Coloring

On Friday night, after dinner, things got crazy in this house...we broke out the crayons! ;) 

My artists hard at work.

Ok, he may have had help with that drawing ;)
 

 



Choo-Choo

Last week, an email came from my Mom's Group about local Holiday Train & Light Displays to check out.  After reading about the Holiday Festival of Trains at the B&O Railroad Museum, I sold Frank on the idea of taking a family trip to Baltimore on Sunday to check it out.  I had honestly never even heard of the train museum and wasn't sure what to expect - but was pleasantly surprised.  There is a lot to see and they had great Christmas mini model train 'towns' set up and a few larger model trains running around Christmas trees.  Frankie was in heaven.

 

Perfect picture of Frankie's excited face - Imagine him sucking in his breath while frantically waving his arms.  Excitement.

Posing by the larger model trains.

He kept pointing towards the carousel, but wasn't quite sure what to think when he got to ride it.

What trip to a train museum would be complete without a train ride with Frosty?!?

 

After lunch and a stroll around the Inner Harbor, we headed home just in time for Frankie to catch some zzz's for his afternoon nap.  It was such an enjoyable family day!

 

Thankful

“Be present in all things and thankful for all things.” - Maya Angelou

In our highly connected, fast paced society, we often find ourselves multi-tasking and not truly enjoying each moment.  We might be at dinner and browsing Facebook or in the middle of a conversation and checking email.  We are so easily distracted and have become dependent on up-to-the-second news flashes - whether it be late breaking news from CNN or the need-to-know fact that your neighbor/Facebook friend just scored a great deal shopping on Black Friday.  Lately everything seems so rushed - so this Thanksgiving, instead of a quick trip to my family's for dinner and then immediately driving home, we decided to spend three days in Winchester.  Time to truly relax, unwind, be present and thankful for each other's company.  We went for walks, played in the yard, chopped down our Christmas tree, lounged and, oh yea - ate!  It was so enjoyable - and really gave me time to reflect and be thankful.
 

Driving the Kubota (tractor)

 

Playing outside with Grammy's dog

Hunting for the perfect Christmas tree

 

A Frankie-size tree!

Daddy doing the chopping while Frankie supervises

All that hard work deserves a cookie!

Posing with the carriage

13 Months

The weekend before Frankie turned 13 months, a flip switched and he was all of a sudden walking.  I'm not talking 5 or 6 steps here and there like before - I mean, full fledged walking.  Everywhere.  He all of a sudden figured it out and it's now his preferred mode of transportation.  Forget crawling.  He's too cool for that now.

 

 

While we were at breakfast that same weekend, I started singing "Patty Cake" to Frankie and he finally clapped along with me!  I was singing just to try to entertain him while we were wrapping things up at the restaurant and wasn't expecting him to clap, so I nearly fell out of my chair.  Finally! 

 

The other morning, I was drinking my coffee while feeding Frankie breakfast and he saw me blowing on my coffee to cool it off...so now he blows on his food - which really means he just spits but it's still cute. 

 

He is talking up a storm.  His favorite word is "bee-yap"  or "bee-ya".  I really wish I knew what he was trying to say!  We were playing with his farm sound puzzle last week and I asked Frankie what the sheep said and my jaw dropped when he said "baa".  Ok - that might have been a coincidence, but lately as we read books, when I point out cats, he's said "mee, mee" a few times.  I really think he's starting to understand a lot.

 

In this video, Frankie was playing around after dinner and would do "no hands" with his spoon - He thought it was hysterical to put the spoon in his mouth and take his hands off of it.  I tried to get it on video, but right at the end, I ran out of space on the flip camera!  Doh!

 

 

See, he totally understands when I ask him where his spoon is!  It's so amazing to me watching him develop. 

 

Here he is doing the same trick with one of his toys.  Mr. Funnypants.

 

 

He has also figured out how to ride his 'bus'.  I went in the other room to do something and came back out to find him sitting on his toy.  He hasn't quite mastered moving his legs to get around on it, but at the rate he's going, it probably won't take long!

