Our StairMASTER!

Every month, Taj learns a new trick. In his 10th month, he is sliding backwards down the stairs completely independently. Last month, he learned to climb the stairs, so this month naturally he figured out how to go down. He is a fast learner, and has an incredible memory too! I took this video 2 nights ago right before bed, just watch how he figures out he has to turn around the top of the stairs to go backwards. Smart cookie!

Over the weekend, we went over to Regan's to play, and Taj got to practice some more stair climbing on their larger staircase! The boys loved to climb the stairs and chase Stella the cat!

Here kitty kitty......

Blondes Have More Fun

well.... we used to until we got married and had kids, ha ha! just kidding! We still do... we are just older and more sophisticated now.... and have an earlier bedtime and lower tolerance for alcohol! :P All joking aside, i love my girl time, especially with my 2 very good blond girlfriends Jane and Laura! We had an overdue girls nite last thursday and it was the first time the 3 of us were able to enjoy a nice glass of Rombauer (my favorite chardonnay of ALL time!) because for the first time in a long time neither one of us was pregnant or breastfeeding!! We had a fabulous time at 3Thirty3 while the husbands were at home putting the babies to bed! Jane (on the left) is about to become a married woman, and Laura & I are so excited to plan her bachelorette party!

Lucky

Not too long ago when I was visiting a good friend in LA and dining at my beloved Katsuya sushi, a stranger walked up to our table and marveled at Taji sitting in his highchair. She sparked up a conversation with me and before she left she told me something that really stuck with me since. Right before leaving she looked genuinely into my eyes and said, "You are so lucky." Lucky. I have definitely known I am but its very different when someone on the outside looking into your life states this. It exceeded a compliment. I, we, feel tremendously lucky to have a healthy and happy Taji in our lives. I feel lucky to have found the love of my life, traveled the world with him, and just as everything happens in its own perfect timing, right after we settled down, our little baby entered into this world and changed our lives for the better as we know it. Lucky. I feel so grateful to my hard-working husband to live in a beautiful home by the ocean, and for all the fun things we are able to do. And just as one door of happiness closes, another door of even more happiness opens...... I feel lucky that I have been given the choice to be a stay-at-home mom. Being a mother is the most important job I will ever have and since babies are only babies for a small period of time, I am embracing this opportunity to dedicate myself to my family and relish the moments that make my heart sing with joy. Lucky. Everything happens for a reason, the timing couldn't be more perfect. I can't wait to take mommy & me classes with Taj, have more time to cook, follow my creative outlets, and take on little projects coming up (planning dinner parties, playdates, a friend's bachelorette party, birthdays, trips....etc.) My career will always be waiting for me to come back to, however, this is one shot I get at being the best mother i have always dreampt to be. Stay tuned for another blog that will follow the adventures of a stay-at-home mom LOL, soon after we get back from our summer in NY! Life is good. Life has been very good to me. I'm not a religious person, but I am spiritual in my own way, and I feel that each experience in every stage of my life is meant to be and continously helps me grow and evolve.

Fetters Love

We feel so fortunate to have my sister Petra and her family close by (30 minutes away). One of the things we learned becoming parents is to appreciate the family we do have right now, especially since my parents live on the other side of the globe and most of Brad's family is on the other side of the country. Unlike most new parents, we don't have the luxury of having built-in babysitters to watch Taj while we slip out for a date night (but we do thank my mom for being there for us the first 3 months!)...... however, my sis has made that possible and more!!!

Life is busy and we have come to find that too much time slips by between the Fetters and Grover get togethers, so this past wknd my sister offered the best idea. We have designated the last wknd of each month (unless another wknd works out better for all of us) as our dual family quality day, and Brad and I get a date night/day or overnighter every other month. There' s no one more we trust than the Fetters family to take care of our little Taji. Moreover, I love that he has his special bonding time with his cousin Chloe, aunt P and uncle B! Chloe is like a big sister to him; she loves to feed him and looks out for him :)

I love that over the years my sister and I have grown closer, even more so now that we both have kids. Along with our monthly get-togethers, I look forward to family holiday trips and our annual sister-babies trip! Thank you for being so caring and generous Peti, we love you very much and Taji adores his auntie P xo

