Year of Changes

As Buddy on Dinosaur Train says "I have a hypothesis" that this year will a year of change. There is so much going on with our family already and I can't wait to see how we will end up come December. My car is finally getting fixed and I will probably be getting a new one after it is done, we are moving out of our house, we are trying for baby #2 and, and some other things that I won't mention until I know more.

Thank god after 30 days the insurance company finally settled their issues and will be covering the costs of the damage from my car that Brian crashed during the snow storm. Long story short, they showed that I was covered on my old X5 instead of my new one, even though we have been paying the premiums. I want a 3rd row jump seat and so we are looking at cars that will provide more room. Maybe a Tahoe, X5, Volvo, Mazda, or something like that.

We are excited to finally move after 7.5 years in our house and are planning on renting our house since it is such a renter's market right now. We could sell it but the profitability per month of renting wins over breaking even on a sale. We put an offer on a house on the Plateau that is a short sale so it will take forever to find out if we got it but in the meantime we are looking in Woodinville, Redmond, Sammamish, and Kirkland.

And last but not least it is that time to get rolling on baby #2. I don't want to kids too far apart and so we are at the point of just seeing what happens.

Oh this year will be busy and exciting and can't wait to see how everything ends up.

18 Months

Johnny has hit that 18 month milestone and I still cannot believe it is here. Life flies by so fast these days and I am really trying to take in as much as I can. I race home after work instead of going to the gym so that I can get the sweetest hug and smile from my boy and play with him and find out what I missed during the day while at work. I call his special hug that he gives me his "I love you hug" because he lays his head on my right shoulder and give me a squeeze and I think that is his way of telling me that he missed me. I live for it.

At this point he is still at home with my mom during the day and is really trying to talk more and more. He recently went to visit his Nonni, Papa and Anthony and had a great time hanging with them while we went to Napa. He was so good for his Nonni and slept great with her and also ate really well. Too bad when he came home he stopped eating good. These days it is hard to get 3 good meals out of him.

What Johnny is like at 18 months

• Ready for his 3rd haircut. Still has a great head of blond hair with his little cowlick. Looks like it might be getting some brown strands as well now.
• Sleeps in our bed and pretty much sleeps through the night
• Stopped his obsession with muffins and cheese and doesn't really like to eat breakfast anymore
• Favorite foods are pasta, pears, satsumas, raisins, yogurt
• Still takes about 3 milk bottles a day
• Favorite toys are balls, bats, golf club, cars, drum sticks and books
• Favorite TV show is Dinosaur Train and he yells "all aboard" when it comes on
• Loves to play with older kids and lets little girls carry him around
• Obsessed with playing with his toothbrushes and trying to brush his teeth which he sort of does on his own
• Love the park, outdoors, driving my car in the garage and anything with a steering wheel
• Hating his diaper changed again
• Struggling to get words out but you can hear him say Mama, Dada, bird, ball, hot,
• Can show you his eyes, belly button, ears, teeth, tongue and nose which he ends up picking
• Loves pointing to birds, airplanes, cars, balls, and really anything so you tell him what he is pointing at

All around a very happy and easy going guy who I can't get enough of these days.

17 months

It sure has been awhile since I have blogged but what I can say with busy work and life schedule I just haven't had the time. I have a couple of minutes in between meetings today and feel like giving an update on Johnny. It is nice to look back and see where he was at during different months of his life so I think I will capture this more often. If not for historical purposes. :) I am the worst at updating his baby book.

Our little boy is sure not a baby anymore. Something changes after they turn 1 and they just become this toddler and not sure if you want them to stay a little baby or to turn into that little boy that you have dreamed of and actually have a conversation with them. That is where we are at and one thing is for sure you don't stop smiling at every little thing they do and steal kisses and squeezes like you did when they were infants.

Johnny is now 17 months and is as active as ever. The dinners out are very quick and have to be in what I call a "kid-friendly" place. No more Italianissimo unless we can sit outside and so we end up at like mexican resturants, Red Robin, or make sure to have multiple hands on deck like we did in Maui to let him run around outside while we enjoy our food. Johnny runs everywhere now that he is super stable on his feet and is getting into sports now. He kicks balls, is learning to throw a ball and can set up and hit his golf ball off of his toddler tee. He is also taking very much interest in what we do and his toys are pretty much old news to him. My child is going to probably be in the service industry someday as his favorite things to do in life are pretend to drive, vaccum, play in the dishwasher and hang outside and water the lawn or anything for that matter outside.

