Surf's Up Birthday Party

Dear Sweet Kosta,

You are 1 year and 1 day old today! I can't believe how fast time has flown by.  It blows me away how much you have changed since the day you were born.  You are Mommy's little Angel with the best personality ever.

This past weekend we celebrated your birthday with friends and family.  We had your birthday party on Sunday, March 3, 2013 - we did this so everyone would be able make it to the party.  We had yummy food and cake and lots more.  Here are some pictures from your Surf's Up Party.

Mommy designed your birthday cake, but Publix made it for you!

It took Mommy almost a month to design the surfboards and put together the decorations. 

Fun in the Sun Flip Flops

Gnarly Grape Kabobs

Barrelin' Beach Break Bars

Homemade Shaka Surfboard Cookies

Grommet Goldfish

Surf's Up Swedish Fish

Cowabunga Chicken Salad from Whole Foods

Chicama Cheese and Crackers from Sam's Club

Pipeline Pasta Salad

Gifts

Leis from Party City

Surfboard Soap and Flip Flop Key Chain party favors (key chain from Party City and Soaps found on Etsy)

Entrance to the party

Playa del Kosta Surf Report

Eating your yummy cake for the first time!

Surfing Photo Op (Party City)

Tia Eli and Tio Jason

Gaby and Katie

Kosta and Mommy

Mommy and Aunt Elleni

Playing with your drum set from Tia Eli and Tio Jason

Playing with your basketball goal from Mommy and Papi

Here are a few updates on you:

You can walk!  You are a walking machine.  You took your first steps on February 25, 2013 - exactly one week before your birthday!  Here's a short video of you walking to your Aunt Elleni.

Well, today you had your 12-month check-up.  You are such a big boy! Here are your stats as of today.

Height: 30.5 inches

Weight: 21 lbs 10 oz

Head Circumference: ?? (I have to find the paper)

You are in the 70th percentile for height and the 55th percentile for both weight and head circumference.

Also, your top teeth are coming in! They haven't cut through your gums yet, but they're close.

Dr. Anderson said you're growing perfectly! He said you can eat pretty much everything now, except candy, gum, nuts, or popcorn.  Other than that you're good to go with all other yummy foods.

You are officially drinking cow's milk.  Mommy stopped breastfeeding the night before your first birthday. You've handled the transition extremely well, which made things a lot easier for Mommy.

You're such a good baby!

Well, you're ready for play time so Mommy has to go.

Love you so much.

Mommy

Don't Blink

So I heard the song "Don't Blink" by Kenny Chesney on the radio the other day and of course I started boo-hooing.  I always boo-hoo through that song, but I especially do now that I have my little surfer baby in my life. It's true - it feels like yesterday we were holding you in our arms for the first time and then I blinked and now you're turning one in two weeks.  I wish I could slow down time to keep you a baby forever, but I am so excited for the future.

Here's a little update on you since Christmas:

Your schedule goes a bit like this (by the way, you're FINALLY sleeping through the night!):

• Wake up around 7:25 am.  
• Drink your bottle by 8 am.
• Play until 10 am, then go down for a nap.
• Wake up around 12-12:30 pm.
• Eat lunch and play until 3 pm (I put you down at 3 before Daddy gets here or else you'll be awake all day!)
• Wake up for dinner at 5-5:15 pm.
• Bath time 6:30 pm.
• Play until bedtime at 8 pm.

You eat anything and everything, ESPECIALLY whatever Mommy, Daddy, or Gamma is eating.  It doesn't matter if you're full or not, if we're eating something, you want it too.  You're so over eating baby food.  You love foods with texture and you love feeding yourself.  Lately, you and I have been drinking fresh fruit smoothies with our lunch, which seems to be your favorite. You clap and giggle while Mommy makes your smoothie, which makes it so much fun for me. Your smoothies normally consist of pineapple, strawberries, blackberries, blueberries, mandarins, bananas, and grapes. Also, you LOVE water! I swear you'd drink two liters of water if we let you. Ha ha :)

Your bottom teeth finally came in on January 13, 2013! We were very fortunate that it didn't seem to bother you much.  You did however have a little cold that went along with it, but it was mainly just a runny nose.  You used to nibble on us with your gums, but now we're having to teach you not to because your little baby teeth are sharp!  Here's a pictures of your precious teeth:

On to a semi-negative note.  You had to have surgery on your tear ducts in your right eye on February 8, 2013.  Unfortunately your tear ducts did not unblock themselves before your first birthday, which is why the doctor encouraged the surgery.  If we had decided to wait, it would have been a lot worse in the future.  Luckily the surgery was fast and you recovered very well from it.  I think it was harder on Mommy and Daddy because we couldn't be there with you during the procedure.  Here are some pictures of you and Daddy waiting before the surgery:

On to a better note - you're sooooo close to walking! Now you're pulling up and letting go without fear.  Whenever I hold out my hand when you're standing, you'll grab one of my fingers and walk towards me, but I am barely supporting you.  Here's a little video of you standing by yourself.

