That was one fast year! I can’t believe Lady Ellis is one! I now have a 2 year old and a 1 year old. That’s insane to me. I’m not sure how that is possible. I honestly can’t wrap my mind around the fact that she was conceived, let alone been earthside for a year now. Total denial. She hasn’t had her birthday party yet, but it is scheduled for February. We wanted to give people a break after the holidays, and honestly ourselves too, because December can be a bit much and we just want to make sure we fully celebrate her, so party details will be spilled soon. Until then, my last monthly update with these two cutie-pa-tooties :-)
Month 12 Dutch
- You love to sneak into the garage
- 5/4/15 was your 2nd time sleeping through the night in the crib, and then the next night slept 8pm-7am so we have our first consequetive nights sleeping.
- We’ve caught Dutch standing by himself several times
- Dutch is taking one midmorning/afternoon nap, starting around 10ish until noon or about noon to 2. No more evening naps these days.
- He has dinner at 6pm, some play time and every other day gets a bath and then nursing to sleep at 8pm. He is still getting up about once a night to eat, usually between 1am and 3am, and then goes back to sleep until 7.
- You had your first trip to the strawberry patch….you thought it was super tasty :-)
- Your first time choking was on our first Mother’s Day
- You love to hear music
- You’ve been grinding your top and bottom teeth at night for fun
- On 5/15/15 you took your first steps (with coaxing), but really walking on his on 5/18 (11 months old). Walking very fast now on his own
- He loves tags on everything
- Says "mmmmmmm" when he likes a food or wants more
- You’ve got 4 teeth
- You had another ear infection this month
- You’re wearing 9-12 month clothes
- You attended your first birthday party (for Thomas turning 3). There you had your first cupcake, bouncey house, and hit your first pinata.
- While at Sunday School this month you got your first bite from a classmate.
- You really like a white teddy bear
- You like to play with books and balls
- You’re 20 lbs (40th percentile) and 30 inches tall (63th percentile)
Month 12 Ellis
- You had 2 new teeth cut through the weekend that you turned 11 months old, your 2 bottom outside incisors. You know have 8 teeth and you love to grind them. That sound drives me nuts.
- On 12/19/16 started solids officially. You had a teething cracker and ate most of it, but really enjoyed playing with it though.
- On 12/22/16 You had your first (planned) solids. I made you green beans with breastmilk. You seemed to like it a lot and even took the spoon away from me. But just a few days later (25th), daddy gave you a full green bean and you ate it fine. No purees for you girl because you're eatting like a big girl.
- You flipped head over heels into the bathtub (in the 3 seconds I looked away). The tub was empty so it wasn't a problem but you definitely scared mama and daddy. You, on the other hand, thought it was awesome and hilarious.
- Right now you find it hilarious to bite daddy's toes & stomach. We have to be on constant watch or else you will bite us and laugh
- You're still wearing 6-9 month clothes; you're very petite. Occasionally you'll wear 12 month jammies.
- If you're in disposable diapers, which seems to be a lot more often than with Dutch, you're in a size 3 but those seem a bit big on you still.
- When you want to be picked up, you lift up both your hands and look at us. Sometimes you'll add a little squeal to get our attention.
- Speaking of squealing, you are becoming more and more of a stereotypical girl in that you have so many things to tell us about. I look forward to understanding what you're saying because it makes you very excited.
- One of your favorite places to play is in the bottom of the pantry. If I shut the door before you get to play, you let me know that it was a bad idea for me to shut the door.
- Much like when your brother was a baby, you really like to play with the dishes in the dishwasher. I'm going to remember this for chore chart time in the future.
- You're hair is really starting to grow and it has some wave in it. You've got the cutest little flippies over each ear!
- This month you experienced your first Christmas and, no surprise, your favorite part was playing with all of the paper and boxes.
- More and more this month you have demonstrated your independence. You're not upset if we help you, but you’re fine having some time for independent play. You enjoy moving from toy box to toy basket just playing at your own pace. You and I get up together before Dutch and you really enjoy that quiet time just playing by yourself.
- Right now you are up for the day between 6:30am and 7:30am. You like to have some independent play until big brother gets up. You take a good nap between 10 and 11 until about 2. You're then up and play and might take a short nap around 5 for about an hour. Then you're up until about 8/9. During the day and the first part of your night, you sleep in your pack and play, but after you get up around 11, I bring you to bed with me (or to sleep on my chest if I’m still up watching tv or something). At night you sleep next to me and you are still getting up about 3-4 times a night, just to eat and make sure I'm still next to you and then you go right back to sleep
- The foods that you have now tried: green beans, brussels sprouts, kale-apple puffs, banana, blueberry, orange, sweet potatoes, brocoli, & greek yogurt.
- Totally unintentionally, you napped in the crib for the first time on 1/7/17
- You will make a kissing sound back to us when we blow you kisses.
- You love the volume dial on the TV. You either crank it super high or turn it off completely.
- You always put your fingers in my mouth now when you’re nursing. It used to be that she would just touch my nose, but now she likes to have her fingers in my mouth the entire nursing session.
- On 1/12/17 you got your finger squished in the bathroom door. Dutch didn't want you in the bathroom but I honestly don't think he shut the door to hurt you. You cried, but mama bawled way more (like super loud ugly cry). I felt your pain. And the blood. Oh the blood. There was so much! How can one little body even contain that much blood!? We really debated taking you to the hospital for stitches. We’re pretty sure that you’re going to lose your finger nail.
- Since you’ve started eating solids, we've learned that you are a very slow eater. You like to savor every bite. You sit in your chair to finish eating while I do the dishes. I think you like to be up high and watch everything that’s happening in the house.
- You also like to feed Rooney from your chair.
- When you're playing with us, you like to hold something and then give it to us, and then have us give it back to you, and pass back and forth over and over. You also like to put things in baskets and move each item from basket to basket.
- At your 12 month appointment you weighed 17 lbs (20th percentile), and 30 inches long (86th percentile). Your head did the most growing this month and you went from the 30th to the 55th percentile! You got 3 vaccines (some we had to catch up on because you were sick at your last appointment and so you didn't get those), and a blood test. We got the results back from the blood work and your hemoglobin is low (like mama), so you're on a daily iron supplement for the next 3 months and we will repeat the test. Until then, you and I will be eatting a lot of red meat to get those levels higher. The doctor also notice that your molars are red and swollen, so I bet we'll be seeing those poke through soon.
- You're definitely able to drink from a sippy cup (because you like to steal your brothers)
- On your birthday eve, Dutch and I made you a 3 layer cake, my first ever 3 layer cake but I think you’re the perfect reason to try. It was chocolate on the top and bottom and vanilla in the center. I think you liked the cake but you weren't super interested in eating it, just playing with it.
- Your actual birthday was really calm and quiet. We let you eat cake after dinner and open a present. You got a pink train from grandpa.
- You are still taking 2 naps a day.
- Long after meal time, we find you still hoarding food in your mouth.
- Music is the best to you. You love to dance to music, and if you hear music you're drawn to it