Here is a list of what he is like now.

• Favorite foods- Cheese, muffins, pasta (meat sauce), grapes, yogurt, bananas, M&Ms
• Loves his baths but also likes the shower
• Loves his puppies and tries to ride them like a horse and lay on them (Sonny puts up with it more than Duffy)
• Cutting 4 molars right now which will be a total of 12 teeth
• Had two haircuts and still has blond hair
• Horrible sleeper (starts in his bed and ends up in ours and wakes up at least 2 times a night for water and binky)
• Still a big snuggler and has turned into a mama's boy
• Talk a lot but it doesn't make any sense. When he wants something he points to it and says "mahn" like mine
• Obsessed with the M&M candy jar and getting one
• Pretty good little dancer

Johnny and his bestie Brody Logsdon at Suncadia

First Haircut

Johnny's beautiful blond hair has been falling into his eyes and so we decided that it was finally time to get his haircut at 14 months.  At first we thought that we would just trim it up a little but after seeing it shape up more we ended up with the little boy perfect hair but.  It reminded me of Lo's son, Tristan, who always has the perfect little fade.  Unfortunately Johnny didn't do nearly as well as we thought and had a breakdown at the Max & Bella salon at Country Village.  We did end up with a complete haircut and little souvenir to take with us but what a hell of a 30 minutes we had with our little guy.  Here is a visual recap.

Starting out in the airplane chair

Happy for now

Getting the full meal deal

Starting to breakdown

Full breakdown and out of the chair so dad has to hold him

but it doesn't work so Grandma has to try and get him excited about the other car chair

He thinks about it for a minute

Is happy for a minute

Then decides he is over it and wants out

So we finally finish the haircut on the floor and what does Johnny want?  The broom of course...his favorite thing.

And here is the final result.  He looks 1 one older. 

1st Birthday

For Johnny's 1st birthday party we decided to invite all of our friends since Brian's parents and Johnny's cousin Anthony were in town. There were 17 kids and I think around 30 adults and it was a busy day. My mom and Letty baked 60 cupcakes and Johnny didn't seem to enthused with his when it came time to eat his but in the end he turned out to love it and is liking sweets a little too much these days. There are a ton of photos but I thought I would just capture a couple of ones that captured the day.

Look who is one!

Where has the time gone? I can't believe Johnny is already one years old. It makes me sad to think that it went by so fast but I am also happy to see him grow up to be such a good little boy. At the one year mark he is just about ready to take off walking on his own and probably will be in another month or so. For now he has to hold your hand when on his feet. He is the fastest crawler around and gets into everything and anything so the house is definetely more baby proofed now. Johnny is still the happiest kid on the block and we feel so fortunate to have such a great and healthy little boy.

Stats-

-Probably 23lbs

-Bright blue eyes

-Blond hair

-7 teeth (4 on top, 3 on bottom)

-crawling (crab crawling to be exact)

-Walking and started on his 1st birthday

-Wakes up once at nigh but is finally in crib all night

-Fav foods- cheese, yogurt, strawberries, puffs, toast, raisans

-Fav toys- books, keys, old macdonald tractor, shoes, anything stick like that he can bang

-Likes- dogs, singing, cell phones, being held and played with, reading, blankies, straws, bathtime, spoons

-Dislikes- Being walked away from, bland veggies, nap time alone, being licked in the face by dogs

Johnny will smile on command when you say cheese and so now his smile has gotten totally "cheesy". Looks at those teeth and how he scrunches his nose.

Bouncing Around

Being back at work I am so busy but I managed to get some good footage of Johnny playing around in his bumbo seat. It really helped him because now at 7 1/2 months he can sit up on his own. This kid can't get enough of his toys these days and can play forever which is kinda nice. Still a happy and easy baby aside for the sleep issues. He won't sleep in his crib right now and wakes up every 2-3 hours at night. So I am pretty much sleep deprived but will soon be trying sleep training if it doesn't get better. It makes it all worth it to see J's happy little face though and I guess I can't complain when everything else is so easy with him. Just can't get enough of this little pumpkin.