phone post...?

i have so many videos on my phone and it just now occured to me to post them from here!

video of roman in his new hiding spot

Firsts

Last week Roman learned to blow on a whistle! He also blew a kiss to me for the first time. I captured the second on video. I will do my best to get it up here soon.

Upset baby new recipe.

This morning I made an overnight french toast with some left over cranberry walnut bread using the following recipe. Roman was just throwing a fit because he ate his breakfast first while it was in the oven, then I shared some with him but when it was gone he was VERY upset. Stomping his feet and pouting and yelling about it. It was pretty funny. I guess he likes this one too.

adapted from this website. I have made another pumpkin one before and it is SOOO GOOD! We topped both with whip cream and agave/maple syrup. I have yet to make the crust on either. I dont think it needs it, but I am sure it would only be that much better. I do like the cubes of bread in this one.

Ingredients

• 1 cup whole milk
• 3/4 cup milk
• 3 large eggs
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• squirt of Agave nectar
  
• 1 tbl ground cinnamon
• 5 cups cubed crusty bread (I didn't measure.. it was just the rest of the loaf I think it was over 5 though)
  

Directions

Night before

• In a bowl, whisk together milk, eggs, yolk, salt, agave, and cinnamon.
• Add the bread cubes to the dish you will be using.
  
• Pour milk mixture on top
• Cover with aluminum foil and refrigerate
  

Next morning

• Take out of fridge and let come to room temp while oven heats up
• Preheat oven to 350ºF
• Bake until custard is set 25 to 35 minutes, depending on bread
• I topped mine with some cinnamon and sugar before I put it in the oven. I had to mix around my bread crumbs in the mixture before I went to bed. I had so many they didn't all get soaked. When I put it in the top layer became pretty crusty, but it was still good.
  

Things Roman has put in my boot...

Since its winter out I have my boots close to the door. Roman likes to put things in them. I decided I should start to post more of the little things he does so I never forget. Just now as I decided to write this he walked over to me happily carrying my boot and about to stick the toe in his little mouth. Lucky me, I grabbed it just in time, then he came back with the second one in his mouth. EWW.. gross. He got me. Good job Roman.

The first time this happened it was magnetic letters from the fridge. I went to put on my boot and had to dump out about 7 letters to get my foot in. Today he had put his shoe inside my boot and was carrying it around. He has also put his shoes inside the cereal box. He is our little squirrel. He likes to stash things around the house. He also has a few places in the kitchen that has things of his. One drawer and one cabinet. The drawer has sippy cups and bowls and a few little food pouches that we take on the go. It also has all the pacifiers he would not take. He likes to pull all those out and test them another time, then then end up all over the place.

Those happen to be the boots that Roman loves to play with. I will say that he does like to play with any shoes that happen to be around. This is the same face he made in all 3 photos with Santa. I would have bought all three if it wasnt so darn expensive! I think its wrong how much it costs to take ONE photo with Santa. This is his first since we didn't so it last year but that's okay because he was santa last year.

Walking because of the Cast

Roman took his first steps on October 3rd. He didn't seem that interested in doing it alone until the end of October when he fell while taking two steps to the couch and hurt his poor little arm. He didnt even fuss when it happened. He wouldn't put weight on it to crawl that night and would cry when he did. I was worried and kept an eye on it for the weekend. Sunday my mom found that his forearm was slightly swollen. So Monday I took him to Grandma Corona's work where they took an Xray and found he had a small fracture. The Dr. said we could put a cast on to protect his arm and to keep it from hurting him. So we did it.

I took some video of him getting the cast, and I am glad I did because I was behind him and could not see his face. Oh so cute. He was so good! He pulled on it at the start and at the end he was getting bored sitting there. He did so much better then I would have ever thought having it on too! He pretty much stopped crawling that day because it was not as easy to crawl with the cast. SO I can say with most certainty that he officially started to walk on Nov 1. AKA the day of the cast. It was off by Saturday.

The fractured bones.

I can't even see them in this photo.. thats how minor

We went to a park the same day and he seemed just fine!

Roman turned one!

