Bunny Bonanza

Chicago Park District knocks it out of the park again! Okay maybe I'm being a little dramatic. But I love that they put on fun and affordable family events for the little ones.

Our neighbor invited us to join them at Bunny Bonanza today. Adam had an absolute blast. It all started with a picture with the Easter bunny and I honestly wasn't quite sure how that was going to go. Thankfully Adam seemed more intrigued by him than anything and sat patiently on his lap while I snapped one million pictures. He didn't smile but at least he didn't scream either. Especially considering this was his first experience with any kind of giant dress-up holiday figure.  

Next we got in line for the bouncy house since Adam loves to jump. But when it was time to crawl through the little hole to go in to the house he freaked and didn't want to go in. So we went over and played some games that were set up in a different area. 

Next he did a craft and made an Easter egg magnet. He kept trying to feed it to his stuffed animal "bear bear" when we got home.  

Finally we attended the Easter egg hunt portion of the festivities and Adam actually did a good job collecting a bunch of eggs. He was only allowed to take three and since he can't count yet that concept didn't go over too well but he got over it quickly. 

Yay for Bunny Bonanza!!!

Mom and Dad's Visit

This past weekend my parents came to visit.  It's been so fun to see how Adam interacts with them each time they visit.  He's made it a long way from his 3 month old "Bottom Lip" phase (when he stuck his bottom lip out every time someone new would hold him right before he would full on cry).  He definitely recognizes my parents thanks to Facetime.

Saturday we went downtown for a little while to see the green river and walk around since it was semi-nice out.  Adam had a blast seeing all of the people, "beeping" when a horn would honk, and pointing at all of the trucks and buses.  He finally got to see boats in the river and shared his cheerios with a couple of lonely ducks.  My mom stayed back at the apartment to rest, so when we got home Adam filled her in on everything she missed. He loved standing there and "talking" to her.

Sunday we went out to the hotel that they stayed at to join them for breakfast.  Adam was all about pushing the elevator buttons and exploring the lobby. 

Another Little Announcement

Sweetness

Adam is doing so many sweet things right now that I want to write them down so I'll remember and never forget them.

He waves to the planes when we're going on walks and waves to the crowds on the Today Show when they span over them on TV. 

He has a new found love for his stuffed animals and is constantly hugging them, kissing them, and sharing his snacks and drinks with them.

When we point out something to him on a walk like a plane, a school bus, or a dog, as soon as they pass he asks for "more?"

He gets so excited when he hears the music to his favorite cheerio commercials on TV or when he sees a dog or cat in any of his books that he reads.

Most of the time when he disappears into a different room he's up to no good. But occasionally I'll go to find him and he's sitting and reading his books quietly.

What can I say? He loves fruit

Stuffs a whole strawberry in his mouth and immediately asks for "more!"

Mommycon!

I never heard of Mommycon until late last year.  Since having Adam, a passion for breastfeeding, babywearing, and cloth diapering has blossomed.  I am in various facebook groups, and saw this "mommycon" mentioned last year.  It seemed pretty cool, so I looked into it, and they happened to be having one in Chicago this year so of course I bought tickets.

It's basically what it sounds like, a conference for moms, with a big focus on babywearing, breastfeeding, cloth diapering, and natural parenting in general.  They had a big exhibit hall and various "seminars" or lectures throughout the day. I really enjoyed it, but I think it would have been more helpful if I went last year (a lot of the info was general/intro info to cloth diapering and babywearing, etc).  I got to meet some pretty prominent people in these domains, and it was awesome to hear the CEO of Cotton Babies (cloth diapers) speak.  She was so humble and smart and to hear how she came from practically nothing to growing the most popular cloth diaper brand out there was pretty amazing.

