Whaaaaat?!?!?! How did that happen so fast?! You have been such a blessing to us that mommy decided she wants 4 kids now (from 2). We're still working on daddy, ha ha! Seriously though, you are so great! Being a mom is something I never expected it to be even though I thought I knew what it would be like. No one can prepare you for the love, the selflessness, and the worry you will feel every hour of everyday. I try not to worry too much because I KNOW that God's got your back...but it's hard. I think my mom friends would understand. I love your daddy with a passion, Blake, and you have just added another depth of love to my life that I have never could have imagined.
Now let mommy cry over how big you've become in just 12 short months:
Now let mommy cry over how big you've become in just 12 short months:
I just can't believe how fast you grew!
Anyways, enough with the sappy stuff. Let's get to the monthly update.
(P.S. I think I will continue updating but probably not every month.)
Doctor Stats: 12 Month Visit
Weight: 21 pounds, 9.5 ounces (52 Percentile)
Height/Length: 30.75 inches (79 Percentile)
Head Circumference: 18.5 inches (74 Percentile)
Memories from the first half of month 12:
-You love eating and I swear you eat like a little man! PB&J plus a clementine for lunch? No problem. Baby food is quickly becoming very boring to you.
-You officially said your first word: doggie! You had been saying it for a while but we weren't quite sure if you were saying "doggie" or "daddy". Well, grandma took you for a walk and said that you saw a dog in a yard and clearly said, "doggie". Now you say it every time I buckle you into your car seat (because sometimes Zoey is in the car with us). You also say "daddy" pretty clearly but it sounds a lot like "doggie". Mommy is still waiting for "mama" or "mommy"..... :)
-You love rocking in the high chair (or any chair really). You bang your head against the back, not too hard though, and do a "happy dance" of sorts when you are excited.
-You LOVE your books! I catch you looking at them all the time when you are playing independently.
-You will crawl through and over anything to get where you want to go, if possible. It's hysterical at times. One day, Daddy was laying on the floor in the hallway blocking you from Zoey and you managed to crawl over him; it was a struggle, but you did it. We were dying! Then you went happily on your way towards Zoey who just jumped back to the other side of daddy. Haha!
-You also started pulling up on everything. At first it was just onto your knees but after about a week you were brave/strong enough to pull up onto your feet. You will only stand on your tip toes though!
-You had your first hair cut and you handled it like a champ! No tears! She even used the clippers that buzz around your neck. You look so dapper now.
-We starting really trying to introduce you to the sippy cup. It took a while and lots of brand expirementation but you finally caught on. Ones with a straw definitely work better for you.
Memories from the second half of month 12:
-You had TWO teeth sprout up on the bottom out of the blue! They came at the same time and you didn't have any teething symptoms. These are your first teeth. For the last 11 months or so, I've pretty much wondered if you were teething every time you didn't feel good. It figures that they'd pop up without any warning. I'd rather it be that way though!
-You are a busy boy! You hate snuggling and would prefer to always be on the go. We keep the baby gate up so that you can roam the living room and Zoey can have some peace on the other side of the house. However, if the gate is down, you love following Zoey around. She doesn't let you get too close to her though unless she wants to give you kisses.
-You are obsessed with clementines. I literally have to hide them from you if I want to put one in the diaper bag for a snack later. If you see it, you want it. I don't know what we're going to do when they go out of season!
-Did I mention you like food? Here's a note from daycare:
"Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it." -Proverbs 22:6
-Speaking of discipline, you are beginning to listen to "no" most of the time. Progress.
-You have recently become a little more shy around strangers but I wouldn't consider you to be terribly shy. You will allow people to hold you without tears but tend to prefer family or Miss Esther, your daycare teacher.
-You have also become quite the flirt. You give gigantic smiles to all the women who give you attention when we are out and about. :)
-You love to stand holding onto things. You have not stood unassisted yet. You are almost always on your tip toes. The doctor is keeping an eye on it and gave us some stretches to do with your feet. I don't know anyone who still walks (or stands) on their tip toes so I'm not too worried. You may have a future in ballet, who knows?! ;)
-You are still in weekly swim lessons. You seem to like it but you shiver a TON. I feel so bad. The third week you finally didn't shiver as much and someone mentioned it may have been anxiety. It is super loud in the pool area because there is a water aerobics class in the other pool that cranks the music up on top of the echo in the room so you definitely may have been a bit anxious. You like the swimming, however, and are not afraid of the water. We are still working on getting you to kick your legs!
-You have the cutest new little grin! You scrunch your nose up and smile really big; it's so cute!
-On your birthday you had a photography shoot with a local photographer. You did SO well and enjoyed your first smash cake! You mostly picked at the frosting and tried to pick each piece off of the floor before taking more. Neat, just like mom. :)
-We are down to ONE nursing session a day! It's just in the morning before work. I had planned to wean you at one year but you seem to be self weaning pretty rapidly so I will let it be your call. I'm sure it won't be too long. (Update: As of April 10 you are completely weaned! Hooray!)
-Cloth diapers. Boom; we did it. A couple of weeks before your birthday we were having some serious issues with you leaking through your diapers every night. We switched from our beloved Pampers Swaddlers to Baby Dry to Target brand. Nothing worked. Target brand probably worked the best but gave you bad diaper rash (which you never get). I went into full "Nicole research mode" and discovered the new and improved world of cloth diapering. Researching cloth diapers online is like entering this secret sorority of crazy moms who use fancy acronyms to express their LOVE for cloth diapers. Ugh. But after some YouTube watching and article reading I felt like I got the jist. Brandon and I agreed it sounded like a good idea and we went to a store, got a whole lesson in all the different styles, brands, washing instructions, etc., and bought a few to try. NEVER in a million years would I have thought I would use cloth diapers, BUT, they are waaay easier than I ever knew and we have fully converted now. Oh, and did I mention they're adorable. ;)
I'll leave you with some more pictures from the last month of your first year:
And now, some pictures from your birthday parties! It was Easter weekend so you had two parties.
And now some pics from the other birthday party/Easter!
And that's it! A whole year has come and gone.
Here's to another year just as great Blake!
