August's 1 Year Update!

I have been putting off writing this for a couple weeks now.  It seemed overwhelming to sum everything up about August in a single post!  He is doing so much now, I'm afraid I will miss something.  But, I will try because I do enjoy looking back at how he has changed.  I wish I had documented more on him in the past year.  It's something I'll have to be better about in the future.

At August's 1 year doctor's appointment he weighed 22.7 pounds and was 31 inches long.  I believe he is in the 75th percentile for weight and 95th percentile for height.  He's a growing boy!  He has definitely come a long way in the past 6 months.  Y'all may remember that he had weight gaining issues.  You can read about that in his breastfeeding story.  He is fully in 18 month clothing now, and we are even reaching for 24 month clothing more and more.  Some of that is due to cloth diapers, but most of the reason for the bigger sizes is his height.  The boy is long!

August's eyes are still blue, some days bright blue and some days dark blue.  I love them.  My Nannie is the only one in the family with blue eyes, so he must get that from her.  His hair is still light blonde, and he has not yet had his first hair cut!  I wanted him to have all of his baby hair for his first birthday.  :)  I actually think his longer hair is pretty cute, but it is getting time for a hair cut.  If it was curly, I would just leave it, but it's straight so it's starting to look a lot like a mullet. :)

August says momma, dada, nana, uh-oh (his version is "uh-uh"), yeah, (we are working on "yes", it just sounds nicer, haha) and bye-bye.  He also will point to his teeth if you ask him to.  Also, if you ask him if he wants breakfast (or lunch or supper), he will crawl to his high chair and wait for you to put him in it.  He also understands, "Do you want to brush your teeth?"  He gets really excited about teeth brushing, which I love.  I am a little fanatic about having freshly brushed teeth.  Mine are brushed 3 times a day, at least.  Also, if you say "Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?" then he will bring you that book.  It's his favorite and has been for months. :)

He isn't walking on his own yet.  He is really good at furniture surfing, and he can walk really well holding both of your hands.  He will occasionally walk while holding just one hand, but if you try to let go, he sits his little booty down. He's a safety person, just like his momma.  I didn't walk on my own til I was 15 months old.  I am thinking he won't wait that long, but I don't think he will walk tomorrow or anything.  I'm not rushing him at all, because I know once he's up there's no stopping him, but at the same time, it would be nice to have him walking before the new baby gets here.  But I don't want to wish away these days just because a baby is on the way. :)

August has turned into a picky eater lately.  I think it's our fault though.  He has quite the sweet tooth.  We have had a lot of celebrations lately: gender reveal of baby #2, August's birthday, my birthday, Mother's Day, and there are more coming up.  He has had his fair share of cake and ice cream, and the boy can't get enough.  Ice cream is pretty much his favorite thing in the world.  He jumps up and down with every bite.  So, he has gotten to where he will only eat sweets or sweet things like fruit, oatmeal with fruit mixed in, applesauce, puffs, sweet potato (at least that's one vegetable he will eat), etc.  But I have put my foot down this week, and I am trying to detox his little sweet teeth.  He eventually eats a little bit, but I think it's going to be a process.

Oh, speaking of food, we have switched him from formula to whole milk.  Surprisingly, he has handled the switch just fine.  The first bottle of whole milk he didn't really care for because it was so cold (his formula is usually lukewarm), but he did drink it at breakfast in a sippy.  Since then he has taken it from the bottle just fine.  I haven't really pressed weaning him from the bottle because it's still a big part of his routine right now, and it's the only time I get cuddles!  So for the time being, the bottle is staying.  :)  He takes about three 8 oz. bottles a day.

Yes, that's the peace sign. :)

He is still 100% addicted to his pippy (pacifier).  The boy has it everywhere he goes.  I am fine with it though.  It soothes him, and he pops it in the instant he gets upset.  I'm in no hurry to wean him from it either.

He has 4 teeth now!  It took the top ones forever to come in, and I'm still not sure they have moved all the way down.  They are so cute.  They are big chipmunk teeth and they have a gap in between them.  I love it!  He still doesn't show them off that much when he smiles, but you can definitely see them when he laughs, which I love!

His absolute favorite toy is his hockey stick.  My mom got him a kids hockey stick for Christmas.  It has the Smurfs on it, and it is padded so he can't do too much damage.  It came with a puck, but he prefers to use a ball with it.  He will play with them all over the house.  He is actually quite coordinated.  He also really likes to throw ball with you too, and the kid has aim!  He can get it right to you.  Looks like we have an athlete on our hands.  He must get that from me (LOL). 

 

 

 

He is still a great sleeper, always has been, and I pray he always will be! Ideally, we like for him to be in bed before 8, but sometimes it's a little later.  He will sleep til sometime between 8 and 9 a.m.  Usually 8:30-8:45 is the norm for him to wake up.  I'm thankful!  Trust me!  His naps vary from one to two naps a day.  When he was around 10-11 months old, he quit taking his morning nap. He would lay in his crib and sing, but he wasn't sleeping.  So I cut out that nap, and he started taking a 3 hour nap in the afternoon.  I liked that schedule because I was getting a long stretch to get things done around the house.  However, our days and evenings started getting so busy that we have been out late most nights.  So he has gone back to the two naps a day.  Usually around 10:30 he will go down and sleep about an hour and a half, and then he will take a nap again around 3:00, and he will sleep about 2 hours or a little more.  I really don't mind which schedule he chooses I guess.  Whichever one he needs is fine. These next pictures are going to make a liar out of me.  I always tell everyone that August only sleeps in his crib, which is true 99.9% of the time.  We have been so busy lately that he has slept in his car seat and in the stroller.  I took pictures because I couldn't believe it myself. :)

 

 

 

Well, I think that is about all I have to update on.  I'm sure I'm leaving things out, but I am happy to get this post up!  I'm excited to see what year 2 will bring with August!  So thankful for my sweet boy!!

