First Haircut

My sister and I took Wyatt to get his first haircut a few days before his party in May. According to my sister and the message she relayed to the hairdresser, her nephew looked like a salty dog and needed a haircut! I'm so glad that she was with me and was able to capture this milestone through pictures. The haircut took no more than 5 minutes and Wyatt was a pretty good sport about the entire experience. No tears were shed, just lots of curiosity from him as to what was going on. 

Wyatt - Twelve Months

One year, the littlest love of our life is one year old. Can't believe how fast time goes when you have a child. Wyatt's first year of life had it's good times and bad, but I wouldn't change anything. He has brought so much joy and happiness into our lives and I couldn't imagine life without him. He continues to bring a smile to our faces everyday and make us laugh constantly. He has such a personality and it's so fun getting to be his parents and watching him learn and grow. We love you forever and always, little man!

Stats:
We had his one year appointment and everything checked out. Wyatt weighs 20.8lb and is 30.75 inches tall. He was in the 30th percentile for weight and 80th for height.

Sleep: 
This month Wyatt man started to give up/shorten his morning nap. He will still take them, it just depends on when he wakes up in the morning as to if he needs one or not. If he doesn't take a morning nap then I try to put him down earlier for his afternoon nap.

*I planned his birthday party around his nap time and of course he refused to nap the morning of his party. The poor kid was so exhausted by the end of his party (which ended at 1:30pm) that as soon as he was put into his car seat he was fast asleep.

He is still getting up throughout the night, but it is usually only once maybe twice a night. I'll take whatever I can get. He still goes down at 8pm and will usually wake between 7am-8am in the morning (usually closer to 7am).

Eating:
He still continues to be a great eater and has only refused a few things; strawberries and blueberries. I am thinking he has a sweet tooth like his momma, so I have to be a little aware of not giving him sweets before other foods. Otherwise he will only want the sweet foods to eat.

I'm still nursing him about 3-4 times a day. I'm planning to start cutting out all feedings except his nighttime one. I figured I would stop nursing him before bed by the end of summer.

Diapering:
We were back into cloth diapering once season was over. When he wears disposables, which is at night and when we travel, its still size 5 Pampers Cruisers.

Clothes:
Wearing all 12-18 month shirts and PJs. If he's in disposables he is also wearing the same size pants. If he's in a cloth diaper then he might be in a bigger size, since they're a little bulky.

Social:
His Oma and Grandpa continued to watch him while mommy finished working busy season. We also had a few play dates with friends once busy season was over.

Out of town family traveled to Pa for his first birthday, which we had on May 10th (post to come). So he got to spend a little time playing with cousins and being loved on by aunts and grandparents, which he always loves.

Highlights & Milestones:
He started giving kisses this month when asked. I think I might have started asking too much, because there was a period where he wouldn't. I should also note that his kisses are all open mouth, which is hysterical.

He is still only taking 5-10 steps before falling, but he has taken off with his walker toy practically running everywhere with it.

This month I have really let him feed himself (with his hands). Before I would usually feed him with utensils, but now if he can feed himself I let him go for it. We're still trying to teach him that he doesn't have to put every single piece of food in his mouth.

Wyatt - Eleven Months

Stats:
No appointment this month, but we will be getting stats soon at his ONE YEAR appointment. Cannot believe he's almost one!

Sleep: 
Wyatt continues to nap twice a day. Mommy was worried that he would be totally thrown off his schedule when she went back to work, but the grandparents have done an excellent job keeping him on track with his routine.

He is still getting up throughout the night, which has made for some very sleepy work days for mommy. I give full-time working moms so much credit because it's tough, especially when your little doesn't sleep!

Eating:
He still continues to be a great eater. He pretty much eats everything, including spicy food (not too spicy), fish, meat, etc. He usually will only spit the food back out if it has a sour/bitter taste. 

Diapering:
We are still cloth diapering, however, while mommy is back at work he's been wearing disposables during the day to make it easier for the grandparents. He is still in size 5 Pampers Cruisers.

Clothes:
Wearing all 12-18 month shirts and PJs. If he's in disposables he is also wearing the same size pants. If he's in a cloth diaper then he might be in a bigger size, since they're a little bulky.

