Well, it happened. Somehow 366 (thanks to last year's leap year!) days have come and gone and my babies are officially ONE. It truly doesn't seem possible. How can that many days go by that quickly? Someone please tell me there is a secret to slowing down time, because I'll do anything I can to make that happen at this point!
Every day Brayden and Ashley remind me that they are slowly growing out of being my "babies". And while it's been so much fun watching them grow and learn and blossom, its also hit my momma heart hard knowing that one day they won't be hanging off my legs begging to be picked up, or following me around the house just to see where I'm going, or snuggling up to me right before naptime. One day I'm going to be attending their dance recitals, basketball games, prom, weddings (ok that one really got me). One day they will be moved out of the house and having grown up lives of their own. Life is so tragically beautiful isn't it?
Let's slow time waaaaaaay down for now and just focus on their first year of life again though, ok?
Compared to last month, we took things really easy and laid back this month. We've done a lot of couch cuddling, and it's probably my favorite thing that we do. Brady and Ashley both love being up on the couch, so it's only natural that that is where a lot of the cuddles and together time happens.
One big thing from the past month is that we graduated from our infant car seats! Look at how big they got in almost a year. I do miss the convenience of strapping them in their seat and being able to carry them anywhere, but I am also loving not having to lug those seats with our ever growing children in them. My arms have appreciated the weight break by not adding the car seats to the mix.
We've been giving baths in the tub for a while now, and Brady really loves it. I feel like Ashley wants to love it, but right now she refuses to sit down in the bath. She will grab on to the side of the tub and use her other hand to splash in the water, and she sat down just fine when we did baths in the sink, so who knows what he issue is with the bathtub. She is finally sitting down during the last baths they've taken, so maybe she is rounding that corner. When it is bath time though, they will both crawl over to the bathtub and watch it fill up with water. They've even started picking up their bath toys and dropping them in the tub- it's the cutest thing!
Eric has officially started coaching again this month and everyone is pumped that high school basketball is back. I'm slightly bummed that we haven't been able to go to any games, and I don't know that we will be able to at all this year. I am thankful that we've been able to watch them all so far online, whether it's through the NFHS network that they have in our gym now, or via Facebook lives from another school. Technology sure is great! Brady and Ashley can't know that dad is actually on the TV, but the last game we watched they were both watching intently for a while and Ashley was waving at the TV, so who knows.
In addition to ditching the infant seats this month, we also ditched the formula! About a week before their first birthday we started adding whole milk to their bottles, and they are now officially off their formula (at least at home, I'm not sure how much formula daycare has left but they know I'm not bringing any more in). Now we just need to transition their milk from a bottle to their cups, but I don't see that being a huge issue.
We've also added some snacks into our day once we get home from daycare so we can push their dinner back to 5:45ish. Their favorite snack is veggie straws, and Brady thinks he needs ALL the straws at once.
My mom helped me out in the studio this month to take some updated pictures of Brady and Ashley, and I'm loving what we got. I miiiiiight try to take a few more again another day since they were over pictures pretty quickly, but I also might just call it good enough because I have the ones I want to hang up in the house. One of the perks of being my own photographer I guess ha!
Thanks to the snow and freezing temps, we've had a plethora of snow days this month (four of them being this past week!!). I attempted to go out with them many times, and most of them were utter failures. On Wednesday the 10th I was able to get them outside for about 5 minutes before Ashley decided the cold wasn't for her. Brady looked like the cutest little marshmallow and didn't complain one bit.
