Connor: One Year!

Poof! And just like that, Connor is One!

Height/Weight: I think I predicted a month or two ago that he seemed to be hitting a plateau on his growth, and it seems I was right. His weight at a year was 20 lbs 5 oz (a little lighter than I had predicted, but still half a pound heavier than his brothers) and his height was 28 inches (roughly an inch shorter than his brothers). His height actually took a dip on his growth curve, not just a leveling out, and while our pediatrician will be concerned by that if the trend continues at fifteen months, right now he's just guessing it was a slightly inaccurate measurement or he is having a slightly delayed one-year growth spurt (which--given the way he's eaten in the week since his birthday--wouldn't be surprising in the least)

Wearing: Twelve month clothing and size four diapers--same as the last two months. I'd complain about being bored with his wardrobe options, but I'm actually kind of glad he hasn't grown out of the twelve month clothing just yet--I have lots of cool weather 12-month clothing that was passed down from the older two that now I'll get a chance to put Connor into as well!

Eating: He has gotten very aware of when/what other people are eating, and he'll more than voice his disapproval if you don't share. Now that he is a year, the honey restriction has been lifted, which was pretty much the only thing limiting his food--unless it had honey in it, he ate absolutely anything and everything we did. I'm still nursing three times a day (although pretty much solely by choice) and we've completely eliminated all nighttime feedings (hallelujah!)

Sleeping: I've officially decided this kid is a Jekyll and Hyde sleeper--it's either really, really good or absolutely terrible. Cutting the nighttime feeding initially went really well, and he started sleeping through the night almost immediately. Then, about ten days before his birthday, he got sick. First it was a fever (which actually didn't keep him up too much, although he was slightly more restless), and then it was a knock-down drag-out cold. It got so bad that for three or four nights the only way he could sleep (as well as breathe) was if one of us was sleeping in the recliner with him so he could be elevated. We seem to be back on an upward swing, though, so fingers crossed that sticks! He also pretty exclusively just takes one nap. With needing to pick William up at 2:45 I try to leave the house by 2:30, which means Connor needs to go down for his nap around noon (mind you, he doesn't always sleep the full 2.5 hours, but when he does, it's glorious). That doesn't really leave room for a morning nap, and usually he's fine without it, although sometimes if we are out of the house he'll catch a quick catnap in the car.

New Stuff: Connor is officially a stair master! He has been able to go up for a few months now, but just recently he figured out how to (safely!) crawl down. Sometimes he still needs help positioning himself correctly before maneuvering downward, but once he gets going he can go pretty quick. And speaking of being quick--Connor can be a serious speed demon when he crawls. We're pretty sure this is why he hasn't started walking yet; to him, crawling probably seems like a much faster (and safer!) endeavor. He has just recently started to cruise around furniture, though, and I'm sure once he realizes how quickly he can move on two feet that he'll be running in no time. He is getting really interactive (he loves to high five, he can throw up a mean "touchdown" signal, and he cuddles with/hugs stuffed animals whenever he is near one) and just plain fun to be around (most of the time--teething is still a brute, although the fifth one did come in and we seem to be hitting a little bit of a break from the worst of the pain, so that's been nice). I feel like he is going to be a completely different kid (ah! kid! not baby!) by the time I check back in at fifteen months--and I can hardly wait.

Photo Every Hour: August 21st

Happy August 21st! Clearly Connor wanted to make sure we rang in the new day as soon as humanly possible. Thank goodness for a husband who will take him for a little bit so I can go back to sleep

3:53 Because of course I've still got a night time feeding to deal with that Darrell isn't exactly equipped to handle

Rise and shining! Time to start getting on an earlier morning schedule since school starts on Thursday

7:00 This puzzle has been William's obsession. I've helped him sort the pieces, but he's put every one of them in place on his own--over 1000 when the puzzle is all said and done

8:00 Play catch with me Mommy?

9:00 Almost done with the puzzle! I was hoping to get an errand in this morning, but couldn't bring myself to pull William away from the puzzle when he was so close to finishing it

10:00 The boys do well sitting through story time at the toy store, but let's be honest--the only agree to go so they can play with the toys afterwards

11:00 Lunch date with Daddy today, so of course we have to pick up some cookies for a treat

12:00 Visiting Daddy for lunch is even more fun when his boss has an office full of balloons in celebration of his 40th birthday!

1:00 One down for his nap (or at least reading quietly in his room), one to go!

2:00 One of my last days have a lunch time "companion" while the younger two are sleeping. I can't decide if I'm happy or sad about that change

3:00 Play time in the nursery

4:00 Getting in my Target run since it didn't happen this morning

5:00 Playing nicely while waiting for dinner

6:00 Finishing up dinner (or--in my case--just getting started with dinner. Don't let the empty plate fool you; I end up feeding Connor most nights so I don't even bother loading my plate with food until after he's done)

7:00 Desperately trying to get a fire started. Turns out the wood (and ashes sitting in the bottom of our fire pit) was pretty wet

8:00 Washing dishes while Darrell puts the older two to bed. I'm not sure which of us got the short straw...