I really am horrible at this blog thing. We moved to Va. Roman turned 1 year old. Tony got a new job. We drove to Va from Tx. Roman started to walk. Roman got his third tooth. Did I mention we moved from Texas? SOO I have some blogging to do about this. I will leave you with a few pictures from his 1st birthday party.

Playing with his new toy car. Seeing Tony the first time in over a month too!

Yes it does look like that candle would be fun to touch..

But its not.

Yes that happened. He was scared but had no injuries from touching the flame.

(I took the picture because I knew his hand was okay but it still makes me frown seeing it)

He recovered just fine

He was still very unsure about the cake. I think I ate more off my fingers then he did.

He would not touch it himself.

Not the first birthday cake experience we had hoped for, but it sure is memorable.

MORE posts to come!

September Update in Photos

since I have not filled in the blog world I thought I would make this post to inform my future self of the past few weeks. I think I made a few small updates, but I will post pictures from the past month now!

Roman took his first steps yesterday! I took video on my phone too and Tony got to see it minutes after it happened. I took a few pics also. We were at a tennis thing for Hunter and we later headed to the fair. He walked to my mom who was holding a chip that he wanted. He didn't get the chip, but he seemed excited about it! We had just been around another walking baby the night before.

Roman and I hung out in a park and took some 11 month pics last week

Took some pics with Grandpa Corona

Said bye to Tony as he left for his new job in Virginia

We also said bye to the Corona family too (and my parents)

He will talk on the phone.. or anything you give him

Romans reaction to the animals!

We went to Oktoberfest in Addison

Tony is so silly

We went to Grape Fest in Grapevine

We went to a bike race downtown Dallas

We saw Dr. Oz there too

We celebrated Tony's Birthday

We practiced walking, but it looks much more intense then it was.

Gotta love those food pouches! He just sucks them down!

We went to Grapevine for a town bike festival

We went to the TCU game at the Cowboys stadium

Update!

Since my eco blog so much has happened. Tony got a job offer in Virginia. He took it and he starts on Wed. He will be driving there tomorrow to get there on Tuesday. He will be working M-F in a training thing till Nov 1. So he wont be able to come back to help us move till after then.

We spent the afternoon at Uncle Joe and Aunt Karen's house saying bye to the rest of the Coronas and my Family. Unfortunately Missy and Chris are on a cruise so they will have to wait till Tony comes back to say bye. I hope they had lots of fun and cant wait to hear stories!

Roman will be 11 months old on the 3rd of October. Everyone else is so good at telling their milestones so I am going to try to remember the things he does.

• Has only two bottom front teeth. No signs of more.
  
• Loves t o feed himself mum mums in banana and veggie and plum organics food pouches which he will suck down in 5 seconds flat.
  
• He is so good at crawling I think he has no interest in walking, but he is so good at it! He walks almost unassisted but if we let go he sits. He stands often alone now and seems to not notice then he sits down.
• He claps, high 5s, waves, gives kisses, points at us when you ask him (where's mama/dada or Elly/Mia) and throws the ball for Elly and giggles at the dogs. He also talks on the phone and loves the remote. He has a fake phone that looks real and he jabbers on it often. He will talk to anything though.. lego, block, ball. He will also hand you things if you hold out your hand.
  
• He can drink out of a cup, a water bottle, a sippy cup, and a straw he can even do the camel back ones too. He doesn't drink much besides water. He will drink out of a juice box. He will also spit it out just as good as he drinks it for fun too.
  
• He loves to play with Elly even when she is not interested in him, he thinks they are playing.
• He loves other babies and points and talks to them in stores
• He is a cuddle bug and loves to hug on me and tony
• He enjoys flap books and looking under the flaps.
  
• He loves to go on walks in the stroller. I think he could stay in it all day long if I could move all day!
• He can say mama, dada, and we think he says ball and dog... but they sound like Bah and Dah. He uses them correctly so we are almost positive that's what he is saying as of tonight.
• He is wearing anything from 6 to 18 months. I would say the 12 -18 months is much roomier but not too big.
  
