18 Months (Where has the time gone?)

Age: 18 months

Weight: 24 pounds 12.5 ounces

Length: 2 feet 9 inches

Clothing Size: 12-18 months, comfortably. In fact, he is still wearing several pairs of 12 month shorts.

Likes: Golf cart rides. Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Eating. Being outside. Drinking out of a straw. Being the center of attention. “Goodnight Moon”

Dislikes: Not getting his way, and he has started throwing temper tantrums when he doesn’t get his way.

Sleeping: He has been sleeping through the night in his own bed. It took a little bit of retraining after vacation, but after retraining he has slept all night even the pack and play. He has a bedtime routine- bath, brush teeth, get dressed, comb hair, snuggle up with a book (most of the time it is “Goodnight Moon”), a few sips from his sippy cup (which is now water at bedtime), and then out in Mommy’s arms while listening to nature sounds with his light show on. He is not just a tummy sleeper, he is a roll on to his tummy, feet under him, butt in the air sleeper. He is still getting a paci, but we are down to bedtime only. Over the past few weekends we even had a few days of two hour naps at home, in the crib, which is a new success. Normally he naps well at day care, but takes cat naps at home.

Eating: His favorite foods are anything related to breakfast- eggs, pancakes, waffles, sausage, toast, biscuits. Other favorites include spaghetti, blueberries, rice, bread in general, peas, and corn. He will not eat fresh bananas, he will eat bananas and blueberries and banana smoothies, but not fresh bananas.

Playing: His favorite toy is his golf clubs, and they absolutely do not belong in the bag. His golf clubs are the first toy he gets out everyday, and the hardest to get put away. He plays very well by himself, which is good and bad, he doesn’t really care if we sit down on the floor to play with him.

What we did: Where to begin, it has been a busy 6 months.

Over Spring Break we took a cruise to Cozumel, Mexico; Honduras, and Belize. The ocean in Honduras was perfect for him, warm and flat (no waves!). He did great on the cruise ship, but he got to do two of his favorite things, be outside all the time and people watch.

The school year finished up and he got to spend a lot of time at home with Mommy and Daddy. He got to do lots of new things such as his first and second trip the zoo, and his first Major League Baseball Game- the Cincinnati Reds.

 

We also went to South Carolina for a few days over 4^th of July week, which was a nice break after he recovered from strep throat (who gets strep in the summer anyway?). He was a great little traveler. And we went to aquarium.

We made the three hour trek to visit friends, went swimming, and did some work at our old house to sell.

As the school year was starting for Mommy, Connor and Daddy flew to New Hampshire for three days to see family there. Then, when they got back we had family visiting from Texas.

It has been a busy summer. Connor is a well-traveled 18 month old, 4 beaches, vacationed in 5 states, and made stops in 3 countries, a Major league Baseball game, the zoo and aquarium.

Mickey Mouse Birthday

We celebrated ours first birthday with Mickey Mouse!

I enjoying making the decorations, food, and cake.

The party was fun, lots of family, and we have one spoiled little boy on our hands.

However, he didn't even touch his cake...

 

Here are the snapshots from the party decorations.

 

 

I used cardstock to make the posters on the wall, just for a little something extra. Them attached his highchair banner with little bitty 3M hooks.

The Mickey Mouse Menu (I know its hard to read.)

Hot Diggity Dog Hot Dog Bar

Club House BBQ Sandwiches

Minnie's Bow Tie Pasta

Chips and Dale

Daisy's Fruit Garden

Goofy's Vegetable Garden

 

I also added vinyl to the silverware bucket we already had for the "Moseketools".

Pluto Punch

 

On the other side of the table I had a metal bucket with a label that said "Donald's Drinks", with 2 liters.

I even included Mickey Mouse pants. Vinyl dots on the cups.

Spoiled little boy.

I planned on hanging the paper lanterns from the light stands instead of using balloons, but they pulled the stands down. I think this turned out great!

I dipped pretzels as the favor, and tied a special message onto them, "Thanks for Stopping By!"

His Birthday Cake!

Sugar Cookies

I have a lot more practice to do, but they tasted good.

We've Got Ears, Say Cheers Cupcakes

(I have a close up of the cupcakes somewhere...)

Simple buttercream icing, with black melting chips for ears. I even had the white dots on the cupcake liners.

Centerpieces- I did the mickey cutout below to separate the red bucket from the red tablecloth.

A year in pictures, except I somehow missed bringing a picture for month 8. 

