12 Months

Weight: 22 lbs 1 oz (60%)

Height: 29.25 (23%)

HC: 47.3 cm (81%)

And just like that we have a 12 monther. One year. Has it really been that long, it has felt too quick. And it breaks me to think it is already gone. It breaks me to think his baby days are numbered and toddlerhood is around the corner. But I am completely thrilled that this little boy is hear stealing our hearts day by day. How lucky we are!

Teeth update: Still 4 teeth. 

Movement update: Nonstop. He learned to walk and hasn't stopped since. He can run, but not well and not safely. It is more like he forgets how to stop, and doesn't care. He also rarely crawls which makes me kind of sad it all happened so quick and he seems so old now. I am not ready. I miss my cute little crawler. It was a little easier to keep track of him then too. 

Sleeping update: He has gotten sick and as long as were consistent although sometimes it is hard and even a battle he sleeps in his crib and we are pretty good about it. Even if he has some nights in ours and wants to stay, he is just too big and too used to his own. And honestly doesn't snuggle so it really is a lost cause and we don't really sleep. He fusses a bit but goes to sleep so well, everyone is always impressed. He is a champ. 

LIKES

Loves being outside, but not a super fan of grass. But deals with it because he has to keep moving. 

Intrigued by his shoes, wants to get them off to play with them. 

He loves the slide but it does get a little scary sometimes, even if his shoes stop him and he ends up stumbling down he is still ready for another go after a second of daddy cuddles. 

Daddy obsessed! He won’t even go to Mom sometimes. But it’s okay Mom enjoys the break a little. Daddy gets the biggest smiles, the biggest laughs, and when he’s hurt he runs to Daddy! Daddy is in heaven and trying to savor every second. 

One thing he really enjoys is Daddy's new beard.  Shea decided to grow one randomly one day and it has stuck around so far.  He loves to reach up and feel the prickly sensation on Daddy's scratchy beard.  Sometimes when he his napping with Shea or sleeping in our bed and is upset he just reaches up and feel that great man beard and knows that his Daddy is near and everything is going to be ok.

I’m loving that his hair is starting to curl on the ends. I never want to cut it and want it to grow forever. When we cut Connor's hair when he was little I missed it so much, and it was never the same. So bring on everyone mistaking him for a girl and all that hoopla this boy is going to have some cute curly locks forever, if he can stand it. 

Dancing! He dances to super simple songs by squatting repeatedly and sticking his hands out probably for balance, everyone’s favorite thing! We all love watching with him at night before bed and

singing with him. 

Laughing and smiling. Smiling is his favorite. I mean he is literally the sweetest so it is no shock. We are loving his sniff laughs lately. They are our absolute favorite things and we all die of laughter when we catch them. He loves making us laugh and smile too and loves all the attention. 

Loves to explore and discover new things. Sometimes it is hard to keep up with and it definitely keeps us on our toes. But we have lots of eyes watching and keeping him safe, through it all. 

Walking and showing off his new confidence. 

Playing ball.

Water play.

Watching his siblings play from thw window, he doesn't even mind. 

Gets annoyed with Mommy stalking him, but
it's fine everything is fine.
Dad deserves a turn at the favorite!

DISLIKES

He is quickly moving from the snuggler stage to the mover stage. And he wont snuggle for long anymore, which seems unfair. 

 

Not a super swing lover. He is ambivalent about it. 

Bye Bye Baby! Look out toddler world here I come!

11 Months

Sleep update: Still sleeping well, but I fear when it comes time to take away the night time bottle he may struggle. He does wake up every now and then mid-night screaming and Shea caves and brings him in bed with us. But most times Connor doesn't even notice so we try not to. 

Teeth update: He cut his 4th tooth! Those teeth are sharp, beware! 

Movement update: Walking, rarely crawls 

One of my favorite things is his tiny toes. Especially
 his turned in silly one. 

LIKES

Mommy loves how he uses his hand to make a grabbing motion when he wants something, like to be picked up. First steps of communication! So cute!

Obsessed with stairs. As good as he can go up them he is still struggling with going down them, I’m trying to teach him but he refuses to go backwards. I will say he’s made a mild improvement so I’m hoping it clicks soon. It will be so much easier when it does. 

Still loves the jumper although we think he’s getting too big. He loves to spin in it lately which is actually a little less dangerous. 

We are working on not screaming, and he thinks it is hilarious when we "shh" at him. 

Bathtime.

Loves peek-a-boo!

Daddy loves playing with Dean early in bed. Connor brings him to us in the mornings! It is Daddy's favorite part of the day. 

Food. His Highchair. Making big messes. He is the king. 

Swinging with Daddy!

Family walks, AKA stroller rides.

Brother.