• Size 3 and 4 shoes but we don't wear them often he only has 2 pairs that he wears and his dress shoes.
• Size 3 diapers
• Still nursing a few times a day mostly mornings and afternoons and not at night.
  
• Sleeps all night from 8 pm to almost 7 am most nights. The past few nights it's been a little later to bed, but still early to rise!
• We are still wrapping him up (swaddling) to get him to sleep. He will go to sleep on his own sometimes. I sometimes worry this is bad and he needs to sleep on his own then we let him cry for a minute (or more) and he is out but its nice to hold him since he is getting big so fast. When he sleeps on his own its so cute because he will stick his butt in the air and tuck his legs under.

Thats about all I can think of for tonight. Tony put Roman to sleep and it will be more then a month before he can do it again. :( Night all!

Roman has a TOOTH and other things

Roman listening to Grandpa Corona

He goes under!

He is okay though..

Roman with and a bunny that I had when I was a baby - so its old.

His first tooth came in last week! Its been a long time coming too! Since he was almost 3 months old and had his hands in his mouth I have been hearing how "he is going to get a tooth any day now" from everyone and their mom. My mom and mil included. I honestly thought he would but at 5 months with no teeth I started to stop thinking and for sure at 7 I had given up and thought he would just never eat with teeth and we would have to get him baby dentures. No, but really its just the cutest thing!

He is growing up so fast and I find it hard to believe the past year has gone by so fast. One year ago we were in Germany and today we are back in Texas! Roman has gone from being in my tummy to crawling around and walking and holding my hands. He giggles and smiles at strangers. He claps when we cheer for him. He drops things on the ground and watches them fall. He gives high 5s to Tony! Today he talked on the phone for the first time for real. Most times I try to catch him making sounds but the past two days he was holding things up to his ear and making baby sounds... things like the remote for the TV and a real phone. He loves his bath. He sleep around 10 to 12 hours a night. Depending on where he is and if he hears others awake before him. The other night he slept from 8 pm to 8:15 am! It was great, because it coincided with when I was sick and had mastitis. So I went to bed at 9:30 and it gave me plenty of sleep. He loves fruits and he is now eating veggies without fruits mixed in. He eats 2 to 3 jars of food at a meal. He is nursing still about 3 times a day. He loves the pool too. It has been so hot out and we dont have easy easy access to a pool so we have not been that many times this summer. He is wonderful when we are out and about. I am starting to try to have a schedule. The only time he seems very calm is in the car seat and I worry about that! Today we went to a thrift store and he played with a gross dirty toy that I know is gross and dirty but he wanted to play with it so bad that I just let him do it. I also have made a pledge to buy only used clothes for Roman and try to get his toys the same way. I started out with a cute T and a little button up sleeper/outfit. I will post my finds too! They were $3.50 total!

NINE MONTHS!! (& a few days..) and a trip

9 Month post a few (10) days late.

Look at those eyes! He is such a good little traveler

Roman had his check up last week and he is growing but its slowed up since he turned 6 months as expected.

He is:

29 inches puts him in the 75th percentile for length

18 lbs 3 oz in the 25th percentile for weight

17.5 inches around in the 44th percentile for head circumference

He is for sure getting a tooth! We finally see a little white under is gums. He has had some other signs of teething as well. He doesnt seem any more annoyed by his mouth then normal but there is FOR SURE a little white speck that is getting bigger and bigger. Cant feel anything yet. He had chicken from the table last night and HE LOVED IT. He does not like the ground up stuff in the jar but he enjoyed eating the little pieces I gave him.

In other times..

We drove up to Oklahoma to see some friends from Germany who are now based there. Matt and Mike both worked with Tony but they didn't know each other before the course and they have become friends. Mike has a wife Rebekka and two kids. One they had before they left Germany 2 years ago and the second we got to meet for the first time on this trip. She was a bit over a month old I believe. Tony would have been in this very course had he stayed in the Army. He actually got his orders when we were still in Germany to go and he had to cancel them. Hard to believe our lives are still up in the air after almost 4 months but I know that when we look back this time will seem like a blink of an eye. We are thankful that our families are able to help us out and let us crash with them. :)

Here are a few pics from our trip up to Ok. Its a long drive but it was worth it in one day to see them and hang out a little! We have added two kids to our group since we last saw them!

