Reflections on one year

OK, so I'm more than a little over due in updating and there is a lot to report.

Shortly after my last post in July, we took our first road trip as a family. Definitely a different tone than our trips of old. A lot more stopping and down time in the hotel. We drove up to Kansas City. Yes, it was to go to a MLS game, but no DC wasn't playing. The trip up was miserable, but that had nothing to do with Andrew. He was great. Everything else went wrong though. Once we got to KC, we had a great time. The game was fun, even though Andrew was pretty tired by the end. The next day we went to the KC zoo. We only got to see a part of it since it was really hot that weekend and we were all a little tired. We went to the Australian exhibit, since he can't see that at our local zoo. The exhibit was really cool and you got to walk right up to the kangaroos. Those and the aviary were a big hit with the little guy. In the end we even bought Drew a stuffed kangaroo. Hoppy Kangaroo is currently a favorite comfort toy.

After the trip to KC, we only had a few weeks to get ready for a little boy to turn one. Its been almost two months since he turned one and I'm still not ready. To prepare himself for being one, Andrew stopped nursing. I had been nursing him at night before bed and he decided that he was done with that shortly after returning from KC. Unlike, in May when we forced him to take a bottle, we were both ready this time and the transition went smoothly.

Then came the birthday. Both sets of Grandparents came to visit for about a week (staggered slightly). We punctuated the weekend with a trip to the zoo, two cakes (Aunt Wanda made the cool catepillar cake and I made a chocolate one), two days of presents, portraits, hand imprints, and a trip to the children's museum. I don't think exhausted is the right word for how I felt at the end. There was also a checkup with his regular doctor. Weighing in at 16lbs 3oz, standing 28 inches tall, we have a healthy young boy. He's not a baby anymore.

We also made another trip up to Cook Children's to see the specialist in August. skot and I were all ready to do battle with the doctor about a feeding tube and it was as if now that he's one who cares. He basically said that since he's reached the magic one, there are more things we can do with his diet to try and get him to grow (read - gain more weight). The nutritionist was very disappointed to discover that his favorite foods were fruits and beans. Apparently, we are supposed to put him on the McDonald's diet. We've been trying to get him to eat more fatty foods, but most days the vast majority of what he eats is fruit. He does love his milk though. He'll drink that all day and never complain. Some days its the only way I know he's gotten any protein at all.

This is getting really long, so I will try and post about September tomorrow. Stay tuned for teething and other exciting developments.

liz