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| Surprise, I am 9 lbs! |
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| 6 weeks old |
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| 3 months old |
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| 6 months old |
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| 9 months old |
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| 1 year old |
Stephen turned 1 year old on November 19. This was a big milestone! When he was born I remember thinking his first birthday seemed a long way away. It was a hard year, but it went fast. I had to dig deep with this last baby. Having 3 other kids and a baby who did not sleep well made for a year of exhaustion. He didn't sleep 11 hours at night til almost his 1st birthday. But, this past year was so worth it. Stephen was a laid back, charming and quite easy baby, after 3 months old that is. Everyone loved having him in nursery and he would laugh at anyone. He has some separation anxiety now, but calms down quickly. Stephen learned to walk on Thanksgiving Day. He had been practicing, but really took off that day. Now he tries to run around the house. He just learned how to crawl up the stairs and has taken a couple tumbles. I am remembering how fun and exhausting 1 year olds are. And he is very loud. Stephen spends his day opening drawers and dumping everything out. He has also made the switch to tantruming toddler. If he doesn't get his way he will go limp, throw his head back and throw himself on the floor. He seems a little young to be doing this already… He also likes to "wrestle" his siblings. When they aren't paying attention he will walk up behind them and push them and whack them with toys or his hands. Right now it is cute because he can't hurt anyone, soon it will not be so cute. He seems to have a milk intolerance. Whenever he has dairy he gets fussy and has diarrhea. So we are avoiding dairy. He has made the switch to rice milk and drinks 8 oz in the morning and 8 oz before bed. He has gotten his bottom molars and is working on the top ones. When he is sick or teething he usually ends up in our bed around 5 am because we don't want him crying for an hour and waking everyone else up. I know, last kids are so spoiled. He uses a pacifier (which is awesome, none of the other kids did) and he loves his blankie. He takes a morning and afternoon nap. He is in the 90th percentile for weight and the 80th for height. He is an adorable little chunk. I am impressed with his language comprehension. When we tell him to do something he usually knows what we are talking about. He has some words; mama, dada, and all done. He does hand signs for more and he points at what he wants.
For Stephen's birthday we celebrated a couple days early. My Dad and the Peterson family helped us celebrate. I did a simple Winnie the Pooh theme. There were PB&honey sandwiches, tigger tails (cheetos), Rabbit's garden (vegetables and fruit), piglets in a blanket (sausages in crescent rolls) and a Winnie the Pooh birthday cake. Stephen loved the cake and is now very aware when family members are eating sweets.
We are so thankful for the gift of Stephen and we're looking forward to another fun year!
