Jim. I truly think this was the way things were supposed to be. The people the babies live with/will live with needed them.. and now Cookie will come home to us to live out his days.

Jim is out of his skin with joy.

Because all of our bird supplies were donated, we are watching craigslist for a nice cage and will send a deposit to Jeanie to hold him and take care of his munchies and such. She is happy to keep him for us- I think she loves him, too-I have already packed away a few bird toys for the inevitable purchase of our permabirds and as Fate would have it they are all conure sized.

To spike your memories, here are some snippets from entries involving Cookie (its from most recent to least recent)


May 8 2006-Cookie, our conure, ever so sweetly asked us if we wanted a cookie the other day. She hasnt said that in quite a while, I was proud of her.

Mar 16, 2006 Then I spent some time pinching the waxy coverings to her new feathers and scraping them off, relieving pressure and scratching those itchy places. SHe enjoyed it, she was very relaxed. Then when I was rearranging her cage for some new toys I got her, she freaked and I ended up having to grab her off the floor before she got under the loveseat. Sigh

Mar 19, 2006

Cookie, world. World, Cookie. Yes, Cookie is a very normal name and I know you are used to these great names I come up with. I'll have you know that Cookie told me that that was what she wanted to be called, and I dont know about you, but I wasnt going to argue with a statement like that. So her name is Cookie. Please ignore the molt and what looks like a bare cage.

We really are a very nice bird, yes we are. Dr. Kersting says we are perfect and free from flaw, mommy has a great eye for nice birds, yes she does.

Can we say, "Jim needs to go to work so we can buy a DSLR?" Yes, we can...

Oh boy, a bath!

Cookie has recently slowed with her exclamations about Cricket.

She doesnt make conure noises anymore. Her calls are wolf whistles and "Whatcha doin"s. She says

Whatcha doin?

What ARE you doing?

Whatareyoudoing?

Whatareyoudoing.

What ARE you doing.

And yes, they all sound different. Sometimes she gets overly excited and sSCREAMS part of the sentence, and she can also whisper. She squawks and says random things, she'll even poop if I talk about it enough. She listens to me and absolutely loves our morning talks when I sit in there and jabber on and explain whatever it is Im doing at the time, I really do love her. Deep down I do. But I miss Cricket.

(Cricket died of unknown causes on the drive from Missouri to Arizona. He was my baby, I had dreamed of having a parrotlet for a very long time and he was my first child. He died in my hands and after this I felt very unattached to Cookie, who preferred Jim anyhow and didn't seem to mind).

Jan 2 '06
OK today we settled on an apartment in Glendale. Anyone from Phoenix? Is that a crappy neighborhood?
Im so nervous about picking an apartment without seeing it. But we have to reserve it. Its the last 2 bedroom they have, and I just cant get stuck with Cricket and Cookie screaming at each other in a one bedroom (our birds) or have Simon (our kitten) eat them in the livingroom. But we are one step closer to our new home-area. :)

Oct 19, 2005
We have a new bird. I got a Green Cheeked Conure and I think she's a she. Cricket, Bird, and I are all going to the vet tomorrow at 2ish to make sure she's healthy and he's still healthy. I think she is an 04 model and she wont step-up.

Pictures :)

Getting round to doing the last 5 mos o pictures... sorry bout that... they are all really great full size, but this blog template wont let them go any larger. I'll see if I can fix that.


March/April St. Louis Zoo








Not sure if this is an excited face or a pissed one. LOL






With Jim's dad :)





and Jims mum :)




And back home... some... month. LOL



Peh gender norms, who needs em?



I'll do more later.

Things are going pretty well. My flare is nearly over, I'm feeling pretty close to normal. Klaus has been good, his teeth bug the crap out of him... I think he could pretty much stay this age forever and I would be okay with it. He's happy being interactive with us, and happy playing on his own for a while. Oh he just konked a noggin on the wall, better go.

16 Months

Mastered Skills (most kids can do)
• Turns the pages of a book
• Has temper tantrums when frustrated
• Becomes attached to a soft toy or other object (we have, admittedly, discouraged this.)