9:00 Well, safe to say Darrell got the short straw. This is the boys' "stuff" that they usually take to bed with them--and it has all been removed as a punishment for their inability to listen and go to sleep (and in case you are wondering, Garrett's is the massive mound full of animals; William just has his blanket and one animal)

10:00 Darrell did (eventually) get a fire going. Nothing to write home about, but enough to roast some marshmallows (and isn't that all that really matters anyway?)

Always up way later than I should be. Especially with my now earlier mornings. Such is #momlife

Connor: Eleven Months!

Height/Weight: No doctor's visits since nine-months and (knock on wood) none until his one-year appointment, so nothing official here. I'm guessing that at a year he'll be 20 lbs, 12 oz and 29 inches--we'll see how close I am!

Wearing: Nothing new to report here--still all twelve-month clothing and size four diapers.

Eating: Most of the time, this kid is an eating machine. He still struggles with teething pain, though, so periodically he won't have much of an appetite. And he's definitely starting to show favoritism toward certain things; we've been working on the sign "all done", and he'll flash it to us when he is finished with a particular part of his meal (ie his carrots), but not necessarily the rest of it (ie his salmon and grains). Unfortunately for him, we don't really let that kind of pickiness fly in our house, which is probably causing some confusion for him on the use of his sign language, but oh well. We're continuing to cut back on his nursing sessions by offering snacks during the day (mostly fruit and cheese, both of which he loves); he still wakes once a night to eat, and then usually three times during the day (morning, before nap, and before bed). He still doesn't care for milk out of a bottle, but thankfully doesn't put up too much of a fight when someone other than me tries to put him to bed (which is maybe a sign that we could continue to wean him further, but Momma's not sure that she's ready for that!).

Sleeping: Pretty good, I think? Man, this last month of summer has just been a blur (hence my tardiness on this post...), so it's hard to keep everything straight, even with the scattered notes I try to write myself regarding his habits. He's starting to flirt with the idea of dropping down to just one nap, and I've been able to get pretty decent naps out of him when I put him down around 12:30 when he hasn't taken a morning nap. However, some days he'll fall asleep in the car on the way to or from a morning activity, which subsequently pushes back (and usually shortens) his afternoon nap. And unfortunately, that's going to be a problem when I have to start picking William up from school by 2:45. So I'm sure we'll have plenty of days with headaches thanks to that. Bedtime shifts based on how he napped, but usually once he's asleep (sometime between seven and eight), he'll sleep until 3:00 (give or take 30 minutes), eat, and then go back to sleep until about 6:30. He'll still occasionally have nights where he is bright-eyed and bushy-tailed after his feeding (which annoys me to no end), and when his teeth are bothering him he'll stir at least once, if not twice, before his feeding, but for the most part it's pretty manageable.

New Stuff: In the never-ending saga that is Connor cutting teeth, we are officially up to four teeth!
A fifth one seems to be working its way in, but I'm sure we'll have at least another week of drama with it before it actually breaks through (cue eye roll). He is also starting to require training in take-down techniques to be able to change his diaper or clothes; he will absolutely not lay still for anything (well, not anything. "Old MacDonald" and "The Wheels on the Bus" and other terribly annoying songs manage to hold his attention long enough to get the job done, but singing them multiple times a day gets old fast). However, he has started to do a really good job of entertaining himself, mostly by throwing a ball and fetching it or driving cars and trucks around, so I guess I should tolerate a few annoyances. Oh, and he will also (finally) sit still and let me read him a few stories before naps and bedtime, so I guess I can also mark that one in the "win" column (who am I kidding--that counts for multiple marks in the "win" column. Books and reading are gold in this house). Even with the teething pains and diaper changing annoyances, though, this kid is seriously awesome and is definitely giving his brothers a run for their money as our silliest baby yet! .

Proof. This kid is a cheeseball and he knows it!

Photo Every Hour: July 21st

Yay for Connor sleeping (mostly!) through the night--boo for his refusal to go back to sleep after this feeding (and yay for husbands who are willing to stay up with him so I can go back to bed)

7:00 Although really, with views like this, even early mornings are tolerable at the lake

8:00 It's Danish Days in Viborg this weekend, which means starting our day with Aebleskiver! (aka Danish pancakes)

9:00 New to Danish Days this year--a party for the Fife and Drum at my parent's cabin after the parade. Nothing like waiting until the morning of to prep my contribution

10:00 Loaded up with our full car to head to the parade

11:00 The "babies" of the Fife and Drum Unit

12:00 Play time at the cabin while the guys get the grill fired up

1:00 Feeding time at the zoo!

2:00 Lake time with Daddy!

3:00 It's going to be hard for me to keep tabs on Connor during his nap if I drop the monitor... #momfail

4:00 Connor getting in on some swimming time

5:00 Cleaning up the remnants of the bar table--and getting photobombed by Darrell

6:00 More play time!

7:00 Lake calories don't count, right?

8:00 Settling down for bed at a remarkably reasonable time given the chaos of the day

9:00 Ugh... Speaking of chaos... Maybe if I just pour myself another drink and close my eyes the mess will go away?

