Taylor Joy - 12 Months Old

The last of the monthly pictures has been taken. I can't even believe it! I also can't believe that this was the best one I could get of her laying down flat. Oh, if you could have seen/heard the behind the scenes of this picture. My mom, Donovan, and I were all standing above her waving toys at her and yelling her name, trying to make her laugh. And this... this is the best we got. 

Taylor has had a great month this month. I feel like she transitioned from baby to toddler over night. 

In big part because she started standing all of the time. She has taken a few steps here and there although she still prefers to crawl or walk when you hold her by the hand. 

Taylor had one really bad cold and cough this month. It was like 5 straight days of a cough so bad that it would make her throw up at times. It broke my heart. Fortunately, she never had a fever or any other scary symptoms that accompanied it. We just had to wait it out until she turned back into our easy, peasy, happy-go-lucky baby girl again. 

I feel like she's been teething for weeks as we're awaiting the arrival of her one year molars. She constantly chews on her finger and has been waking up in the middle of the night here and there very unhappy and there's not a whole lot I can do to ease the pain. Her first molar broke through last week and now there are three more to go. 

Taylor transitioned to whole milk easily. We started to go 50:50 with formula and then just straight whole milk. It never phased her. She continues to be a great eater. She loves pretty much everything we give her, except scrambled eggs. Avocado is her favorite. 

Books are her favorite lately. The second she gets out of her crib, she crawls straight over to her book shelf, knocks all of her books off and then sits and turns the pages. Sometimes she'll crawl into my lap to listen to me ready a story and other times she'd rather be on the move doing it all herself.

This picture cracks me up! It's not always rainbows and unicorns over here. She is an easy baby, but she'll let you know when she's not happy about something, too. 

Taylor Joy, you are so, so loved. I can't believe you are almost walking. You seem like such a big girl all of the sudden. Your first year feels like it came and went in the blink of an eye. But not one day goes by that I don't pause to think about how lucky we are that you are ours. 

I love you with my whole heart, little one. 

xoxo

12 Months!!!

Our baby girl is one now! I can't believe it! Lately, she seems to be changing every minute. This stage in her development is so much fun. She is growing so fast. Just look at the difference between 11 and 12 months above. At 11 months Emme started to get more stalky and chunky with lots of rolls and then this month came and I swear she grew 5 inches and completely thinned out again. 

Her actually birthday was pretty uneventful. Dustin and I both worked a full day and in the afternoon we invited my parents and Oma over for a simple dinner and cupcakes to celebrate our girl. She could barely stay awake long enough to open a few presents.

 The day went by too fast for my liking! But thankfully, we are still planning a small party to celebrate our girl with family later this month. She will be nearly 13 months by then… but at least it was a time that seemed to work for most so that we could all be together to wish our littlest one a Happy Birthday. 

So, onto this month. We are back on the quilt, but not without some bribery… which came in the form of a Q-Tip for this 3 minute photo session. Don't judge… I know a Q-Tip is probably hazardous, but she was under my watchful eye and it was clean of course! :) 

Look at these long legs! She's starting to take the form of the Dease side of the family these days. At her 12 month appointment Emmerson was 29 3/4 inches and 19 pounds 12 ounces, which put her at 75% in height and 25% in weight. (Just like her big brother) 

 Emmerson has been very chatty this month. She's begun to "talk" all the time trying to hold anyone's attention in her babbling conversations. She seems so certain of what she's trying to say and expects that you acknowledge her every babble. She is also saying more words. Just this week, she has started to call me, "Mommy" instead of "Ma-ma." She says "Bye-bye" very clearly now as well as "Nigh-nigh" when we say "night night."

 Emmerson is still not walking, but she's standing pretty confidently, sometimes without holding on to anything. She sure does know how to get around though. She always finds a way to reach everything she wants to get to and most things we'd rather she not get her hands on too. 

 Little Miss has started to give kisses this month. Mainly she gives them to her Daddy. He's the lucky recipient that she offers them to most often anyways. She also snuggles by laying her head on our shoulder now. My favorite!

 Emmerson's favorite past time this month is swinging in Donovan's old swing. She cracks up when we push her in it and I'm pretty sure she'd stay in it all day if she could. 

 She's still our happy, easy girl. With the exception of bad teething days/nights, she sleeps like a champ.  7-6 and still 2 naps a day. She's been happy to eat just about everything this month too. She transitioned easily to whole milk and loves to eat scrambled eggs, cheese, toast, quesadillas, sandwiches, yogurt and all fruits. 

Our Emmerson Grace, 

How can it already be a year since you joined our family? You have been the hugest blessing to our us! Thank you for your gentle, loving personality and your silly giggles too. Every day with you just keeps getting more and more fun. We love you more than you will ever know Baby Girl. Looking forward to seeing all of the ways you'll change and grow this next year. 

xoxo, 

Mommy

12 months

Well, the last tie sticker has been peeled, stuck, and thrown away. Do Moms still document their baby's months after they turn one? I'm feeling sad that this was the last of the bunch.

But then again, it's not easy to take pictures of a little one on the run either. 

Here's our monkey showcasing his walking skills and also practicing for American Idol with his giant microphone. 

 He has changed SO much this month. Last month I would sing into his microphone to show him how it worked. He would just toss it aside with no interest what-so-ever. This month, he'll search through his big basket of toys just to find the microphone on the very bottom. He'll pick it up, stand up, and walk around "singing" as loud as he can. 

 The way he plays with his toys is so different than it used to be. He can sit and play with the same toy for 20 minutes and not even notice that I'm in the room. One of his other favorite things to play with lately is his fake cell phone from Aunt Kristin and Uncle J. When it rings, he looks surprised and then picks it up and holds it to his ear and begins to babble. How do babies know how to use phones? It weirds me out! Not to mention that he's an expert at using his Grampy's ipad. He could teach his Momma a thing or two. 

 Donovan has been battling a cold for the past 2 weeks. (We all have!) We took him to the doctor the day before his birthday party and they said that he was fine, just had cold like symptoms and was cutting his molars! Wow! Wasn't expecting that one for quite a while. Poor little guy. So his nose continues to run and run and  I'm not sure if he's still sick or just working on getting his big boy teeth. 

 Two weeks ago Donovan was just taking little steps and now he practically runs around the entire house. He's mastered the art of going from sitting position to full blown confident walking. It's amazing how quickly that came. 

 He seems so much more content now that he can walk everywhere. But it certainly  hasn't turned him into an angel baby. There's even more stuff to get into when you can walk. We have baby proofed more things than I can count. 

This is when I say, "Donovan... NO thank you."

 And he looks at me with his big, deep eyes that say, "who, me?"

 Our boy continues to be a pretty good eater. I only nurse him in the mornings now and am completely done with pumping. (woo hoo!) We have been supplementing his other bottles with 1/3 formula & 2/3 whole milk but will transition to straight whole milk this week. Donovan never skipped a beat and hardly seemed to notice that we mixed it up at all. 

 He still won't eat veggies too often but he does like his fruits. His favorite snacks are blueberries, yogurt, crackers, cheerios, anything with cheese, and pastas. 

D is wearing size 4 diapers and 12-18 months clothing. I still can't believe our bitty boy is ONE!

A year in pictures... enjoy!