Love: One Year

Age: 1 Year (holy cow, how did this happen?)

Weight: 19 pounds 4.5 ounces (“He’s on the small side.” Is what we were told. Who would have thought after he was 8 pounds 4 ounces at birth.)

Length: 27 ¾ inches

Clothing Size: Mostly 9-12 months. We did just take the 6-9 month jeans out of the closet because they were too short. The rest of his daily 9-12 month clothes still fit great! Then we get to pajamas, this “slim fit” pajama style is for the birds, really it should just be sized for the size below. He quickly outgrew the 12 month slim fit pajamas. The 18 month slim fit pajamas fit really good, but the 18 month regular pajamas swallow him whole.

Likes: He loves to ride around in his wagon and his U of L basketball. He loves fruit smoothies. Emptying everything out of the toy basket. Pushing around his walking toys, and even other things not made for walking, like table chairs. Watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.

Dislikes: Being left in the room alone, instant tears.

Sleeping: It has been a rough month for sleep. Between strep throat and the flu he has spent a lot of time in bed with mommy. (Which I strongly dislike.) Most nights he did go to sleep after his “bottle” (with a sippy cup nipple) then lay down in the crib, however at 12 or 1 am when he woke up he would not go back into the crib. I have tried I’m not going to pick you up, but on school nights I can not let him scream from hours. So I would get him out and rock him back to sleep, as soon as he tried to lay him down, instant screams, after a few tries each night, to bed with me he comes. He is pretty consistent about waking up between 4 and 5 for something to drink. For a little while going to bed was a struggle. I struggled getting him calm down to take his bottle and calm down to fall asleep. I caved and let him watch Mickey Mouse, until finally I stood my ground. I do not want him to have a TV in his room, so we are not going to get in the habit of watching Mickey Mouse now. I stopped that, and things have gotten better.

Naptime has been a struggle for a long time. He is the one who thinks he is going to miss something so he fights it. The wagon has become our go to tool for naptime. Pushing him around the house, and he will settle off to sleep. The best part is he can then sleep in the wagon.

Eating: Surprisingly, food has been something that we struggled with this month. From completely eliminating milk for two weeks when he got the flu, to taking steps backward on table food when he had strep throat. He literally went from eating some table food and chucky baby food, to spitting it all out and eating only pureed food. We are finally back at eating table food, even eating kitchen food at daycare. There are some things he doesn’t like, mostly bread type stuff, muffins, buns, cake (yes cake! He denied eating a brownie, cake at his party, and a cupcake at daycare.) The really funny part is that it’s like he knows if its baby food or table food. If it is table food he will not let you feed him, but if its baby food he opens his mouth wide for you. With the whole issue with milk this month, and I mean whole milk or formula, warm or cold, he had a little more juice than I prefer, Pedi-A-lite, and smoothies.

Playing: There are times that he great at playing by himself, as long as you are in the room with him. He empties every toy out of the toy box, and makes his rounds playing with different things. He loves to roll his basketball around, and roll it back and forth with someone. He is always up moving around, and pushing his walking toys around. He has a little basketball goal that he can successfully put the ball through the hoop. He loves to empty the shapes out of his shape sorter, and take the stars off the stacker.

What we did this Month: Aside from celebrating the Big Number 1!, this month was a big month because daddy’s transfer finally happened. This means that we are finally all back together, after spending 6 months apart. Connor could not be more excited, he wants his daddy’s full attention all the time, and has not been too keen on him getting ready for work and having the door closed.

Snow Day photo shoot!

Upset that Daddy wont let him into his room while he is getting ready.

Playing with Sydney.

 

Love: 10 Months and 11 Months

 

Age: 10 Months

Weight: about 19 pounds

Clothing Size: 6-9 months and 9-12 months, mostly because of the season change. I didn’t want to buy new 6-9 month clothes not knowing how long he would be in them. 9-12 months are by far too long in pants.

Likes: Bath time. Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Eating.

Dislikes: Being left alone.

 

 

Sleeping: Our bedtime routine is a book (most nights), a bottle, and rocking in the chair in his room. Most nights he goes to sleep well, however with constant ear infections sleeping through the night is a rarity. He often wakes up for his pacifier or Tylenol because he can’t lay down.