Social:
His Oma and Grandpa Donovan came and watched him three weeks in a row. The second week they were here little man got pretty sick. He was extremely congested and could hardly sleep. Two nights in a row I got about 2-3 hours of sleep, as I sat with Wyatt in his glider, on the couch, and anywhere else that he would be comfortable. It was the worst two nights he and I both had since he was born. Also, I've never seen the little man so unhappy. The first night he cried and cried, nothing I could do would calm him down. I ended up taking him to the doctors because of his congestion, watery eyes, and fever. I got medication and which really seemed to help him after a few days. Unfortunately, Wyatt did get his Grandpa sick (he ended up missing work the following week, telling us that he hasn't felt that crummy in a LONG time).

Highlights & Milestones:
His Oma and Grandpa bought him a swing for outside. They got it the week he was sick and that was pretty much the only thing that brought a smile to his face. The boy loves a good swing.

He continues to be cruising furniture and getting into everything.

This month he started making truck noises when he plays with his trucks/cars. He started doing it with his Grandpa and it is soooo adorable!

Nine Month Photos - Ridgemeade Photography

My sister is a photographer, a REALLY, REALLY good photographer. While we were in North Carolina I asked if she would take some nine month photos of Wyatt. Being the awesome aunt she is, she agreed.

I'm so very thankful that she captured our little nine month old man. These are some of my favorite pictures ever. 

Huge thanks to Aunt J (Ridgemeade Photography) and her talent! We love you!!!

TBT

First nap in his crib. Poor kid lost all of his hair on top of his head, making him look like a little five week old man!

Aqua Shrimp

Now that Wyatt is getting older I wanted to see if there were any local activities I could sign him up for that would get both of us out of the house. I saw that a local gym had swim lessons for babies starting at nine months old. Their second winter session was going to start right after Wyatt turned nine months old, so I figured it was meant to be. Plus, I don't want him to ever be scared of water.

Currently we're four classes in and Wyatt LOVES it. It's a quick 30 minute class in which we sing songs and get the babies comfortable with being in the water. Wyatt has had no issues with being in the pool. And momma loves it because it usually leads to a good morning nap and some quality pool time with her little man.

Wyatt has been pretty hysterical when we take him. He usually spends the first five minutes of class splashing and squealing with excitement. I'm glad that he's enjoying this activity and it gives us something to look forward to each week. Only a few weeks left until our session is over and then we'll have to wait for him to get a little older before signing up for the next session.

1st Class Excitement

Showing off his skills

Swim class leads to falling asleep, while sitting up!

I'm trying to catch up on Wyatt's monthly posts. If you're interested I've posted his nine month update here. I'm working on his ten month post and will hopefully have that done in the next few days!

In the meantime a few sleeping pictures of my little...

TBT

The new Mr. and Mrs.! One of the best days ever!!!

Wyatt - 10 Months

Stats:
No appointment this month, but he's still a growing boy.

Sleep: 
Wyatt is still a two day napper, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. Each one lasts anywhere from 1.5 to 2 hours. Sometimes if he's really tired, or mommy is really lucky, he will nap longer.

Little man is STILL getting up multiple times each night. Usually I just have to go in and adjust him in his crib, cover him back up and stick a paci in his mouth and he's good to go. It'll be nice when he finally sleeps through the night! Mommy is very much looking forward to that day!

Eating:
Wyatt has continued to be a really good eater. He continues to eat less 'baby' food and more of what we have on our plates. Two things that we've discovered he doesn't really care for are PB&J and strawberries. As soon as they go in his mouth they come right back out. 

Diapering:
We are still cloth diapering and loving it. He has also moved up to a size 5 for his nighttime diaper. We had a week where it seemed like he was peeing out of every diaper and waking up wet each night, so to size 5 it was. We've had no issues since moving up a size.

Clothes:
Mommy packed up all his 9 month clothing and he is now wearing all 12 month shirts and 12-18 month pants, due to his bulky cloth diapers. He is also in 12-18 month PJs.

Social:
This month mommy went back to work to help with busy season, so Wyatt's daddy and his Georgia grands watched him. He got lots of attention and loving while mommy was away, which made the transition easy. He didn't seem to miss a beat during the day but was attached to mommy and daddy each night when we got home.

The weather this winter has been so cold and snowy, so Wyatt spent most of his time this month at home playing with toys and entertaining his grandparents.

