Markus Walks!

Right before the New Year, Markus started walking! It took him a little over 13 months, but he finally took a few steps without holding on to anything. He's done it a couple of times and each time the room goes quiet with tension and excitement. Here's a short video where Markus demonstrates his talent (while acting like a little monster):

House update! The "Office" / New Baby's Room

What a busy year! Most of our time has been spent with Markus -- watching him grow, play, and learn. But there are those rare times where I find time to continue to do work on our first home! First, here's a picture of me in the backyard blowing around a pile of leaves onto a tarp, which I will drag out to the front of the house for our town will pick up. I just thought this was funny.

(apparently leaves fall of the trees EVERY year...who knew?)

The room next to Markus' room was supposed to be our office. It took me practically the entire year to get it up to snuff, mostly because I couldn't do any work at night in that room because it would wake Markus up. It turns out that this was serendipity. Now that's it's finished, we no longer are going to be using this as an office, but it will be the new nursery! Everything happens for a reason. Anyway, here's the rundown of what was done (that I can remember and not necessarily in this order) and some before/after pictures, which are always fun.

• Remove old, stank carpet
• Remove old tiles beneath carpet
• Refinish oak floors - sand and poly (contractors)
• Remove old doors, closet shelves, and trim (all of it, except window sash)
• Remove old light fixture
• Change all old outlets to new outlets
  
• Change old dimmer with new dimmer
  
• Change old telephone outlet to modern outlet
  
• Remove peeling paint from walls (almost all walls)
  
• Prime and seal walls, remove few more spots of bubbling old paint, and repeat.
• Fix bumpy ceiling (corner near entry door was bad)
  
• Skimcoat all walls and ceiling (3 coats min, with sanding in between each coat!)
• Prime all walls and ceiling
• Install new door (solid, six-panel)
• Install new closet doors (bi-fold set)
  
• Install new trim (baseboards, door, window, and closet)
• Caulk around trim
• Prime and paint all trim and doors
• Strip old registers of paint (the reason I did this was because our registers are some unique size that Home Depot/Lowes doesn't carry. I thought this was a viable option and they came out nice). Spray primer and spray paint.
  
• Paint ceiling
• Paint walls
• Install new light and window shades
  
• CLEAN UP

I think that about covers it. I finished this about two or three months ago. This room is basically all new now, with nice smooth walls and ceiling. We will now decorate it for our new baby! Here are the b/a pictures. I matched up some of the photos as best I could.

(corner, new trim, register, blinds outlet, floor)

(closet, you can see the peeling paint)

(old door)

(new door -- thanks BRO!)

That reminds me -- hanging a new door (even if pre-hung!) is not easy when the entire house is lopsided! My brother and I changed 5 doors upstairs (3 bedroom, 1 bath, 1 linen closet) and each one was much more difficult that we originally thought due to the unevenness of the framing.

Anyway, the next and current project is the shag carpet room (update: no more shag remains!). The plan is to rip off the faux wood paneling (YIKES), change the two little closets into one pantry, remove the textured ceiling and faux wood beams (YIKES), put in some better lighting, new trim, doors, and some laminate wood flooring, which will continue to the basement laundry room. Piece of cake, no? I'll probably have an update in 3 years!

Markus 12 month check-up & updates

We forgot to update with Markus' 12 month stats! We took him in for the first dose of the flu shot on 11/7 (children his age need 2 shots, at least one month apart. I am making him appt. for dose #2 soon). Then on 11/21, we took him back in for his regular check-up. It had been 3 months, so we were anxious to see how much he'd grown and how his development was measuring up.

12 month stats
Height/length: 31.5 in
Weight: 31 lbs, 2 oz (!!!!!)
Head circumference: 19 3/4 in
Vaccines: chicken pox, Hep A, Prevnar

So...needless to say our little guy is not so little anymore! Markus' weight is now so far off the charts for baby boys his age that the pediatrician is concerned. We (I) did get a lecture about feeding him. We're to give him 3 meals a day sitting in his high chair or stroller (whichever I can manage with my growing belly, especially considering his hefty weight and my restrictions on heavy lifting due to advancing pregnancy), and NO SNACKS. I used to give Markus little baby puffs in varying flavors at least twice a day, or little zesty tomato flavored crunchy sticks. No more of those!

