11 Months Old!

11 months old already!

He was not happy with me

This week has been full of firsts for Cael. It's been an exciting week, that's for sure. Here's a list.

• Cael went to his first carnival, and rode the carousel.
• He started waving.
• He started sharing.
• He drank from a straw.
• He starting giving high-fives.

So much in such a short period of time!

Earlier in the week is when he started sharing. It started by him trying to give me a Cheerio or Kix that was on his tray. Then he would try to give me his bink, and put it in my mouth. Now, he'll try to give you anything. It's so sweet to see. We're also saying "please" and "thank you" anytime we can, so that he understands it's the right thing to say. 

I'm not sure what started him with waving. It could have been me constantly waving at him earlier in the week, and taking him arm and waving it, repeating "Hi, hi; wave hello". Who knows, but it worked! And now he'll start waving if you wave to him, or say "wave hi". Yet another cute thing that I love watching him do.

First time on a carousel!

Speaking of waving, it's pretty much all Cael did on the carousel this week. He LOVED the carousel. The local carnival is in town for a week, and we went Wednesday and Thursday night. There really wasn't anything there for Cael to ride on, except the carousel. It looked like it was going around faster than I remember when I was younger, but I figured I would give it a shot with Cael. He would either love it, or hate it, but knowing my son, I figured he would love it. He's such a boy, and loves things that move around, or being swung around. Technically, it cost $3 for Cael to ride the carousel ($1/ticket, 3 tickets to ride). I can't believe how expensive carnivals are! Makes me feel bad when I was younger, and how bad we nagged to ride the rides. Anyway, fortunately, parents ride free. I bought 6 tickets not knowing this, so Cael got to ride it twice. He really enjoyed it! He even held onto the pole, like you're supposed to. We went again Thursday night with Matt and some other friends, and when I brought him on that time, he waved pretty much the entire ride. Matt even commented after we got off that he's never seen him wave so much. I wish we got a video. 

Waving!

Drinking through a straw!

A week and half ago, I bought one of those pureed baby food pouches, just to give it a try. I figured if Cael could figure out how to eat from it, then it could be an easy meal while we're out. Well, the first time I gave it to him, he quickly figured out how to hold the pouch, and suck the puree out. I  squeezed the food into his mouth a few times so that he knew something yummy was in it, and then after that, he got the hang of it. Since then, I've bought more pouches, and have given them to him while we're out. It's nice, because he can hold it himself, and feed himself, pretty much mess-free.

So I figured if he could suck the food out of the pouch, then he might be able to drink out of a straw. We bought 2 straw sippy cups a few months ago, but Cael didn't do well with them then. So I decided to give it another shot. Well, it turns out my assumption was correct. He quickly figured out how to suck the water through the straw, and drink from a straw cup. It was so exciting to see! We've been giving the "grown-up" cup a break. Even though he can drink from it and it's supposed to be "spill-proof", he still manages to get the liquid out of it. So as of now, he's drinking from just the sippy cup, and the straw cup.


Finally, Cael is giving "high-fives" a lot now, too. If you put your hand out, and say "Can I have a high-five?", most of the time, he'll slap your hand. Sometimes, you have to initiate the high-five, but once you do that, he'll keep giving them. It's really neat that he's starting to understand a lot of new things, and that he has developed the motor skills to follow through with what he wants to do.

Cael's birthday party invites are finally out in the mail - for both parties. I'm so excited, and I'm glad that big task is done. I've been trying to make a lot of the decorations and supplies for the party myself. And I'm trying to do it early, so that I'm less stressed, and more ready by the time comes. So far, I've made the "mustaches on a stick", and the banner for Cael's high chair. I made this out of card stock, and made it myself, because I couldn't find a high chair kit anywhere. They just don't exist, unless I buy one to print myself off Etsy. But if I'm going to have to print it myself, I might as well just make it myself. I stuck with the colors of the mustache theme, which is black and red. I was unable to match the blue to anything in stores. Hopefully the high chair banner will survive the first party, and I'm able to reuse it for the second party.


To make the container that holds the mustaches, I cut the top off a Happy Baby puffs container. I then used the mustache duck tape I bought, and covered the sharp-ish cut edges of the top, and then around the bottom as well for decorative purposes. I then used the stencil I made to make the mustaches, to draw a mustache on the white container with black Sharpie marker. 

Walking with Daddy

I've got quite a bit of party supplies in my house. I have bags hanging everywhere, and a giant box filled with supplies. I have the themed plates and napkins, red and black plates and napkins, red and black table cloths, utensils, a personalized banner, themed centerpiece, and 2 themed foil balloons - one for each party. With about a month left until his first party (ahhh, a MONTH!?), I'd say everything is coming together nicely.

In addition to going to a carnival for the first time last week, I also brought him to a butterfly house - for the 2nd time in his life. We went to a local garden that has a small butterfly house, with my Mom's group. It cost a total of $3 for Cael, the boy I babysit, and myself. Not bad. There were only Monarch butterflies, but they were still pretty. They had every stage available for viewing, which was neat. The tiny eggs, the caterpillars, the chrysalis' and the butterflies (obviously). Cael loved it, but he loved the children's garden even more. They had a gravel area with trucks, and small water fountains, which he loved the most. He loves all things dealing with water. I'm glad he had a really good time. Needless to say, he slept well that night, because later that day is when we went to the carnival.

In the butterfly house

Playing in the water fountain

Butterfly stamp for admission

Frog tattoo from the garden treasure box