I’ve been getting quite a few registrations on this site, and wanted to let everyone know that it is no longer active. I do all of my blogging (Disney, personal, etc.) at http://zannaland.com. Hope to see you there!

Last week around this time, our little 11 month old Baby G, took his first steps. He took a good 4-5 steps from the coffee table to the couch, two different times. “Oh, I can’t wait to capture this on video!” I thought. Well, I’ve been waiting and waiting and the little guy has not done a repeat performance since then. He’s walked about 2 steps quite a few times, but it’s as if he forgot he could already to it, and keeps squatting back down to crawl. Oh well, as a friend on twitter noted, “Maybe that’s where they get the phrase ‘baby steps’ from!”

I honestly think he didn’t realize he was doing it to begin with, so he isn’t trying to do something he forgot he already did! I’m not worried of course. Our first son (now 10) walked 2 weeks before his 1st birthday, and our daughter (now 9) walked at 13 months. So while he was technically the early bird, it’s okay if he takes some time to do it full-time. With the amount of trouble he gets into NOT walking, I’m totally fine with him waiting a bit!

He’s been pulling up to stand and cruising around for months now and he can crawl at bionic speed. His first birthday is less than a month away and I cannot believe how the time has flown. As the lucky witness to a lifetime of ‘firsts’ for 3 different amazing little humans, I’m savoring each second and not rushing a bit. Whenever you’re ready, Baby G…just let me get the video camera ready this time.

My crazy big kids looking tiny on Disney's Boardwalk Resort's big comfy couch.

Walking through the aisles of our local Super Target, my husband happened to mention needing syrup. Something struck me in the way he said the word. “SIRup?” I asked?

He said, “Yes, why, how do YOU say it?”

“SEERup!” I answered. My friend was also with us and confirmed that she also said “SIRup” and her mom would too, both of them having been raised in the South. Now since my husband and I both grew up in Massachusetts, I was puzzled. Why on EARTH would he say SIRup?? So he did what he always does in these situations – called his mom. She grew up in the same town as him near Boston and confirmed that it was pronounced SIRup/SURup. I was shocked to say the least.

When we came home, I felt it was my duty to ask on Twitter how everyone there pronounced it. Here’s what I discovered:

New Jersey pronounces it SEERup, as do some parts of Pennsylvania, while others say SIRup. Every southern state that answered – Alabama, Georgia, and Texas, as well as the Midwest, Utah, Arizona and California ALL said SURup. Someone checking in from Arkansas said SEERup, just to throw me for a loop. Then we have the Canadians. Someone from Ontario said SEERup while his wife from Nova Scotia said SIRup. Another person from Montreal said SEERup, but clarified that it was more like “SeerO” because of the French Canadian being spoken at home. Then a friend from England reported it was SEERup. Being an Anglophile, that was really all the validation I needed.

So the mystery continues as to which geographical locations say what. Perhaps it comes down to local neighborhoods vs. whole states/regions? I know my mother does not have a distinct Boston accent that causes her to say “Pahk the cah in Hahvahd Yahd” but she *does* say “bahth” and “tomahto” so go figure! I like to consider myself as not having an accent at all, but my local friends are quick to point out that I say “I sawr him” and “drawrings” vs. “saw” and “drawings” and I will let “idear” slip out every now and then. Oops.

In any event, I thought I’d post here to get a larger cross-section of people and maybe solve this debate? (Btw, either pronunciation is acceptable, just like ENNvelope and ONvelope…so there is no ‘right’ or ‘wrong’)

Today I’m contemplating my youngest son. He is 11 months old today, so you know what that means – 1st Birthday Planning Time! Clearly, a better mom would have planned this 6 months ago but 3 kids, a husband, 2 blogs and a dog have been keeping me busy. I still have enough time to throw something together, right?

I know parents usually joke that with the first child you do everything by the book: sterilize, keep away from hazards, and record every breath as a milestone…then by child #2 you are a bit more relaxed, you don’t have to wash that binky off every time it falls on the floor…and child #3 ends up eating dog poop off the floor. Well, I’ve always considered myself a pretty laid back mom (and I’ve got the lack of baby memory books and scrapbooking skills to prove it) but what’s different here is that baby #3 is 8 and 9 years younger than his sister and brother respectively. What that translates into is yes, I’m WAY less anal about hovering over him 24/7 but I also know he is the last baby until I have grandchildren, so I want each milestone to be that much more celebrated and treasured.

It is with that thought that the dilemma of the First Birthday Party presented itself. Do I want to do a HUGE party that he of course will not remember and invite every family member and acquaintance? Or do I keep it low-key and just do immediate family and a cake for him to destroy and wear like gloves? The additional issue is that his birthday is 3 days before Halloween, so that time of the month is littered with costume parties and other functions I’m sure. Of course, who doesn’t want to come hang out and eat cake with one of the cutest kids in Florida?

I’m currently leaning toward small-but-mighty party inviting close friends and family…but my husband thinks it should just be us and a cake, so the debate rages on. My eldest son’s was similar to this, close friends, family and co-workers, while my daughter’s was much bigger with a party at Davis Farmland in Massachusetts. Since most of both of our families were up there and we were living in a teeny tiny apartment, it made more sense to do something bigger up there. Of course we’ll end up bringing him to Disney for his birthday too, but that’s not something you can invite the entire neighborhood to given the cost of admission.

How have you celebrated first birthdays in the past? Have any thoughts for what we should do? Any theme ideas or suggestions? And most importantly, how on earth am I going to top a Spaghetti & Meatballs cake?! I know no matter what we decide, it will be memorable (for us) and tons of pictures, frosting and a bath involved! I’ll be sure to share it all here when all’s said and done!