Our PB&J Adventure Book

Starting off with a dose of MAGIC
The very first day of month fourteen literally began with a hefty dose of magic for our family! We made our 2nd Disneyland trip of the year for the most wonderful of reasons. In a crazy turn of events, we were invited by Disney Family to experience all the fun at Disney California Adventure Park's Lunar New Year event. Read about DCA's Lunar New Year HERE.
This was such a short but sweet trip. We literally were only in the parks a total of 24 hours! We drove down from the Bay Area late Friday night, got to the parks the next afternoon, then back home the very next day. Despite the shortness of the trip, it's always so good to be able to be back at the parks.

Hearts & Love
February was also a month of LOVE. We celebrated our 2nd Valentine's Day with our Ben. As the years have passed our versions of romantic Valentine's celebrations have definitely become way more low key. Now that we're parents, to a toddler no less, Valentine's day took a back seat to the reality of everyday parenthood. We made the best of a Thursday night Valentine with a nice home cooked meal, a sweet surprise of flowers, and just spending some quality time together as a family.
Curious George meets the Enegizer Bunny
We're another month into being parents to a toddler which means another month of growth and learning. Ben is much like Curious George, he literally wants to know about anything and everything! We joke that he has the mind of a little engineer already just like his daddy! He wants to know how everything works. He's so curious about his surroundings. If there's a button, he'll press it (favorite activity), if theres a screw, he'll want to unscrew it. If there's a knob, he'll want to open it. Let's just say our stock in baby proofing materials has gone up tenfold!
With all this curiosity also comes new mobility adventures for our Ben. This kid won't stop moving. Another way to describe him: an Enegizer Bunny. If you let him roam free, he can crawl clear across the room in seconds. He's also learned how to climb up on everything to get what he wants, which is both impressive, and scary at the same time!

Ben is also turning into a little grown up right before our eyes. It's really quite amazing to say the least. Watching him problem solve in situations, learning how to self feed, vocalizing his needs and wants? It's been crazy to see all the development literally happening with each day that passes.

One step at a time
Ben is now well into one year and two months old, and one thing he hasn't done yet? WALK. This boy can crawl like Speedy Gonzales around the room, pull himself up and climb over things, pretty much stand on his own.... but the one thing he hasn't managed to do is take those fateful first steps on his own.
Last year when we were in the thick of being newly minted parents I obsessed about everything. I followed every growth chart, milestone tracker and learning program for our little one to make sure he was "on track" with everything. When he hit 4 months and his cousins and same aged counterparts were rolling over, Ben wasn't. Our pediatrician assured us that Ben was fine and that he might just be "lazy" (said in the nicest way possible, lol) and that he had all the growth and physical ability to do so, but just didn't want to. Then in the very last month of the typical timeline, he finally rolled over.... then never stopped moving.

What I remember clearly from those days was the anxiety and the fear things not happening in these preset "timelines". As a parent, you get sucked into all the apps and the sources telling you what "normal" should be, but what I've personally learned in the last 14 months or so? Every child does things on their own time. Chances are more than not, they'll do what they need to do eventually!

So with Ben still not taking his first steps yet at this point in the game, we're not too worried. We know our little guy will get there... just on his own timing. And for the record, most children tend to take their first steps and walk between months 12-15... we've still got a month left to go! LOL. Our little Ben is getting there, we see it get closer each day, so hopefully by next month he'll take those giant leaps forward!

Onward!
So here's to looking toward another full month of memories and fun ahead. Much like our February, we'll be kicking off month 15 with another magical trip to our happy place. We're ready for a whole month of new adventures, memories and growth! So until then, from our little family to yours, thank you for reading!💜