4 needle pokes and 1 finger prick later...

...and you have a very unhappy little man!

I snapped this picture just after Seth received his 12 month immunizations. Poor little guy! Normally Clint holds him for the needle pokes because I can't bear that part of his doctor visit but since he was out of town, I had the honors. (Disclaimer: I did cuddle and love him for a bit before I took this picture of his suffering...I'm not that mean!)

But the doctor said he's doing just fine! His 12 month stats are below:

Height: 28.7 inches

Weight: 21 lbs 2.5 oz

Head: 45.3 cm

All around, Seth seems to be in the 20th percentile.

He's a little dude.

At 12 months, Seth...

• 
  
  walks well all over the house



• 
  
  is sleeping less than at 9 months old. Boo! (about 9-10 hours a night)



• 
  
  still takes 2 naps during the day but he is trying really hard to get rid of his afternoon nap



• 
  
  has 6 razor sharp teeth that he still tries to use on Mommy



• 
  
  climbs on EVERYTHING!!! (as you can see from the picture below) He even gets himself stuck on the chairs when they are pushed under the kitchen table because he still insists on climbing onto them.
  




• 
  

  never uses a binky!



• 
  

  loves toy cars



• 
  

  is now drinking cow's milk from a sippy cup



• 
  
  still has little interest in TV or kid movies



• 
  
  has discovered my eyelashes and tries to pull them out any chance he get!



• 
  
  has learned how to "high five"



• 
  
  still isn't saying any words...just baby jibberish



• 
  
  loves loves loves to cuddle with his soft "blankie"



• 
  
  insists on standing during his entire bath time in the tub



• 
  
  loves my cell phone



• 
  
  just started daycare

Speaking of daycare...can I just say, his first day was SO hard for me! I have been so lucky and blessed to have two fabulous babysitters this past year that have watched Seth at their homes while I visited my clients. Seth loved being at their homes and playing with their kiddos. But I wanted to start working longer blocks of time during the day and these two amazing babysitters were both pregnant and so I just felt it was time to put Seth in a traditional daycare.

I was looking forward to having two whole days to myself to work and visit clients and be productive. And then his first day came. I took him into his classroom where he immediately ran off to examine all the new toys he had never seen before and I easily slipped out without him noticing. And as I walked away, tears just started streaming down my face. I couldn't control them! I became so emotional and was fanning myself with my hands trying to get a grip on things. The two women at the front desk just smiled at me, told me it was a normal thing. Well I had a good cry over the phone with my mom on the way back to my house after that and felt better.

But I digress.

Seth is a busy little boy, constantly changing and so much fun...most of the time. (Not right now though because he is pulling on my legs and whining for my attention.) That's my cue to end this post!

Seth's 1st Birthday 06.14.2011

Clint and I survived the last 12 months...or maybe we should say Seth survived living with us for the last 12 months! I have literally been working on Seth's 1st birthday party for the last several weeks. It was quite stressful. I compiled a lot of video clips from Seth's 1st year and had a friend burn them onto a DVD and we had that playing in the background during the party. I also spent a lot of time getting his baby book and a 1st year photo album ready for display. And I put some cute FotoFly pictures out on tables for people to see as well. I probably went a little over the top...but that is just me! Here are some pictures from the event:

Thank goodness for sisters!

Kaylyn came over early to decorate the house while I prepped the food and decorated his cake. He loves Aunt Kaylyn!

Seth hanging out with Grandpa C

Kaylyn had added crepe paper to the ceiling fan above them and so the streamers were whirling around and Seth was quite entertained!

Seth = Ladies Man
He enjoyed all the attention from his grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends.


The BBQ feast!

Clint manned the grill while I kept things stocked inside. I was so distracted with this that I almost forgot to feed Seth. Almost. He finally got a nice tray full of hot dog, watermelon, pickles, and baked beans.

The dreaded birthday cake.