Markus is also completely off formula and drinking 2-3 bottles of whole milk a day. We had started weaning him from the formula by using a tapering strategy for a few weeks before he turned one. We started with 2 oz milk/5 oz formula, then moved to half and half, finally ending with 2 oz formula/5 oz milk, until we just gave him a full bottle of milk. He had a really easy time with it. Judging by his weight, we know he loves to eat and is not too picky!

Markus started crawling (and if there were a speed-crawling category in the Olympics, I think my son would win) at 9 months. Actually, it was less than a week after his pediatrician appointment on 8/22, at which we'd reported that he wasn't crawling. From my observations, Markus is capable of more than he's actually doing. So although I must now report that he isn't walking yet, I must qualify that by saying that he's fully capable of walking, when he deems himself good and ready to do it. He's got great balance; I've seen him stand unsupported for several seconds, crouch to pick up a toy from the floor, and stand back up. I've also seen him stand unsupported and bounce up and down, bending at the knees, for several beats of a song (Markus loves dancing to music). So I know he CAN walk. He just DOESN'T. ;)

As far as speaking, he still won't say "mama," much to my dismay. He spends 90% of his waking time with me, but he won't call me. :( But he does love to say "Dada" and says it often. His real first word is "Agua." It comes out sounding like "Ooo-wah", but I love that my child is bilingual from the start! My mother taught him how to say it, and he knows that the words "water" and "agua" mean the same thing. If I ask him in English if he'd like some water, he responds by saying "Ooh-wah." I'm hoping by the time we return to the pediatrician for his 15 month check-up on Feb. 14, he'll have mastered a few more words!

A picture in honor of Markus's being 13 months old today!

It's Santa Time!

We weren't sure how Markus would react to meeting Santa Claus. He's normally shy with strangers for a few minutes, and bearded strangers get the most wary treatment of all - if he doesn't scream his head off at them! Still, we wanted him to have his picture taken with Santa, this being the first Christmas he's old enough for such things.

It turned out well! He's not smiling, but he was very calm when meeting Santa! I just walked up and plopped Markus on Santa's lap, then paused for just a second to make sure he wouldn't cry and reach for me. When he didn't, I ran away and let the photographers do their thing. I love it!

Announcement

We've told all (or most!) of our real life friends and family, so it's about time to come out on the blog: we're expecting our second child! I'm 16 weeks today, and couldn't be happier about our upcoming new addition to the family. I'm due on May 5, so we'll have a spring baby to join our fall baby. Our 2 little ones will be just under 18 months apart, and #2 is due just 2 days before Raph's and my 5 year wedding anniversary! An exciting springtime lies ahead. :)

So now that it's out in the open, I can show you all some party pictures from last Saturday. I look quite positively pregnant in them, hence the forewarning above. Thanks again to everyone who came out to celebrate Markus' first with us!



































And for the grandmas, a special picture:

Toys!

Markus' first birthday party was a success! Sandra and I were very happy to see all of our friends and family come and celebrate the little guy's first year. It's always very special to get together with everyone. It's those moments that are the most important in life and I always wish there were more of them.

Markus also got a bunch of presents, which he is excited to play with. Sandra and I got him a Radio Flyer wagon. We opened it up at night, but didn't assemble it yet. That didn't prevent Markus from sitting in his new ride and enjoying it. Here are some pictures:





(I was tickling him)



You can see that Markus has his favorite blue ring with him, and his pal, Scary Puppy Toy (SPT) opposite him. Sandra and I call that toy SPT because when we first got her, she would start talking randomly and scaring us. Markus loves her, so we keep her around. But we're sure to turn her switch to "off" at night. =)

Happy 1st Birthday!

Markus' 1st birthday was yesterday and we had a tiny little celebration at home -- the big party is on Saturday. What an amazing first year it's been and, of course, we're shocked about how quickly it has gone. We're very proud of our little guy, and of ourselves, and I was so happy at work all day. I bought some Crumbs cupcakes to celebrate, and we even let Markus have some. Not too much, as it was almost time for bed, but he definitely liked it! It's no secret that I love the sweets, so it looks like Markus has this gene in him as well.

Here is a picture of us blowing out a candle with him.



Extra special thanks to Markus' aunt Natalie, who came over to celebrate with us and took this picture!

Looking forward to the big celebration we have for the weekend!