Friday the 12th was a Valentine's Day party at daycare! I know that Brady and Ashley had missed their daycare friends since we were gone about all week for snow days, and I'm sure they enjoyed all their Valentine's from their friends there too. And in case you can't read Brayden's shirt, it says "Mama is my bae", which is so true for him. My forever little Valentine <3
On the 13th, we held their first birthday party. We had a little scheduling issue thanks to Eric being able to play basketball and a game being scheduled shortly after I had their party starting- so some great grandparents weren't able to attend due to the party being later in the day. We made the promise that we would visit them all soon though to make up for it! But the ones who were able to come made their first birthday one to remember! I have to laugh when I think of them eating their cupcakes. Brayden literally grabbed his cupcake and shoved the entire thing in his mouth, while Ashley daintily picked the sprinkles off the top of the cake before taking some smaller, more manageable bites. These guys were pooped by the end of the night, and I'm pretty sure they will be in a sugar coma all day.
And for our other random facts from the month:
- According to our scales and measuring tape at home, Brayden is weighing 25.6 pounds and is 31.5 inches long, and Ashley weighs 21 pounds and is 29.88 inches long.
- Schedule wise has stayed pretty much the same from last month, except now all of their wake windows are 3 hours long, and honestly I bet they could go even longer. When we went to Troy's house for the Superbowl, they stayed awake for almost 4 hours. So current schedule is wake at 5:45/6, bottle/milk, breakfast around 7:30, nap at 9, up at 10, bottle/milk, lunch around 11:30, nap at 1, up at 4, bottle/milk, snack around 5, dinner around 5:45, bottle/milk around 6:45, bed around 7.
- This past month they both still got 4 bottles a day. For the majority of the month they were getting 3 bottles with 8 oz for Brady and 7 oz for Ashley, and then their last bottle with 4 oz for both of them. By the end of the month we were doing 2-4 ounces of formula and the rest of the bottle in whole milk, and then all milk here in the last few days before their birthday.
- We stayed in size four diapers this month and are still using size 5 at night. We made the switch to Pampers for our night time diapers since we were still peeing out of the Huggies- even in the size 5. So far we haven't had issues since switching to Pampers size 5 at night. We were back to about 10 diapers a day for this month.
- We are wearing size 18 month clothes now. I've decided that Brady is built much like his daddy- with a long torso and short legs. If his 18 month pants don't have the elastic on the bottom, they are way too long for him. So Brady rocks the joggers every day now.
- Favorite toys this month would be their pop up toy, puzzles, books, and any sort of container and thing they can use to put in the container. They have both really been into posting this month, so we are putting things in and taking things out of everything. It's been really neat to watch this skill develop in them and see how their fine motor skills are refining. They can both now take one of the pop up people and put it into one of the holes. They are also starting to get the concept of a puzzle and can do simple circle puzzles and have been working on the triangle and square puzzle.
- Gross motor toy wise, we are loving our push wagon and pikler triangle. For the triangle, they can both get up on the first step on their own with both feet, sometimes higher. We don't go up any farther from there yet, but we are loving exploring it. And then the push wagon- Brady probably prefers to ride inside it, but Ashley sure loves to push him in it! She thinks it hilarious when the get to the other end of the living room and I pick up her legs while she is still holding on to the wagon and pull them back to the other side of the living room.
- Both babies are drool machines, and have been for the past few months. If they don't have on a drool bib, their shirts are quickly soaked. We go through about three drool bibs a piece a day, switching to a new one after each nap, unless they really need a new one before that. I really hope they both grow out of this phase soon!
- Ashley is still stuck on only two teeth (both on the bottom). Brayden has 7 teeth all the way in (four on bottom and three on top), and is getting his fourth tooth on top to make a total of almost 8 teeth! Eric likes to joke that Brady will be eating steak before we know it and Ashley will be stuck on steamed veggies.
- Brayden is cruising all over everything and often does laps around the coffee table or back and forth across the couch. He is doing really well at rolling to his belly to get off the couch feet first. He is taking forward steps when he is using the push wagon, but doesn't show much interest in walking if you are holding his hands and trying to have him walk that way. He reaches from the couch to the coffee table and transitions to each one back and forth with ease.
