My Son Smells Like a Daiquiri (Virgin).

I was all snuggled up with Easton yesterday begging for a smooch.  He finally relented and leaned in for an open-mouth, slobbery, breathy kiss.  He smelled like a tropical daiquiri.  Like he was from the islands.

My son could live on fruit.  Seriously.  He practically does.  He went from eating everything you put in front of him to turning his tiny nose up at everything (almost) except fruit.  Any fruit will do.  Blueberries, strawberries, pineapple, grapes, oranges, avocado (is that a fruit?) and especially, bananas. Sure, he'll throw down some cheese and crackers and toast here and there.  Even the occasional bowl of cereal or oatmeal (with fruit), but typically, he is holding out for nature's candy.  FRUIT.

I've made some headway lately.  Last week, he actually had several bites of pork roast, potatoes and carrots.  The next day, I was so excited to give him it again for lunch and of course, he gagged and threw it on the floor.  A few days later, he ate spaghetti.  I packed a ton of spinach in that sauce along with tomatoes and onions and other spices and was pumped he actually ate it!  The next day, forget about it.

Since then, it's been nothing but cheese toast, eggs, whole grain pancakes (with bananas), the random piece of bacon, cheerios and FRUIT.  Everyone says it's a phase and they will come and go, but honestly, two months seems like a very long phase in baby/toddler time.  The child smells like a tropical fruit daiquiri!

Adding to this problem is that because of the fruit, he poops a ton.  We erroneously gave him way too many clementines two weeks ago and ended up with a raging case of diaper rash.  We're still fighting that.  He's only had bland fruits since then because I don't want his tiny hiney to be rashy and I'm pretty sure that's what is doing it!

We brush his little teeth with water every day and he drinks a lot of water so I'm not worried about his teeth.  Our friend is a dentist and he said it's fine as long as we're keeping his mouth clean.  My only problem now is that I worry he will be deficient in some vitamins he needs.  He is only nursing twice a day now and we have moved him to whole milk instead of formula so I am SO stressing about his vitamins/nutrient levels.  Yet another reason I do not want him eating a lot of processed junk.

Does anyone else have this problem with their tot?  Any ideas on how to combat his love of fruit and try to get him to eat more savory things?  He'd rather starve than eat vegetables (unless it's a Monday night and you stand on one foot and they are cold, not hot and served in a tupperware container).  I'm just stumped here and I need some help from someone other than Google.  :)

I will wrap this post up with the most adorable picture of my fruit-smelling little rugrat.  This is from his 1 year old session.  My little aviator!

Toodles.
Shannon

365 Days Together- My letter to Easton

On November 8th, 2013, you turned a whopping ONE year old.  That was last Friday and I still can't wrap my mind around it.  Where did all this time go?

Last night, you were sitting in my lap and we were reading your "Color" book.  We got to the page with yellow and as I turned the page, you slapped your tiny little pointer finger down on the bottom corner and said emphatically, "ANANA!" (BANANA!)  I just sat there, wide-eyed for a moment.  My little boy is growing up.  Doing and saying things I guess I'm not yet ready for.

Sweet boy, you are everything to us.  Our whole world revolves around you and I think your Daddy and I both worry that we are setting you up for hardship later in life by loving you TOO much.  Will you be one of those "entitled" children?  Will we make you bratty?  Goodness, I hope not!  But we do love you and your smile and laugh is absolutely the most wonderful noise.

You started walking the day before you turned 10 months old.  It's like you knew that day was coming and you were NOT going to miss walking at 9 months.  You took three steps to me and then about five steps to me and back to your Daddy.  Now, you run everywhere and we can barely keep up.  From about 7:30 in the morning until about 8:30 at night, you are one busy little fellow.  We chase you and play with you and tickle you and love you as much as we possibly can during those hours.  You are down to napping once a day usually and it's a good one.  That's the only time you slow down and even then, I'm pretty sure you're up to no good in your dreams.  You are our son, after all.

You have eight teeth and you already love biting.  Yesterday, you were screaming at me for taking my hand out of your mouth and explaining to you that we don't bite mommy, we bit our FOOD.  I'm still not sure you why you are so set on chewing me up!

You're a rather picky eater most of the time (at my house, anyway!).  You prefer nothing but FRUIT around here.  At other places, you will eat eggs and many other yummy things but at home, it's toast w/ applesauce and some type of fruit with the occasional bowl or oatmeal, cereal or yogurt.  I'm hoping this is a phase and soon enough, you'll be on to lots of new things!  :)  I can hope, right?

You can say a ton of words already.  I'll try to list them all, but I always miss a few!  You can say: Mama, Dada (favorite word), Dog, Geese (you and Daddy go bird watching at night and see all the geese flying over!), Banana, Tess, ATTACK!!! (you attack the doggies and I started saying this word every time you did it and now you say it clear as day!), Bye-Bye, What IS dat?, Night-Night, Yeah-Yeah & Yes.  I know there are more, but I'm drawing a blank.  You make hilarious noises like a car.  When I show you your fire engine puzzle piece, you make a siren noise.  You can meow like a cat and bark like a dog.

