I'm bad at updating!

I'm really bad at updating this thing- as I've been reminded by Natalie! Sorry! Haha. Well Anthony is learning at a very rapid pace now! He's been singing, saying animal names and sounds, he knows the color green, he answers every question with "yea", he helps clean up, and he helps me get him dressed. We really haven't been working as hard on things lately, but he's still learning, almost seems like he's learning more now that I stopped pushing him to learn! The other night we were reading one of his books, and on the back there's about 20 different small pictures of animals. So when we're done reading I point at each one and say it's name. I do it pretty quickly too. Then after I've gone through them all twice, I ask him where certain animals are. I said, "Anthony, where's the mouse?"--without him ever learning "mouse" before. He pointed at the mouse. Fabulous!

We also took him to his check up appointment at the Dr, and they are concerned about his size. Apparently he's very short and light for his age. I reminded the doc that both Joe and I are very small, as are our families. The doctor wants to get bloodwork done for Thyroid Disorder. Grrrreat. I'm praying that it's nothing and the doctor is just being cautious, but at the same time my mom's side of the family has a history of thyroid problems. Grr. But my MOM instinct tells me that all is well.

So no pics today...check them out on my myspace page if you'd like---I just don't have the patience to upload them to two different pages! www.myspace.com/karamarieb

And he rocked Halloween....

Anthony, not to brag, was the absolute best-looking spiderman I've ever seen. We went to nanna Joanie's for trick or treating, but he didn't really do that. Just sat on her front porch, helped pass out candy, and helped destroy the nicely raked pile of leaves!

Moving UP in the world :)

Check out these pictures...they're funny. You have to view them in sequence to really get the full laugh.

Step 1: Anthony figures out how to loosen the baby gate from the wall.



Step 2: Anthony discovers he can fit under the baby gate



Step 3: Anthony overcomes yet another obstacle


Step 4: Anthony is off to conquer the baby-proofed cabinet in the upstairs bathroom!






He's getting so smart! He's definitely a problem solver! Yesterday he came in the kitchen and took a hand towell and ran away with it into the livingroom. A few minutes later Joe said "ANTHONY! Give me back my towell!" And there went Anthony into the kitchen to hand Joe the towell. Joe said "How'd you even know what I said?!". It's funny how he can understand us now. Like starting last week when we would ask him a question, he'd said "yea" no matter what we asked him. But the last few days he'd only say "yea" if he meant it. So when we ask him if he wants to go take a nap he shakes his head no, but right after that we'll ask him if he wants a snack and he'll say "yea". So he knows what's up!

Last weekend we went to the fall festival at the Peak with Joe's family. We hit up the brunch first and Anthony ate SO much. We filled his plate with fruits and ham and cornbread, and he even had some mango cheesecake for dessert. He devoured everything we put on his plate. Good little eater!




Another cute thing, if I run up the stairs to grab something he'll sit at the bottom of the stairs and call me REALLY LOUDLY! "MAMMA! MAMMA! MAMMA!" until I come down, then he says "HI!".

He's also playing peek-a-boo by himself. He'll cover his face up with a blanket or pillow, or anything he can find, and say "PEEK" when he pops out. Really cute. It just seems like all of these advances are happening all at once!

He's getting SO BIG!

My little Anthony is appearing more and more like a "KID" instead of a baby. It's amazing and saddening at the same time! I miss my little baby, but it's so unreal to watch him grow and learn. I've never experienced anything like it. He's all of a sudden climbing into things, which is a little scary! The other day we found him in the cupboard underneath the bathroom sink (it's our downstairs bathroom, so we keep the cupboards completely empty for him to play in now). There's pictures below of that. SO funny. And when there's a TV show on where there's a clapping audience, he claps along. Like "Deal or No Deal" was on today and the guy won $175,000, so the audience went mad and Anthony dropped what he was doing to clap too. Funny. He's starting to get a little better with other kids too. We have a daycare at the gym, and the first time I had him in there he panicked because he's not used to being around more than a couple kids at a time. But he's gone in 4 times now and was a perfect angel and didn't cry at all. So that's a bit of a relief. Ok, and now I've noticed that 5 people that I know that were pregnant around the same time I was are now pregnant again. So I'm beginning to discover that the little tiny thought in my head that I wish Anthony was still a baby must be a pretty common feeling....because everyone's starting their second round already!! I'm going to try to stay strong because for us, now is just not the time to have another baby! Maybe in 5 years.....

It's been a while....

Well, sorry folks! It's been a while since I've posted anything. Life has been really hectic the last few weeks. We moved into our new place (yay!), and the gym finally opened...Joe is working there as a trainer now too! But Anthony is just trucking along! He's officially walking all over the place now. I just think it's the cutest thing that I can hold his hand and walk through the store and things now! It's amazing. He's getting so big, and so much of a personality. There's just so many different milestones that I couldn't possibly write about them all. Sooo, here's just a bunch of pictures!

Brushing His Teeth....



He loves playing in our bed :)



Bath-time!

Anthony's 1ST BIRTHDAY!

It's been a year. CRAZY! We had lots of fun at Anthony's party. Thanks to all of those who made it...and we missed those of you who couldn't. Check out the pictures! More on my myspace page www.myspace.com/karamarieb

One year ago tomorrow....

A year ago tomorrow marks the most scary, most exciting, most painful, and most special day of my life. I had a rough pregnancy, and a really, REALLY rough labor. But the outcome was the love of my life. I can't even remember what my life was like before Anthony...but I know that now it has a whole lot more meaning. He's an amazing little boy. So full of energy, and love, and excitement, and a bad temper :) But I wouldn't have created him any other way. He's perfect. I cannot believe it's been a year already! If this first year has flown by, I know the rest of them will come and go and he'll been in high school before I know it. I'm so blessed so have such a fascinating little man in my life and I thank God for him every single day!