ONE YEAR OLD.
I cannot believe how fast this year has gone. It honestly feels like just yesterday I was writing Patrick's 11 month post, and the day before that we were bringing him home from the hospital--and no, I'm not exaggerating. It really does go way too fast. You're right Kenny, Don't Blink.
It does make me really sad that I won't do any formal "monthly" updates any more...I mean, I'll still be blogging like crazy about Patrick, but they won't be in these lovely monthly milestones blog posts. I totally still could, but I feel like once we hit 12 months/1 year, it's time to move on from the "baby" monthly posts to more general (and less formal) toddler posts. Plus, they don't make those adorable monthly stickers past 12 months...which to me, is an indication that months 13 and on don't need to be documented as regimentally as the first 12 were.
This month, as with the past several, these photos were not easy to take. Mr. Wiggles does not like to sit still, so it makes for a rather challenging capture. Luckily Mike was home to help me (try) and hold Patrick's attention to get these pics. I really do take HUNDREDS of photos just to get a few good ones. This is one thing I won't miss with not doing these updates: the struggle for these staged pics to turn out good!
We did a mini photo shoot for his birthday too--and by mini, I mean SHORTTTTT. Literally put (one) of his birthday outfits on and snapped some pics of him in the front yard. But OMG, how freaking adorable is he?!! The bow tie and suspenders KILL ME!! ($6 on Amazon by the way--excellent score! And the shirt is from Carters, but my mom got it at a garage sale for $2, the shorts I got on super clearance at Kohl's for $1.50, so his entire outfit was under $10! NICEEEEEEE) Anyways, here's a few adorable "formal" pics for his first birthday...and one not-so-adorable. Little man didn't want his picture with Scooter for some reason!
Patrick's big first birthday party (or parties, since my mom is hosting a family one on Sunday too!) is tomorrow, and it's going to be amazing. It's Muppet-themed (duh! what else would it be?!!) and I cannot wait for him to play with all of his little buddies and destroy his Muppet cake! You KNOW I will have a blog post coming up later this weekend about all of his birthday weekend shenanigans. I just hope I snap enough pics! Haha! You KNOW I will. I'm snap-happy lately!
For his party I actually took all of his monthly pics and monthly stat pics and hung them with clothespins on twine on display for the party. Here's a collage version (I just love collages!!) of all of his stat pics together...I am sooooo glad I did these every month with the same pic and some of his noteworthy accomplishments (weight, teeth, interests, etc...) for that month.
So, to end my boy's one year blog post, I'll end with some milestones/updates/recent happenings. No longer is my baby a baby, but he is officially a toddler. Cue mama tears.
It does make me really sad that I won't do any formal "monthly" updates any more...I mean, I'll still be blogging like crazy about Patrick, but they won't be in these lovely monthly milestones blog posts. I totally still could, but I feel like once we hit 12 months/1 year, it's time to move on from the "baby" monthly posts to more general (and less formal) toddler posts. Plus, they don't make those adorable monthly stickers past 12 months...which to me, is an indication that months 13 and on don't need to be documented as regimentally as the first 12 were.
This month, as with the past several, these photos were not easy to take. Mr. Wiggles does not like to sit still, so it makes for a rather challenging capture. Luckily Mike was home to help me (try) and hold Patrick's attention to get these pics. I really do take HUNDREDS of photos just to get a few good ones. This is one thing I won't miss with not doing these updates: the struggle for these staged pics to turn out good!
We did a mini photo shoot for his birthday too--and by mini, I mean SHORTTTTT. Literally put (one) of his birthday outfits on and snapped some pics of him in the front yard. But OMG, how freaking adorable is he?!! The bow tie and suspenders KILL ME!! ($6 on Amazon by the way--excellent score! And the shirt is from Carters, but my mom got it at a garage sale for $2, the shorts I got on super clearance at Kohl's for $1.50, so his entire outfit was under $10! NICEEEEEEE) Anyways, here's a few adorable "formal" pics for his first birthday...and one not-so-adorable. Little man didn't want his picture with Scooter for some reason!
For his party I actually took all of his monthly pics and monthly stat pics and hung them with clothespins on twine on display for the party. Here's a collage version (I just love collages!!) of all of his stat pics together...I am sooooo glad I did these every month with the same pic and some of his noteworthy accomplishments (weight, teeth, interests, etc...) for that month.
So, to end my boy's one year blog post, I'll end with some milestones/updates/recent happenings. No longer is my baby a baby, but he is officially a toddler. Cue mama tears.
- Little man actually has slimmed down a bit since last month--probably due to the fact that he is crawling everywhere!--dude is a lightning fast crawler. And by "slimmed down", I mean he didn't gain the one-plus-pounds he's been gaining the past 11 months of his life every month--he actually lost 7 ounces!. He weighs in for being one year old at 24 pounds 9 ounces. Seriously, I think the excessive moving he's doing now has caused him to thin out. You blink, and he's across the room chasing Scooter and trying to pull his tail. I kinda hope he stays at this size for a while...mama here is sick of buying new clothes every few months!
- He's officially in 24 month/2T clothes. I've put all of his 18 month clothes away, because they're just too tight/short for him. Again, I hope he stays in this size for a while (at least through the summer!) because that's what all of his shorts and tshirts and swimwear are sized in. He wears a size 4 shoe, but his Keens are a size 5 and those fit him well too.
- Not walking...yet. My guess is in the next month or so he'll begin taking steps. He's been pulling up and walking around furniture (holding on) for the past month or so, so I know he is close to walking on his own. His new thing is standing in his crib and biting the top rail. He thinks it's the funniest thing ever. You KNOW there will be a blog post dedicated solely to walking when he decides to take his first steps! And I'm not worried--dude has his own agenda. He'll walk when he's ready.
- No longer does Patrick bathe in his duck tub. We knew for a while he'd outgrown it, but it was so convenient to not have to fill up the entire tub and we could just fill up the little duck tub. Well, after a few days of him literally crawling out of his tub into the bigger part of the bathtub and/or standing up in it, we decided it was finally time to ditch the duck and just do baths in the regular tub. I'd say he's pretty happy about being in the big kid tub.
- Patrick is eating more and more adult food and less baby food. This is good because it's 1. saving us money (not having to buy a ton of baby food as much) and 2. is exposing Patrick to new tastes and textures. For example, for dinner last night he had a mixture of cut up hot dogs and bratwursts, mangos, watermelon, and pineapples, and then one jar of baby food. When we went to Lion's Choice last week for lunch he had roast beef, the bun, and french fries, with a side of baby food. Earlier this week we went to Fuddruckers and Patrick got his very FIRST kid's meal! Little man devoured half of a grilled cheese sandwich, about 5 huge seasoned fries, some sweet potatoes, some cut up pickles and tomatoes, and a little bit of mom's milk shake. He gets 3 full meals a day (just like we do!), with some snacks (puffs, yogurt drops, veggie sticks, etc...) in between.
- Little man has 8 teeth now--four on top, four on bottom! And, if my mama-intuition is correct, I bet he's got his one-year molars coming in too. He's been a little fussier lately (not affecting his sleep habits luckily...thank God) and chewing on everything. Dude has been such a rockstar when it comes to teething (I hope that keeps up!) that when he is cutting a tooth (or teeth) his mood does change, but not drastically. We did lose his baltic amber teething anklet somewhere (which, I thought was rather impressive that we went 9 months with it without losing it), so I ordered another one.
- No bottles STILL! Little man hasn't even been phased by this AT ALL (and I am soooo thankful for this!). He gets a sippy cup (about 10 oz) of warmed organic vitamin D (whole) milk when he wakes up in the morning and before bed. We struggled for a few weeks with trying to give him formula (mixed with milk, by itself, etc...) and he did NOT want it AT.ALL. So, we started him on whole milk early (just after he turned 11 months) and he has been woofing down his milk in the morning and at night. We do still have a giant can of formula, so I don't want it to go to waste, so we mix in a few scoops each day in his morning oatmeal so he's still getting those nutrients and we aren't wasting the formula we still have.
- Baby Einstein, or baby crack as we call it, still holds his attention, but definitely not like it did before. I think this is because he's more interested in what's going on around him than what is on TV. Before, we use to be able to turn on Baby Einstein and BOOM! Instant attention for as long as it was on. Well, lately, we turn it on, and he sees it, and may watch it for a few minutes, but then he wants to be doing something else. Mr. Wiggles does not like to sit still! Haha. Although I'm glad I have a curious little man who wants to explore the world (just like his daddy was).
- Dude still sleeps like a champ. Usually 12+ hours at night, and a good 3-4 hour nap in the afternoon. We've had to wake him up a few times recently from a nap/in the morning and OMG. He gets sooooo peeved off when he's woken up! (totally takes after his dad here) He definitely does not like to be woken up and would prefer to wake up on his own (don't we all?!!). But it's so funny that this little boy gets visibly angry when he's woken up.
I'm sure I'm forgetting some big milestones/events of the past month, but baby brain turns into mommy brain and most of the time my head is still in a fog. Anyways, I'll leave you with my obligatory collage photos...my last ones. tears.