Roman is very worried about her since she is crying.

about to go four wheeling

He is off.. I think.

Mike and little William

The Sky on the way back from Oklahoma on July 24th

Sale on organic baby food

Recently I found out about these awesome baby foods. They come in a bag and they mix the fruits and veggies AND Roman (your baby) can just suck them out of the bag. They are so good I dont even put a bib on him because he doesn't spill. You can also squeeze them onto a spoon or in to the mouth, but he learned fast how to suck on them. There are 2 brands that I found at BabiesRus, Ella's Kitchen see selections on web {here} and Plum Organics {here}.

They are both on sale now at BabiesRus. I have found that the Plum ones (8 for $8) have more in them then the Ella's Kitchen (I think it was 8 for $10). The Ella's kitchen are on sale at Central Market now for $1! So the better deal still is the 8 for $8 (because you get more) BUT They have different selections of fruits and veggies.

We also just tried yogurt too! HE loves it. I got a tub of the whole fat plain and we mix it with a fruit. Today I thought about mixing in his veggies too since I already mix them with his fruits anyways then when we were at Central Market we found this yogurt that mixes fruit and veggies! CRAZY! We got strawberry and Carrots and he LOVED it tonight. Yumm.. doesn't that sound good?! It didnt taste that bad. Yes, I try everything Roman eats - potatoes and spinach are gross in baby food but good in real food, odd.

I have been buying only organic foods for him. He has eaten a few non organic things but I am trying!! Its more expensive but I think its better for him. I think its even more important when I am going to make it for him since I dont test them like the baby food people do. I said I always mix fruits and veggies and for the most part I do BUT today he ate lunch that was ALL veggies and no fruits. :) SO happy. He had sweet Potatoes and cinnamon and summer squash.

The other day he had a "my first baby soup" I don't think it is any different then other baby foods are so I am not sure how they can call it soup but they do. I got a variety pack at babiesRus (2 for $15 - on sale now) and didn't realize it had chicken in it till he ate half of it!!!! I was so freaked out about him eating meat! I just think its weird for babies to eat meat, they are sweet little babies not carnivores. Why would they have a split pea bisque with chicken in it?!

So I am still making him foods, but he tends to like the store stuff. So I have to force him to eat my stuff. I personally think mine is just as good but he disagrees. I might try to mix it into his plain yogurt tomorrow.

pretend I posted a pic of Roman being cute.

Mango, Peas, and Pears Please.

Roman on July 5th in the pool with his ducky

Same day

Roman eating the beets my mom made for him - Or not eating

He looks like he just killed something.. and put on lipstick.

I was laughing so hard when i took this because it really looked like he had on lipstick!

I love reading posts but I just hardly have much to say and plus sometimes I don't feel like anyone reads my blog. I know you do.. Since you are right now. BUT sometimes I don't know who YOU are. I will admit that sometimes I don't read a post if there are no photos. SOO I posted photos. :) Just for those like me.
Leave some love.

Well this post might not interest many but I made a second attempt at making foods for Roman.
To backtrack - So far I have pureed and froze (Organic) Carrots, sweet potatoes, and pears. All in individual little cubes. I was so excited because he had liked the sweet potatoes and carrots that I got at the store at that point and when I was making him the pears I let him taste it in his mesh teether and he LOVED them. But he seems to hate my food. I think its not as smooth as the jars. I had to mix it with jars to get him to eat most of it. Sometimes he ate mine alone, not its still not gone. I decided to buy jars in an effort to get him to eat more things and see what he likes because at almost 8 months he had had like 5 things. I tried to start him on Veggies. I think he had bananas, then avocados, sweet potatoes - Maybe? Did I post about this already? Why did I not write this down? OK well. He hates veggies now. He has had a handful of others now and its official that he does not like any and all veggies unless they are mixed with fruits and preferably pears. He LOVES pears. I think tonight he ate so many that he was stuffed and not happy. He also likes bananas but I found out they are binding we are trying to be unbinding so I am limiting his banana intake now. Poor little guy was having troubles with his output.

