First Birthday Party...

From my birthday celebration - all owl themed. What a great day! Just a grand celebration and I was happy pretty much the entire time.

With Mom and Dad before the party kicked off:

Some photos of the invitations, decorations, food, and favors:

Favorite gifts (which were totally optional and unnecessary):

Dessert and Birthday Song (I was not much into the frosting as you can see from my face but I did not cry when they sang like Brother did):

Some of my guests:

 

How I felt at the end of the day after some milk:

From Mom and Dad - We are so glad you are a part of our family. Your goofy sense of humor and laughs bring us all joy. You amaze us at how mellow and easy-going you are with all the rough and tumble kids who surround you. We've also never known a baby who was as adored and loved as you. We knew before you were born your siblings would absolutely love and adore you but now you have extensions of family friends who also adore you. It is easy to see why with your happy spirit. Thank you for being born and just being you. And with your big sized head we are wondering if you are going to be our child who invents interstellar drive?!?

Video of birthday song and cake eating - nothing fancy just a plain old family video.

Waking Up...

Just a few photos of what I look like upon waking in the morning of after nap time. I am one happy baby.

Walking...

About 2-3 days before my birthday I started to really walk - like more than a couple steps. Since then I have not stopped. Hence, not too many photos because I am in constant motion I am difficult to photograph.

1 Year!!!

Really, I am already a year old?!?

Here is the info from my 1 year wellness visit:

Weight: 18 lbs, 6 oz (10%)

Height: 29 inches (55%)

Head: 46 cm (75%)

For fun, you can click here to compare with my sister's one year stats. I seem to growing about the same as my big sister except my head is the biggest of any of Mom and Dad's kids, by a lot, but staying consistent with my same growth curve.

I did receive 6 vaccines and thus far seem to be tolerating them well.  My urethral reflux is stable and I continue to be on daily low dose antibiotics which I think are delicious.

I am always surrounded my other kids and LOVE it. 

Some things I am now doing:

- Wave bye bye and blow kisses
- Give kisses
- Make a goofy face
- Walking (started a few days before my birthday) - Brother walked the earliest, followed by me, then Sister.
- Peek a boo
- Mom and Dad say I am a goofy baby - I would say I do like to giggle and play.
- Eat solids - Ms. B's baked items are my favorites, especially apple muffins. I like to share O's with Bro Bro on the weekends, too.
- Drink cow's milk - still drink breast milk twice per day, too.
- Words - Mama, Dada, Nana, bye bye, Bro Bro, dug (dog), hi-ya (hi), plus a few proper nouns but don't want to disclose real names
- Pretty good signer (all done, more, eat, milk)
- Doing some time on the toilet and go about 25% of the time there when I am home.
- Favorite people outside my immediate family and Nana - Ms. B and Ms. KN and their kids
- Favorite book - No No Yes Yes, Where's Baby's Birthday Cake (Ms. Caitlin gave this to Brother for his first birthday and it is still a favorite around here) and Elmo's visit to the Fire Station
- Spoons and spatulas are my most favorite toys and I seem to try to turn everything into a necklace or crown (am I a girl or what!?!)

(So Mom may have left the house in a rush the day of my wellness visit and she may have forgotten the diaper bag and I may have decided it would be the perfect car ride to dirty my diaper - thus, no cute cloth diaper photos from my wellness check - I put on a Pampers brand for the first time and we were all okay with it! Actually, we do cloth about 85% of the time because occasionally my antibiotics flare up diarrhea and then I rash up and when I do, I have to be in disposable diapers.)

Here are some photos from my appointment as well as a couple other favorite moments the past couple months.

 

9 Month Well Check at 10 Months Old...

I had a horrible urinary tract infection and then developed pneumonia at around the same time. That was a couple months ago but it really put us behind here. Plus, we just got really busy with school starting and my pediatric provider was going to be out of town. Mom knew I was not going to need any immunizations at my 9 month wellness visit so she wanted to wait until things were stable before taking me in. So, it ended up being closer to age 10 months before I had my appointment.

It was not as great an appointment as she was expecting. I have fallen a little behind on my growth curves. Where I was running pretty high, I've now dropped down. And a significant amount to be somewhat concerned. Although, my head is still holding strong and bigger than my siblings by far. Maybe I'm just going to be more sized like my mom and less so like one of my favorite ladies who is over 6 feet tall (I tried, Ms. KN). 

Here are my stats: 

(Mom misplaced my sheet so she is going off what she had from the virtual health records online. Can you tell I've been a handful?!?)

Weight: 17.1 lbs (22%)

Height: 28.3 inches (50%)

Head: cannot recall but was about 75%

To compare with my 6 month stats go here.

For fun and to compare with Sister's 9 month stats, go here.

Because of the febrile UTI I had to go for kidney ultrasound and then later a VCUG. The ultrasound was awesome but the other, not so much fun. We finally have a diagnosis of vesicoureteral reflux. I have to be on prophylactic antibiotics for the next year and repeat imaging at regular intervals. I see the urologist later this week. So far, no more infections and about 85% chance of out growing it.

What am I up to?

- Sitting at around age 7 months
- Crawling around age 9 months
- Pulling self up and creeping on 2 legs around age 9 1/2 months
- I crawl like a primate with one foot to the ground and one knee on the ground
- I can sign milk perfectly.
- I will point to my neck when I want tickles.
- Lots of words - everyone including the pediatrician tell Mom I am way above where I should be (Dada, Mama, Bro Bro, Bye Bye). I can even say a few names but I will not repeat them for privacy purposes.
- I LOVE my blankie. I will squeal with delight if I can pull it down from my crib.
- LOVE peek a boo
- Starting to clap
- Eating a variety of foods but a lot of bananas which are not my favorite but they keep my bowels in check (the antibiotics give me lots of runny diapers which resulted in horrible rash and yeast infection - it is mostly clear now but it was rough for a while). Love meat sticks, pasta, bread, and anything Ms. B bakes. Ms. KW's zucchini muffins were a huge hit.
- Sleeping is SO much better. Sleep from about 8 pm to 7 am. Sometimes I wake once to nurse but most of the time I sleep through. Mom and Dad are SO happy about this. It took about 10 months to achieve this.
- 1-2 naps a day about 1-3 hours each.
- Still nursing. Still enjoying it. Although, my super sharp teeth are kind of bothersome to Mom. I have been better about it, though.
- 6 teeth total (4 top, 2 bottom - the outside front top came in before the middle front top). Did I mention they are very sharp? For a while I used to do the goofy grin like Brother did but it was a short lived thing.
- I go everywhere!
- I love my kitchen.
- I LOVE blocks and cars.
- I like books.
- Still no TV for me.
- I am intrigued by Mom's phone.
- I like dog food and seek it out as often as possible much to Mom and Dad's disdain.
- I am VERY happy.
- Lots of people love and adore me and I know it. I'm the last grandchild on both sides of the family and the last baby most folks around us get to hang out with. I am very much showered with love.
- I try to cute my way out of most things.
- Tantrums are something I am becoming interested in.
- Diaper change time is NOT my favorite.
- Shower time IS my favorite. Cars in the shower is just AWESOME!
- Still don't enjoy riding in the car.
- My sitter Ms. B ROCKS! I adore her and her entire family.
- The N family ROCKS! I adore them, too!
- I always have smiles for my G&G N, Nana, and my Aunties/Uncles.

Just a bit about the photos -

I like racooning or going through bins of toys. The one of Bro Bro and me - he was missing same teeth that I had just grown (complete set of teeth between us). The pointing photo was just after I had learned to point - chicks at the fair. The last set of photos was following my ultrasound.