The cutest picture....

I took the cutest picture today. So I'm not a professional by any means, but with some good editing and a better camera, this would have been an award-winning shot!

Anthony loves his daddy so much! I've honestly never seen a baby that was SO clingy to his father. He clings to me, too, but a lot of the time he prefers his daddy!

Our first Chuck E. Cheese Adventure!

The rainy day changed our plans today. Originally we intended to go swimming and check out the Festival of the Arts. So we had to get creative (and slightly desperate)...and went to Chuck E. Cheese! It's not at all like I remembered it as a kid. When you're a kid it's like a magical land. When you're a parent its a germ infested, highly annoying, instant migraine. But you gotta do it for the kids, right?! Anthony wasn't really too amused. I figured he was still a little too young for it, but they have a toddler area now. So we played some games, won some tickets, couldn't redeem them because there was only one operating ticket machine, so I just gave the tickets to a little boy. Check out the pics....

MOMMA!!!

Anthony is FINALLY SAYING MOMMA!!!! Woo hoo! I mean, he's said it before a couple of times, but it was almost a fluke. The last month or so he's been repeating "dada dada dada" over and over and it's been totally depressing for me. But the last 48 hours he's been calling me by name! I wanted to wait a day or so to make sure it wasn't just a fluke...but it's definitely not! And the clapping thing is getting WAY better. He's actually making noise now when he claps. I'm SO HAPPY!

BIRTHDAY PARTY PLANNING IN PROGRESS......

Well, I've officially begun the planning (yes...I said PLANNING) of Anthony's 1st birthday party. I'm still an event planner at heart, so don't make fun of me for planning a 1 year old's party 2 months ahead of time! Anthony's birthday happens to fall on a Saturday, so it will be on 8/23/08. I feel like I'm a bit of a bad mom (you'll notice I have these little guilt trips quite frequently!) because Anthony doesn't have more friends! Haha. That sounds weird I'm sure. But with the situation as it stands now, he's never around other kids! So if you're reading this, and you have a little one who would like to be my little one's friend....we need to arrange a playdate! Haha. I'm already trying to fix him up!

But anyhow, party, 8/23/08 probably at my mom's house....backyardigans themed. That's what we've got so far!

Clapping and laughing and screaming...OH MY!

Anthony is officially clapping...with his hands TOGETHER! He's been doing it for months when he's excited but missing. It was really cute, but it's even better now that he knows the real way to clap! And just this morning he was playing with his toys and Joe and I were talking, I laughed about something and Anthony laughed too! Like he knew what we were saying! I've seen other older babies do this, but it's the first time he's done it.

He's on the VERY VERY edge of being able to stand without support. He'll do it, but then he realizes he isn't holding on to anything and falls a split second later. He's really cruising around from furniture to furniture so it's only a matter of time. People keep telling me not to push it, but honestly, he's the fastest crawler in the world, so it can't get too much worse! I'll let you know if I completely regret saying that soon!

I'm not very good at this blogging thing.....

Friends of mine with blogs for their little ones (Christie, Kat, Ashley, and Meg) all post blogs almost daily. I'm not as good...so you'll have to survive with weekly updates. SORRY :)

Anyhow, Anthony is developing quite the little temper. All the baby books and websites I read say that you can't really begin to shape a child's behavior until their around 2 years old...and I think that's a TOTAL CROCK! I'm just wondering what I need to do to make him STOP with his tantrums. I like to think that Joe and I are really good parents and are making the right parenting decisions. I always use manners with Anthony. I always say "say please" and "say thank you" when I'm handing him anything. We let him know that he can't have everything he wants. We defintiely SPOIL him just like any parent would of their first child, but we draw the line. But if we take something away from him, he pitches an absolute fit. I mean, like he kicks his legs, turns bright red, and often times tries to bite me! Ahhh do I have a demon child? It's obvious that he knows what he's doing and knows that this behavior is unacceptable because he only does it to me, and sometimes Joe, but never in front of anyone else or in public. Anyone have any insight for me.

The ONE thing that we do that we know we're doing wrong is putting him to sleep every night. Anthony has a very strict bedtime routine that we've been upholding since he was born so he would know that bedtime means bedtime. We bathe him around 7:30, then we put him in a clean diaper and PJs after putting his bedtime lotion on. We brush his teeth-now that he has them. Usually stories are reserved for naptime....I like to sing to him at night. So I'll make his bedtime bottle, feed him. And curl him up in a blanket and sing to him and walk/rock him to sleep. I KNOW THIS IS BAD. I just can't break the habit! We've tried leaving him in his crib to fall asleep a few times, and he just screams and screams. I know eventually he will fall asleep, but the longest I waited was around 35 minutes and I couldn't do it anymore. I just can't listen to my baby cry. HELP!