Emerging Skills (half of kids can do)
• Discovers the joy of climbing
• Stacks three blocks
• Uses spoon or fork
• Learns the correct way to use common objects (e.g., the telephone)

Advanced Skills (a few kids can do)
• Takes off one piece of clothing by himself
• Gets finicky about food
• Switches from two naps to one


Sorry about the links, I'm lazy now.

The thing is, life with a toddler is a bit busier than that with an immobile infant. Klaus is still physically behind but not mentally at all. So no worries here.

He no longer likes to be carried of course, wants to run everywhere.. I find myself with baby fever now and again but its not bad enough to actually want another newborn! A girlfriend of mine is trying to conceive and I am hoping it happens quickly for her, both for her sanity and my baby fever. I love newborns.. when I can hand them back!

Klaus has been miserable with teeth, which is normal of course, but frustrating... he gets a week of break where he is his normal happy self then back to a month of screaming and chomping his hands and drooling everywhere. Poor thing. Poor us, too, we have become rather patient parents but sometimes he really tries us. We know it's not purposeful (most of the time) but it's upsetting nonetheless. Ahhh life with a toddler.

I know I've slacked off on the pictures. I'm sorry. They will happen when they happen. I have been very tired and ill off and on, so I'm doing my best. Will be sure to share new embarrassing bath pictures and photos of the new train table and such. Tired now, bedtime for everyone, thanks for reading.

15 Months

A wee bit late, I know.

Mastered Skills (most kids can do)
• Plays with ball
• Uses three words regularly
• Walks backward

Emerging Skills (half of kids can do)
• Scribbles with a crayon
• Runs
• Adopts "no" as his favorite word (he uses NO but isnt repeating it like crazy yet.. thats ok with me lol)

Advanced Skills (a few kids can do)
• "Helps" around the house
• Puts his fingers to his mouth and says "shhh" (not quite there yet, but trying)

Ha! Typin' baby!

Klaus hacks my computer and posts a blog update. LOL uh oh!

Quick family update

I've had a few "congrats!" messages on facebook, and some emails and texts LOL the positive pregnancy test was an April Fool's joke. We are not planning on having another baby in a very long while, if at all.

Jim and I were trying to plan a renewal of vows for January, but all of my bridesmaids simultaneously got pregnant (and so did my midwife!) and are all due at the end of December and early January. I should stop trying to plan weddings. That would be the fifth we have had to cancel. This is why we went to the Justice of the Peace. LOL just in case you were wondering!

I am slowly starting to work on updating the snapfish account so that you all can get pictures from my pregnancy, the birth, and up to now. Thank you Grampa Mitch for making copies of the birthday DVD. When I'm finished with this project, I intend on making a new DVD with some new music I found that I love, and make it much better. It will be on youtube, the blog for downloading, and I will also burn a copy or two (it takes me a few hours so I hate doing it!) and send them out. So for those of you on my side who are waiting for a copy, I have not forgotten you, I just want to make sure I don't miss any important photos. We will be including pur phone videos from around the time Klaus was born as well, birthday pictures, pics from the St. Louis birthday party, and more goodies.

I have been extremely busy with a project to help local women who are hitting hard times. We are basically running a soup kitchen with condensed soup and/or cheap spaghetti on the menu. We know how hard it is when you lose a job and we are giving back to the people in our lives who need a little help. I am starting a website on local resources, meetups, and kids playdates for stay at home moms as well.. so I'm sure you can tell I have been busy! Klaus and I are also hoping to return to work at the diaper store. The economy has taken its toll on them, too, so we are waiting patiently and are not in a rush. I'd love to go back but I completely understand that they have to be careful with cash. I'm also advertising lactation help and doula services at a very cheap rate.

We are all doing fine. Klaus is healthy and smart and gorgeous :) but we all know that right? Okay I am going to go work on the pictures. I will let you all know when they're done.

Also, please leave notes if you are reading. Even if its just your name. A lot of people read this blog and it's starting to freak me out that I dont know who you are ;) Thanks in advance!

14 Months

Mastered Skills (most kids can do)
• Eats with fingers
• Empties containers of contents
• Imitates others

Emerging Skills (half of kids can do)
• Toddles well
• Initiates games
• Points to one body part when asked
• Responds to instructions (e.g., "give me a kiss")

Advanced Skills (a few kids can do)
• Uses a spoon or fork
• Matches lids with appropriate containers
• Pushes and pulls toys while walking




Just a quickie :)

Happy Mama Day! Videos :)

Learning signs, day TWO :) Smart boy!