You have your favorite books that we read over and over and over.  I'm trying to sneak a few new ones in but your a tough crowd.  Your all-time favorite book is "Oh, The Thinks You Can Think!" by Dr. Seuss.  The other few that you'll sit for are "Brown Bear, Brown Bear", "Goodnight, Moon", "ABC's", "COLORS" (a flip book), "Where's Spot?", "LMNO Peas" and "Spot Counts to Ten".  I've tried many, many others and you are just NOT interested after a page or two.

In an attempt to get you to bond with a stuffed animal or blanket (to help with falling asleep in your crib), I made a game out of "squeezing" this little dog/bear I bought you before you were born.  I'd hold him in front of you and say, "SQUEEEEEZE!" and then hug him.  You'd hug him and say, "EEEEEE!" and then throw him down and run off.  Now, you think hugging is called squeezing and it's adorable.  You're still not falling asleep on your own in the crib and that poor stuffed animal gets nothing from you but a random hug every few days.

You are quite obsessed with the dogs.  You love, love, LOVE attacking them every morning.  We are still nursing in the mornings and at night only and so after you eat in the mornings in our bed, you sit straight up, look at the foot of the bed for your first victim and go on attack mode.  I think it's pretty darn fantastic and hilarious.  Baxter and Tess aren't so sure but the tolerate you well and Baxter usually gets even by rolling you over and pinning you down for a lick-fest.  He definitely gets his kisses from you in the mornings.  You also feed the dogs, help us take the dogs on their potty breaks, rub their bellies, give them lots of open-mouth kisses and play fetch with them every chance you get.  Chance is probably your favorite dog to play with, but he is the least tolerant of you.  He kisses you and lets you pet him, but when you start squealing or running, he gets outta town.  The poor old guy is usually hiding under a table or in a corner trying to escape you.

You like cars a LOT.  I think your Aunt Kiki and cousin Maddox are to blame for this one!  When you were about five months old, you would come home from a day with them and rub your paci on the floor and make raspberries with your lips.  It wasn't long before Maddox gave you a few of his hot wheels and you would roll them around you making the vrooom sound.  Since then, you have mastered many different car noises.  There are noises I can't even make and they all sound like different cars and trucks and motorcycles.  I love it and I know they do!  Uncle Ricky will have you out there racing with him and Maddox before I know it and then I'll have a heart attack.  *sigh*

You love music and dancing.  Your Daddy has played the guitar for you since you were in my belly and I've been dancing with you since about the same time.  :)  You have a ukulele, a tambourine, hand bells, a keyboard, a tiny electric toy guitar and a few whistles you haven't figured out yet.  I'm sure you'll end up with some drums, too.  Your Dad has already mentioned that a few times.  I love how you smile when you hear music and how you start bouncing and squatting and bobbing your head.

All these little "adult" things you do are so sweet, but also pretty sad for your Mama to see.  You're just growing up so fast.  You'll never be this small again.  Your little hands won't ever be this little and your words will turn into sentences and then you'll be in college and I'll miss you so.

I prayed for you for so long and longed for the day I would hold you and see toys scattered around my house.  I would sit in the living room sometimes and look around and wonder what life would be like with a tiny person living with us everyday.  I wondered how tired I would be and how I'd manage the loss of those few precious extra hours of sleep I enjoyed on the weekends.  I thought about how freely I would give up my time with my friends if I could just have you to spend it with.  I'd sit upstairs sometimes and wonder which bedroom we would make into a nursery for you if God every blessed us with your presence.  I imagined what playing in the yard would be like as well as folding tiny pants and losing tiny socks.  I could spend hours thinking of what you'd look like and sound like and act like.  All of this before I ever even knew if I would meet you.  And now, here you are.  You came into this world and turned us into a family.

Here you've been for a year.  I have the answers to all these questions and yet it still doesn't even seem real.  YOU are my son.  A part of me and your Dad.  An extension of who I am and who your Dad is and who our parents and siblings are and a long line of wonderful other people you'll never meet.  This beautiful little miracle that we worked so hard for to share with the world.  It's so surreal that I'm blessed with the responsibility of raising you, caring for you, nurturing you, loving you and leading you to be a good man someday.

I am so full of love for you, baby boy.  There is nothing in this world that means more to me than you and your Daddy.  I have fallen in love with being your Mother and I pray every single day that I make you proud someday...that I do a good job.  I want you to look back on your life and KNOW that we loved you so much and did our very best to teach you the right way to be as a man.  I hope we make you a happy little boy and go on thousands of adventures together.  I want you to be able to LIVE your life every single day and watch you grow and learn and love.

Easton, this first year has come and gone.  I've loved it all.  I have no regrets and have learned from every mistake and every triumph we've had together!  You have taught us so much more than we've taught you, little man.  I don't see that every changing, honestly.  We all have so much to learn.

You have already said your farewell to babyhood and have transitioned into your toddler stage (I've already caught you drawing on the cabinets with a pencil!).  You are no longer my sweet little baby.  *sigh*  I'm looking forward to what is to come for our little family sweetheart but I'm also
looking fondly over my shoulder at the precious memories we have already made together.  I'm so incredibly thankful for you.

Happy Birthday!

Your Mama