Bye bye bottle!

Christopher has officially transitioned to "big boy" status as he went to sleep last night for the first time without a bedtime bottle. I really think the transition of getting rid of the bottle is more difficult for parents than for kids. Brian and I both really enjoyed that time of just holding our little man in the rocker while he sucked down seven ounces of formula. These days, it is one of the only ways to get him to sit still! But the time has come and Christopher handled it like a pro. We are now feeding him dinner later (and, therefore, closer to bedtime) and offering him water in a straw cup while we read several stories. He really had no trouble adjusting and didn't even want that much water. He just wanted to read his books! I was expecting some fussing but there was none... Speaking of books, Christopher now picks out the book he wants to read and brings it to me no matter where I am. Then when I finish and give the book back, he again returns the book to me and shows me the sign for more. This is so exciting to see that I sometimes end up reading the same book four times! And this morning we took a stroll over to Buffalo Meadows park, right down the street from us, where they have the super cool baby swings. As he was swinging, CJ noticed his shadow, as the sun was directly behind us. So I told him, "Look, there's your shadow. If you wave, it will wave back." I then demonstrated how to do this and he started waving to his shadow. It was so cute! I really wish I could just attach an endless video camera to us all day so you could all see these things, but for now I will have to use my best descriptive skills with words.