DISLIKES

Stopping eating.

Too much loving.

Diapers.

Bedtime.

10 Months

 

Sleeping Update: He naps and goes to bed like a champ, and he rarely even cries. He loves the turtle nightlight in his bed and singing songs or being serenaded to. He loves stories at bedtime by his siblings. He loves brother being his roommate. 

Teeth update: Top two teeth are budding, and by the end of month 10 he cut his 3rd tooth!

Movement update: He is at the two step, drop and crawl stage. And rockin it. 

LIKES

He loves his jumper and with some Piper and Syd help has learned to swing himself which can be a little dangerous and doesn’t always end well. But it’s just as cute as it is scary to see him walk those legs up and let go to swing himself forward and back or side to side. 

Daddy!

He loves the steps which means we are on stair watch pretty frequently. It is one of my least favorite baby stages, the constant watch of the steps and fear of baby stair falls. 

Stroller rides! We can't wait to play on the playgrounds again!

Daddy’s favorite thing is how Dean shakes his legs in excitement. When we pick him up or when when he’s flat on his belly.

Crawling under beds, tables, chairs...

Mommy loves his little dancing he sits and just bobs front to back, while watching super simple songs. 

Roomba Eva. He is fascinated with he, we do have to watch them, they aren't always nice to eachother. (Every now and then I turn her on just to entertain Dean, when I'm desperate.)

Sleeping. Shockingly so he is doing so great and we can all see and feel the difference in our home. Shea and I are especially enjoying having undisturbed sleep again, except for the occasional nightmare visitor. 

Jump up, he enjoys a little jump up time everyday and it is so nice having something else for him to safely play in while Mom and Dad are busy. 

 

DISLIKES

Our biggest screamer. I am really struggling. 

When Daddy lets go and tries to make him walk. He is not having it. If we are lucky he will stand and show off a bit instead, but usually he just screams, drops and crawls.

Manually operated vacuums...his big brother decided to follow is Dad's example and tease him like his dad teased others with the suction of the vacuum hand cleaning attachement.  Not a surprise that he is not a fan(thanks Connor)

Being pulled away from attempting a stair run, kitchen reorganizing,  or attacking Eva (our beloved robot vacuum), or outlets, or cords, or electronics (consoles, controls, devices).

Being told "No". He is becoming quite the mischeif maker lately. Getting into everything, reminding me more and more of the Connor baby days. What is it with boys?

Getting stuck while in motion, he finds some hilarious spots to get himself into. 

THE GATES ARE UP. He does not like being blocked off from anyone. The kids enjoy having a baby free zone, now that he is so mobile and getting into more and more.

Fortunately if you get close to the gate and give him 
attention he perks up

 

Stuck Screamer! 

9 Months

Height: 27 1/4 inches (9%)

Weight: 20 lbs 6 oz (59%)

HC: 46.5 cm (86%)

LIKES 

Can stand up independently! And he loves to show off!

Started screaming in excitement! He is so proud of himself, especially being able to stand up! It is like "AHHHH Look at me! Look at me!"

With his independent standing also came his cruising. He loves cruising along our sectional the most, it is where most of his toys are set up too.

I would not say he likes the swing but he puts up with it. Especially if theres attention, treats and toys. And if the timing is riht he naps there too!

Formula Bottles

Jump up. He even enjoys napping in it. Putting himself to sleep as he bounces. 

DISLIKES 

Carseat 

Struggling with the mask situation. He tries to pull anyones mask off that are in reach.  He doesn't like not being able to see peoples whole faces.

Well he is officially a screamer, so he might not mind it but we sure do. It is cute when he does it in excitement but now it is getting to be more and more, which is a little too much. 

As always Piper rides along with brother or greets
him right as we get in the door. She loves this boy
something fierce. 

8 Months

Dean is 8 Months! My heart just skipped a beat. It’s SO bittersweet watching this guy grow. He just melts me and everyone in our home. He gets WAY too much love! 

Food update: He is now 100% bottle fed. Which is equally freeing and ... heartbreaking, but it was time (teeth!). Nursing is hard. I always have a hard time doing it, don't get me wrong it can be very sweet and perfect but it is also a lot of physical sacrifice, painful and exhausting. When it ends though I miss the closeness, and with Dean it is a little harder because now he runs to Dad for everything instead of Mom. 

Sleep update: He just barely started sleeping through the night!

Movement update: His latest achievement is rolling over to his belly, to sticking his butt in the air on his tippy toes to getting on all fours so he can rock it and then he gets bored and leans over and just ... sits up! He is so close to crawling. 

With all the craziness of COVID in March we started a strict schedule right away, (I didn’t know how long it would last so I seized the moment). 