 

Eating: What can I say, the boy loves food. He is now eating 3 meals a day. He has a fruit with cereal or oatmeal for breakfast, a vegetable for lunch, and a meal for dinner. We are still having homemade baby food, so for dinner he eats 6 cubes, or about 6 ounces. This generally consists of 2 meats cubes (turkey and apples, or chicken and apples), 3 difference vegetables (carrots, peas, green beans, or squash, sweet potatoes upset his belly), and a fruit. His Favorite fruit has got to be blueberries with apples or bananas.

 

Playing: He started walking around the living room while pushing a box of diapers my dad had been on me to move out of the living room. It turned into his first walker, he has since moved onto a toy walker. He just pushes it around, getting mad when he runs into walls and furniture. We did have to put up the baby gates finally. He no longer has access to the hallway that leads to our bedrooms and the kitchen, and there is a gate at the basement steps. The great thing about the basement gate is it is self-closing, especially great with we have company over.

 

 

What we did this Month:  Connor got his first haircut, against my wishes, but Daddy was insistent that he needed one. He kept saying that his hair was beginning to look like Justin Beiber’s. We took a trip to Louisville for dinner with some friends, and Lights Under Louisville. He sat dazed, starring out the window. We celebrated Connor’s first Thanksgiving! He even ate Thanksgiving lunch and dinner. Mashed potatoes for the first time at lunch, and freshly chopped turkey for dinner.

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Age: 11 Months

Weight: 19 pounds 8.5 ounces Christmas Week

Clothing Size: 6-9 months and 9-12 months, mostly because of the season change. I didn’t want to buy new 6-9 month clothes not knowing how long he would be in them. 9-12 months are by far too long in pants. We even have a few sleepers in 12-18 months because the legs were so tight in the 9-12 months.

Likes: Puffs. Solid Food. Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Walking around the house with walkers. His wagon. Books with finger puppets. Singing ‘The Wheels on the Bus’. He is attached to Daddy when he is visiting us. Pulling the corner protector off the coffee table.

Dislikes: Being left in the room alone, and this seems to be getting worse, especially after he just got home from day care. A cold bed.

Sleeping: This month was a huge struggle before it got any better. With a double ear infection, and a bulging ear drum there were many sleepless nights for Connor and myself, and my mom. There were also, sigh, many nights that he ended up in bed with me, or even started in bed with me. Sleeping in his swing seat did not work or propping a pillow under his mattress. He flat out just didn’t feel good. In turn, he did not sleep well. Going to bed became a chore, taking his bottle in pieces, watching Mickey Mouse to calm down, and even crying for the person he wanted. We are hoping that tubes have helped to solve his sleeping problems, he has least gone back to his crib.

 

Asleep in the wagon.

Eating: As always he is a big eater, which in turn has created a lot of work for me. I began to send Gerber fruits and vegetables with Connor to daycare. It got to the point that in a day he is eating the equivalent of 12 cubes, or one whole tray. I am just simply running out of time to make all of that. He doesn’t seem to mind though. In some ways Gerber has more variety, even if it is considered blander. He is occasionally eating homemade baby food and even some table food. He had chicken pot pie with us one night, and another he had carrots, potatoes, and green beans with us.

Playing: He has become rather mobile, between walking with the walker and crawling he really gets around. And when he spots an open door you better be fast because he makes a beeline for it. We are all still getting in the habit of keeping certain doors closed. He is also getting pretty good at playing by himself, or letting you know that he wants you to play with him. He has a basket full of toys, but sometimes it seems that tags, straps, and the newspaper are his favorite. He does like the walking toys that he has to push around (I skipped buying the one they sit in and walk around in), some ball toys, and shape sorter that he is fond of dumping out. He is so much fun to watch, so talkative and giggly. I could never get tired of hearing him laugh.

 

What we did this Month: This month was a big month. He spent with night with grandma and grandpa (I know, we live there) while I was out of town (big kicker was this was the first time I wasn’t there). He had breakfast with Santa Claus at grandma’s work, before taking a short weekend trip to Alabama for Cousin Lindsey’s graduation. We celebrated Connor’s first Christmas, which was a busy few days… 5 houses in 3 days. He had a great first Christmas, and I am proud to say that I did not go crazy, neither did my parents. He had some interest in opening presents, not too surprising since he loves paper, and there were a few toys that were a show stopper. He then spent the night at his other grandma and grandpa’s house, while I recovered from the yucky stomach bug. All before getting tubes put in. In the mist of all of that, another tooth popped through, there is finally a tooth on the top! Connor made his final trip to the house we brought him home to, as Daddy’s transfer is effective in February and we will be moving at the end of January.