So I am a little behind!  Last Sunday we headed over to my friend Karen's house to visit.  She lives downtown in a cool loft style complex near Neiman Marcus.  Luna loved exploring her large space!  Katie was also visiting with her 2 kids and Luna enjoyed following them around.

On Monday we met some of our play group friends at the Galleria Mall's indoor playground. It's an awesome space with soft padding on the floor and lots of low things for them to climb on.

On Friday we had 2 pool play groups!  We started off at the KC Pool with our play group. We're not members yet (4 year waiting list!) but a few girls in the group are and offered to get us all in as guests!  Luna loved the shaded baby pool and I loved it too because it is covered and we didn't need to put on sunblock!  Unfortunately I was busy in the pool with her and forgot to snap a picture :(
We went home to nap and then we were off to our next pool play date at our friend Hedy's house.  She has 2 cute little twin boys Ben and Bryce who just turned 2 years old.  Penelope also joined us and loved that she had the day off work!  They have an awesome backyard with a nice pool, playground and water table.  We decided on the baby pool which Luna loved and then they played in the water table.

Saturday was a busy day as Todd and I had booked our first overnight trip away from Luna!  Our first trip all the way to downtown Dallas :) Thanks to my mom for babysitting!  We did the whole Hotwire thing and got a 4 star hotel at the Sheraton.  Our room was really nice, a lot like the W's, but it was a huge hotel!  I felt like I was in Vegas with 30 minute wait lines for the check-in, and 2 towers that are 32 floors high. We were in Elevator Group 5 on the top floor and had a great view of the city! 

We decided on eating at Tillman's for an early bday dinner for me.  Yes I went there last year but it is hard to have a bad meal there and they never disappoint us.  We started with the salmon ceviche and then I ordered the roasted chicken with red pepper grits and green beans. Todd got the salmon with black eyed peas. Yum!  The chicken was really good and you can tell it was high quality farm fed.  We then of course got the Chocolate Cookie Tower!!  The whole wait staff sang Happy Birthday to me (embarrassing as the restaurant was super full and crowded still) but it was fun. I LOVE that dessert and so glad it isn't closer to us so I don't get it very often. The cookies are homemade and held together by fresh peanut butter with 2 chocolate chip cookies and 1 large peanut butter cookie and banana ice cream and fudge sauce.   It is amazing to me how that restaurant is still so good and manages to have long waits even when we left at 9:30pm.

We then headed to Henderson Ave. I had not been out there in over 2 years since I was pregnant.  It was nice to have a night out on the town and see what the rest of the world does on a Saturday night at 10pm :)  We went to Bar Celine (now the Gin Room) and then across the street to the Beauty Bar (there's one in NYC and Austin).  My sister was out and so was Pete so they met up with us too.  It was fun to be out and socializing!  We've gone out to restaurants and a couple of bars but usually we go early and are home by 10pm so it was nice to re-live our going out days and not have to rush home to little Luna!  Thanks again to my mom for staying the night and babysitting Luna!!!

For those of you that don't know, I keep another blog called thecounselormom.com where I vent about being a new mom, aka ex-child counselor.  There are so many bloggers out there, especially mom blogs, but I felt like I needed a niche beyond leblogsite.com.  So I created my own mom blog where I talk about the perils of being a stay at home mom and a child counselor. I was a counselor for 10 years before I had a child so with all of my experience, I thought it would be great to journal each day that I run into parenting problems now that I am a mom. I used to be the parenting expert and hand out all sorts of parenting advice, so now I get to put it to the test!

I've also found some other great mom blogs, especially ones for couponing too as we are down to one income. But one I have come across lately that I like is called Mama B.  She is a stay at home mom too with lots of great tips and has amazing giveaways. I am entered to win a new double stroller right now (for future use as we will definitely need a tandem/double stroller one day) and I am also entered to win one of those Keurig coffee makers (it would make my coffee making routine MUCH simpler if I won one!)  Check out her giveaways here: http://mamabblog.com/2011/06/keurig-mini-brewer-review-giveaway.html#comment-107685
Her blog is at: mamabblog.com

My baby girl turned 14 months on Wednesday!  I swear I just finished writing about her 13 month milestones.  It also seems that every day she is doing more and more new things, so I have started a better Toddler journal so I can write down more of the cute things she does.
I am still undecided about where to put her new monthly pictures, either putting her in her ice cream chair or back in the old highchair. Not sure.  We also took a couple in different outfits.  She has so many cute clothes it's hard to choose!  She also loved moving the chair around the room as you can see in the picture.

Luna at 14 months:

Eating: She still eats about the same, which means not good. So I have started to puree a lot of the veggies like I used to when she was a baby, and adding them secretly to her foods like pasta, Annie's Mac and Cheese, etc.  I bought the Deceptively Delicious Cookbook and will start trying to make some of those foods. I even bought these all natural organic salmon sticks but she spits them out. I keep trying as they say it takes 10 tries before they like something.

