2012 New Year's Resolutions Re-cap

Some of you might recall my New Year's Resolutions at the beginning of the year. In case you forgot, here they are again along with my updates:

1.  Try to post on this blog regularly.
 I would say I did a pretty good job with this, though after I was done with my 'Daily Dose of Rocco' I did tend to do several blog entries as once instead of updating the blog in a timely manner. But I stuck with it through the whole year!
 
2.  Update Rocco's baby book frequently so I won't get overwhelmed with the task of completing it by the time he turns one.
 I basically did this. I got behind on the last two months leading up to his birthday, but I had the book completed before he turned 13 months old! It came out awesome if I do say so myself:
http://www.adoramapix.com/app/showbook/UFCasey/book/Baby-Book-1

3.  Do the whole breastfeeding/pumping thing until Rocco is 1 year old. 
Did it! Still doing it actually. It helps that Rocco is not walking yet and only has two teeth (bottom only). I think once he starts walking and has top and bottom teeth I will be a lot more inclined to wean him. For now, it's selfishly easier to keep doing it in the mornings. It gets me an extra hour of sleep, and everyone knows I am not a morning person.

4.  Try to not cuss as much.
Yeah, that didn't happen. Whoops.

5.  Take down my Christmas Tree before Feb 1.  
Did it on Jan 22!

Stay tuned for my 2013 resolutions!

Christmas Day 2012

Christmas Day we travelled to Gainesville to spend Christmas with Holly's side of the family. Kieran and Rocco hung out in their Christmas pjs most of the day, playing with each other's toys.

Twas the Night Before Christmas...

The children were nestled all snug in their beds, 

While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads; 

And mamma in her 'kerchief, and I in my cap, 

Had just settled down for a long winter's nap.

14 Months Old!

This month's theme is "Christmas":

Milestones for this month:
- Learned to blow us kisses, complete with "Mwah!" sound. Cutest.thing.ever.
- Magically ate everything we offered to him, but for only one week. He then went back to being a picky eater :(
- Learned how to remove his own socks and shoes. Thus, the daily battle to get him to keep his socks and shoes on while riding in the car has begun.

Jacksonville Get Togethers

Since we wouldn't be in Jacksonville for Christmas or Thanksgiving, we squeezed in a trip between the two holidays so we could visit with Great Grandma Glick and our Jacksonville friends, Meredith, Cory, Carrie, and Matt.

 

 

The Holidays at Sea World

We took Rocco to Sea World to check out their Christmas decorations and shows that they only have this time of year. We of course also went to the children's area so Rocco could enjoy some of the rides. His favorite ride is the carousel. We always put him on the angler fish because it's one of the coolest fish in the ocean and it reminds us of his glow in the dark angler fish shirt that he has outgrown sadly.

Swimming With Whale Sharks - Georgia Aquarium

The main attraction we went to while in Atlanta for Scott's birthday weekend was the Georgia Aquarium. When I used to live in Atlanta, Scott and I had annual passes to the aquarium and would visit it about every other month. We were very excited to share this experience with Rocco for the first time.

One of our favorite parts of the Georgia Aquarium is the beluga whale tank. We love it so much, that it was actually the inspiration for Roccoc's  beluga whale themed nursery. Rocco was entranced and we stood there for easily 20 minutes just watching the whales swim around and play with their toys in the water.

Even more impressive is the Ocean Voyager, the largest tank in the Georgia Aquarium. This exhibit was specially designed to house it's four whale sharks, the largest fish species in the world. Massive manta rays, enormous goliath grouper, many schools of fish, and several types of sharks all ply the waters of this ocean habitat containing more than six million gallons of saltwater. With 4,574 square feet of viewing windows, a 100-foot-long underwater tunnel, 185 tons of acrylic windows and the second largest viewing window in the world at 23 feet tall by 61 feet wide and 2 feet thick, amazing doesn't even begin to describe this exhibit.

Sting Ray

Scott and Rocco with a Whale Shark swimming up above

Not the best photo, but you can see the scale of the Whale Sharks

Rocco loved to push against the tank, trying to get the attention of the fish

But even more amazing was the views from inside the tank, as Scott found out when he went scuba diving in it! It was an experience of a lifetime, and really made Scott's 30th birthday a very special occasion.

Scott scuba diving

Swimming over the tunnel

Scott and the other scuba divers with a Whale Shark and Manta Ray swimming above them