 



Mother's Day with my 2 boys!

Baby/Toddler Sale at Walmart.com!

Hey!  I just wanted to pop on here and let y'all know about a good sale going on at Walmart.com right now.  No, I am not being reimbursed for this, haha.  I have been looking for another crib ever since I got pregnant with Baby #2.  I want one that will convert into a toddler bed since I don't want to buy a new piece of furniture when August is ready to move out of the crib.  I found a special on Walmart where they are selling a lot of their cribs at a discounted price and have included a mattress with the crib.  We got the Graco "Lauren" crib in white.  It converts to a toddler bed, day bed, and the headboard for a full-sized bed. 

 

 

This crib was $149, and that includes the mattress.  All of the Craigslist convertible cribs I have looked at are over $200 and include a used mattress.  I'm so excited we got this one at such a steal!  Also, shipping was only $0.97!    I am so excited to finally have another crib!  We'll put August in this one, and Baby #2 in the one we have since it does not convert to a toddler bed.  Yay!  I feel like that is a huge item off of our list! 

 

The sale also includes other cribs, strollers, car seats, clothes, and lots of other baby items.  Just wanted to pass along the info! :)

August Turns One!

Wow, what a whirlwind!  August turned a year old yesterday.  It was an exciting, emotional, and exhausting day.  I am glad it's over. :)  Days like that are hard on a momma.  I can't believe it has been a year since I first set eyes on this new blessing.  I am not really sad that he is growing up (ok, maybe I am), but it is just so emotional looking back at everything we have been through together.  From the day we found out we were expecting a baby, to the day we found out he was a boy, through pregnancy, to labor and delivery, to nursing, to enduring the flu, to crawling, to rare and unexpected cuddles, to talking, to turning one, I can't remember life without him.  He is so much a part of me and who I am becoming. 

I know this post is about August and his birthday, but I think it's a time of reflection over the past year for me as well.  I have changed so much.  Becoming a mom has really pointed out to me the areas that I struggle in this flesh.  Patience is something that I have noticed I struggle with.  Patience over a crying baby, patience when I haven't had enough sleep, patience when I think August should be able to do "more", etc.  The Lord is teaching me to wait on Him and rely on Him to give me everything I need.  He is teaching me to be more forgiving and more understanding.  He has got a lot of work to do in me, but I know that He is faithful to complete the work He started.

I have also grown a lot in the past year.  It's amazing what I can accomplish in a short time span.  10 minutes?  Plenty of time to unload and reload the dishwasher, switch over the laundry, start a new load, and pick up the living room, etc.  Things that I usually would put off are now my "quick" chores.  I have become much more diligent about tending to the laundry!  Y'all know me, and that is a big accomplishment!  Remember this?  Yep, that's when we first got married.  Haha.  Times have changed.  I have also learned to be more flexible.  I can now come up with supper on a whim, straighten up the house super fast if someone decides to pop in, and run a quick errand with baby in tow if necessary.  On the flip side of that, I have also learned to stick to a schedule.  Having a baby definitely enforces that.  They need to sleep, eat, play, etc. in a predictable time frame, otherwise your day is chaos...and not fun.   I have learned to get things done in that schedule when I can because I know that is my one chance during the day to get that chore done, unless I want to be up super late, which I don't.  I know Adam likes for me to have all of my work done before he gets home.  He says he can't relax if I'm not relaxed.  I can understand that.  I don't mind doing chores at night, but I know I need to use that time to spend with Adam and recharge for the next day. 

Well, I really didn't intend to go into all that.  Thoughts of a momma. :)  Let's talk about yesterday.  It was a full day for sure.  We have been super busy the last several days.  Just busy with life and church things.  Out late, weird nap schedules, etc. have resulted.  So we started off yesterday sleepy, but we wanted to really enjoy the day since Adam had taken the day off. 

We decided to take August to the Tennessee Aquarium.  We have a fish tank in our living room, so I knew he would enjoy seeing the giant fish tanks!  His daddy loves the aquarium too.  I could tell August was sleepy before we even left the house, but I was hoping that he would still have a good time.  Here he is right before we got there.  Haha.

By the way, he never sleeps in the car!  Thankfully he woke up as we were getting ready to go in. His favorite exhibit by far was the penguins.  I think he had the most energy for them because they were toward the beginning. :)

 

 

 

 

 

It was a really fun time.  We actually made it through the entire Aquarium (both sections) without any meltdowns!  Hurray! :) 

 

After we picked up some lunch and his cake, we came home to get ready for the party crash for a too- long nap.  August crashed, and we crashed right behind him.  We woke up just before 5 (party was at 6).  Haha.  So we did some scrambling!  I felt much better after my nap.  I was hoping I could make it through his party without having a mommy meltdown!

 

After everyone arrived, we ate pizza, opened presents (WOW!  He got a ton! We were not even expecting gifts.), lit his candle, sang Happy Birthday, and then my sequestered tears poured.  Haha.  I flashed back a year ago to when we sang Happy Birthday to August in the hospital.  What a beautiful day that was!  In that moment, I didn't imagine that my little newborn would ever be a 1 year old.  Ohh the tears. :)  And yes, that moment was captured on video.  Here are some clips!

 

 

August wasn't too sure about his cake at first, but after a few licks of frosting, he decided it was pretty good!  We had a really great time celebrating August's birth with everyone.  I love you, baby boy!  Happy 1st Birthday!!!