Peyton turns 1!

Yesterday, we drove up to see Peyton (Taft's girlfriend). She moved to the Savannah area over the winter and we have not seen her since. Peyton and Taft a week apart in age and we knew that Taft wanted to go to her birthday party.
They played together and had lunch together. Taft was not sure about wearing the girl theme birthday hat though. He did seem to like the cake icing.
Taft was tired by the end of the visit and so was Peyton. When she went down for her nap we started the drive home so that Taft would also take a nap. We look forward to seeing them again at Taft's party next week.

Peyton

Taft checking out Peyton's toys

Baby Play Date

Yesterday, we had our first Mommy and Me baby play date. It was all the little ones under 2. We were still having our "flood" and I didn't know how many people would really want to get out in the rain with the babies. Still we had 2 moms with their little ones come over for lunch and play time. Taft seemed to enjoy them being here. He and Noah "talked" to each other a lot and seemed to have a good conversation. Taft laughed and smiled the whole time. They were really cute. Then Rory arrived and the boys loved her. All three played well together and had a great time. Next time we plan on swimming if it stops raining long enough.

Lunch with the pets

Taft loves to eat these days and one of his favorite things is the little meat sticks from Gerber. He loves every flavor and can eat 4 or 5 at a meal in addition to his other foods. He really likes to have one in each hand. I noticed yesterday that he likes to peel them first. I'm not sure why since he goes back and eats the peeling anyway.

His highchair is almost always at the kitchen island. The cats like to sit there and watch him eat hoping that he will hand them something. Shelby also likes to sit under the chair and eat anything that is dropped. I guess I should be thankful for Shelby. She does the meal cleanup. I knew that she was good for something. =)

Taft trying to offer Sallie a snack.

Sallie checking the tray for any leftovers.

Poor Shelby waiting on food to hit the floor.

US Weekly

I have to admit that I love the tabloid, gossip magazines, and shows. Can't get enough of them. Each week, the mail lady is kind enough to drop off our copy of US Weekly (due to getting a subscription last year for my birthday). I had left it in the chair where I sit to watch tv and give Taft his bottles. The next thing I know I hear paper ripping. Taft was taking a look at all the week's gossip and I don't think that he agreed with it. I guess this is what he had to say about the Jon and Kate affair saga and the crazy Madonna outfit choices.

What's going on in May....

I have to admit that I have been too busy to remember to blog. Taft and I have had a few things going on and when he goes to bed at night I have been working on a few projects that need to get done.

We have been busier in our Mommy and Me and we are still walking each day with out neighbor and her little girl. We have had to change the walking schedule to evenings since it is already very hot mid morning for the kids to be out.

We have also had the UPS man here a lot with fun boxes of plates, napkins, decorations, and treats for Taft's two birthday parties. Of course I choose two different themes to increase the fun for me.

This would be a photo of what is currently our breakfast table. It has been turned into scrapbook central. I am determined to finish Taft's one year scrapbooks before his birthday. It is also the reason that we are planning on adding a scrapbook/craft room to the house in July.

TAFT UPDATE:

Taft loves to stand and is cruising around the furniture and the play yard with ease. He loves to just stand there and watch tv or whatever is going on at the moment. He is getting very good at taking things off the coffee table and changing the channel on the tv or just turning it on and off. I think that he likes the noise that it makes. He is also dancing to some music and standing alone at times. He hasn't made his first solo steps.

He pays attention to everything and as soon as he hears the garage door open he gets as close to the edge of the room as possible and starts to repeat "da da". He knows who is about to come in that door.

He is also saying "hey" and "mama" at times. He also knows the meaning of "no" and doesn't like it at all.

He has also widen his food choices. He is still loving the meat sticks and ravioli. He is also liking bread, dumplings, peas and carrots, diced peaches, iced oatmeal cookies, vanilla cookies, ice cream, watermelon, cantaloupe, and today he had french toast at Cracker Barrel. His new favorite juice is the BeechNut Chiquita Banana juice with yogurt. When he wakes up the middle of the night with teething he doesn't always take a Similac bottle but he will take the banana juice.
We spent most of Mother's Day here at home. Shane went to Cracker Barrel and picked up breakfast. We swam and he watched Taft while I got some scrapbooking done. Later we went out to dinner and did a little shopping. It was a great day here at home.

I plan to do a little better this month with the blogging. I did finally get my new camera lens and the more pictures that I take, the more I remember to blog them.

People Food

I have finally realized that the reason Taft is not to interested in people food is that I am always afraid to give it to him. I know that it is just from being a first time mom and not wanting to give him anything that will hurt him. Of course, if I don't give it to him he will never learn to eat it.

With this in mind, I went to the grocery store yesterday and picked him up some Gerber Pasta Pick Ups. I got them ready for him for lunch today. The pieces were still bigger than anything that he is used to so I cut them in half. He loved them! He sat there and never missed his mouth. He was stuffing them in. Today we are going to buy more of them and get some of the little meat sticks too. I think that he has been more ready than Mommy has to grow up.

11 Months Old

Taft turned 11 months old on Saturday and he stayed with Shane all day while I got to go to a scrapbooking crop and work on his baby book. Shane took him to a few jobs sites and out and about around town. Then they came to pick me up for dinner and back to the house we went.

Taft is wanting to stand all the time. He even watches tv while standing and moving to the music. It almost seems that if he is not standing or in the stroller that he is asleep. I know that it will not be long before he can walk. He loves the walker and has figured out how to open the cabinets and get into them. We are fixing that this week.

He is starting to want to eat table food a little more. He likes dumplings, biscuits, peas and carrots, beans, anything mushy, and popcorn that I have bitten off the husk for him. He likes about anything that we have in our cups as long as he can drink it from our cup. A little messy. He also likes ice cream and never turns it down. His favorites are still the Stage 3 Broccoli, Carrots, and Cheese, and his Little Crunchies. Also any fruit.

I have bought a lot of different sippy cups and still haven't found one that he likes. Mostly he just throws it in the floor. He is getting where he will sit in my lap and hold his bottle for a little bit. Not for long though. He would rather have it done for him. He is a little spoiled you know. =)

We are getting excited about his birthday and all the fun that comes with it.

Walker

05/01/09

Taft and I had a little shopping to do today and we were out of the house for awhile. When we returned home there was a big box with Elmo on it sitting at the front door. That darn UPS man had struck again! He always comes when we leave the house. (Maybe we should leave more often)

In the Elmo box was a walker for the sweet little Taft. Gran had sent it to him for his Florida birthday party gift. She sent it early so that he could go ahead and get started on the walking practice. Shane was not at home so I put it together for him and Taft got right in. He only took a few minutes to figure out what it was for and off he went. I had to put him on the carpet so I could take a few pictures without him moving away.

I had to take them with my phone since I broke the lens to my big, good, camera, and I haven't fixed the flash on my little Cool Pics. I'm glad that almost everything they make now seems to have a camera in it!

Thanks Gran! I know that Taft will enjoy getting around the kitchen and other tiles rooms while we chase him to keep him out of trouble.