Lady Liberty!!!

Preston's Papa came over for dinner tonight and then him and Preston played some catch in the backyard. Yes, he is throwing oranges. He likes to throw them 2 at a time.

This afternoon Preston went to Bruce's birthday party.
At first he was very confused as to why he wasn't opening all the presents, but was happy just to be able to look at them with Bruce.

Way way WAY too much of this today.
Whiny Preston.
Started at about 7:30 by throwing handfuls of pancakes off his highchair and has just gotten worse and worse.
We're ready for bed.

Preston went for a bike ride today.
It was just around the backyard, but still fun.

Everyday we practice with Preston on his walking.
And everyday he shows little to no interest in it.
Most of the time this happens- He'll stand and smile at me and then put his fingers in his mouth (a result of teething).
Then when we let go he just lets himself fall forward.
Someday Preston, someday!

(Warning: LONG post ahead!)

Today Preston had his 12 month checkup.
Weight: 21.2lbs (25%)
Length: 31.5 inches (90%)
Head Circumference: 48cm (90%)

Translation- This child is long and lean.

HA!
Funny story, right after we took this picture Preston lifted up his shirt to flash us.

The doctor said Preston looks great. He said that his taste buds may not be developed yet, and that could be why he is a picky eater, but that it will work itself out, so not to worry too much about it at this time. He said it's ok for us to wean him off the bottle and switch to sippy cups (which we were already doing). He listened to his chest a long time because ever since Preston had croup in December he's had a cough that hasn't gone away. He said he did hear some definite wheezing in his chest, and gave us a prescription to try. If that doesn't work then we'll go back in in a few weeks, but I'm sure it will work. He said developmentally Preston is right on track, and was impressed with his chattering. He did get 3 shots including the chicken pox vaccination, and he's hasn't had any problems with the shots as of this evening.

I never posted Preston's 12 month facts, so here we go!!

*He sleeps from about 7:30-7:30.

*He only takes 1 nap a day now, usually in the afternoon for a few hours. We aren't very strict with this, and if he needs a morning nap we'll give him a morning nap.

*He has a love/hate relationship with baths. Some weeks he loves baths, especially with bubbles, some weeks he hates them. I do so hope this is a phase.

*He hates to be held down or confined. This means whenever he gets his diaper changed, or we get him dressed he whines, crys and squirms to get away. He hates to be undressed but loves to be naked.

*He can wave, clap, and give hi-5's. We're working on folding arms and fist pumps.

*He has 2 teeth on bottom, 2 front teeth and another 2 teeth up top are on their way in.

*He's SUPER ticklish, and tries to stop himself from laughing by putting his hands in or over his mouth.

*Whenever he sits in his carseat, highchair, on the ground, on your lap, anywhere he always crosses his feet at the ankles. Seems to be a comfortable position for him.

*He likes to dance and sing, and sings in different tones for different songs. If we're listening to "daddy's music" he does more of a growling, but if its a fun song it's high pitch.

*He's very much into balls and cars. He'll roll the car around making car noises, and will usually say "go" before he throws the ball.

*He can shake his head yes/no, but involves his whole body in the process. Usually if he nods yes his whole torso moves, and with no he moves his upper half side to side.

*He loves to play with other kids, but is more content to watch them play with his toys then to try to take them away when they have them. Sharing doesn't seem to be an issue at this point.

*He did go through a brief biting phase, which thankfully for now is over.

*He loves to give hugs and will pass them out more then he will kisses. He usually saves his kisses for his mama :D

*He could totally walk if he wanted to. He's taken up to 4 steps on his own like it was no big deal when we weren't especially watching. But if you try to get him to do it all of the sudden it's a game when he falls and you catch him.

*He is a VERY picky eater. His favorite foods are: grilled cheese, pancakes, bananas, toast or any kind of bread, rolls, bread sticks, pudding, oatmeal, yogurt, cream of wheat, tater tots/french fries, chicken fries, graham crackers, and thats about it. Everything else is a fight to get him to try. But we keep trying. If i chop something up real small I can hide it in his grilled cheese, and so that's how he gets most of his chicken & veggies. He wont eat them on his own. He does get some skin sensitivity if he has ranch dressing or tomato based things (ketchup, spaghetti sauce etc.), but it doesn't cause his lips/tongue to swell, he just gets really really red skin wherever it touches.

*Works on "projects" all day long. He'll take his blocks and move them into the toy basket, then take them out and put them atop his toy chest, then move them back into the box they go in. He does this with everything, just moves it from one spot to another over and over. Hard worker!