I recently found a new prodcut at BabiesRUS. Its food pouches. They have mixed fruits and veggies in fun combos. Like "sweet potatoes, pumpkin, apples, and blueberries" or "Broccoli, pears, and peas". The two companies are Ella's Kitchen and Plum Organics. They have many combos and I was told by two people in the isle that their kids LOVE them. SOO i had to try them for Roman. He of course loves them and he can suck on them like a little juice pack with a giant straw. Or you can squeeze it right into his mouth or onto a spoon. We love them they are so easy to use! PLUS I think I can upcycle Ella's Kitchen. See Terracycle for more info on upcycling. Get paid to save the earth! I think I might do a post on them. !?

Why am I talking about them when I am supposed to be talking about homemade foods? Because they inspired me to make my own veggie/fruit mix. I came up with drum roll.......... Mango, Peas, and Pears of course - Hint hint! Let me tell you I am so proud they tasted good! I did about 1 cup peas and used one small pear and one mango. I choose not to peal the pear since he should be able to digest them at his age easily (according to the internet). I used ice cube trays for the first half then had the brilliant idea of freezing them in my extra Medela bags. BRILLIANT Idea. Since the peal did not puree very well I decided to strain it in a pasta strainer to get some of the larger pieces out. I put them in the bags and was able to see how much it was. Since its in a larger portion for him now I plan to just take out the bag and thaw in the fridge or in warm water then serve! The cubes also were getting freezer burn in the bag and I hope this will prevent it. I plan to make something with apples, broccoli, carrots, blueberries and I think blackberries. Whats the difference with Yams and Sweet potatoes I have those to use too? I know people have different thoughts on berries, but he has had strawberries and raspberries with no reaction so as long as the internet doesn't freak me out I plan to use those soon too.

Roman liked it tonight, but I gave him the unstained version so I did have some food spit back out, but he ate most of it with some added pears and some bites he ate just fine with no added pears! (I have a ton of Organic Pears since it was the special of the day at BabiesRUs - 3.60 for 12 jars!) I think I will for sure make this again and maybe just use mango and pear? Or Peach instead? The possibilities are endless! Wish me luck!

Happy 4th!!

I Hope everyone had a great 4th of July Weekend! Fireworks for anyone??! The rain has kept us from wanting to venture out to see any. We spent yesterday at my parents house with the coronas too. IT was an surprise birthday party for me. The earliest I have ever officially celebrated, but not the earliest I have started! Its my birthday month, right?! Missy made me a tree hugger cake. It was so cute and perfect for me.

Today we plan to spend the afternoon at Tony's Aunt and Uncle. My parents might stop by too for a bit. I plan on swimming rain or shine and it looks like shine! I know Roman is excited about getting in the pool too.

Roman turned 8 months old yesterday and he is doing so many things. I uploaded all the videos from the past 4 months from our computer and got to relive it all again. From our last days in our house there to the hotel to all our trips. He started to push up and roll over all the time, then he started to pull himself on the floor, then he ate his first solid foods, He started to officially crawl, Pull up to standing, Sit on his heels, sit up alone, go from crawling to sitting and vise versa, eat more big people foods. He also has been saying momma and sometimes dadda, he clicks his tongue and mouth making all kinds of sounds. He has also been sleeping all night long- That is a BIG one, I think it took him 7 months longer then all other babies we know. We are still nursing too. I have made him food too but he doesn't like my consistency I guess (I watered it down too), so I have been mixing it with cans till he will eat it more. He LOVES pears and raspberries. That is the only food he will eat the entire jar/container of. We are on 4 now. He hasn't eaten that much of anything else.

The following are a few pics I snapped in my parents backyard last.

Pulling up to stand

So cute

My mom helps him smile

"where did that kitty go?"

"now you see mom.."

"this is why I need.."

lounging baby

What a big boy!!!

The chair is from Iowa ;)