ONE year!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY Elliot!

Our baby boy is ONE! A year ago today we were getting ready to leave the hospital with a new addition to our family. So tiny and precious. First time parents, rookies, scared and excited about the months to come. Several friends told us "congratulations" and said that the first birthday party is really a celebration for the parents for how hard they've worked in the past year. Though it's been a trying year, it's truly been the best and fastest year of my life! The first six months seem like a blur. I don't remember last fall. I can't believe it's been a whole year!

To celebrate E's birthday we had a party at a local park with lots of friends and family. The weather was beautiful, the food was good and being able to share it with loved ones was awesome. E played with his many friends, dug into his cake and opened presents! It was the perfect way to celebrate an amazing child and our first year of parenthood.

E is simply an amazing boy. Though he's not walking yet, he will take several tentative steps between Dr. M and I. His vocabulary is growing all the time. He now waves and says hi and byebye. His favorite word is still ball but has added black bean, baby, bucket, mom and will repeat (or attempt to repeat) anything we say. He's cruising around furniture with ease, but still stands on his tip toes most of the time. He'll walk if holding onto his walking toy or our fingers, but crawling is still his preferred mode of transportation. He's now in a "big boy" booster car seat, no longer the pumpkin seat (which he's outgrown). He's completely self-feeding now. He eats table foods, chicken, watermelon, corn, peas, carrots, broccoli, hamburger, apples, banana and noodles - all his current favorites. I'm still nursing, but we've been supplementing rice milk twice a day (which he loves!). I'm also happy to report that we're still using (and loving) cloth diapers! Over the past year we've saved roughly 2,788 diapers from being added to our landfills. We see the pediatrician, tomorrow for a full one-year assessment and shots.

Here's to our first year of parenthood and many more to come!!!!

Grandpa Moen

Grandpa Moen's joyful spirit will always be remembered in our hearts. He was a husband, father of three amazing men, grandfather to three beautiful boys and friend to so many. His spirited, witty and sometimes crazy personality always drew people to him. He lit up any room he walked into and left with new friends. Always up for a good time, new adventure or simple chat around a campfire, he was always there to listen. He loved to tell stories, long stories and especially crazy stories. He was loved by so many and will be deeply missed. May he rest in peace.

Keith Deane Moen

August 7, 1953 - August 10, 2010

11 Months!

I can't believe our little boy will be one in less than a month. My how time flies when you're a parent. This time last year I was the size of a house and getting anxious to meet our little one. Now it's been 11 months and he's almost a toddler. He's talking all the time. Just today we were at the store buying a watermelon (E's fave) and he kept reaching for it in the cart saying "ball, ball." It was so cute. Though he's not walking yet, he's getting closer every day. He seems to have no fear when it comes to crawling, climbing and cruising. In fact, we had our first major injury today. E was crawling across the tile kitchen floor (a tupperware lid in each hand) and he slipped and went down face first on the tile, cutting his lip on his teeth. It bleed for a while and is pretty swollen, but it doesn't seem to bother him for as bad as it looks. I'm sure you won't even be able to see it in a couple days. We're in the process of planning E's first birthday. The picnic site is reserved and the invitations are in the mail. I know I've already said it, but I can't believe our little boy will be one next month. I love that we are starting to see the little boy that he will be. He's perfect.