Highlights & Milestones:
He started using his walker to walk back and forth across our family room. He is still crawling everywhere and pulling up on whatever he can.

He has also learned how to high five and gets so proud of himself when he gives them out.

Wyatt also has become quite the dancer. He absolutely loves when we play the video for the song Happy by Pharrell. We will hold him up in the air and he goes crazy kicking his legs.

He still loves anything with wheels and spins.

TBT

Two of my favorite people, celebrating a special 4th birthday! Exactly how is she going to be 7 this year???

Happy Birthday...

Aunt J,

Happy, happy birthday! I wish I could be there to help you celebrate and eat cake! You're the best Aunt J anyone could ask for and I'm so lucky that you're mine. I hope you have the best day celebrating you!

xoxo,

Wyatt

1st Birthday Party Inspiration

I know we still have a few months until Wyatt turns one, but I'm trying to be on the ball since I'm back at work until mid April and don't want to be scrambling and stressed waiting last minute. Since his daddy LOVES golf (we're hoping he loves golf too) we decided to have a golf themed party. 

The color scheme that I'm working with is navy blue and lime green. I've been scouring Pinterest looking for ideas and have found some great inspiration. Below is a glimpse of what I'm loving and will hopefully achieve...

 via 

via

As much as I'm not excited about my little turning one, I am excited to have an excuse to throw a birthday party. 

TBT

My bridesmaid and I getting a quick picture before going to our wedding rehearsal.

Kitchen Update...

Well, we finished the built in around the refrigerator and it looks awesome. However, we decided to take down the cupboards above the stove to create a more open concept between the kitchen and family room.

Taking them down has really changed the look of the kitchen and makes it feel much bigger. We ended up having to order an island range hood to go above the stove, since the other one was mounted under the cupboards. 

Like all projects seem to go the range hood came in and when we tried to install it we discovered it was going to be way too low if we left the original soffet. So now we're waiting for Wyatt's grandpa to come and help his daddy remove the soffet, install the new island range hood, and some lighting. It has ended up turning into a much bigger project, but what can you do.

I'll be sure to post more pictures once it's completed!

TBT

2007 Ski trip to Stowe, Vermont

NC Trip

We decided to escape the cold and winter weather of the north and head south to NC. The first four days we were there the weather was pretty decent, unfortunately the snowy weather followed us and they got hit with snow and eventually an ice storm. We ended up leaving early Wednesday to try and avoid the ice that was about to come and luckily we did miss it.

We stayed pretty busy while in NC, spending quality time with family, painting a few rooms, working on birthday party decorations, and shopping (only a little). Daddy also got in some rounds of golf, so he was pretty excited to swing his 'sticks'. Thankfully our early departure to and from allowed us to miss DC and MD traffic, which can be a nightmare. Overall we had a wonderful time and we're already looking forward to going back.

Two peas in a pod

Shopping can be exhausting

Ditto

Morning snuggles with Gamma

So tired

Catching a few zzz's

Apparently Wyatt did a lot of sleeping on our trip. He did play with his cousins and watching Harlow crawl made Wyatt decide that army crawling was for babies and that he was going to crawl too. That's probably why he was so exhausted. Plus its tough to keep up with two girl cousins!

Catch Up

It's been quiet around here for awhile due to home projects, traveling and preparing for me to go back to work. Yes, that's right, I start work on Monday. Good news is it's just for busy season (about 8 weeks) and we have family lined up to watch our little guy! So glad that we won't have to worry about him while both daddy and I are at work.

Here are a few pictures from the past few weeks to tide you over until I can get some more posts lined up, specifically Wyatt's 9 month post!

*Be sure to check out the post below, 39 weeks 6 days.

39 Weeks 6 Days

Our little has officially been with us on the 'outside' for as long as I baked him on the 'inside'! I just cannot get enough of him. So much personality...

Wyatt - Nine Months

A blurry picture = a busy baby

Stats:
At his appointment this month he weighed 19lbs 8oz. Last month I thought he weighed over 20lbs, apparently I was wrong. They said he looks perfect and he's growing well. They didn't mention anything regarding the size of his head at this visit, but it's still big thanks to momma and daddy!

Sleep: 
He is still taking two naps a day, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. Each nap lasts about 1.5 hours. He goes down really well for his nap as long as he is showing signs that he's tired. If he's not tired then its not worth trying because he will NOT go to sleep.