Pretty close there, Ma! He's been saying gram for the past few days.


And his Eddie Izzard impression (The music is just there to mask my dumb laugh in the background LOL), just for my mama!

Signs, Signs, Everywhere Signs!

I've noticed lately that Klaus has gotten so much better at imitating us, especially hand movements. We sat down and watched the Baby Einstein's "First Signs" film, and he picked "Milk" up right away. In just a few days, we've also caught him signing "Mommy", "More", "Eat", and "Oh my God are these really my parents!?" (which is indicated by facepalm)

I asked him last night if he wanted "More" to "Eat" and he nodded and signed "Milk". Forget the rice mom, bring on the milk!

He is finally getting over his sinus crap. I felt so bad for him, with the hacking and the coughing at the eating of copious amounts of snot before we could get to him with a tissue... I've never seen a 13 month old blow his nose before, but I'll be damned if Klaus didn't learn to blow on cue. Blessings in disguise.

If you have a few coins to spare, please visit Matt Logelin's blog entry here to donate to the widowed parent brain.. er, I mean the Liz Logelin Foundation. Matt is a great read and a brave single daddy to his gorgeous (Klaus-clone) daughter Madeline. Take a gander at the rest of his blog if you'd like to have a "fuckin' laugh" (you'll understand what I mean if you do, ha). Thanks all :)

Aww! Big boy!!!

13 Months

Just a few pics from previous months!

Mastered Skills (Most Children can Do)
• Uses two words skillfully (e.g., "hi" and "bye")
• Bends over and picks up an object

Emerging Skills (1/2 of Children can Do)
• Enjoys gazing at his reflection
• Holds out arm or leg to help you dress him

Advanced Skills (A Few Children can Do)
• Combines words and gestures to make needs known
• Rolls a ball back and forth

will update more later

Aw, Shawn... such a party pooper!

Jim put me up to it, I swear.

Last night (uh, tonight) has been rather rough. I have been up all night. Just when I was about to drift off the first time, Klaus woke up screaming and crying, I turned on the light to check him over... flipped the poor kid this way and that, no ouchies that I could see. He was still screaming and biting me when I tried to nurse him. Finally after five minutes or so I rocked him to sleep but it was just heartbreaking to hear him whimper at his dreams with his long eyelashes clumped together with tears. I guess he had a nightmare... makes you wonder what one year olds dream about!

We leave for St. Louis tomorrow so somehow I have to stay awake, do all the laundry, and pack our two suitcases (and hope I can find one for Klaus too, he needs his own now) all while keeping an eye on a very whiny needy Klaus. Our washing machine has been broken for two days (well really the whole time we've lived here but they seem to try to pass the blame on EVERYTHING and then no apologies when we're right every time...) and the laundry has really piled up, plus I have to make the decision on how many diapers to bring and whether or not to use disposables at some point and argh- no wonder I'm awake!

Well, I hope Klaus gets some rest anyway.

Yesterday I introduced him to goat's milk and he really likes it! For breakfast he had a "shotglass" of goats milk, some greek yogurt, a pancake, and some egg. For lunch he had milk since he was late on his nap, and for dinner he had mostly rice. I need to run out and get him some fruit, I got him some dried bananas for the plane ride(s) so I dont want to use those up.

Blah blah blah, I'm awful talkative at 6AM.

Uh oh...

...whats this!?

12 Months

I know this is a wee bit late, but things were crazy after K's birthday bash and we have some more crazy coming up so I thought I'd zip on and post this!

Klaus can do everything in RED

Mastered Skills (most kids can do)
• Imitates others' activities (He makes this HILARIOUS face, I have a video, I'll work on getting it up when I can)
Edit: Here it is!

• Indicates wants with gestures (Points)

Emerging Skills (half of kids can do)
• Takes a few steps (this is a joke, the kid runs)
• Says one word besides "mama" and "dada" (Also says "Nana", "Kitty", "Hey You", there's more I'm forgetting...)