You got to experience your first snow on February 16, 2013. You were napping while the snow was falling, but I took you outside as soon as you woke up so you could see the snowman Mommy built for you. You LOVED the snow, especially the part when you got to eat it!  Here are a few pictures:

Well, your birthday will be here in less than two weeks! I'm so excited because I have been working on decorations for the last month, which has been a fun activity for me. I can't wait for everything to come together - it's going to be a blast!

We love you to the moon and back sweet boy!

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas

Dear Sweet Kosta,

I cannot believe it is already December and you are 9 months old!  My how time flies.  You are the sweetest, funniest, cutest baby in the whole world.  I could not have asked for a better baby.  Your personality is really starting to show now and it's the best!

You laugh all the time, which is the sweetest thing I have ever heard - you crack yourself up.  Your giggles make anyone and everyone smile.  You are such a blessing to our family, especially to me and your daddy.

We have finally transitioned you into your crib.  You still wake up at least once in the middle of the night, but you are sleeping so much better than before.

You have figured out when it is time for bed because when I bring you upstairs at night you start to whine a little bit like "Noooo I'm not ready to go to sleep yet!".  When we first started putting you in your crib, I would rock you to sleep within 5 minutes. Now that you know what is coming, you try so hard to stay up.

You normally take two naps during the day, but your schedule has been a little mixed up since our trip to Charleston for Thanksgiving (I will talk more about your first Thanksgiving in a second).

Your sleep schedule is normally like this (but lately I don't know what's up):

7:00 am - Wake up/play

9:30-10:00 am - Down for a nap

11:30 am-12:00 pm - Wake up for lunch/play

3:30 pm - Down for your second nap

5:30 pm - Wake up for dinner/play

8:30 pm - Bedtime

We are working on getting you back into this routine, but I think separation anxiety is really starting to kick in so it has been tough.

Well...back to your first Thanksgiving!  Every Thanksgiving we go to the Leventis Family Reunion - we see family, eat good food, play games, and have a great time.  This year, you and a few other new babies were the focus of the reunion, which was so sweet.  Everyone LOVED meeting you!

Here are some pictures from the reunion:

You were worn out after our trip to Charleston, but you had so much fun; especially on Thanksgiving day when you got to crawl around the whole ballroom making everyone giggle.

Well, like I mentioned, you are 9 months old!  We had your 9 month check up yesterday, which went amazing of course :)  The only negatives from the appointment were the Hepatitis and flu shots.

Here are your stats as of 12/5/12:

Age: 9 Months

Height: 28.75 inches

Weight: 20 lbs 8 oz

Head Circumference: 44.5 cm

The doctor was extremely pleased with the way you are growing, which made Mommy very happy.  You can now eat peanut butter and eggs as well as have a little bit of whole milk.  We are supposed to start practicing drinking out of a cup three times a day.  The doctor wants you to drink around 16 oz of milk a day as well as start eating more table foods.

You LOVE eating "adult" food.  Anytime Mommy and Daddy are eating you crawl over asking for whatever we have.  It is the sweetest thing.  Of course we share our food and you love it.  

You got to try Panettone for the first time, which is a sweet bread with raisins and other fruits.  It is a Peruvian tradition to eat Panettone around Christmas time, which is something that your Daddy and his family do every year.

Here's a picture of you eating Panettone with Daddy for the first time:

You are getting so big and strong! Not only are you crawling everywhere, you are pulling up on all of the furniture.  You can stand up by yourself, but can't walk just yet.  You hold on to the coffee table and walk around it. You are fearless - sometimes you let go and stand for a second and then plop down on your behind.

I can and cannot wait for you to walk!  The reason I can wait is because once you can walk it will be like you are not my little itty bitty baby anymore.  The reason I cannot wait is because I am so excited for you to hit your next milestones.  I love watching you grow, but I also wish I could hold on to this time a little longer.

Well, Christmas is almost here - only 19 more days until Christmas Day!  Your daddy and I have gone completely overboard on gifts for your first Christmas!  I know you will be more interested in the boxes and wrapping paper, but I know you will love to look back when you get older and see what you got.

By the way..you are such a trooper!  I dressed you up in your little Christmas outfit and took pictures of you the other day and you did so well.  You got to try your first candy cane, which was too cute because the peppermint was a little spicy.  But you loved it!

Here are some pictures from our Christmas photo shoot:

Well, you just woke up from your nap so I am guessing you are ready for dinner!  

Mommy and Daddy love you so so much sweet boy.

Love Always,

Mommy

PS - I will update the blog with all the awesome presents you get for Christmas!