milestones

Now that he's one, Braden is getting to experience some new things!

1. New carseat - we're finally into a "big boy" carseat! (Although since B can still safely fit into the infant carrier for another 4.5lbs, we'll still use it as a 2nd carseat for Billy's vehicle since the new seat is not easily moved.)

Braden seems to like his new seat, and I'll admit it is easier (for the most part) to carry just him and not him in the infant seat. We're still getting used to not having an easy way to get in/out of the house (we used to just scoop him up in the seat and he stayed right where we put him while loading/unloading things from the car), and are figuring out new things like riding in the seat part of a shopping cart (used to ride in his infant seat in the shopping cart).

One thing that isn't new is Braden's view in the car . . . after much debate, we've decided to keep him REAR facing for at least another 6 months. While I am sure he would enjoy facing forward, research shows that rear facing is 5 times safer in the event of an accident. Since Braden doesn't know what he's missing looking backwards, we're going to keep him in that safest position as long as we can. (Are we being too cautious? Maybe. But I'd rather be safe than sorry.) . . . On Saturday I am meeting with a gal who helps people make sure carseats are installed properly - not so much because I am that safety conscious, but because I've also read that 2 out of 3 carseats are improperly installed . . . and knowing me, I would be one of those 2 that didn't get it right! So since we are going to the effort to rear-face for a longer time period, I thought it would be worthwhile to be sure the seat is in the car the right way too. ;)

2. Real milk! We have the go ahead to ditch the formula, and start with milk. Here's B's first sip of the real stuff (and yes, real men do drink from purple & pink sippy cups - it was a shower gift!) . . . he didn't seem to notice that anything was different. I think Braden has made the transition from bottle to sippy cup, now Billy and I need to! I bought more sippy cups tonight, and am getting ready to scub up/pack up all the bottles (sniff, sniff!).

At Braden's 1 year check up we also got the go ahead to eat almost anything - egg yolk, peanut butter, honey, and chocolate are no longer off limits! . . . Although I guess we did let him consume chocolate a couple weeks early for his 1 year photos. :)