Advanced Skills (a few kids can do)
• Walks alone (We rarely carry him, he wants to follow us everywhere and if we pick him up he dives for the floor)
• Scribbles with a crayon (I'll have to post pictures of his first scribblings! I got him markers for his birthday, he has a hard time "pressing" crayons)
• Says two words besides "mama" and "dada" (See above)

And a video.. he loves this. Ignore the mess, it was a seaweed snack that got a bit out of control. LOL

And yes, I am MUCH more tan than I was in the last post. Tanning has been helping my fibromyalgia by leaps and bounds, some days I feel downright normal, and not being plaster white anymore is a nice side effect ;) I did get an official diagnosis, I'm working with one of the few doctors in the field who is actually doing research, and I'm relieved to have a treatment plan (as is Klaus, for nearly a month I couldn't get out of bed at all, some days are still rough since then but I can get out and about with him most days now). Whew!

Klaus has some snots and trots thanks to his recent allergy attack (he looks just like Jim, but seems to have a lot of my genetics in there too LOL) and I'm hoping he's better before our Missouri trip. He just woke up from a 4 hour nap, totally unusual for him. He normally takes 15 minute naps. He's been asking to nurse a lot, poor baby, his food schedule is messed up.. instead of three or four square meals he wants to graze and nurse instead.

Speaking of which, I am so happy to have made it the first year. Jim is proud of me, too. I had so many freak complications with nursing, plus having a chronic pain issue, that my goals went from self-weaning to two years to one year to nine months to day-by-day. I settled on one year after things settled down and became semi-bearable, but knew that wouldn't be likely when he was only eating one solid meal with us just a month ago. His solids intake has ramped up quite a bit, and I'm glad to be able to go out and about without having to worry about nursing every two hours. I'm setting my eyes on the World Health Organization's Two-Year minimum, and as long as he continues to be gentle (he's mostly stopped the awful pinching and scratching and twisting) and eat well-rounded meals, I don't see what would stop us. I'm on pain management that is nursing-friendly and can put off anything else that might have an effect on him. On that front, I am happy.. but I'm learning that even the minimum of two years is starkly abnormal to what is socially acceptable in the U.S. and I'm starting to get double takes and pointing fingers and shaking heads even if I am nursing very discreetly. Sometimes I wish I had little business cards stating the benefits of nursing past infancy.. and great hand-eye coordination so I could throw them at people. I know I'm doing what is best for Klaus but I still have feelings you know!

On a different note.. LOL.. Jim has been taking Klaus to the park 2-3 times a week for a few hours and they both seem to have just a great time. I bought an Action Baby Carrier this weekend in hopes that I could finally find a carrier that didn't aggravate my shoulder injury or the fibro and so far I like it.. we were so pleased that it fit Jim. He wore Klaus in it at the Mini Horse Show and they both seemed very happy with it. We are going to strap Klaus on his back in a few minutes so Jim can finish his chores (My mom and I have been doing his chores for a few weeks LOL so he owes me a couple loads of laundry darnit!) but I'm waiting for them to stop dancing around the apartment, all I can hear is Jim doot-doot-dooting to music and Klaus giggling. I guess I should go find them!

Happy Birthday, Baby!

We can NOT believe this little man of ours is one year old. I will do his milestones later, as I only have internet for a short time.

We wish everyone could be here, but for those who aren't, I've put together a montage of the last year set to music on a DVD so you can watch it on TV, and I'll put the birthday videos and pics on there too before I send them.

Anyway the festivities will soon be underway. We can't believe he is a year old already. He already has a bunch of presents... an Escalade push toy, a big stuffed rocking horse, some clothes, and who knows what else! Yay!

Okay I'm going to go cry now.

Videos!

I think this link works now. If not, I'll redo them tomorrow. Someone note me let me know if they're up or down!!! You can view them in high quality directly at YouTube.




Klaus has a new love affair with the television. Its so adorable.


Homemade applesauce in December.



Munching an ice creamless cone this month.


The pool in February. Moo.

11 Months

I could just faint, you know.
Klaus can do everything in red!

