Group Hug!

Isn't this so cute?? You all were so excited today when Daddy came home from work.  He was greeted by 3 big hugs!

13 months

Once you turned a year old I planned to only do updates every few months, but you are just growing and changing so fast that I already have a list of new skills and talents of yours!

Some things about you at 13 months:

• We moved the crib all the way down.  You're a very active little boy so now that you're pulling up on the crib daily we decided we better lower it before you try to climb over the side.  We also finally readjusted the straps in your carseat to be at the highest level.  You're still a little too short so the straps run along your neck but you're more comfortable than before.
• You like to play with the magnets on the fridge.  Daddy bought you some fun dinosaur magnets that can be all your own.  You also like the dishwasher and try to climb onto it whenever the door is down so I have to make sure to always keep it closed and locked when you're awake.
• You are still regularly throwing tantrums whenever I have to take things away from you.  Thankfully you usually calm down after a second.  We try to just ignore your tantrums so you are quickly learning you don't get attention for screaming.
• You recognize your favorite books and toys.  If we're holding you and you see your binky or a favorite book you'll get excited and point your hand at it to let us know you want it.
• You climb stairs!  And very well too!  There was almost no learning curve, one day you saw the stairs and decided you wanted to climb to the top, and so you did it like it was no big deal.  We had to put baby gates and the top and bottom of the stairs because anytime the gate is down you see your opportunity and start climbing up.  Today you climbed up all by yourself in search of Daddy before we realized the gate was down.
• You LOVE to feed the puppies.  This has caused some problems at mealtimes because if we give you more than a bite at a time you'll throw the food over the side to the puppies.  So we are still mostly spoon-feeding you to prevent this.  You'll even grin and share your favorite treats with them, or will "share" by letting them take a lick, then putting the rest in your mouth.  Ew!
• You say 5 words now.  You learned them in this order: hi, lights ("dites"), Dada/Daddy, uh-oh, and thank you ("tankew!")  So cute.
• We started you on formula and cow's milk.  We still have about 11 gallons of mommy milk in the freezer but we didn't want to wait until it was gone to transition you, plus we're going to NY in a month and won't be able to take enough milk to cover the whole trip.  It has been a rough transition since you flatly refused anything but breastmilk but we're slowly getting you to take other things, and some days you even seem like cow's milk.  Right now your breakfast bottle is half mommy milk/half formula, and then the rest of the day your sippy cup has 2 parts cow's milk to 1 part formula.  You don't drink nearly as much milk the rest of the day but we give you lots of cheese and dairy to help supplement.
• As you have become more active you've had less and less physical obstacles.  For example, when you first started crawling and getting into the puppy food we hid it behind the couch.  Eventually you figured out where it was and would crawl behind the couch too.  So we put it ON the couch, out of your reach.  Then you would stand on the puppy's bed or other things to make you taller to reach.  So now we have the food back behind the couch, and the ottoman is creating a blockade.  It's only a matter of time before you learn to climb over the couch to get it though!  You climb over toys and people all the time.
• You had your first haircut yesterday!  Thankfully it doesn't make you look too grown up, and your head has seemed a lot less sweaty from the hot summer sun.

First haircut!

I wanted to wait to cut your hair until you turned 1, but toward the end Daddy changed his mind and wanted to just leave your hair crazy.  But then your hair all of a sudden got TOO crazy so we decided it was time.

Aunt Kav cut your hair.  Because we weren't sure how cooperative you'd be we did it at Grandma's house instead of at Kav's salon.  You did surprisingly well and were content to just sit and look at your toys while Kavita quickly cut your hair.

Look how handsome your haircut is!  Definitely helps you look more like a little boy than a baby!

Duck Pond

Today we found this great little duckpond down the street that a neighbor told us about.  You weren't sure about it at first but decided you liked throwing crackers to the ducks.

I like this picture because it's one of the few where you look like me.  When you were first born everyone said you had my mouth, but since your mouth is often busy grinning and eating and being silly it's hard to see the similarity a lot of the time.

I am 1 and into EVERYTHING

Birthday Sick

We had so many big plans for the rest of your birthday weekend. . .the zoo, Liberty Park, the splash pad. . .but all those plans were forgotten when you woke up the next morning like this:

So instead we spent the weekend snuggling our sick baby, which we were happy to do!  We loved having you fall asleep on us since you haven't done that in months!  It also made us realize how big you actually are getting because we couldn't just fold you into our shoulders the way we could the last time you were sick.

On the day you turned one. . .

For your first birthday, we decided to do a little family vacation, just the three of us.  So far in your life we've had to share you for every holiday or milestone or special event so we decided that we wanted you all to ourselves for your 1st birthday!  Daddy has been wanting to go see the dinosaur stuff in Vernal (3 hours away) for a while so we decided to go there for an overnighter.   We left the day before your birthday.

We stayed in a little Bed & Breakfast.  Any time we came back to the room, you would go sit by the door wanting to go play in the hallway!

We spent a lot of time outside in the shade playing on the lawn.



We went to a play place with inflatable houses and slides because I thought you would have fun there.  I was wrong!  You didn't want to have anything to do with it!  We did get a couple smiles out of you on the big slide.

You spent most of the trip with your tongue sticking out like this because your second bottom tooth was coming through.

Bedtime bath.  Such a different swaddle of blankets than the one we brought home from the hospital a year ago!

The next morning, on your birthday, we decided to go walk around the grounds of the Vernal Temple.

Sitting in an arch outside the doorway.  After this we went to a "history of Vernal" museum but unfortunately I don't have any pictures from that.

Morning nap - since you can't sleep when other people are in the room, we had to put your bassinet in the closet to give you the illusion of privacy.  It BARELY fit, but you slept great!

After your nap we went to the Dinosaur Museum!  This is you sitting on a sauropod femur.

Checking out the allosaurus.

Woolly mammoth!

Standing under the long-neck!

Run away!

It was SO HOT outside so we didn't look at the outside dinosaurs for long.

After the museum we went to Norma's diner for lunch.  As usual, you refused to just sit nicely in your seat.

You liked the french fries, and you liked sharing.

After that we drove home and went out to get you a vanilla ice cream cone as a birthday treat - your first taste of ice cream.  This was your reaction!  So Mommy ate it instead.

It finally occurred to us to take a family pic on your birthday.  This was the best we could do on the spur-of-the-moment while waiting at the restaurant for dinner.

Maybe your favorite part of your birthday - bath time!  You escaped the bathroom all nakie while Daddy was draining the tub!

Nickelcade

Today we went to Nickelcade as a family outing.  You weren't really sure what to think of all the noise and colors but got more excited as more people came.  You sure do love people-watching.  You did have fun pushing buttons on some of the games.

This was your favorite game because there was a window on the front of the game that was just your height!  When the game was going a vent would blow the balls all over the machine and you were captivated!

12 month doctor visit

Today was your 12 month doctor visit.  You did really well and even babbled to the doctor a little bit.  You had 3 shots and a finger prick.  You didn't even cry when they pricked your little finger, just watched curiously as they blotted your finger on the blood sample card.  You did wail ferociously for the shots though.

 

 

You didn't know what to make of the bandaid on your finger and spent the next hour trying to chew it off.  Your bandaids had Storm from X-Men on them, it was your first big-boy bandaid!

 

Aunt Kav came down to visit and was able to get you giggling and happy again in no time.

 

 

Here are your 12 month stats:

 

Head:  18 inches (25th percentile)

Height:  27 1/2 inches (average height of a 7 month old)

Weight:  16lb 6oz (average weight of a 6 month old)

 

 

You are so tiny!  Thankfully the rest of your development is perfect so the doctor isn't worried.