The Double Digit Birthday Celebration

Now that Taj has entered into the double digits of birthday months, what better way to celebrate than with a homemade strawberry-banana heart chocolate marble cake! :) Of all days, Taj's montessori happened to be closed on his 10-mth bday (friday the 18th) so I took the day off of work to be home with him. First on the celebration agenda was skyping with Babi & Deda, then we walked to the store to get the ingredients for our cake. We attended a free MyGym class here in Newport, and Taj had loads of fun with his new little friends. He loved jumping on the trampolines, "surfed" and "sledded" down these cool play areas they had set up, and was in ball heaven when we threw him into the pool of plastic balls! He liked to crawl through the tunnels, and slide belly first down the baby slides. It was a fun introductory class and we are totally signing Taji up after we get back from NY this summer. He loves to rough house now, and takes on any physical challenge, so this will undoubtedly give him the energy outlet and strength for that! After our class, we headed home to meet up with daddy and went to an early bday dinner at our neighborhood Ruby's diner!

Family portraits at home:

At Ruby's, Taj loved watching the car ride around the top of the ceiling, fed himself his dinner we brought with us and........ had a helicopter hat made by the balloon man!!



Later, when we got home we sang him the happy 10 mth bday song (so he'll hopefully be familiar with it when his real #1 birthday rolls around) and presented him his cake! He was very interested in it, interested in touching it and pulling off the fruit! ha ha! Daddy had to hold his hands back.....
But he managed to sneak a banana slice!!!
Happy 10 month bday buddy!!! We absolutely love celebrating with you, whether its a milestone or an accomplishment.... we will always celebrate your special moments!!! xoxo

Taj turns TEN months old!

Taj is 10 months old!!!! I can hardly believe its been almost a year since he was a newborn. I still remember him as the 7lb 5oz little baby who would always snuggle up to the nape of our necks! Now Taj is such a boy, 19 lbs 8oz, and 28 1/2 inches tall. He stands unassisted for up to 20 seconds, climbs the stairs up and is beginning to slide down backwards, walks by pushing his truck all over the house (he uses it as his walker!), and outside he can push his truck almost an entire block up the sidewalk! This last month he started waving, he puts his arms up and attempts the hand motions when he hears Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, he bangs cups, symbals, and blocks together, and yesterday he clapped his hands for the first time! Taj loves to play PeekaBoo and will usually initiate (i posted a video of this below), and also bumps heads with you during the Czech game "Berane Berane" (Ram). Speaking of Czech, I am dedicating myself to speaking solely Czech when its just Taji and I, so he gets a lot of exposure to my native language. Just the other day he said the word "ne" ("no" in English) so clearly and appropriately, along with shaking his head no :) I had him do it for Brad, and we couldn't stop giggling! Taji has become a little parrot, he tries to copy everything we say (and he will usually get the first letter sound!) When he flips through his books he "reads" to himself.

Since he's roaming around the house and gets into everything, some of his favorite no-no items are shoes, pulling out bowls, pots, and pans from our kitchen cabinets (we need to install those magnetic locks one of these days!), the door stoppers, our car keys, the remote control, and always tries to get his little fingers on our laptop keys! Even though he has his toy versions of all of these things, there's nothing like the real thing...... its the attention he gets from them!! Now i don't mean to brag (but I will ha ha!) not many mommies can say their babies sleep a consecutive 10-12 hours a night each night without a peep..... well, I'm so proud to say we are one of those very lucky parents (knocking on wood) and have been for the last 2 months! Taj is such a sound sleeper that he doesn't even wake up when I change his diaper every night before I go to bed. Even when he was cutting his 2 upper teeth over a month ago, and got his first ear infection, neither of these affected his sleep! On top of sleeping through a whole nite, when it is bedtime all we have to do is lay him down in his crib, turn on his sleep sheep, kiss him goodnight, walk out and close the door, and Taji snuggles up with his puppy blanket and falls right to sleep without a whine. We do his nightly bath routine but I will let you in on a little secret that I think is connected to him sleeping so peacefully..... 2 drops of Eucalyptus oil + 1 drop of Rosemary oil in his bath- sometimes i will put a drop of Lavender oil in his warm mist humidifier when we run it with his cold mist humidifier (usually when he has a cold or sounds stuffed up.) Call me the neurotic, "green-obsessed", homeopathic momma you want..... but it works, and my baby sleeps like an angel and wakes up with a big smile on his face! However, I can't brag that much about his eating habits. Taji went from being a super-go-easy eater to now protesting and throwing/ spitting out his dinner food!! Its just dinner time that he goes on a veggie strike..... ah, all my hard work in making his food and following the rainbow veggie introduction method is a lost cause! His favorites continue to be all fruits, carrots, chicken, beef, some pureed veggie meals, yogurt, yogurt melts & puffs, and now his new favorite is whole wheat pita bread. He loves to feed himself put sure is a picky eater!