*He talks alllll the time. Chatters away like he understands what I'm saying and answers back.

Words he can say clearly: mama, dada, ball, huh, yeah, no
Words he will occasionally say/words he is working on: bird, bye, go, soft, dog, Jack, whats that, all done, amen, drink, juice, book, car

Preston's fortune today: Including others in your life will bring you great happiness.

So we are about a month and a half away from hitting our 1 year mark on Preston365. I'm trying to decide what to do with the blog, and so I created a poll about it.
It's right over there ----->
TAKE THE POLL!!
I need thoughts and opinions!!!

Today we got to go out to celebrate Chelsey's birthday with a great dinner & great company. As always Preston had a blast playing with his cousins.

This whole week Preston has been such an outside boy.
He will whine if I open the door to let the dog in/out and he doesn't get to go out too. Or if we open the front door and he doesn't get to go out he makes his displeasure known. So we went to the park a few times this week and spent a lot of time outside in the backyard on a blanket.
His favorite thing is to sit on my lap as we point out birds to each other. Then he scours the sky for any sort of airplane or helicopter. We really hope his love for the outdoor is something he'll have forever.

On a side note, he ate 2 bananas and some cauliflower today. Trust me, this is a momentous thing and needed to be documented.

Rylie came over to play with her betrothed, Preston tonight.
Always fun times.

Maybe now that he has a hammer he wont be stealing all my wooden spoons and I can actually use them again!

p.s - for the video we posted yesterday, if you double click on the video itself it will open in a new window and then you can see the whole screen not just half of it.

I feel like in the past few weeks Preston has really learned a lot. In this video he shows off some of his new tricks like pointing to his head, giving 5, and saying ball. Even after we shot this video he started shaking his head no which he hasn't done before. He's so bright :D

Everything gets to ride in the school bus. Blocks, people, puzzle pieces, they all enjoy a ride.

"Hello? You want to talk to Preston? Ok, here he is!"

Preston had some tissue paper pompoms up for decoration at his party yesterday. I told him that if he left them alone at the party he could play with them today. So he spent some quality time with them today. He's making this face because he was hiding behind them playing peek-a-boo and I spotted him.

Then he moved on to playing with his shaker cars.
Apparently it surprised him that the wheels would still turn even if it wasn't on the ground.
Hahah!! What a goofy kid.

Today we had some family over for Preston's pancake birthday party.
We had buttermilk, chocolate chip & blueberry pancakes - Prestons favorite.
He got a lot of really great gifts.
CLOTHES!!! He really needed some new clothes, and now he'll be styling.
And of course some toys including some new shaker cars, books, and Cardinals sippy cups.

While everyone else had Candy Grahams Preston had his own cake.
I was happy that he didn't cry when everyone started singing to him.
He enjoyed the singing so much that after it was over he kept trying to sing more.

Once the candle was out I took his Birthday Boy shirt off him and he had some cake. He didn't tear into it like I thought he would. He isn't a big fan of getting his hands dirty when he eats (he prefers it if I feed him opposed to him feeding himself) so he was weary of the cake and the mess it made.
He did take a few bites, but must have been too full of pancakes to have a lot.

And now the birthday celebrations are at an end.
Happy Birthday Preston.
We love you so much and feel so blessed to be your parents.

This afternoon Preston helped me to bake his cake for his party tomorrow.
You can see his 2 front teeth in these pictures!!
Doesn't he just look older today?!?!

I think he approves!

HAPPY 1ST BIRTHDAY PRESTON!!!!!
We had a great day today celebrating.
We started out the day taking some 1yr old pictures in his new birthday shirt.

Then we went to one of Preston's favorite hang out spots, the park!!
There was swinging.

And feeding the ducks.

And slides.

Then we went to Toys-R-Us.
It was his first time there, and there were lots of "wow"s being repeated, especially in the section with all the cars and trucks.
After Toys-R-Us we went to Krispe Kreme Donuts for free Birthday donuts!
It was his first time there also, and he REALLY enjoyed it.

When we got home he had his favorite lunch: grilled cheese with a side of sliced bananas. And of course the other half of his donut.

After a long nap, and when his Daddy got home there were some presents to be opened!!

Preston requested a birthday dinner at Texas Roadhouse. I couldn't argue with that! So off we went. A balloon man made him a mouse which he had fun playing with.

The girls were nice enough to give him a birthday "yee-haw", which he was ok with at first.....

But then decided he was about done with that!!

All was forgiven when they brought him some ice cream with chocolate syrup.

All in all it was great day!! He got to do all his favorite stuff, eat all his favorite foods and had a wonderful time.