10:00 Well, I've got my drink but (spoiler!)--the mess didn't go away on its own

Wrapping up a long but super fun day!

Connor: Ten Months!

Height/Weight: No official stats, but if I'm being honest, I feel like he's plateaued here a little bit. Which isn't terribly uncommon for breastfed babies (especially ridiculously mobile ones); the other two just hit their plateaus earlier. I'm sure he'll still end up be bigger than both William and Garrett at a year, but maybe not by as much as I was initially thinking.

Wearing: Pretty much all twelve month clothing (plus a few eighteen month items, although pretty much just rompers which I've always felt like run a little small regardless of brand) and exclusively size four diapers.

Eating: Oh boy. Anything and everything. A few weeks ago we started giving him the same thing we were having for dinner (just diced up really small) and there's been absolutely no looking back. He has pretty much inhaled everything we've been giving him (jambalaya, salmon, enchiladas, tater tot casserole--just to name a few). He also tends to do better with his vegetables cut up small as opposed to pureed, although he'll still eat some purees as long as he's being served something else as well (which is good, because we had built up quite a stash in our freezer). He eats three meals a day with us, and nurses periodically in between (usually four or five times during the day plus at least one feeding at night still).

Sleeping: Still a little hit or miss, but we've started to see some improvement over the past few weeks because we've been making him cut down to just one feeding at night. Darrell had to sit with him for a few nights, but now even if he does wake up around midnight Darrell can usually get away with just rubbing his back and he'll fall back asleep. I can pretty well count on two naps out of him, although we don't always get his morning nap in at the house and sometimes he'll sneak in a late afternoon nap if we're out and about and his earlier naps weren't the greatest. Otherwise he usually settles down in his crib pretty well, and he almost always overlaps with Garrett for at least thirty minutes, which is glorious.

New Stuff: A little more quiet than last month, although we did hang out at the lake for a five day stretch over the 4th, so I suppose that length of time at the lake (and the 4th of July) was new, but he did really well--or at least as well as could be expected since he was cutting one of his top teeth (which, for the record, we were convinced was bothering him a month ago at the beach, and it now appears his other top tooth has started to swell up and come in, but I'm sure cutting that tooth completely will be another multi-week process as well #teethingsucks). While he's certainly been aware of his environment in the past, he's definitely started to become more intentional with and aware of how he interacts with it--things like clapping are no longer just random actions but a very conscious response to what is going on around him (which was a little problematic at my brother's baseball when we were the away team; he kept clapping when the majority of the other people were clapping, and they were all clapping for the opposite team!). The downside to this is that object permanence has started to rear its ugly head--he is fully aware that Mommy (and Daddy) still exist even after they leave the room, and he definitely makes it known that he does not approve of us walking away (which has been somewhat problematic at bedtime/nap time, although he gets over it pretty quickly). Plus, during the day, his brothers typically do an excellent job of distracting him, so I'm still able to step away to get a few things done. And I know I've said this about every one of my boys, but holy cow is this kid stubborn. He knows what he wants, and man alive he gets upset if he doesn't get it. He can get a little wild when he gets upset, and I don't know if it's just because he's a little bigger than his brothers were at this age or if he is just that much stronger, but sometimes I swear he is going to throw himself out of my arms. I suppose the upside to that is maybe he'll end up being a good roller coaster buddy for Daddy someday because he seems to not be bothered by throwing himself backwards and nearly ending up upside down #silverlining

Photo Every Hour: June 21st

Well, I'm getting these up before my next photo every hour day. But not by much. Better late than never, I suppose?

2:12 Guess who still thinks he needs to get up multiple times a night to eat?

6:21 Eating... Again. And up for the day, because when you don't sleep through the night you always get up early, right?

7:00 Enjoying a little quiet playtime before his brothers get up and the house gets crazy

8:00 Prepping to be out of the house through lunchtime while trying to get the little one some breakfast (aka keep him contained and out of trouble)

9:00 First stop--Connor's nine month well visit

10:00 Second stop--The Outdoor Campus for William's Freshman Fisherman class

11:00 Playtime (and then lunchtime) for the younger two while William is at class

12:00 Wrapping up class and getting ready to head home!

1:00 Lunchtime for William while the other two settle down for their naps

2:00 Pro--Connor isn't napping so I can finally get his laundry from yesterday put away. Con--Connor isn't napping so I have a fun and fussy evening to look forward to

3:00 So glad we invested in a nice "trampoline" for the kids to use in the basement (cue eye roll)

4:00 Dinner prep and snack time

5:00 Isn't this how everyone plays with their exersaucer?

6:00 In the car--by myself! #thismustbewhatheavenfeelslike

7:00 After a few errands, time to meet some friends for Book Club or, as Darrell (more accurately) calls it, Mom Club That Occasionally Reads a Book

8:00 Love this time to unwind and chat without having to worry about the kids or stuff at the house...

9:00 Because I know as soon as I get home it's back to reality (and with three kids, laundry is always a reality)

10:00 And sometimes, when you escape your house for a few hours in the evening, it means you menu plan at ten at night #momlife #totallyworthit #atleastihavewine

Bedtime. At last.