Juicy

Love these pictures of Anderson enjoying a juicy slice of watermelon....YUM!

Thank You Nana & Grumpy!

It meant SO much to us that you came all the way down for my first birthday. Mommy and Daddy said next year we'll have my party in Cape Cod! :) See you soon!

Love,

Anderson

Anderson's First Birthday!

On August 21st Anderson turned one! When it came time to start thinking about "themes" I thought long and hard about what Anderson truly loves. The list came down to Baby Einstein. Anderson LOVES Baby Einstein. All I have to do is mutter the words and his face lights up. He loves the little puppets in all the videos and I love that they gave me a 20 minute break each afternoon when it's time to make dinner! Here are a few highlights from the party.

The Invite

Family

Anderson loves his new car. Thank you Grandad and Ella!

Time for cake!

He did not love his birthday hat :(

But loved his cupcake!

Tyler gave Anderson the cutest pony!!

I love this picture

It would not have been a party without Anderson's favorite song...

I Gotta Feeling!

YAY for turning "The BIG One"!

A letter for Anderson

Dear Anderson,

I can not believe a year has flown by. Yesterday you had your first birthday. You are now one year old! I still remember the day you were born like it was yesterday. Your daddy was able to hold you first while I kissed your soft cheek so thankful that you had entered the world a big and healthy baby. As soon as I saw you I knew my world was forever changed and that you were always meant to be ours.

For the past year I have been by your side watching you grow every day. You have gotten so big and each day I watch as you take in the world around you and learn something new.

At one year old you are the most curious little boy. You are a speed crawler and love to explore everything. You open drawers and cabinets and love when we visit new places. You stand up on your own now and can let go and practice your balance. Today I watched as you took two steps while standing so I know you'll be walking so soon!

You are so loving. You give the best kisses and love to snuggle with your blanky. You got a new one from your birthday from "Ella" and I think it was one of your favorite gifts. You love smiling at strangers when we are shopping or out to eat and love waving hello and saying "bye".

You love baths. Tubby time is still one of your favorite things to do and you love splashing in the pool. You are definitely a water baby.

I am so thankful that I am your mom. Every day is a blessing. Thank you for every smile, giggle, and cuddle.I love you my sweet one year old!

Love,

Mommy

Out to Eat

Now that Anderson is a big boy and sits in a high chair going out to eat is a lot more fun! He has his own little placemat and likes to try whatever we're eating and just look around and say hi to everyone around us. Here are a few pictures that we've taken lately when we've gone out.

Eating at Shake Shack in Madison Square Park

Our favorite weekend go to restaurant: Pita Grill

Friday night at Zak's...Anderson loves being a part of date night :)

Andy and Eva

Anderson loves Eva. Whenever we go to Vesta's house for a play date or go to the park he gets so excited to see her. It doesn't matter that she's 2 years older. They love playing together. She is also the only person who calls him Andy and it seems to fit when she says it. Here are a few pictures taken this past week.

Visiting Connor

Last Saturday we set out on a trip to Connecticut to visit Kristin, Mike, and Connor. We hadn't seen them since they came to Hoboken in December so we were due for a visit. We left around 10:00 and got to Glastonbury at 12:00. It was a busy day full of catching up, watching Connor and Anderson play in the yard and pool, and eating lots of yummy food. Kristin's sister and mom also came over and we had so much fun just spending the day outdoors.

I couldn't believe how big Connor had gotten and it was so strange to think that he was only 3 months old when I started watching him. He is now 2 1/2 years old! Crazy to think how fast time flies.

Learning to share :)

I love this picture...they look like brothers!

Anderson loved Kristin!

On the way home...exhausted!

Overall it was a wonderful day and we can't wait to see them again when the visit NYC at the end of August.

No Good, Very Bad Day

Anderson is not even one year old yet and we've already had a visit to the emergency room. Luckily it was not serious but it was still a scary experience and a very long day. It started on Friday at 9 in the morning when I was eating my breakfast. Anderson wanted some of my english muffin so he was standing on the coffee table trying to get it. All of a sudden he slipped and hit his mouth on the table. It wasn't a bad fall but in the process he bit his tongue really bad. Of course, I did not know this at the time. All I saw was blood coming out of his mouth and I was scared! I had no idea whether he had hit his tooth, gums, or what had happened. I immediately started to rinse his mouth under the faucet which is hard to do when a baby is sobbing uncontrollably. I finally got a look in his mouth and saw that it was his tongue. Since you can't apply pressure I just left it alone and gave him some ice and pretty soon he was exhausted, the bleeding had stopped, and I put him down for a nap.

When I went to check on him about 2 hours later his mouth was covered in blood. I immediately started to panic because I knew that it probably should have stopped by now. I called the pediatrician's office and they told me to come in and they'd take a look. I barely packed the diaper bag since the office is 3 blocks away and didn't think we'd be gone long. After waiting for 15 minutes we finally saw a doctor. She saw that it was still bleeding and said, "I need to send you to the ER since this happened several hours ago". That was the LAST thing I wanted to hear! I started to tear up and immediately called Dan to tell him what she had said. I knew I was in for a long day and Anderson was already fussy and tired from everyone trying to look in his mouth.

Long story short we ended up doing a lot more waiting and finally getting seen by a doctor at the hospital. Luckily Hoboken's hospital is pretty quiet and we didn't have to wait too long. It's more of a process of checking in, getting information, etc. Basically by the time we saw the doctor the bleeding had stopped and a clot had formed. He said, "Leave it alone. The tongue heals fast and all we need to do is just keep an eye on it, give him cold things, and it should be fine." I was very frustrated that the pediatrician had thought it was necessary for us to go to the hospital but what can you do? Always better to be safe than sorry when it comes to your baby.

Overall, it was an exhausting day. The tongue still has the visible cut and bite marks on it but is healing fast. Hopefully this is the last trip we'll ever have to take to the emergency room!

Dan left work right away when I told him where we were headed. Anderson was so tired, hungry, and fussy at this point and was happy to see his daddy. Even though you can't tell by this picture. :)