So okay this post makes Anthony sound like a little terror. He's not at all, just those couple of things. He also does the funniest stuff imaginable. Like he gives kisses, but not a real kiss, just his version of a kiss. He'll open his mouth as wide as he can and just maul me repeatedly. It's so super cute, and I always say "aww, thank you!" and he'll do it again! He also has this hearty CHUCKLE of a laugh that he's got. He laughs all the time. And when Spongebob or the Backyardigans comes on TV he'll drop whatever he's doing and dance (just bobs his head up and down).

We've recently been giving him some real people food. He's still on formula and baby food, but lately he's been especially interested in what everyone else is eating. He loves mashed up baked beans, soft pretzles, chicken, pasta, and apparently Joe has given him steak. He's really good about just taking one piece at a time and not picking up another piece until he's done with his first. He's of course been well-versed in ICE CREAM. We've been giving him little tastes of ice cream since he was 3 months old. And spare me the lectures on cow's milk under age one. I'm talking LITTLE tastes here, nothing that will affect him. He doesn't like jell-o or cottage cheese. But other than that he'll eat just about everything.

Fun with old friends....

Anthony got to meet some new friends, and I got to visit with some old ones yesterday! My childhood friends Krista, Kat, and Betsy all happened to be in grand ol' Erie PA at once so we all got together with our little ones. Strange that we all had babies around the same time!!! Anthony is 10 months old, Diella is 12 months, Ava is 14 months, and I believe Joey is 24 months. CRAZINESS. Anyhow, this is the first time we were all together in SEVEN YEARS! We got together at my place, then headed to Sarah's and the Peninsula to take some pictures!

First post, it's a doozie...

Well I did it....I broke down and did the baby blogging thing. Some may think it's a little....uhm....CHEESY, but those people clearly aren't moms. Us moms need a way to brag about our children without cramming it down everyone's throats. This way, you can hear ALL about how my son is the coolest on the planet, but only if you WANT to. It's optional. There. See how that works?

Anyways, I thought I'd start with a general summary of the past 9 1/2 months. Anthony was born in Pensacola Florida last August 23rd. It was a relatively easy pregnancy (although I really detested every second of it...I know, I'm a horrible person. But I was fat, hot, and uncomfortable!), a HORRIFIC labor and delivery, and a blissful 9 1/2 months since then.

Anthony has more personality than any baby of his age I've ever encountered. He looks just like his daddy, only like me when he's sleeping. If anyone is baby talking him, he raises his eyebrow at you and looks at you like you're crazy. He honestly likes to be treated like an adult and acts embarassed by me when I give him repetitive kisses. He's got a combination of my SHORT temper, and daddy's explosive one. That's a bad combination! He's learning at an amazing pace at this point. He was an early crawler, and early babbler, and early wave-er, and early on just about everything else too. He's not walking QUITE yet, but he's close. He gets made at me when I leave him with the sitter or any family to go to work. I'll hand him over and then try to kiss him, and he turns away and ignores me. He's going to be a TOTAL momma's boy, and that thrills me.

Having a baby has changed my life in ways I never even thought of before. Instead of just jumping in the car to run to the store I now have to pack a full diaper bag complete with bottles and diapers for a week--JUST IN CASE (that's a term I didn't start using until I became a mom) I broke down and was deserted in the middle of nowhere somehow between my house and the store a mile away. I grab my purse, the diaper bag, Anthony, his bink (my term for pacifier), and an emergency bink for when he throws his first one on the floor at the grocery store. I then strap Anthony into his car seat, buckle my seat belt, realize that I forgot my cell phone in the house and need to go in to get it JUST IN CASE. I have a weird phobia about leaving Anthony in the car, even for 30 seconds in the driveway right outside the house in a perfectly safe neighborhood. So of course at that point, I unbuckle him and take him in with me. When I finally get to the store, I forget what I went there for in the first place, so I end up buying a whole cart full of groceries. Anyways, not even sure where I was going with that little rant. But life is different!

I do not believe another baby is going to be in the works for a very long time. I just can't imagine loving another child like I do Anthony. I want Anthony to have everything he needs, and a lot of the things that he wants...including TONS of attention from his mom and dad. I feel as though every child deserves that. I feel like I don't get enough time with Anthony as it is, I would never want to lessen that time or divide it between two children. If I was a stay at home mom, I know I would feel differently.

So that's about the gist of things as they stand now. Anthony, Joe, and I are currently house/apartment hunting, so I'm sure there's MANY more adventures to come :)