First word?

Forget Mama or Dada.  He's been saying those a lot, since he was 8 or 9 months old, but not specifically to either of us.  Mama is said mostly when he wants food or is eating.  Twice he has come to me saying mama, but he could have just been hungry, as usual.

What we've been waiting for is his first real word, and I think we got it this morning!  I held a little baseball up to Felix and he said "ba!"  Granted, I haven't heard an L-sound out of him yet, so it may have actually been ball that he tried to say.  What to you think - first word?

Felix is officially in the 1-year-old room, as of yesterday!  He seems to enjoy it.  This morning when I dropped off his bag in there, he went over to the toys, started playing, and gave me a huge smile.  I'm happy he's happy.

Felix: 12 mos

Moving Up a Room

Felix has started transitioning to the one-year-old room, and he's loving it. He spent a few days there last week, and apparently didn't like having to go back into the baby room. That's a good sign.

Felix's walking is improving, and he's also cutting his second tooth. The teeth are coming a little slower than I expected, but it's making it a little more manageable.

Nick had his left knee scoped on the 30th. He tore cartilage two years ago playing basketball and finally got around to fixing it. He's recovering well, though he's still pretty immobile.

We had visits recently from Nate and Laura with their son Jack (getting so big!), my family, and Nick's family. It's always nice to have company for a short period.

Felix: 12 mos

Family Photo Shoot

We got our photos back already, and I wanted to post the ones I liked best (all courtesy of Sharp Exposure Photography (aka, our friend Skip)). [Edited to add: Felix cut his first tooth yesterday! The lower right front is the first to make its appearance in what will someday be a toothy grin.]

Felix: 12 mos

Felix is a-walkin'!

Well, two weeks after he took the first sequence of steps, I finally consider him a toddler. This afternoon, he was taking more steps than he was crawling. That made the photo shoot we had today much more interesting. I hope we got a few keepers out of all of them! I'll post the best as soon as we get them back.

Edited on 7/26/10 @ 8pm to add... video! 

Felix: 12 mos

Not the Happiest Birthday

Felix's first birthday wasn't the happiest for him.  He woke with a cold, which made him a little tired and crabby.  On top of that, he got a diaper rash during the day.  Poor little man.  He did enjoy the cupcakes I sent to daycare for him, his friends and his teachers.

Yesterday, he wasn't feeling much better.  It was a good thing we had his 12-month check-up scheduled.  Lo and behold, he has another ear infection.  At least we could get it treated and he seemed much happier this morning.  His appetite is decreasing, but I'm not sure if that's the cold, the ear infection, or finally teething.  I guess we'll wait and see.

Felix: 12 mos

Felix's 1st Birthday Party!

We spent a lovely 4th of July with family at Grandma Maxine's house, which also doubled as the setting for Felix's 1st birthday party. Steve, Vicky, Ralph and Ann joined Grandma, Dennis, Mark, Karen, Cassie, Nick and I to wish Felix a Happy 1st Birthday! Vicky brought a wonderful cake, complete with a mini cake for Felix that he demolished. Several of us went on a tube float down the Waupaca River, which was a little lower than usual. Ralph and Nick found nice sticks to help get them through the tricky patches. I had an embarrassing scene, where I overreached for an empty can Cassie dropped and flipped my tube, smacking my back on the rocks in the process. Ouch. Anyway, we floated back to Grandma's, dried off and had cake. Once we hosed off Felix, he got to open his presents. Thanks to everyone for his gifts! He's already gotten his hands on most of them, and they'll grow with him for a while.

Our little man will actually turn 1 year old in six days! Boy, this first year has flown!

Felix: 11 mos

First Steps!

I knew it was going to be a race to see which came first: step or tooth.  And the winner is... first step!  Felix and I tagged along with Nick to watch his softball game last night.  Felix and I were hanging out in the grass near the field and playing with a cattail.  Felix had been showing more interest in standing, especially the past few days.  So, he was holding the cattail, practicing his balance, when all of a sudden... step!  Then the inevitable fall on the bum.  He did it again a few minutes later, and I managed to get a picture just after he took his second step (hooray for camera phones!).  I give him a few weeks and he'll be running.

Felix: 11 mos