Holy moly…twelve months. We are officially crossing the line from babyhood to toddlerhood and I’m not really sure how to feel about that. Instead of trying to capture all the thoughts and feels in one post, I’ll save the sappy, sentimental stuff for another day and just jump into this month’s update!
The Numbers
We had our one year checkup yesterday and Caleb is weighing in at 18 lbs 4 oz and measuring 29 inches long. He’s pretty much followed the same growth curve this whole year so even though he’s teeny, he’s growing well and we are happy with that!
Some Milestones
One of my favorite things this past month has been Caleb start to say a few words. The language lover and teacher in me will always delight in this phase. He is saying “Dada” when he sees Jordan (and pretty much all the time but definitely when Jordan gets home!) and his other favorite word is a little shriek for Olive that sounds like “Aw-wih!” It is the CUTEST thing in the world to see him shriek Olive’s name whenever he sees her or if he hears her jumping at the back door to come in from the backyard. Of course he isn’t saying Mama at all yet, but I’m sure he’ll get there eventually!
Caleb’s still not walking yet, but he is speed crawling, pulling up/cruising/climbing on everything. He loves walking around with his little walker and I’m sure it’s just a matter of time before he starts attempting to walk on his own.
What He’s Liking
I’d say #1 on Caleb’s like list right now is Olive. He LOVES her and giggles with delight every time he sees her. He’ll climb on her, pull her ears, and giggle when she licks his face or gives him kisses. It is the most adorable thing and I can’t wait to see their little relationship grow.
A close second to Olive might be the park. We’ve had some gorgeous 60-70 degree days this month and I’ve had so much fun taking Caleb to the park to soak them in. He loves climbing up the steps, pulling up on the bars to take everything in, watching cars go by behind the fence, and most of all, loves going down the slide. He’ll sit at the top, slowly lean forward until he starts to move, then I catch him and help him slide down the rest as he collapses into my arms giggling. These moments are so sweet and precious and I am so grateful I get to enjoy them with him!
Last, Caleb’s been loving making messes. He likes taking everything out of something, throwing it all to one side, then picking it back up and putting it away. It’s such a peculiar thing to watch and it makes me giggle every time. It also means our house is quite messy these days. Such is life with a toddler I suppose!
Can you spot the mess-making toddler in this picture?
What He’s Disliking
Diaper changes. Good Lord. You would think we were trying to murder him when we lay him down for a diaper change! I hate to admit it but I’ve totally resorted to food bribery when he has a poopy diaper and will usually give him a cracker or veggie stick to distract him. Survival mode, people.
How He’s Eating
I really felt like Caleb was making progress with eating more table foods after his last stomach bug and then we got hit with stomach bug round two and he was a bit nervous and finicky about food for a week or two. Like I shared about in this post on letting go of control, I’m learning to let go of the need that Caleb meet some standard and just keep doing my best to give him a variety of healthy foods. He’ll stop needing pouches/purees eventually and hopefully become a champ, non-picky eater like his daddy.
For now, some favorites have been anything Mexican (quesadillas, enchiladas, tortilla soup), broccoli/kale pockets from Earth’s Best, bananas, waffles, blueberries, and yogurt. I love seeing him try new foods and find new favorites, even if he does just throw things on the floor sometimes!
First taste of KC BBQ at Q39!
We are still breastfeeding at this point and I am so grateful to have made it a year. He only nurses three times a day (morning, after first nap, bedtime) and I’m working on dropping the last daytime feed before I go back to work in late March (because pumping is the worst – so much respect for you working, pumping mamas!). I really do love the snuggles with my active guy and have a feeling we’ll keep the morning/bedtime feeds for a while longer!
How He’s Sleeping
Napping has been kind of inconsistent these days and we’ve been trying to find a good balance of capping the first nap so that he doesn’t just play in his crib for an hour for the second nap. I don’t think he’s quite ready to move to one nap but I have a feeling we’ll be heading that direction soon! This week he’s randomly been sleeping until 6 or later, something very abnormal for my 5:30 AM early riser. We’ll see if it sticks but I sure am loving having that extra 30-45 minutes of sleep in the morning.
Post-nap couch snuggles!
A Parent Update
This past month has had a lot of tough moments, especially with all the sickness. The two rounds of stomach bugs in a month just about wore me out (especially since I caught it from him both times) and even as I type this, we’re going on 24 hours where he has thrown up everything he’s eaten (stomach bug round THREE?!). Having to parent while I’m nauseous and miserable is quite the reminder that as a mom, Caleb’s needs will always trump mine, especially when he’s so little and dependent on me for everything.