Wyatt still gets up at least twice each night. Usually the first time I would feed him and from then on I would only try to console him. Now that I'm going back to work things have to change. I believe my feeding him late at night/early in the morning might contribute to him waking up multiple times throughout the night. So I'm working on not feeding him until morning and just helping him calm down when he wakes up. My fingers are crossed that he will start sleeping straight through!

Eating:
Wyatt eats three meals and a few snacks each day. He is still nursing about 4 times a day as well. He is starting to eat more table food with his meals, which he is loving. He's tried cheese, bananas, oatmeal, yogurt, black bean tacos, steak, chicken, bread, pasta with sauce, quinoa, graham crackers, strawberries, etc (there is more I just cannot think right now!). Usually as long as its not too spicy I will let him try whatever we're eating.

He still is eating some of the baby food I made him, puffs and yogurt melts. He's been working on learning how to pick up foods and feed himself, which he is getting better at each day. He also will finally drink out of a sippy cup and loves water! 

Diapering:
We are still cloth diapering and loving it. He has also moved up to a size 4 for his nighttime diaper, which is the only time (unless we're traveling) that I use disposables. 

Clothes:
He is wearing all 9 and 12 month clothing. Due to his bulky cloth diapers he is mostly wearing 12 month pants and sometimes I'll stick him in 12-18 month pants.

Social:
This month we spent a lot of time inside, staying out of the snow and cold weather we've been having. We did take a trip to North Carolina to visit family, which he really enjoyed. It was very fun for momma and daddy to see him interact with his cousin who is about 5 months older than him. She crawls everywhere, so while we were there Wyatt decided to give up the army crawl and crawl himself. 

Highlights & Milestones:
Wyatt continues to pull up on EVERYTHING that he can. He has also gotten pretty good with learning how to sit back down from a standing position, however, he doesn't know how to sit back down when he stands in his crib. There have been many nights that I've found him sitting or standing in his crib in the middle of the night crying. I'm hoping he will figure it out soon.

He is still super chatty and loves to make grunting noises. He's going to have perfect animal nosies when he's older!

He also learned this month how to wave, which is pretty adorable.

TBT

My little ham on his birth-day! Can't believe he was ever that small.

The Sickies

Well it was bound to happen, my littlest got sick. And to think that I the other day I had a thought that he's been here for almost nine months and has yet to get sick. So it's only natural that he would wake a up a few days later with a terrible cough, slight fever and runny nose. A trip to the pediatrician ended in a diagnosis of croup and two oral steroids to try and keep the swelling in this throat down. 

So far he's been in pretty good spirits. Nigh time sleeping has been difficult, especially since I've been sleeping with him to keep an eye on his breathing. Per the doctor it gets worse at night and if he shows any trouble breathing we are to take him to the ER. The kid is such a restless sleeper so momma is running on fumes with very little sleep. 

I do think it's safe to say he's starting to turn the corner, so I'm hoping tomorrow there will be even more smiles and less of a runny nose! I guess it was bound to happen, but sick babies are no fun. On a positive note I do get some more snuggles than usual!

Wordless Post

It's Nap Time

In the past eight months the biggest thing that I've learned about my little one is he likes to be on a schedule. We struggled, REALLY struggled with getting him to take a nap once that sleepy newborn stage started to wear off. I always made sure to put him down for multiple naps a day when he started yawning and rubbing his eyes, but he would still struggle with going to sleep. Most days he would end up sleeping in his swing because I was desperate for him to nap. I tried so many different things but most days he refused and by mid afternoon/early evening he was a bear.

Eventually I started to make sure that he was back in his crib for a morning nap at 9am (9:30 if he slept in later) and then again at 2pm. Making sure that he is in his crib for both of these naps, as close to these times as possible has helped so much in getting him to sleep. It probably also doesn't hurt that I turn the bathroom fan on in our half bath, which is right below his bedroom. 

This schedule definitely makes it more tricky for me to run errands and get things down outside of our home, as I have a very limited time frame in between naps. And there definitely are some days where we're just not going to be home at those times and he will have to adjust. However, if staying at home gets him the sleep he needs, then that's what we will do. If the baby is happy, then mommy is happy!

Can't have a post without any pictures...