1st Birthday and so much more!

So it's been a while but we've been BUSY! Xander and I had a fabulous 2 weeks of swim class and by the end we discovered he has no problem being dunked or going under water, also he's a bit of a natural swimmer, the only little one in swim class that instinctively kicked his legs and moved his arms (sort of a doggy paddle) but it was amazing! That two weeks wore us out!
Then it was time to prepare the the BIG birthday! Mommy went on a cleaning and organizing frenzy but it all was done in time and the party was a success! I made Xander a "classic" winnie the pooh cake, my first attempt at cake decorating, but I think it was a success!


The Party was a winnie the pooh 1st birthday theme! I made lots of yummy finger foods that Xander would like to eat and Xander had so much fun playing with all of his cousins!








I also made a simple cake for Xander's actual birthday, it was just Chris, Xander and I, but we wanted to sing him happy birthday on his real birthday...






Xander got lots and lots of amazing gifts for his birthday and he really enjoyed ripping the paper this time! He got a new car seat (yay!), TONS of books!, toys, clothes, diapers and more than we could ever have asked for! We are so so thankful! And with the gift cards I was given I was able to go out and purchase the final Extra-Large Size baby gate we so desperately needed for our little escape artist!








As of the past couple weeks Xander's eating habits have really started to change. I transitioned him over to whole milk a couple weeks ago, which he seems to like just the same as formula. He still refuses to take milk out of anything but a bottle, but he will drink juice or water out of a sippy cup, go figure? So my goal right now is getting rid of that bottle but it looks like it will take some time and a lot of patience. Also Xander has all but started to reject his baby food! He now believes he should eat whatever we are eating. If I have a sandwich I end up losing half my bread to him! His favorites include: shreeded cheese, blue berries, any type of fruit really he can chew it all now from strawberries to watermelon and he loves it all, bread or toast, chicken, hamburger, speghetti, he can eat it all now. Which is very fun but frustrating that I can't just whip out some oatmeal in the morning or other easy baby food.

We've had tons of milestones and Xander has learned SO many new tricks in the past couple weeks, I'll try to list them all...
He has learned to clap and high five, He learned to click his tongue on the roof of his mouth to make a noise, He can paly ball (push it back to you when you push it to him over and over), He will walk around the house pushing his wagon or the new walking toy I got him for his b-day, He is getting ALOT of practice walking but still is nervous to take off on his own. Xander learned to use a Kazoo (we got them for his b-day and he learned to use this noise maker quick!), Xander also learned to push buttons, on toys, his little flash light, etc., he's finally got that hand-eye coordination down!