Being Sara

Well, we have started to plan Xander’s first birthday party. I feel like the first one is a big deal, and so I’m trying not to screw it up too much. Since Xander doesn’t really have friends of his own yet, we’re inviting friends and family over for a barbecue in the afternoon, the Saturday after Xander’s birthday.

A few of our friends have kids of their own, who will hopefully attend, so I’m planning on making up goodie bags for them, but not for the adults, hopefully that’s ok. I’m thinking that I’ll try to find a cupcake cake (one of those cakes made out of cupcakes with some sort of unified frosting image), as cupcakes are a heck of a lot easier than an actual cake, and I’m definitely not confident enough in my baking abilities to make anything edible for a large crowd.

As most of the group will be adults, I’m assuming that eating, visiting, and opening presents will be enough activity for them. I’ll pull some of our lawn games out for the more athletically inclined guests, but I’m betting that most people will prefer to simply nibble food and chat with friends/family.

I’ve put Zach in charge of balloons, but other than that duty, the rest of the party preparations are my responsibility. All of the party supplies that I need to order have already been delivered. I’ve got the invitations going out in the mail tomorrow (a few days later than I would have preferred, but that was due to circumstances beyond my control). I don’t need to rent or reserve anything, so the rest of the prep work can wait until the weekend before the party when we’ll do some serious house cleaning and party supply shopping.

I read a comment today that talked about a lady buying gifts for all of the kids in her child’s day care, as well as the teachers who interact with her child. She was looking for suggestions on what to buy without spending too much money. Is that common practice? To buy gifts for kids and teachers in day care on your child’s birthday? I’m new to this, so if this is something I should do, I need to know about it soon so I can prepare gifts for the 30+ people at Xander’s day care. If anyone has any insight (on the gifts, or on first birthdays in general), I’d love to hear it!

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We have begun Xander’s transition to whole milk. Our pediatrician said that it was ok to start at 11 months, and that he was going to start about then with his son. Since Xander is now 11 months, we decided to give it a try. The first few days, I mixed 2 ounces of milk with 4 ounces of formula, which Xander didn’t seem to mind too much. I figured we’d do that for a week or so, and then increase the amount. Xander’s day care teacher suggested that we try formula bottles in the morning and evening, and then a milk bottle in the afternoon. So yesterday, Xander had a milk bottle in the afternoon at day care, which he seemed to take well. Since the day care teacher has lots more experience with this transition than I do, I figured that taking her advice couldn’t hurt, and Xander seems to be happy with either method. I’m just so excited to see an end to the formula - it’s so expensive, and we could certainly use the extra money around the house!

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We had a mini family vacation last week. We spent some time at a family cottage - right on the water. I have been going there since I was a baby, and it’s awesome to start sharing some of those memories with my child. While we were there, one of Xander’s grandmothers brought over chocolate ice cream and cones so that Xander could try some. We first dressed him in his swim trunks, and then let him have his first taste of ice cream. He was pretty cute - the cold seemed to be a bigger surprise than the chocolate. He kept making faces when he put his tongue on the ice cream, but he kept opening his mouth for more… He got covered in melted ice cream of course, and then we immediately went swimming. It was a great afternoon

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Xander finally figured out how to use a sippy cup! Yay! I read lots of advice, and I used most of the suggestions that people posted for me here. I kept giving Xander sippy cups, and he kept thinking they were toys. Then earlier this week I found a Nubby brand sippy cup that has a soft silicone spout - similar to Xander’s bottles and pacifiers. I also liked that there isn’t a removable valve that I have to clean separately (and then later loose), the valve and spout are all one piece, and easy to clean. I bought them on a whim at Target (though I found them for a better price at Baby Center later), and was shocked when Xander figured out how to get the juice out of it! Unfortunately, he kept opening his mouth and spilling the juice down the front of his shirt… So, he’s figured out how to use the sippy cup, but the spill-proof top doesn’t prevent Xander from spilling the liquid - I guess we’ll have to keep working on that one

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Xander is finally shifting out of this phase, but it was pretty funny for about a month - Daddy was the man, and it didn’t matter what we were doing or where we were, if Daddy wasn’t in the room and/or paying attention to Xander, he was upset. It didn’t matter if I was playing with him, or feeding him, etc., if Daddy was home and happened to walk through the room, and didn’t stop to play with Xander, then he would cry - even if Daddy did stop to say hello and kept going, Xander would cry when he walked away. I suspect this was more a man thing than just a Daddy thing - when Xander visited my parents, he did the same thing when my father walked out of the room. I worried for a little while that we were entering a stranger anxiety phase, but he’s still fine when we leave him at day care. He gets mad if he’s alone in a room, but I’m starting to become an acceptable substitute for Daddy again

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