I got a ton of swag but by the end of the day I was completely exhausted.  Everyone said the best part is at the end of the day when "The Baby Guy" gives away tons of cool stuff.  There were over 1300 people there, and I never really win anything, but I figured I made it that long, I might as well stay another 45 minutes.  Imagine my shock and surprise when they called my number!!! I couldn't even believe it!! I won a Britax carseat and stroller travel system!!!!!  So awesome :)

Happy Valentine's Day!

Snow Day!

We had a ton of snow Superbowl weekend.  We took full advantage of it and covered Adam from head to toe in his snow gear.  He wasn't really too sure about it all at first, and definitely didn't know how to walk in it (as evidenced by a complete faceplant into the snow when I was literally 2 inches away from him...whoops!)
He rallied and eventually decided to explore a little.  He liked trying to throw snowballs and watch Bailey be crazy and have a blast running in the snow like she usually does.

Merry Christmas!

I was so excited for Christmas this year! I couldn't wait for Adam to come out in the morning and see his presents.  We didn't get him a ton, but I think he enjoyed opening and checking out the toys he did get. He's still mastering opening presents, and little miss impatient Bailey was happy to help him along when he was taking too long.  I'm not sure how well that's going to go over next year so hopefully his efficiency will pick up, lol. ;)

We had a nice quiet Christmas in Chicago.  It wasn't exactly what I had envisioned, because I hurt my back two days before and was pretty much stuck in bed or on the couch all day. But it was quiet and cozy and Adam certainly enjoyed a full day off with both of us there and lots of attention. 

Oops

My poor, sweet, abandoned blog!  I'm going to do a few "catch up" posts and backdate them to update on what's been going on since my last post in October!! 

To tide you over, here are a few pics of Adam and things he is loving lately:

• Wearing hats
• Giving kisses (especially to Bailey)
• Coloring
• Handing us things
• Choosing his books for nap and bedtime (and by "choosing" I mean he pushes the one out of the way that he doesn't want)
• Redecorating the Christmas Tree
• The neighbor's Christmas lights
• Watching me turn on the tree and mantle lights first thing in the morning
• Dumping things out of containers
• Pulling/pushing things around the apartment
• Opening and closing doors

And he still lets me wear him <3 br="">

My Family Visits

My parents and brother came out to visit this past weekend.  Adam loved having visitors and showing off for them. He especially loved getting scared by Uncle Matt.  He would legit jump when Matt would scare him and then he would run to me and laugh hysterically, then look for where Matt was hiding for the whole process to start again.

My parents stayed at a hotel near the airport so Saturday and Sunday morning we joined them for breakfast.  Adam had fun exploring at the hotel and standing in the window watching the cars. He is also obsessed with turning lights on and off and there was a perfectly placed Adam height lightswitch in their hotel room...probably his fav part :)

We didn't get out to do much while they were here, just enjoyed the company in our cozy apartment. We did attempt to go to the Zoo lights, but after a parking nightmare and a not very content little Bud we just went home. An hour and a half in the car was absolutely not worth seeing some Christmas lights. 

Here are a few pics from the visit!

O Christmas Tree!

We're saving the hassle errrr pure bliss of going to the Christmas tree farm to find the perfect tree for when Adam is a little older and can enjoy this Christmas memory.   So for now Tom went to Home Depot to pick out our tree while Adam and I prepped things at home.

Last year Adam was enthralled by the lights, and the only thing that has changed this year is that he is mobile and able to explore them independently.  He "helped" check all of our lights by dragging them all around the apartment for about 30 minutes.

I was worried about what he would do with the ornaments, so I tried to put soft/non-breakable ones near the bottom of the tree.  He focused in on 2-3 main ornaments that he constantly took off and "tried" to put back on.  Eventually he broadened his horizons and didn't discriminate against any of the other ornaments :P

Every single morning the first thing he does after he wakes up is take one of us by the hand and lead us out to the tree so we can turn on the tree lights.  Then he points at the mantle and waits patiently while we turn on the garland lights on the mantle.  It's going to be a sad day when we have to take down the tree!