Motor Skills: She is walking more and more but still crawling a lot too. She is at that in-between stage and still doesn't feel as confident about walking all the time, but is getting there.

Language: She signed 'more' on her own for the first time last week!  Usually it took me saying it and she would do it on her own, but now she does it all the time without prompting.  She uses it for everything from asking for more toys during bathtime, to 'more' stories before bed.  She definitely also says her 'd' well. It sounds like she can say 'doll' and 'dog' but not sure. She has 'dada' down well for sure! Still says 'mama' here and there but not very frequently.  She still does the sign for 'all done' and 'doggie' a lot on her own.  She is just starting to learn the sign for 'book' and we are now working on 'please' now that she has 'more' down.

Play/Social: Each day she is doing more and more cute things. She loves putting her toys in her Coupe Car and pushing them around. She uses her spoon to feed her doll and the stuffed animals so she is really getting into dramatic play now!  I think I am going to have to go and get her some pretend food items.  She also loves manipulating her legos set with her Little People and building more and more with them.  She loves carrying things around too. And she is still the little flirt and loves to get people's attention. If you are not watching her, she will wait until she gets your attention.  She also claps all the time after she does something she is proud of!

Sleep: Still the same, wakes up once in the middle of the night. Takes 2 naps a day and sleeps from 7:30-7:30.  We are still working on getting that night feeding weaned out, but we keep having setbacks. Like yesterday I had Mastitis out of the blue and had to nurse her every 2 hours to get rid of the infection.  But we are trying a new technique of waking her before she wakes herself so she learns not to wake on her own to eat. The doctor said she may still be getting needed calories at night she is making up for that she did not get during the day, so I have to slowly get rid of the night feeding and working hard to fill her up during the day.  She still does not like regular milk so I am trying to add some breastmilk to it so she will like it more and fill her up!!

I am so enjoy

Luna had a fun filled day on Tuesday as Todd took the day off. We first went to Chick Fil A for breakfast so he could see how much she loves the Treehouse!

Luna went down for a nap and then it was time to go to art class!  She was so happy to be there and enjoyed the Michaelangelo themed day. We made clay imprints of their hands and she explored play dough for the first time!  She was probably thinking 'these feel like my mashed bananas and avocado but sure don't taste like it!'  She also loved painting at the easel again with pink glittery paint.  Todd thought it was hilarious watching all of the little babies and toddlers racing around the room.

Luna has been taking a few steps here and there the past few weeks.  This time we caught her in action going down the hall. Sorry for the iPhone footage. We've taken a bunch with our regular video camera but had easier access with my cell this time. And walking at 13.5 months is a surprise to me since I didn't start until I was around 16 months!

Friday morning we met some of our playgroup moms at North Park Mall for a walk. We have been having a heat wave with temps in the 100's so walking outdoors is a no go right now.  The doors open at 6:30am so we met there at 8:30, did a few laps and then let the kids run around while we had La Madeleine coffee. Yum! A nice way to start the weekend. We then met our friends Bao, Thomas, Ava and Tinsley at the grand opening of Yumilicious in Lakewood for free yogurt and t-shirts!  They even had a DJ that Luna sat next too and was super impressed!

The next day we took it easy and had a nice visit from Coco.  Sunday my dad came to town to visit and he was surprised to see her walking so well!  We ate dinner at Papadeaux and Luna loved watching the king Lobsters in the tank. A 22 pound lobster was the biggest thing I have ever seen (that cost 300$)!  Luna also loved the gifts she got from her grandpa and Sherry from Cancun- a cute t-shirt that reads, "somebody who loves me went to Cancun and bought me this t-shirt" and baby maracas from his recent trip.

The next day we went to where else? North Park again to cool off. Lunch at the Mermaid Bar at Neimans and Luna loved her chicken salad and avocado.  I grew up eating at the Mermaid bar and loved sitting up at the counter back then- one day soon Luna will be able to do the same, but for now we sat at the regular table.

We then headed to the duck and turtle pond. This was also one of my favorite places as a child and used to run all over the place and up and down the ramps (aka big flower pots). And our last stop was the Disney Store. They have cool interactive areas for the kids. Luna is just now noticing them and I can only imagine how she will be in there in a few years. We will have to drag her out!

Then it was back home for a nap.  Luna also showed us her amazing walking skills. She is almost there! Taking about 10 steps and then stops, still crawling a lot but so excited at her new skill.  We then headed to dinner at La Duni and they were so accommodating for a baby. They brought her an endless supply of black beans (her faves) and then took her to pick out a big iced cookie (she had no clue what it was so I ate it :)  Overall we had a nice weekend and Luna loved having her grandfather in town!!

Luna had a fun packed weekend this July 4th!  Several pool parties, lunch dates, and a parade. Whew!  We started Friday afternoon with a nice lounge in the pool. Baby pool that is!  We decided to leave her large baby pool indoors as it is still a fun ball pit for her and bought a little wading Whale Pool for her to use outside. She loved it!