Cute videos of some of Taji's hobbies...... playing at the playground and playing peekaboo!

Dear Taji Waji

We can't believe you have entered into the double digits of months..... how much you have grown since your last half birthday milestone! You are on the verge of walking, and we can't get enough of your baby talk! Your instant smile and the happiest giggle we've ever heard brightens up our days. When we take you out, you demand attention from everyone and you definitely get it. The ladies swoon over you, and you flirt right back with your signature clearing of the throat noise! Everywhere we go, you get so many compliments on your wild hairdo, we love your fuzzy strawberry blonde hair that always looks like you stuck your fingers in an electric socket! We could stare into your blueish-greenish silverish eyes all day long, and kiss your little cheeks and dimples forever. We love watching you explore, learn, socialize, and grow! Thank you for being the happiest baby on the block, and thank you for giving us back our nights! As we approach the 1 year HUGE milestone, promise me you will always be our little baby and continue to cuddle with us and want to be held by us? My favorite moment is when we change your diaper at night while you are asleep and we get to hold you just a tad longer without you squirming, and love listening to your breathing and smelling your heavenly baby scent. You make our life Taj-ilicious :) We love you and adore you to infinity and beyond! Love, Mommy & Daddy

The Luck of the Little Irish Man

Okaaaay, you're right! You ARE Czech my little love! Why don't we then call you a baby leprechaun...... you okay with that?!?.....

Happy St. Patty's day from our little Leprechaun to your's!

Swimming with the Fishies

On our Sunday Family Day this month we visited the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach. Taj fell head over heels in love with the fishies.... or "BA!" as he excitedly yelled each time one swam by and blew a fishy lips kiss at him! I don't think the fish replaced his love for dogs though, but they came in 2nd!

Pay close attention to the expression of delightful awe on his sweet little face in all these pics, he was beside himself. Watching him look amazed at all the sights made the experience so much more beautiful and special for us. Isn't it awesome to view the beauty in this world (especially wildlife) through the eyes of an infant that is seeing it for the first time? I think at times Taji really thought he was in the tank swimmming with the fishies and turtles :)



Two cool dudes in their dark shades scoping out the shark tank.....

Taji doing his new funny look he does for the camera now, he loves to show off his tongue!
Here he is with his buddy, Mirtle the Turtle :)

Waving at mommy......
He's doing the wave and sticking out the tongue, BONUS!
As always, we cherish our family time and we just love going to places we have never been before with our prized little boy in tow. We love showing him bits and pieces of this world, especially the beautiful nature and wildlife. Stay tuned for our next adventure as a family!

Watch out..... here he comes!

And you better move out of the way, because he will run you over with his truck! :) Speedy gonzalez when he's crawling, and Speedy Gonzalez when he is pushing his truck all over the house! He is pushing anything else he can get his hands on, including his toy baskets. I think Taj has discovered that he can cover more distance vertically ha ha

Our Adorable 9 mth old!

As I said before, it just gets better and more fun with Taji these days, each month that passes he is funnier and cuter..... if that's even possible!

Here are some 9 month videos I captured in the last couple weeks of our little superstar.......

America, Let me introduce you to your newest and littlest pitcher:



And here he is pushing his truck down the hallway, so proud of himself as laughs along the way: