Hope Still Flies

16 Week Womp

t2 9:45 AM

Blindsided me this morning that I already need to update again.

How far along?: 16 weeks! Going by in a flash.

Symptoms: Nausea has finally mostly subsided, hooray! Bloating kinda gone down. Dizziness is a fun new symptom. Also if I sleep on my back at all at night I wake up with some pretty intense back pain around the place where I had all the problems during my flu/pneumonia in my back a year ago.

Total Weight Gain/Loss: As of last Wednesday, I was up 7 pounds. Still under my "healthy" pre-pregnancy week by 5 pounds.

Sleep: Some nights are worse than others. Thankful for a toddler that is sleeping through the night in his own bed 90% of the time.

Food Cravings: Nothing healthy. Surpriiiise. Sometimes potatoes. Sometimes pizza.

Best Moment This Month: Hmm. Starting to feel movement? Feeling better?

Movement: Little bits here and there.

Gender: Less than a month til the ultrasound! So excited.

What I Miss: Hmm. No back pain? Last 16 weeks I said pepperoni. Definitely ate some pepperoni out of the fridge the other day, whoops. I'm also drinking coffee so whoops there too.

What I Am Looking Forward To: I am already looking forward to the baby being here which is crazy. I need to slow my roll. Putting the crib together? Maybe I'll do that soon. And knowing if it's a boy or girl!

Milestones: Having absolutely no shame about wearing my maternity clothes already. Killin it.

Comments: Things seems so different than Thad's pregnancy, but so the same as well. It's weird and I forgot how much anxiety comes with pregnancy. Second guessing if every little thing is normal or not. Dr. Google is great but you can find an answer to fit every thing you want.

EVERYONE ELSE EXCITED IT'S FALL!? Our October is already full of pumpkins and being outside and fall time fun. And then finding out if the baby is a boy or girl and I'm sure pretending I'm not already set on buying all the new clothes and stuff but let's be real. It's going to happen. Fall is my favorite, and I love that I get to be pregnant another fall. Even if I am really not a fan of being pregnant.

(Plus, all my TV shows are back.)

Until next time!

Alex

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T2: Judgement Day (12 Weeks)

t2 4:30 PM

I'm baaaaaaaaaaack.

I thought about masking this as just a usual 2.5 year update for Thad, but that seems cruel. Because, it's true! He turns 2.5 today. But also I'll be making regular updates here again because I'm pregnant with T2!

But first, an update on the three of us. Thad's the most interesting of all of us, so he goes last. =)

Life for me is pretty boring. I work, I get Thad from school, make dinner, hangout, sleep. Repeat. I've added in growing another baby but other than that life's same as usual.
Michael is on his last year of courses for his PhD, though he won't graduate until 2019. He has dissertation and internship years after this year. He's doing way more than a normal human should be able to handle and still function normally. Yet he still manages to make time for me and Thad. It's ridiculous, honestly. He's insane. But he's my insane person. And I love him.

Then, there's Thad. Every bit a 2.5-year-old. He's been healthy and (mostly) happy, and honestly, most of the time, a joy to parent. He still loves, loves, loves to help. Dishes, cooking, laundry, vacuuming (oh, vacuuming), sweeping... it's adorable. He's also very much into sports, baseball, soccer, and basketball being his top 3. He's past the hitting phase (for now) and prefers to just cry and collapse if things don't go his way. Or jump around. Those times it's hard to not laugh, sometimes he's just ridiculous. He's talking up a storm, and is doing great at daycare. He doesn't always mind well at home, but the teachers insist he's great there. We've gotten rid of paci, and are in the midst of potty training. He's still tall and even skinnier than he was. He loves pretending with his babies, and he's just recently started singing along to stuff. Still very much a creature of habit. Any change to his schedule throws him off. But he's better than he used to be. Basically, a joy.

So, for T2. So far, so good. Due March 17th! But planning on a repeat c-section so birthday will be a little before that. 2 appointments and a sonogram in and things seem to be as good as you can tell this far along. Things have been a little different than with Thad... with him I lost a lot of weight right away and didn't get over my initial weight until close to 20 weeks. This time I started underweight (about what I lost weight to last time) and have already gained a few pounds. Everything just feels different. It's weird. I was able to wean off my arthritis meds and things are going well in that regard.

Here's the "bump pic". Again, I'm still more bloat than bump but. Anyway.

How Far Along? 12 weeks and 1 day.

Symptoms: I'm basically eating all the time to fight the nausea. The fatigue isn't horrible, but I'm going to bed really early. Bloated. Like, look 5 months pregnant at the end of every day bloated.

Total Weight Gain/Loss: Up 2 pounds.

Sleep: Pretty unsettled. Fitbit tells me overall I'm still getting over 7 hours a night, which is more than I was getting before I was pregnant. Some insomnia some nights.

Food Cravings: Mostly carbs and salt. Occasionally ice cream.

Best Moment This Week: Letting the news out again. You'd think twitter would have caught on with all my food tweets.

Movement: None

Labor Signs: Hopefully none for a very long time.

Gender: I actually took an at-home blood test, but I'm keeping those results secret because I'm unsure how accurate they are. I've had a lot of "girl" feelings again, but I might just try to be preparing myself if it's a girl. I thought my symptoms were a lot different than with Thad, but re-reading over these, they might be similar.

What I Miss: Not being nauseous. (Nauseated? I can't ever decide which one to use.) That's about it.

What I Am Looking Forward To: Knowing for sure if it's a boy or a girl. Picking names. FALLLLL.

Milestones: Not a whole lot right now. End of the first trimester by some books/apps. Oh, and I've been real close to throwing up multiple times (tmi dry heaving) but the only time I actually threw up was last night. At 12 weeks. Just like with Thad.

Again, just an extra word here... I'm not trying to be an attention whore or anything with these posts. I love looking back on Thad's and I want to have the same thing for this baby. Plus I am the worst about keeping all my family/friends updated and this is just an easy way to make sure everyone that wants to know, can know. Especially with my mom working in Alaska, and my MIL living in Colorado, it's just easier this way. I don't do the talking thing real well.

Until next time!

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2 Years!

monthly checkin 12:48 PM

Two whole years. The days are long, the years are short.

This will be the last "official update" post for Thad. Not like he's going to stop growing or being cute, but I need a stopping point. I'm printing all my pregnancy and monthly updates into a book for me. It's almost 100 pages. Whoops.

We're closing in on the end of the second winter. T man fared much better sickness wise this year. Michael and I weren't so lucky. Never-ending coughs, chest pain, sinus whatever. It's been ridiculous. Thad's had some coughing issues, but it's more asthma related, I think. I was hoping he'd avoid that, but there are worse things.

Things have been great. Thad's still becoming more and more independent. He would rather do things himself no matter what. It's resulted in a lot of him helping us do stuff, lots of messes, but that's okay. He's also doing much more in the learning of emotions department. He still doesn't throw full-out tantrums. But, if he gets frustrated, his angry face comes out, and he'll either hit or throw things. And then if he's too tired, he'll cry. And cry. And cry. We talk to him, try to label his emotions and explain why we're doing or not doing, and redirect. But sometimes we'll do timeout. Discipline is tough. I know part of the problem is he's still not talking a ton, and can't express himself.

He's moved to the 2's room at daycare, which I think will help with the talking. He moved up with a few other babies from the 1's room, which I'm thankful for. And for the most part seems to be doing great! He has his moments, but he's not crying all day like he did a few months ago, or when he moved to the 1's room. He's still shy, doesn't like loud noises, prefers to be with mom and dad, but he's doing awesome. He's not even using paci at all there. (!!!)

On a me and Michael note... Michael's still doing good with school, work is going well (and busy) for me. I moved from an associate level, to level 1, which is awesome. Excited about the work I'm doing. Michael is still balancing work/school/family better than I ever expected. It's a lot sometimes, for the both of us. But, in general, I feel so grateful for the opportunities both of us have. And the support from family and friends.

The last one...

His doctor appointment isn't until tomorrow, and I'll come back and add in height and weight. Pretty sure he's about 29 pounds and 35 inches.
Long torso... Mostly 3T shirts, 2T pants.
Still eats way better at daycare than he does at home. Home is for sugar. Though I try not to give in to that.
Sleep is much better. He sleeps through the night most nights, and is waking up after 6 most days now. Some nights he still wakes up at 2 or 3 and just wants to be awake, but it's rarer now.
Just waiting on 2-year-old molars to come in. I'm not sure I'll know when they come in - he likes to chew on his jackets and his hands.
I've seen every episode from the first 3 seasons of Paw Patrol several times.
Great at taking lids off of things.
Will stop anything he's doing to point out a ball. Or baby. Or doggy.
Any time he sees a soccer or basketball jersey he says "Ball!"
Loves looking at family pictures. Thankfully I have no shortage of those.
Kinda potty training. They let him try every time they change diapers at daycare. He's peed on the potty at home a handful of times. And next to it a handful more.
His smile and laugh are infectious.
Took him to the barber for the first time. He cried the whole time she was cutting his hair.
He still loves dancing.
Has a "Happy Face", and a "Mad Face". You ask him to close his eyes and he just squints. It's hilarious.
Can shoot a basket in his little hoop from 5 or 6 feet away. #baller
Loves building with blocks
New found love for choo choos.
Is finally putting some phrases together. Love you is my favorite.
Insists on saying by to his 1's room teachers before we leave each day.
Cute. Smart. Ornery. All the things a 2-year-old should be.

Thanks to anyone who's read any of these posts the past few years (this blog has actually been in commission since 2007!). I'm sure I'll be back soon enough...

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Things I've Learned.

thad man 6:37 PM

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21 months

monthly checkin 6:32 PM

I wasn't sure I was going to do a blog post for 21 months... but I've been thinking about some stuff I want to write down for future!Alex, so I thought I'd do a quick update.

We're back to wintertime sickness, unfortunately. Thad and I have both already had pneumonia, though he's fared better than me (I also had two strains of the flu, and can't seem to shake my cough). His winter-daycare-cough has taken hold and he's doing really well with his nebulizer when we decide to do it. We've been lucky so far, and I hope a mild winter helps out with the sick kids not being so sick.

Other than that, life's been good! T's becoming more and more independent and more and more opinionated. Last night there was a meltdown because he REALLY wanted the dustpan and I wouldn't let him have it, but he could have the Swiffer! Nope. Didn't work. Learning how to handle him when he just starts screaming has been tough. Sometimes I just leave the room and laugh because, "He's shedding actual tears for that??" but there's a lot of sitting on the floor and hugging and explaining why I did what I did. "Buddy, a third pack of fruit snacks is not a good breakfast. And we're out of donuts."

He's getting a well-balanced diet.

(Kind of. Thanks to daycare.)

Slowly, Thad seems to becoming a little less shy, a little more comfortable with life. He spent all day in the 2-year-old room at daycare a week ago and barely cried at all. Compared with a month ago when he cried the WHOLE time he was in there, didn't eat lunch, and passed out before naptime. It broke my heart to check in and see that, so I'm glad he's getting more comfortable. He's still wary of strangers but will wave and hand things to them now. He still doesn't like us leaving him with any other adults outside of daycare. Makes going on dates hard (but so does having a husband in grad school.) but we're managing.

I'm so excited it's December. He's still a little young to completely get Christmas, but I know it'll get better every year. We're getting our tree this weekend, and he and I like walking through the Christmas section at Target. I'm excited for the lights and cuddles and Christmas music and movies. Cute Christmas-y things from daycare. (Speaking of daycare, I won't go into it again, but I'm so glad he is where he is. His teachers are such fantastic women and love him so much. And we love them. Very thankful. Oh, and the center is putting on a Christmas show on the 18th, if anyone wants to go! Let me know.)

There are little things now that I wish I could have told myself a year and a half ago. I spent so much time google searching and reading mom blogs and forums for little things. And some of the information was really, really helpful. But at the same time, I wish I could have told me, "Do what works! It'll be okay! He's not going to need a pacifier in college!" Thad's not a great sleeper. Never has been. I was all excited when he didn't have his nights and days mixed up as a newborn, but the actual sleeping? Ha. Sometimes he just doesn't want to. And I read all of this about cry-it-out, put him down awake, etc etc. I learned early that cry-it-out wouldn't work - he's way too anxious. I had to rock him to sleep until he was over a year old. And you know what? That's okay with me. I work all day, and he's only awake for 3 hours after I pick him up. That cuddle time at bedtime is one of my favorite things.

Even now, with his toddler bed. (Sidenote - he's doing great in his toddler bed and I love it.) I sit at the end of his bed while he goes to sleep. Sometimes he comes and lays on me, and how can I say no to cuddles? Other nights I just sit beside his bed. At this point, I could probably leave him alone, but... it's still my time with him.

So, Future!Alex... don't worry so much about the small stuff with the next baby. It'll all work out. Do what works for you and the fam. People are going to judge you regardless of what you do. But there will also be supportive people. Look to them.

Speaking of. SO many cute tiny newborns around. I've gone from thinking, "hahahHAHAH NO" to "I mean, it wasn't THAT bad, was it?" And then Thad takes his chex and dumps them all over the floor and I'm set with kids for awhile again.

I have no idea about height. He weight 28 pounds the last visit to the doctor. I'm guessing 35 inches. Ish.
Wears 2T, more and more 3T shirts. 2T pants.
HATES VEGETABLES. And meat, unless it's mixed in real well. Or unless he's at daycare. I don't understand that.
I have created a sugar monster. Unfortunately. All you sugar-free, low-sugar, super healthy parents, hats off to you. I can't eat that way, I guess I can't expect Thad to either. He'll survive.
I complained about sleep, but he is sleeping through the night more. There is always something... teething, growing, whatever. But overall it's better. Even if he wakes up at 5:45 am.
Got a whole bunch of teeth at once. Close to 15 now? Waiting on a bottom molar to come in.
He's also starting to use more words... I think he's over 20 now, with the newest one being "spill", if that says anything about what he likes to do. Still won't use two or more words together, but he will sign one and say one.
He has a new obsession with Paw Patrol. Turn it off, feel his wrath.
I've learned I'm a total pushover to his sad voice. "Paw? Paaaw? *sad lip* *signs please*" I CAN'T.
Our new thing is his matching card game from one of my good friends. He'll match the colored monsters, and numbers.
Favorite word is definitely "No". He doesn't like me dancing. Is really good at telling me what he doesn't want to eat. Good thing he's cute.
Loves taking lids off things. Unfortunately.
Also loves dumping things from one bowl to another. Our living room is a constant mess of food because of it. He usually doesn't miss, but when he does he crunches things with his hands or feet.
Ornery. So. Ornery.
This morning he refused to let me feed him any of his oatmeal AND he got his pajamas almost all the way off without my help.

Really, I just feel lucky that he's mine and I get to keep him forever. Watching him grow is just so awesome. I can't believe he'll be TWO in 3 months. Yikes. Help.

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18 Months

monthly checkin 1:41 PM

1.5 years.... these kids just insisting on growing, don't they?

He actually went a whole three months without a doctor's visit! Had his 18-month well kid visit, and we hadn't been there since his 15-month visit! I don't have as high of hopes of making it from now to two years. But for now, hooray! We're down to no medications on a daily basis! His budesonide has come in handy when he got a cold a couple months ago.

He's still all-toddler. He's learning to run really quickly (actually have to run after him when he starts running away now), very much wants to be independent. He's taken a couple of good spills from running too quickly. At a wedding last weekend he tripped on something and went down pretty hard, and then hit his face on sticks or rocks or something. Poor thing stood up and had dirt all up in every part of his face. It was equal parts funny/sad. There are also tantrums, but mostly just when he's hungry/tired. When he's both it's a nightmare. He knows how to push buttons now. Does things he knows he's not supposed to do and then looks at us. Discipling. It's tough.

Overall, it was a fairly quiet (yet busy) summer. School's started back up for Michael, and we're easing into our new routine. Daycare is still going well, he seems to be thriving, and loves his teachers. My new position at work is great, and I love what I'm doing. A lot of the time I feel like life is so great, I'm just waiting for the other shoe to drop... for something to go wrong. I try not to let it get to me, or think about it often. But I have a beautiful son, amazing husband, job I enjoy, supportive family. How did I get so lucky? I'm not sure, but I'm thankful. Every day.

Look at those hazel eyes. They kill me.

Our T-man is 34.5 inches and 26.4 pounds. Both over the 90th percentile. He's a big guy.

Wearing 2T-3T shirts, and 18-2T pants/shorts.

Got a new carseat for the Bug, the Graco Milestone, so hopefully he'll be rear facing in both cars for another year or so. Thankful for advances in carseat technology to keep our kids safe.

Still won't eat vegetables. He'd eat yogurt for every meal if we'd let him. Obviously he's still growing fine, so I try not to worry. Still eats great at daycare. Our doctor says her son's the same way.

Sleep is still pretty cyclical. He went through the 18-month sleep regression about a month early, and for about a week or two he was up every night for 2-3 hours. Just... awake. Not wanting to sleep. Taking over an hour to wind down at night to go to sleep. It was horrible. More recently he's been doing well. Every once in awhile he just wakes up and doesn't want to sleep. But for the most part I can't complain.

Stuck at 10 teeth. I keep waiting for his bottom molars to pop through, but nothing yet.

Says between 5 and 10 words, at least kinda. He's recently added "BOO!" and "bac" (vacuum). We're working on words, and he does pretty well communicating between words, sign language and shaking his head.

Still in love with the Wiggles. Thankfully we can switch it out with Daniel Tiger, Curious George, and Doc McStuffins occasionally.

Doggy is his bestest pal. He takes him to daycare, and sleeps with him at night. Poor Doggy has suffered some abuse, but we bought a second just in case.

Sleeping in a toddler bed! Made the switch around the time of the sleep regression (a mistake I won't make again) and I do think he's sleeping better now. Bedtime routine has gone from about an hour down to 15-30 minutes most nights, and he's going to sleep a little earlier. I'll take it.

Especially because he still wakes up arond 6 every day.

Loves cleaning items? Vacuums, brooms, the Swiffer.

His favorite things to do right now: puzzles (he's getting really good at the wooden ones), dumping out anything that will make noise (mostly mega blocks), playing basketball, stacking anything that will stack, playing with cars.

Still so shy. He's doing a little better, and remembering people a little more.

Recent obsession: Cars, trucks, anything with wheels. He makes a vroom type noise when he drives them. And gets really excited when he sees the buses around the city.

Knows sheep say "baa baa" and for cows he says "mmmmm"

Dude's gotta stop with the growth spurts...

We've started getting the question of if we're thinking about having another kid. Some days I don't know how anyone handles a toddler and a newborn. I'm already exhausted enough at the end of the day. I don't miss being pregnant. Plus, Thad's a good kid, do I really want to tempt fate with another one? (And who can afford more than one kid in daycare???) But then... I miss having a tiny baby around. I wonder how Thad would be with a baby brother or sister. I've always wanted to have more than one kid..

So basically, the answer is... we'll have another one. Eventually. As long as it's in the cards for us.

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15 Months!

monthly checkin 5:47 PM

Little blondie/"Destructo" turned 15 months earlier this week!

Look at that kid. I go between thinking he's adorable, a butthead, and a million other things. Usually in the span of three seconds. And I just love him so much no matter how much he's screaming.

I can't believe it's already been three months since he turned one! (And he's been walking for about five months!) I went back to the last blog post to see what I could update on...

I'm happy to report (and probably jinx myself...) that he is healthy! We've only had one additional doctor's visit between his last appointment and today, and that was for some weird rash he got on parts of him. (Turned out to be a virus?) He had one cough spell a couple months ago, but we cleared it up with his albuterol and pulmicort. So now he just gets his allergy medicine and vitamin daily. His nose is still pretty stuffy most days, but nothing horrible at all. Hopefully he can stay healthy in the coming months.

Daycare is going great. He (and me and Michael) love his teachers. They are great with teaching him and loving on him, and really I can't ask for more. All is good in that world.

Very much toddler. Running, throwing, whining, tantrum-ing. We bought him a little toy vacuum because he loves our big one so much. And it's been great! Except that we keep ours in the laundry room, which he can't really play in because furnace, water heater, etc. All he wants to do is put his vacuum in there, and take it back out. Over and over. Finally put it away elsewhere last night and he just kept going back to the laundry room door and crying (loudly) when I wouldn't open it. :(

We took a mini family vacation to Omaha last week. Until someone's out of school, we'll probably just have to do these little getaways, which is more than fine. We found a really beautiful house on VRBO. It was really close to both the zoo and the Old Market. We did half a day at the zoo and loved it! It's huge with such a variety of animals, and it was a lot of fun to watch Thad see it all for the first time. We spent that afternoon walking around the Old Market and ate dinner at a so-so place. Should have stuck to the pizzeria/bakery right around the corner from the house we stayed at. Absolutely delicious, and the best customer service I've ever encountered. So much fun.

And we managed not to completely screw up his schedule not having him in daycare for a week! I loved having him home, but more props to the stay-at-home-parents. It's exhausting trying to think of things to do to keep them busy. Especially free things.

The only other bit of big news is that I started a new position at work this week. I made a jump from clinical operations, to our IT/data group. I have a lot learn, but am really excited about the position and the opportunities it brings. This first week has been great, and I think it will just get better, though probably more stressful as well.

In the next week and a half, Michael's turning 26, and we're celebrating 6 years of marriage! So crazy. Most days I feel like we should still be 18 or 22 or something. And we DEFINITELY shouldn't be trusted with a kid.

Oh, wait.

One more thing - pray for me. I have to play soccer a few nights next week, and outside of chasing Thad, I have rarely worked out in... awhile. It's going to be ugly.

He is now 32.5 inches long, and 24 pounds, 12 ounces. (90th and 76th percentile!)
Clothes are just. Hard. Hard to find shirts that are long enough, so 2T for the most part... shorts seem to be 18 months to 24 months.
His legs are long enough that he kicks the seat backs in the car, and he likes to put his legs over the side of his seat. But we'll keep him rear facing as long as possible... 2 definitely. Hopefully 3.
Won't touch vegetables. Force him to take a bite and he spits them out. Sigh. Sneak them into pasta and smoothies. Pray that he's getting all the nutrients he needs. There are days where he really just wants fruit snacks and bread. And I just... go with it. Another great thing about daycare - he'll eat whatever they give him (minus the veggies)
Loves strawberries. A lot.
Thankfully quickly fixed the bottle issue. No more bottles! Whole milk twice a day, coconut milk once a day.
Sleep has improved... most days. Some nights he's still awake for 2 or 3 hours. It's rough. But last night he slept all the way through. We've been struggling a bit to get him to sleep this past week. I'm hoping it's because he's getting another tooth.
9 teeth! That means he's gotten four teeth in the past three month. Geez. Workin on those molars.
Won't sit still for pictures anymore. Go, go, go.
He has fallen in love with the Wiggles. And how can I say no when he says "Mo?" and signs for more. And claps when I turn it on.
(Sidenote: "Do the Propeller" is his favorite song. His dancing to it is hilarious.)
Not sure what we would do without Scout for car rides.
Considering changing him to a toddler bed in the next few months. I'm really afraid he's going to climb out of his crib one of these days...
Because HE IS A CLIMBER. Up and down stairs. Likes to stand up at the top of his slide. Climb onto tables and bookshelves at daycare. I'm losing years off my life.
Feeds himself all the time. Uses a fork pretty well. I still help him if I decide he's not eating enough protein.
Loves, loves, loves being outside. And pushing things around.
Still not many words yet. Mama, dada, all done, more... kinda says up, doggy, papa.
LOVES slides. He's decided he's big enough for the big swirly ones at playgrounds.
He's also tall enough to reach door knobs and the counter on his tip toes.
I sorta gave him a haircut a couple weeks ago. Did fine with the clippers, but as soon as I got the scissors out to blend it he was DONE. So it looks funny. Oh well.
Shy. So shy. He usually warms up to people after awhile, but he's started doing these "shy blinks", where he'll close his eyes for a few seconds and then open them slowly to look at the new person. It's adorable.

I'm already thankful to have these posts to look back on. My friend's 8-month-old is standing and cruising and she seems SO TINY. But we looked back on my blog and sure enough he was doing that at her age, too. It seems so crazy...

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1 Year!!

monthly checkin 2:05 PM

Well, as of 6:25 am this morning (well, if I'd posted this Tuesday, oops), we officially made it!

Thad is 12 months old. What even?!

This month was another sick-y type month. Although, honestly, I can't keep them straight anymore. There was something earlier this month... croup? That he got rid of a few weeks ago, and then this past week started coughing AGAIN. And then the cold symptoms came on. Congestion out the wazoo and everything. Saturday he woke up with the goopy eyes and nose, so we took him to the walk-in clinic. Didn't get to see his normal doctor, and this one just told us he probably has asthma, gave us a new script and sent us on our way without anything for the snot machine. He hasn't been running a fever, and he's eating/acting fairly normally so we've let him be. We'll see if he can kick it this week before his 1-year appointment on Friday.

He's finally starting to do better in his new room at daycare. He's still pretty attached to Miss Kirsten (even when I pick him up, he occasionally reaches back out for her!) but he's letting Miss Cheryl hold him too and he's playing more by himself. I see it more at home, too. Loud noises don't bother him as much (most of the time), and he's definitely on a schedule now with naps. I love it.

Still wanting to be oh-so-independent, he gets frustrated when I don't understand what he wants (from his whining. How dare I?) He's learning he can point to what he wants, and he knows the sign for more (his version, at least). So most of the time he'll wonder into the kitchen and start signing for more. If I pick him up he'll point to his goldfish crackers, or graham cracker sticks, and will start clapping when I pull them out. Stinker.

We all made our first (and second) trip to IKEA! Loved it. We got a few new things for the house, and Thad got a toybox, new car rug, and some cars. It's definitely an adventure out there.

I'm still trying to get used to making small talk with people who also have small kids. Thad likes to stare (of course) or play with other little people. So I have to get used to the "How old? What's his name?" I don't do social situations well. I'm trying.

22 pounds, 31.25 inches! Still tall.
Hasn't grown as much the past month. Still anywhere from 12 months to 2T in clothes
Eating what we eat all the time now. I love it. I give him pouches for snacks, or when I don't give him enough fruits/veggies. I'm still working on that.
Dropped his daytime bottles at daycare. He has one 6.5 oz bottle at bedtime, and then he is STILL waking up at least twice and downing 4.5 oz bottles then. Which brings me to...
With him so sick/teething/whatever all the time he has trouble sleeping through the night. On his best nights he'll sleep from 7-3, and then again from 3:30-whenever we get up. Hopefully as we get rid of the winter weather and sickness, we can start weaning those nighttime feedings down and he'll sleep through the night. Please. Please.
4 teeth! Working on 5 and 6. His new amber necklace (I accidentally washed the last one) will be here this week.
Loves reading. My parents, Sarah, Shawn, and Craig came over this past weekend, and he got books as birthday presents. He was so excited with each one, it was adorable.
Sticks his tongue out all the time. It's hilairious.
Will drink from any little-kid cup. My favorite are those 360 cups that are supposed to help transition to open cups. He loves them too.
Very, very curious. He likes to be close if he doesn't know what's going on, but explores non-stop. I still can't get him to sit and watch a TV show for anything.
Lowered his crib all the way down.
Likes to push Scout's paws, and then just let it sing whatever song. Loves music.
Gets SO EXCITED every time he sees a dog. Pretty excited when he sees cats, too.
Gives great hugs and high fives
Doesn't like me feeding him, though he likes trying to feed me food
Won't even consider eating baby puffs anymore
Thinks Michael is the funniest person ever.
My favorite tiny person.

Well, there we have it. I made it 12 months with monthly posts. And 365 days with my picture project on instagram. I love that I'll have these to look back on. I will try to do blog posts every so often... if nothing else but for my memories. Thanks for anyone who's read and kept up and love on our boy the past year. We cannot thank you all enough for the support we have gotten.