Birthday Bash

Lauren had a great b-day weekend. All the grandparents came to town to celebrate. On Sat, we went out to breakfast, then later went to JCPenney to take some 1-year portraits. The photographer wanted to take a picture of Lauren with wooden letters spelling out 'ONE', and while Lauren enjoyed the 'O', she wasn't really into the 'N' or the 'E'. On Sun, we did brunch at Sweet Tomatoes (which Lauren napped right on through), then opened gifts and had some cake in the afternoon. It took her a while to warm up to the cake, finally tasting her frosting-coated fingers. She was also eager to play with all her new gifts.

A Pinch to Grow an Inch

On her actual birthday, Lauren got to pay a visit to the pediatrician, for her 1-year check-up. She's slowly but surely adding ounces and inches - up to 18 lb 12 oz, and 29 1/4". But, three shots too?? Not such a great b-day gift, Mom! She wore her band-aids proudly as she headed back to daycare - but didn't come home with them - apparently they are a hot commodity in infant-land, and the other little kiddies pulled them off. Eeww....

Story Time

Lauren enjoys her books - she likes to carry them (the bigger the better), pull them all off the shelf (and make quite a mess), and of course flip the pages (board books are preferred, since she can't damage them much :) ).

Costco Splurge

Picked up these IZZE sparkling juices on the last visit to Costco. Kinda pricey ($11.95 for a 12-pack), but very tasty, made of 70% fruit juice with no refined sugar, and pretty packaging (I'm a sucker for). My favorite of the 3 flavors is the blackberry.

Steppin' Out

.....with my baby. Lauren took her first steps 2 weeks ago, and is now a pretty good walker. She's been practicing her new skill constantly, with a lot of exploring along the way.

She also graduated to the next class at daycare. Her former teachers gave her this ball as a graduation gift :) and she just loves it. She wants to pick it up and walk with it, and tries to bounce it too.

Here Kitty Kitty

Lauren loves her kitties. She lets out a high-pitched squeal every time she sees them, and they usually run the other way. Despite her increased mobility, she still can't catch them. Lucky for them :)

Pasta Night

Have done a lot better recently at planning meals for the week. (It seems to come in waves). This dish is one of my favorites - Linguine with Shrimp Scampi, from Barefoot Contessa. It is easy, light, and quite colorful. Also tried the Fish Tacos with Salsa Verde, from this month's Everyday Food, and plan to make the Chicken-Fajita Tostadas later this week. The tacos took a little time to prepare (with all the chopping), but cooking the tilapia was a breeze, and the dish was very flavorful.

Rub-a-dub-dub

Lauren loves to splish and splash during bath time. She also enjoys sucking the water out of her terry-cloth bath toys (yuck). We're still using the baby bath tub - it's very roomy, with one end for newborns, the other end for babies who can sit up. She's anxiously awaiting the completion of our master bath remodel though, so she can try out the new air jet tub.

Bottle Swap

With all the recent reports about the potentially harmful effects of the chemical bisphenol-A (BPA) used in hard plastics, we decided to switch Lauren's bottles. After reading several reviews online, we chose the Green to Grow bottles. They are very similar in shape to the Avent bottles we'd been using, and even have cute little smiley fruit faces on the front. My only minor complaint is that after sterilizing the parts in boiling water, the caps were very tight and difficult to remove once placed on the bottle. However I emailed with customer service (I think I've actually been corresponding with the company owner), and they are going to send replacement caps. So overall, have been very happy with these bottles. Plus, the company is very eco-friendly, using soy inks, 100% recycled packaging, etc.

Finger Lickin' Good

As we move on to finger foods, we need to mentally prepare for the messes to come.... Lauren went to town on this biter biscuit the other night. She had also had fun mushing some fresh banana today. And after another go at the sippy cup today, I had to change her dress because it was soaked - she still needs a little practice :)