We started like this…

-Wake 6:30-7, bottles are 4 oz sometimes 6

-Play in pack n play 

-Breakfast cereal and yogurt melts 

-Goes down for Nap with bottle (1-1.5 hrs) 9-9:30

-Wake and play 

-Lunch, fruit food pouch and crackers

-Goes down for Nap with 4 oz bottle 12:30-1:30

-Wake and play 

-Dinner, veg food pouch and pieces of what we’re eating 

-Dinner bottle 

-Play 

-Watch Super Simple Songs 

-Bedtime 8 with bottle 

***Finally sleeping through the night. 

LIKES

Playing with someone, especially Daddy. 

Sleeping/snuggling with Daddy. 

Bath time with Daddy! 

As you can already tell Daddy is his favorite. And with COVID and Daddy being home all the time it has been a nice break for Mom. And Daddy loves all the attention from his biggest fan. 

Super Simple Songs. He LOVES watching them with the family before bed. We all sing together and do the motions and he just smiles and laughs and tries to sing along even. It is my favorite part of the day. 

We haven’t been out about as much due to COVID. Dean loves the sunshine even just on the porch out back. While Mom and Dad eat outside or chat. 

Sibling loving. Piper is obsessed in the most lovingly scary way possible.  Every single child has taken it upon themselves to assign themselves a Dean chore because they are awesome! Piper gets diapers and throws them away. Sydney reads him stories. Bella changes wet diapers. Connor makes him bottles. 

Lately he chews on his tongue all day long, and his fingers and anything in close distance. His first two teeth are growing in, and beware they are sharper then they look!

Daddy says no one can make Dean laugh like Mommy. And yet he has all eyes for Daddy. 

Waking to brother. He is loving sharing a room with his brother.

Having everyone home all the time due to COVID! 

DISLIKES

He is already stranger aware. Although now with COVID he won't have to worry.

He is not happy when people leave, which is pretty rare lately.

The mask thing is also weird to him. As it is to us all. 

Other than the basics; diapers, changing, or being left alone. He is loving life lately! 

"Stranger Danger Look"

Thanks covid for setting us up with a regular routine, and no distractions. By the end of 8 months he had a printed schedule that adorned the kitchen. 

Dean’s Schedule 

6:30/7:00a – Wake and Bottle 6oz

7:30a—Play

8:00a—Breakfast (dry cereal/yogurt melts/water)

9:00-9:30a—Nap #1 

11:00a—Wake and Bottle 4oz

11:15a— Play

12:00p – Lunch (fruit pouch/water)

1:30-2:00p —Nap #2

3:30p – Wake and Bottle 6oz

4:00p – Play

5:00p— Dinner (veg/fruit pouch/pieces of dinner sometimes/water)

7:00p – Wind down (music in bed, pajamas, child reads a story) 

7:30p — Bottle 4oz, then bed! 

7 Months

7 Month Update-

First tooth broke! Dean did pretty well with it. 

Sleeping horrible, total regression. I want to blame it on the teeth finally starting to come in but really it is just a baby that doesn't get it. 

Starting baby push ups. You know what that means...

Getting used to solids and starting fruit pouches. Can't wait till he can feed himself them. 

Constantly shocked and relieved that we havent had to struggle with diaper rashes ever! We started him early off on Members Mark (SAMS) diapers, because we got a ton from a friend. I worried they would give him a rash. But no matter the diaper we use he never has a rash. That has been a huge relief, considering his skin seems less sensitive than all the girls. So we haven’t had to worry about eczema or anything. Thank goodness. 

LIKES

Being upside down... I guess it's a boy thing. 

Baths, except when siblings splash him.

Jump up! We finally got the jump up out and I'm sure he would have loved it months ago. But he sure has fun jumping in it now, it hangs in our master bedroom and he loves waiting for us to get ready in the morning or whenever. And we are loving that he has a new place to play where he is content. 

Snuggling with Daddy.

Being sung to. Especially by Daddy. 

Being thrown in the air by Daddy.

Stroller. He graduated to the front seat. And loves having a front seat to the world as we walk. 

Bumbo.

Who's who? 

Spoiler Alert:::Connor

 

DISLIKES

Too long in the pack n play.

Getting stuck when rolling and scooting around. 

Diaper changes.

Water in his face.

Crib time, I’m trying to put him in it to play so he gets used to it but he’s not a huge fan. He puts up with it here and there sometimes even falling asleep, but only if he has company in the room. Fortunately, he has an eager brother who has been awaiting this moment for a while. Connor is doing everything he can to help with the transition, and assures us that his deep sleeping will be perfect for baby brother's midnight squawks. We agree and are crossing our fingers that we can get his sleeping figured out so he can join his brother soon.