Even with all the sickness, this month has also been really fun. Jordan and I spent some time on Caleb’s birthday watching old videos of Caleb, and while he was absolutely adorable, it reminded us both how much more we like this stage than the newborn stage. Caleb is our little buddy and brings so much silliness and joy to our days. His smile lights up a room and his giggles are the best thing in the whole world. I love when we’re all together and Caleb looks back and forth between us grinning. We are his whole world, and that is a beautiful joy and a heavy responsibility.
Breakfast on the porch with daddy!
I’m sure I’ll continue to reflect on this past year during these next couple weeks and I hope to share a whole year reflection post soon, but for now, suffice it to say that we love this kiddo so much. It is an honor and a joy to call him ours and I hope we never forget that. Happy birthday, Caleb! We love you!
You are the sweetest mama! I loved all the pictures and updates. I still can’t believe you’ve all gotten the stomach bug twice…I would definitely be hesitant about food too if I had just recovered from that! Also, he eats tortilla soup?! I’m so impressed. Also alsooooo help a girl out and write a post on how you get him to eat veggies. 😉
Julie Hood recently posted…What I Learned in Deuteronomy
He is just getting cuter and cuter!
I love your updates! I love that last picture of you and Caleb! This phase is SO MUCH FUN!!!! Jon and I were just looking at old videos of Jackson too and we definitely choose this phase of newborns anyway. I seriously feel like I have some PTSD from the newborn phase. It was just a miserable time for us and I can’t even fathom having to do it again for a second baby. I seriously dread it. But at least we’ll know how fun it is when they get older! I love the walking phase the most so far. Everybody kept telling me to enjoy it before he could walk and get into everything (because he wasn’t getting into the cabinets when he was crawling? I don’t know what they were talking about), but I wouldn’t go back for a second. Jackson goes on walks with us now and it’s so much fun. As soon as I saw the picture of Caleb with the blueberries, I was instantly amazed that he hadn’t thrown that entire thing on the floor. Maybe you were able to teach your child to not throw everything on the floor, but we’re still working on that, haha. Also, our naps feel crazy here too. Nap one is still SO needed and such a good nap, but nap two is a crapshoot. Most days now he still takes a nap, but he won’t go down until later so he gets a super short nap and wakes up so grumpy. And he wakes early in the mornings, which I think is from such a late second nap. I think we need to cap the first nap at like, 45 minutes, but I love that time to get stuff done in the morning so I haven’t. I forgot you go back to work so soon! Anyway, I’ll stop talking about all of this! I just get so excited about how much fun these little people finally are! I waited the whole time to be able to take him to the park and take him outside to play and it’s finally so much fun to do that! This age is the best!!
Liz recently posted…Jackson: One Year
Oh my goodness I SO relate to all that stuff about the newborn phase and it’s so good to know I’m not alone! Thinking about having another one is so intimidating because I really don’t want to go through those first few months again. I love where we are now but going back to that early baby phase doesn’t sound very appealing. 🙁
These inconsistent naps are so hard! I’ve gotten so sick of trying to cap naps so he won’t fight them that we’re experimenting with one naps some days. It doesn’t work every day and I have a feeling we’ll still need two naps every once in a while but hopefully this transition will be smooth!
Yay for making it through the first year with our little guys! I’m so grateful for how you always comment and share how you guys are doing. I love seeing our boys grow! 🙂
The relationship between babies and their dogs is just the sweetest. 🙂
Catherine Short recently posted…On Sleeping and Not Sleeping (Sleep Training Tips)
Ahhh I know it’s the best! I’m sure it’s a million times better seeing a kid with their little sibling too. It’s so fun to know that we are the parents for both these little beings (okay dog parents for one of them but still!).
My little bear just turned one in January and I absolutely LOVE this stage! I love looking back on his pictures from the past year but the personality, attitude, activities, and straight up silliness right now are just so much fun. I love reading your updates – and our guys have a lot of the same clothes, haha!!
I must have missed where you mentioned going back to work – I’ll be interested in seeing your posts as a working mama, for sure. I work full time and love to read about others’ experiences and how they make the most out of working full-time while being a mama and wife.
Aww happy birthday to your little bear! This stage really is so fun. Ha and your little guy (or the mama who does his shopping) must have some good taste! 😉 I’m only going back to work for 6-8 weeks while I teach the maternity leave of a friend of mine and then I’ll be back home for the summer, but I’m definitely nervous about the transition. I’m sure I’ll write some thoughts about it as we jump in! You working mamas are rock stars…I don’t know how you do it!
How exciting! I think you’ll be fine – and you’ll cherish those baby squishes at the end of the work day so much. I feel the same way about moms who stay home with their babes – ROCK STARS! I don’t know how you do it! haha….