Mastered Skills (most kids can do)
• Says "mama" and "dada" to the correct parent
• Plays patty-cake and peek-a-boo (if by this you mean "lets me play with him and then laughs", yes.)
• Stands alone for a couple of seconds
• Cruises

Emerging Skills (half of kids can do)
• Understands "no" and simple instructions (Not going to mark this off, not really sure how to know if he understands these?)
• Puts objects into a container

Advanced Skills (a few kids can do)
• Says one word besides "mama" and "dada" (he says a few words, just not sure if he knows it.)
• Stoops from standing position (Hard!)

And of course the walking. He's closer really to the 12 month milestones. But most kids I know seem to be ahead... so no bragging there :)

Have pics from the VW show, just been lazy with the pictures because changing editing software with the new computer has been rough. I haven't used photoshop since my graphics design class in high school.

Klaus Walking.

Because some of you just can't believe it (like us)...

Video from Jim!

Here's a video from Jim, who is at the park with Klaus and apparently having a good time!

New layout for the blog, was just bored, this way I can post bigger pictures.

Klaus was really sweet all day for me. I was up really early cleaning and journal-ing. I started a handwritten journal for Klaus to document his itty bitty years, I actually tried to do this while I was pregnant but kept losing the journals. I spent many hours on this one, writing and drawing to catch it up to present day. I summed up my pregnancy, the birth, the ICU stays all the way up until today at ten and a half months (!!!) as well as I could in 40 pages or so. My hand hurts, but I feel good that I'm finally starting it. It's something I can do when I'm tired or when Jim has his Klausie time (they are LOVING this park, the one I took the pictures at... it has a tiny little train that rides on a track all around it, two duck ponds, batting cages, a little carnival area thats open on weekends! Its really cool and nice to have nearby). I still have my dad's journals and they are probably my most prized material posession. I worry that I will put all this effort into it and Grown Up Klaus will think it's cheesy or something! I guess I will just have to work on raising a gracious young man who appreciates such things!

Anyhow, he was really sweet. He went to bed way too early after going to the pool yesterday. It was only a short while but it was colder than we thought it would be. His little teeth were chattering but he was laughing and splashing! We only stayed in a few minutes so that we didn't tease him with the pool, but it was enough to expend a lot of his energy I think. He woke up in the middle of the night smiling and cooing at me so I got up with him. He sat quietly and played with his blocks and ripped up some paper, generally leaving me to my chores and crafting. He was up (and happy to be awake, too) for a while before finally finishing off the evening's rest. He just kind of woke up in a good mood and stayed like that. I dread when the next tooth starts coming in. I am just head over heels for Sweet Lovey Klaus and feel so bad when he turns into Shrieking Not Happy Klaus.

I can't believe he is going to be a year old soon. I bought a couple of decorations and such for the party. My mom is flying out and we are going to make his cake ourselves. We don't know what we're making yet, I can't decide between a semi healthy vegetable (carrot, zucchini) cake or just a decent organic yellow cake. I think I will make a mini cake for him, and cupcakes for everyone else, and probably get a fruit or veggie tray, whatever looks good. I'm sure people will come and go as they can, most of them are juggling kids, but it will be so nice to be able to share the day with friends. We have come so far since he was born. So much has happened, we have grown so much. I see pictures of him as a newborn and I can barely remember him being so small. I remember being terrified of someone dropping him, and not letting anybody hold him LOL and now he is so rough and tumble! Its hard to believe he was ever so small and fragile.

I love him so much. Hope they're having a good time! Back to making filet mignon (Woohoo sale!) and doing the laundry. :)

One of those Melting Moments.

I asked Klaus if he'd like to try my pumkin bread. He shook his head (not to say "no" but to avoid my hand mind you) so I said "I'm setting it right here if you want it." I set it down away from his other food.

A moment ago he didn't realize I was watching. He slowly, deliberately picked up the tiny piece with his pincer grasp, looked at it from every angle, and LICKED IT. He made a "humm" noise and ate the rest of it very carefully, tasting it and admiring it. It was too sweet to watch him analyze this tiny piece of food.

Pictures from the park!

Sorry for photobucket, just wanted to get some up here :) Enjoy.

"My mom is weirder than your mom" shirt. LOL

Classic Klaus.

A couple of first steps caught on film :)

So many good ones.. so little time!