 

 

Little Stinker

Per our usual Halloween tradition, we hit up the Pocomoke Street Halloweenie Roast - with our little stinker.  My mom did an excellent job on Frankie's skunk costume...He even liked it - for the most part!  We attempted trick-or-treating at one house, which went something like this:

 

Woman opens the door with bowl full of candy

Frankie stops dead in his tracks and just stares at her

I pick up Frankie and put his hand in the candy bowl and say "trick-or-treat"

Frankie continues staring at the woman, not moving

 

Deciding that my gig would be up if I took the candy - based on Frankie's complete disinterest, it would be rather obvious that the candy was be for me - I grabbed my skunk and headed home!  Maybe next year!

 

Happy Halloween!

 

 

He was fascinated by the candle inside the pumpkin

Pocomoke Street kids

Kitchen Helper

The little man helping me unload the dishwasher...

And get ingredients out of the fridge for dinner...

C is for Cookie!

While brainstorming for themes for Frankie's first birthday, I thought to myself, "Jeez - What does this kid like?  He loves milk - What am I going to do, have a milk party?"  Which soon transformed into a milk and cookies party - and ultimately we landed on a Cookie Monster theme.  Perfect!  Until I realized that the only Sesame Street character that has easy-to-find birthday decorations is that darn Elmo.  But my mind was made up - I was going to throw Frankie a Cookie Monster birthday even if it meant I had to make most of the decorations.  I mean, I had pretty much promised him a Cookie birthday and I couldn't let him down, right? ;)

 

First thing's first - the invitations went out:

 

 

And then the cake.  I really wanted a 3-D cookie monster cake and started by calling local bakeries, and after picking my jaw off the floor upon hearing two price quotes, I had to come up with another plan.  I searched and searched the internet for instructions and cookie monster cake design ideas and convinced myself that I could do it.  I had it all planned out.  And then I found The Cake Boutique in good ol' Winchester.  Sarah makes amazing creations and agreed to make Frankie's cake for a very reasonable price!  Sold! 

 

Thank goodness I went with The Cake Boutique because I'm fairly certain my attempt would not have turned out this good!

After I checked the cake off my to-do list, it was time to hunt for decorations. I lucked out and found cookie monster 1st birthday napkins and the rest was up to me (and my sister!). 

 

Cookie Bar

Favor bags for cookie bar

Birthday Boy Bubbles

Handing out the bubbles

Welcome wreath

Cake table

Birthday Boy chair

Family shot



Someone wasn't too excited about his cake

Attempt #2 the next night went over a little better



It was an incredibly special day and we are so grateful for all of our family and friends that celebrated our little guy's 1st birthday with us.  Happy Birthday, Frank!

 

 

Frankie's Birthday Celebration

Frankie's 1st birthday also happened to fall on the wedding of one of my beautiful best friends, Rachel.  Since I had the honor of being one of her bridesmaids, Frank, Frankie and I drove out to Winchester on Friday for the the Rehearsal Dinner.  Then on Saturday, the ladies gathered at the salon for hair and make-up at 11am, so we squeezed in a quick birthday celebration at Aunt Laura's in the morning, complete with a special birthday hat shaped pancake for Frankie!

 

 

Frankie even got an invite to the big event (!) and Rachel and Jeremy were incredibly sweet and had all of their guests sing Happy Birthday to Frankie and brought him out his very own birthday cake! 





All dressed up for the big event

Happy Birthday to you!

 

I had so much fun celebrating with Rachel and Jeremy and am thankful that they invited our family to be a part of their special day. 

 

Congratulations Mr. & Mrs. French!



 

12 Month Stats

At 12 months, here is the low-down on our little guy:

Weight:  23.5 lbs (58%)

Height:  29 3/4 inches (48%)

Head:  18.5 inches (85%)

  

During the past month, Frankie has started taking his first tentative steps.  He cruises around the house, finding anything and everything to hold on to - and frequently gets brave and takes a few steps on his own. 

  

He's certainly starting to become more independent and interested in the world around him.  He loves putting items in things - his blocks in the box, food in his bowl, keys in his toy box, and has recently figured out how to 'feed' his toy giraffe balls.  I've been trying to teach Frankie to clap for months now; however, instead, the movements he has chosen to imitate so far are talking on the phone and shaking his head.  He puts the phone up to his ear and 'talks.'  And frequently shakes his head no.  He also frantically waves his hand and says "ba-ba-ba" - His version of bye.  Frankie is very interested in feeding himself and I've started to let him hold the spoon and help him navigate it to his mouth.  I'm just not ready for the mess that will surely ensue from giving him complete control.  I continue to be amazed by watching my son grow and discover and often find myself just staring at him to soak up these precious moments.

