Happy New Year!

Wow, what a whirlwind of a year. Our family has had so many changes and has evolved so much over the past year.

So how does one ring in the new year with a toddler? We hit the country club for dinner with Pop, Uncle Alex, Aunt Jess & Uncle Tom. Owen looked adorable, he wore a button down shirt and a tie. How cute? What a little preppy boy I'm creating. He did really well at a very long meal for him. We had a perfect table in the corner and Owen was able to push his cars along and then settled into his seat for some dinner. It's very rare that I order an appetizer, salad and a meal, but I was hungry, and Owen was very cooperative. He loved his french fries, the kid just loves ketchup! And he also had some pizza (a new favorite food), green beans, fruit salad, crackers, pretzels, and just about anything I could put on his tray. He's been doing much better with eating, he's really getting the hang of it. We're now nearly a month without any baby food, and it's frustrating at times, but he's really getting the hang of it. He's still having a tough time with meat, chicken, etc. He just doesn't like the texture, but we're still working on it. Who would think that Daddy would have a little boy who doesn't like meat? I'm sure he'll come around eventually.

After dinner, we came home and played for a while, Owen didn't get to bed until nearly 10pm. Then our fabulous neighbors decided to rock our house with fireworks, and how our perspective has changed over the past year. Instead of sitting on the front porch and enjoying it, we were very upset and the dog was barking, but fortunately Owen slept right through. We made it to midnight and beyond, staying up till nearly 2... not our smartest decision.

This morning, Owen started the new year with a glass of milk. Real cow's milk, no more formula. The doctor gave us the OK last week at his check up to start milk, but at $30 a case for formula we wanted to deplete our supplies. So today was the day. I started getting very worried about the switch yesterday as the deadline loomed closer. His pal Sofia hasn't taken to milk, she spits it out and hates it. But Owen didn't have any aversion to it. In fact he just gulped it down and made a YMMM sound. I even refilled his cup! So we're only one meal in but so far so good. Hopefully this will continue.

Owen has also really taken an interest in getting mobile vertically. Over the past few days he's increased his interest and desire to walk, and has improved his standing too. He's doing better walking between mommy and daddy and really seems to be getting the hang of it. Today he walked back and forth and back and forth using the walker that Grandma gave him for his birthday. He was nearly running and was very proud of himself, it was so cute!

Today, Mommy is going to visit Granny and then we're going to have New Year's dinner at Aunt Jess and Uncle Tom's. Hmmm have they baby proofed? Owen will surely point out what valuables they forgot to move...

Happy New Year!