We started off Saturday with lunch at Dream Cafe up in Addison meeting Luna's little buddy, Mila and her mom Carmen.  We also met our old friend Mary and her 2 sons Isiah and Caleb.

Sunday Luna and I headed up to my mom's house for lunch.  It was so hot we decided to skip the pool. Yes, too hot for the pool!  I just hate getting poor little Luna out in this heat. 

On Monday, the 4th, we packed up Luna's Radio Flyer and drove a mile down the road for the annual Lake Highlands 4th of July Parade.  We met her little playgroup friends Alejandro, Clay, Caden, Jack and Tessa while we watched the parade go by. Luna was mesmerized by the firetrucks, man on stilts and all the cheer leaders.  We stood under a batch of trees but it was still pretty hot as you can see poor Luna's cheeks were flushed! 

I also locked my keys in the car for the first time ever in my life! I was having a mommy brain moment I guess as we were rushing to get out of my car and get her wagon set up.  It is impossible to lock the keys in the car so I think I accidentally sat on them which activated the auto-lock and then forgot to pick them up (I always set them down in the backseat when I go to get Luna out of her carseat- maybe I should hold onto them as I get her out from now on so I don't forget them?) Luckily our neighbors (Jack's parents) were there to save the day and drove Todd home to get the spare set.  Heather kept us company while I was pulling my hair out as to how this could happen, and on such a hot day :)

I was glad to make it home because Todd had to go into work and we didn't want him to be late!  Luckily Luna went down for her morning nap pretty quickly too.

After her needed morning nap, it was off to Aunt E's pool party.  Coco was there and a few of Erika's friends as we enjoyed the salt water pool. It is also a dark blue color, so it makes it feel more shaded and not as hot!

Then it was off back home for Luna's 2nd nap of the day.  The sun really wore her and her momma out because we both fell asleep around 3:30 and didn't wake up until 5:30pm!  We decided we could still make it to Todd's cousin's house for their annual pool party and meet Todd there as he was getting off of work.  So off we went to Jeff and Angie's house to see cousin Fletcher, Evelyn and Jefferson.  Luna had a lot of fun in the pool with her daddy.  But after her full day in the heat, she was ready for bed by 8:30pm, no fireworks this year. Maybe next year Luna will last a little later and be able to stay up for them!

So I am a little behind on the 13 month update on Luna, oops!  Now that she has reached the year mark, it is a little sad to say she is not just a year old, but 13 months. It flies by so fast before you know it she will be 18 months and then two years old and on and on. 
As for her monthly photo, we decided to change it up and instead of placing her in my old antique high chair, to put her in my old ice cream chair. My mom saved my old little ice cream table and chairs for me, and they are perfect for toddlers.  We positioned it in front of her crib but not sure if I like the angle.  It is so low to the ground and I may move it next month in front of her adult sized Eiffel Tower in her room.  Or I may switch it back to the high chair.  She is also wearing a cute smocked jumper my mom (Coco) bought for her.

As for her milestones at 13 months, here is what she has been up to:

Eating:
-Still a very picky, independent eater.  She loves her avocado, strawberries, black beans, peanut butter and pasta.  She turns her nose up to a lot of foods and I now have to puree veggies and add them to the pasta sauce so she will eat them.  I made some white northern beans the other night and she loved those so I will keep trying new things.  For now she is also eating smoothies I make with flax seed, peanut butter, yogurt and veggies and fruit. 
-She is still not a fan of whole milk and will take a few sips- so I hide it in her smoothies sometimes
-She is still nursing before her 2 naps and before bed time and still wakes up at least once in the middle of then night to nurse too, I am not a fan of that one :)

Sleep:
-She goes to bed between 7-7:30pm and will wake up 12 hours later. 
-Taking 2 naps a day still for 1.5-2 hours each

Play:
-Really enjoying her Art Class!  She loves the texture of the paints and using the Easel. I can't wait to go to Ikea to get her one to use at home!
-She loves balls and blocks. She is doing really well with her Little People blocks/legos and places them very carefully on the lego pad.
-She loves to push things and use her walker
-Enjoys music toys and plays my old guitar and my piano

Language:
-She still says mama and dada, uh-oh and light, signs for 'all done', 'dog', 'hot' and 'more' and 'up'
-Her new word this month is 'up'
-Blows kisses and says, 'mwah'
-She signs for bird/duck and we are still working on all the others like book, help, airplane, cold, etc.

Physical Stuff:
-She has taken 3 steps so far!!!  Just a little waddle but she is on her way to walking very soon.  Much earlier than I was apparently, as I did not learn until I was 16 months old!
-Wearing size 12 months, or 9-12 months, shoe size 3.5
-Loves to dance
-She finally got her first molar and it was a big one- she was cranky and had a fever with it, poor thing. I feel the next one coming in on the other side- a big swollen gum that will probably emerge in 2 weeks
-Loves to point at things
-Finished her swim lessons at the Y and loves water!

I have probably missed a few things, she is doing something new every day!  So fascinating and fun :)