Happy Birthday, My Sweet Boy

My dearest Frankie,

 

How has it been one year already?  One year since I first held you in my arms, one year since you entered this world and stole my heart.  During the anticipation of your arrival, nothing anyone said could prepare me for the actuality of becoming a parent.  The past year has been an incredible journey - the happiest times of my life.  You fill me with such pure and simple joy and I hope you know how much my heart overflows with love for you.  It's been amazing watching you grow and discover the world - who knew one could feel such pride in the moments where your son learns to roll over or slurp spaghetti or blow bubbles or take his first steps?!  Every day with you is a gift.  I've been struggling with coming up with the exact words to write to you to commemorate this milestone.  Just know that you light up my life and have taught me so much this past year - patience, unconditional love, the art of multi-tasking on minimal sleep :) and the importantance of not sweating the small stuff and prioritizing my time with you. 

 

When I told your Dad that I was having trouble getting my thoughts together, he put together a few words for your birthday...

 

"Some parents say the first year with a newborn is a very long and hard year.  After going through it once, I wonder what parents are talking about.  This year has been absolutely awesome; I don't think I have ever been happier.  Maybe Regina and I have been really lucky in that Frankie is nothing like his Dad who cried for the first 3 years of his life (Thanks Mom & Dad for putting up with me!!)  Frankie is an awesome baby who rarely cries, is very happy, eats everything in sight and sleeps great.  He has really grown a lot over the past year and is starting to develop his personality and is not shy about letting us know when he doesn't like something.  There have been challenges along the way and some sleepless night, but I wouldn't trade this past year for all the tea in China.  There have been so many wonderful memories from this past year - The first smile, sleeping on my chest after thanksgiving dinner, the first time he peed and pooped on me at the same time, rolling over for the first time, crawling, climbing the stairs, reading books together, playing soccer, our first trip to New York, watching the European Championship on my birthday, the beach week, going on many walks around the neighborhood and just being together as a family.  In preparing for Frank's first Birthday, I spent time looking at a few hundred (Ok a few thousand) photos from the past year and it has reminded me of how magical this year has been.  Regina and I are blessed  to have such a wonderful family and a great group of friends.  You guys have helped make 2012 an awesome year.

Happy Birthday Frank Thomas DeMarco - your Mom and I look forward to celebrating many more with you."

Contrary to your Dad's perspective, I do think this year had it's challenges, but the rewards and smiles far out-weigh the tough times.  You are a blessing, Frankie.  Mommy & Daddy love you so much and wish you the  happiest 1st birthday a little boy could have.

Love Always,

Mommy & Daddy

 

 

 

A Trip to the Beach Cures Anything!

Frankie and I crashed mom & Andy's end-of-summer trip to the beach.  A few days leading up to the trip at the end of September, Frankie had a pretty high fever which reached 105 degrees but after a few calls to his doctor, the nurses assured me that as long as Tylenol brought his temperature down and he wasn't showing any other symptoms, it was nothing to worry about, so we pushed on to Nags Heads.  And sure enough, the day after we arrived, his fever broke and he was back to his normal self.  Phew!  He had a blast playing in the sand and the temperatures were even warm enough for us to enjoy the pool!  A perfect long weekend in Nags Head...

 

 

Down on the Farm

Uncle Jon's family is from Broadway, Virginia and traces their roots back to the Mennonites.  His mom grew up with the Mennonite beliefs and customs and wanted to treat us to a real Mennonite dinner experience.  Frankie and I traveled to Aunt Laura and Uncle Jon's house and met up with Grampa and then we all headed to Broadway to meet up with the Dixons.  We explored a Mennonite farm market with tons of homemade, delicious smelling foodie treats and drove around the country side taking in the simple, yet beautiful sites.  The highlight of the trip was dinner - a traditional Mennonite meal at a farm with all fresh ingredients.  It was amazing - from the homemade biscuits and strawberry jam down to the peach cobbler at the end.  The meal was served family style in the home of Marjorie and John Robert Shank and was truly a taste of Mennonite country home cooking!  A HUGE thank you to the Dixon's for treating us to such an amazing experience!

 

Old Order Mennonite Church - Separate doors for men & women - and complete with hitching posts!

Countryside

Frankie's first tractor ride!

 

Dinner at the farm

True Mennonite Garage