- He is clapping his hands and has started waving and pointing. I still don't feel confident saying that he has any true words, but he is using "mama" and "dada" a little more consistently with the right person, and I hear him say "yeah" when you ask him a yes or no question. He does babble like crazy and I know words aren't far away for him. Consonant sounds that I can think of that he has now include: s, m, d, p, b, n, t, h, y. He has the correct articulator placement for his f and v sound, so I need to listen a little closer and see if he is making either one of those sounds. Brady is still a belly sleeper, and it's a toss up if he sleeps flat or with his booty in the air.
- Favorites for Brayden include crawling across/standing on the couch, opening cabinet doors and playing with the pots. He loves to eat and hasn't turned down a snack yet. He really enjoys doing puzzles, and he loves putting things in and out of containers. Brayden also loves bath time and playing under the kitchen table with Ashley.
- Dislikes for Brady this month would be getting in his high chair. This one really confuses me because he loves to eat, and is fine once he is in and the tray in on, but sitting him in his chair often results in him throwing his head back and whining. He is still not a fan of diaper changes- if he isn't taking a bottle while you are changing his diaper, he has rolled over and is off to go play. I don't know how we will tackle diaper changes once the bottles are completely gone.
- Ashley is also cruising all over everything. She loves being up on the couch and climbing on it, but still prefers to try to get off the couch head first. We've been working on it with her, so we will call it a work in progress. She walks like crazy behind her push wagon. If it's empty it goes a little too fast for her, but if you put a stack of books (or a Brayden) inside, off she goes. She will take lots of steps if you are holding her hands, and has walked with Eric from the kitchen to the living room. I don't think it will be long before she is officially walking.
- Ashley is clapping her hands, waving, and pointing. She really likes pointing to the pictures on the wall and loves when we go up to them and let her touch them all. Ashley has her word "hi", and has also added "uh-oh" to her repertoire this month. I wasn't sure if she really knew the meaning behind the word yet, but then she dropped a toy out of the bath tub the other day and said uh-oh, so I think she has it. At night we send videos to Eric when he has a basketball game and I always tell them to tell daddy goodnight. She's starting saying something that sure sounds a lot like "night daddy". Consonant sounds that I can think of that Ashley has now are: l, m, d, n, b, p, t, h, y. She is also still a belly sleeper, and I've been noticing her sleeping laying flat with her hands by her sides a little more these days.
- Favorites for Ashley this month would be music. Ashley is a little dancer, and she really loves the song at the end of the "Don't tickle the..." books. Her favorite one is the hippo book, but she will dance to the lion book too. She will push the button at the end of the book and then rock side to side with her hands in the air- girl likes to jam! She also likes kitchen dances with daddy after dinner. Ashley likes playing with her baby doll's pacifier. She will take it off and then put it back on the doll's mouth (it's magnetic). Like Brayden, she is really into putting things into and taking things out of a container. She even took the yellow guy from the pop up toy and put it in the mudroom, where the dogs proceeded to chew it up. Luckily we have a replacement on the way- it's their favorite toy and I hate having a missing piece. And I mentioned it earlier, but Ashley loves walking behind the push wagon. Eric asked her if she wanted to go walking and she crawled right over to the wagon, which was really cool to see. She is still obsessed with mouths/teeth and will say "ahhh" to get you to open your mouth so she can reach inside. And spitting, she loves spitting. I've started bopping her on the mouth when she spits in my face, but it's still up for debate on if she understands that that means to stop doing it, because she often spits right at me again after I bop her.
- Dislikes for Ashley this month would be not being able to see what you are doing. When I'm cooking or doing dishes, she is right at my feet whining to be picked up. Once I have her up where she can see, she is happy as a clam. She does not like getting into the car seat, though once she is in there she is fine. She still is not a fan of me leaving the room- it almost always cues a major meltdown. Ashley also does not like sharing, especially when it comes to books. A few of our books are little worse for wear (and about to be ripped in half-scratch that, we've officially had our first book ripped in half as of this week!) due to fighting over who has the book. At least they both like to read?
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