Brush-a Brush-a Brush-a

Jared didn't get his first teeth until he was eleven months old... That is when his two bottom teeth started to peek out. It wasn't until after his first birthday that his top teeth made their appearance. So now, at 13 months old, he has four half grown in teeth. These are pictures of his first real tooth-brushing. With dad's help and mom modeling appropriate tooth-brushing for Jared it went very smoothly. The Elmo toothbrush didn't hurt! :)

"Okay... wait, Dad.... what are you putting in my mouth? What are you doing to me, Dad?"
"Okay, wait... Mom's doing it too. I've seen you guys do this before! I guess it's not so bad..."
"Hahaha! You can't see 'em yet, but inside this mouth are some gleaming, bright shiny new teeth!"

Jared's Play Date with Prince William

Recently we went to visit our friends Cynthia and David and their lovely son, William who is 8 months old.

Here is Momma Cynthia and her lil prince, William! What a cutie pie!

Jared had a blast in William's basement playroom. It was like a toy wonderland! Jared had so much fun exploring all the different toys. :)

William was generally a very mellow, friendly kid-- and extremely generous with his toys! He let Jared sample pretty much everything! Jared's favorites were probably the stacking cups. I had to rush home and get him his own set.

William popped up to say hi to me! So adorable! Jared's first play-date went very well! :) Thanks, William!

Elmo! Elmo! Elmo!

Before I had Jared I was only peripherally aware of whatever new craze all the kids seemed to succumb to... now that I am a mother, I am painfully aware! Even at 13 months, Jared is totally and completely in the throes of his first love affair... with Elmo. Morning, noon, and night, it's Elmo, Elmo, Elmo. I don't really understand it! I mean, Elmo is cute, I suppose... but why the obsession? Whatever it is, few toys bring a smile to my child's face like that furry red creature!

So often, Jared walks around the house calling out... Elmo? Elmo? Elmo? So we thought we would give him a little Elmo overload and see how he reacted...

As usual, he reacted with glee! It is DEFINITELY Elmo's world!

The Park Part II

Well, after the silly disappointment of our last trip to the park we decided to give it another try while visiting Jared's godmother, Ni-Ni (aka Donni). He actually calls her Na-na and repeats it confidently as though I am the crazy one.

Going to the park is definitely more enjoyable now that Jared is a bit more mobile, but perhaps in the future I should avoid the park when it is 100 degrees outside! Poor Jared was drenched within minutes and quickly got tired.

"Okay, Mom, here we are again! Where do you wanna start this time? I am being open-minded!"

"Well, I can tell that this is gonna be fun for me at some point, but right now it's so hot out that my legs are pretty much congealed to this slide.... so no actually SLIDING is going on. Thanks for the moral support, Dad, but I think I'm gonna need some actual help here!"

"Hmm yea, Dad... you're not going any faster than I was! I'm just gonna climb over here and do this on my own!"


"Hmm... this round slide isn't much easier to get down! This is making me sleepy!"

"I'm just gonna climb down this thing on my own, thanks!"

"Whew, Mom it is HOT out here. Can we go inside now? Come on, dad! Just another fun day at the park!"

Dangerous Adventures

Jared is becoming more and more adventurous every day. He recently encountered his first set of stairs and had a blast climbing them (while visiting his new friend, William). Thankfully he navigated them safely and had fun doing it!

Yesterday he fell while running through the house. Naturally, he is just fine... it definitely hurt me more than it hurt him! I keep telling myself he is just a normal boisterous one year old having normal toddler accidents, but it's no fun to watch at all!

"Hey Mom... No, I'm not doing anything... I am just standing here... I'm not going anywhere!"

"HAHA! Move Dad, outta my way! Mom's not looking! This may be my only chance!"

Word for the Day = Hat!

Jared is 13 months old and having an explosion of language! He is learning new words every day. One of his favorite new words this week is "hat" in addition to a newfound love of actually WEARING hats. For the past year we have attempted to place various adorable hats on his head, which he has tossed aside with annoyance... All of a sudden, wearing a hat is a delightful game... accompanied by gleeful shouts of "Hat! Hat! Hat!"

He also loves his new big-boy, front-facing car seat (the Britax Marathon). He is MUCH happier in the car now. Thanks for the recommendation, Auntie Mia!

"Mom and Dad have tried to make me wear hats (unsuccessfully!) since I was a little guy but I never really understood why they kept putting stuff on top of my head..."


"Now I understand it a little more... and I can show my support for the Gators!"

"Okay, enough of the sporty Gator hat... I need my black Kangol for a night on the town!"


"Hahah.. How does this look?"

"Okay, seriously. I'm good to go now!"

My Music Man

Jared is (literally) surrounded by books and toys, and yet some of his favorite toys remain his musical instruments. His first musical toy was a recorder. He was around 8 months old and LOVED realizing that he could do something to produce SOUND. Since then he has collected a random collection of musical toys, including a drum, maracas, a play piano with microphone and drum machine, a tamborine and recently a harmonica. He takes them very seriously.

Here he is "singing" into the microphone that goes with his play piano. Occasionally he gets a bit overzealous with his singing. I think he believes it will get louder if he eats the microphone.

Sometimes his microphone just doesn't cut it anymore, so he goes for the big guns... Daddy's karaoke microphone! Again, he takes his singing very seriously. :)

This week he figured out how to use the harmonica and loves to pass it back and forth with Dad. In general he loves to take turns with his musical instruments. He will play a few notes, pass it to you, and when he thinks you've played long enough he will take it back!

"Mom, can you pass me my sheet music for the Elmo theme song? Lalalala Lalalala Elmo's World!"

Playing his instruments makes him VERY happy... he may LOOK like an athlete (as evidenced by biceps at the age of one, haha) but our boy is quite the little musician too!