I don't know why I feel this way but for some reason I thought it would be extremely "un-motherly" of me to NOT make his first birthday cake. Maybe it is because my mom always made mine. I don't know. I stressed over the cake for weeks. I ordered these glove and sphere cake molds online and made about four practice cakes until I knew exactly how I should decorate it. Disclaimer: I am not a master cake maker. All I had to do was pour the cake batter into the glove and it shaped itself. I just had to decorate it. My only complaint with the decorating on this final attempt was that I didn't lighten up the chocolate frosting enough. I wish those chocolate licorice lacings were more visible.
But we gave Seth the baseball on top as his first birthday cake. I also got a little chocolate "smash cake" from Macey's for him to dive into as well...so he would be extra messy. He loved his cake!

Singing Happy Birthday to Seth!

Baseball cake demolished and in baby mouth....CHECK!

Smash cake destroyed and all over baby, high chair, floor, walls....CHECK!

Seth smiling due to the affects of a sugar high....CHECK!

He loved his cake! Thanks Briana for filming while I passed out cake!

Clint hosed Seth down after his sugar-fest (the remnants of chocolate cake still reside in the bathtub. I haven't had time to clean it yet! Don't judge me.) After he was cleaned up we opened presents. You can see he preferred the bow more than the actual gift.

He got so many great presents:

• A toy race car (above) from my parents. He played with it for hours the following day!



• A gift card from his cousin Thayne to pick out his own toy from Toys R Us.



• An inchworm from Jon and Briana and baby Matthew that glides across the floor...seriously the coolest thing ever!



• Some race cars from his cousins Colette, Kylie, Camille, and Heidi.



• A caterpillar bug with the alphabet letters on each leg. I mainly got this present for myself because I think it is hiliarious that if you try to spell out a swear word on the legs, the caterpillar giggles! I know, I'm mature.



• And a little bike trailer/buggy that will attach to Clint's bike from Clint's parents. We are especially excited for this gift so we can go on some family bike rides.
  
  So HAPPY 1ST BIRTHDAY! to our amazing little Seth-monster!

This first year was quite the adventure and we are looking forward to some great new adventures!

Seth's 12 month pictures!

Last week we went to Foto Fly to have Seth's 12 month pictures taken. I was a little worried that there wouldn't be many cute pictures of him because the photographer would get him to smile and then the flash would go off and Seth's face would instantly change to one of surprise. But there ended up being SO many cute ones to choose from! I couldn't put them all on here but I picked out my very favorites:

I love how the photographer took some pictures that weren't directly centered or were angled a little askew. That is my kind of contemporary style!

I love this picture because Seth looks like my own little Casper the Friendly Ghost but also because it captured one of Seth's typical curious expressions.

Hello, adorable!!!! I love how his blue eyes pop in this picture!

My little heartbreaker!

I think this is my favorite picture of Seth because he is so happy when he is climbing and standing on things...like chairs and tables...you know, places that he shouldn't be standing. He sort of gets this mischeivious grin on his face like he's getting away with something he knows his mommy doesn't want him to be doing.

Veggie Update!

I mentioned earlier that I was starting a vegetable garden for the first time EVER! Seth, Clint, and I go visit the garden a few times a week to see how things are looking. So I thought I would show everyone my vegetable progress.

Here is a green bell pepper looking pretty good!

Some cilantro seeds sprouted about a week ago.

And some precious little green onions made an appearance as well!
I know...contain the excitement, everyone!

Clint and I have also taken a strong interest in the yard this year. I have wanted to have a nice yard every year but just never seem to get around to it. There are still lots of things we would like to do but, alas, time, money, and experience seemed to slow our efforts this year. Hopefully next year will be better.

A close up of my front porch garden...which I scour every evening for bugs and wilted petunia petals. :)

Congratulations Kaylyn!

Yes. I know.

Most of you may not believe that I have a sibling 11 years younger than me. Crazy! I like it though because she brings out mine and Clint's "inner teenager" with her stories and sense of fashion. Kaylyn just graduated from high school! It's crazy that she is already that old! Because that means I am even OLDER!!! But I love her so much and am proud of her for getting through this important milestone!

Good job Kaylyn!