Killean is O-N-E!

One year old!

Well.  We've arrived at Killean's first birthday.  Some days it felt like a race to get there.  Other days seemed to drag on forever.  Though I think there was a direct correlation to the speed of the day and the amount of sleep to be had the night before.  Killean's first year was so very different than Rowan's first year.  Just a testament to how different these two boys are.

Yup.  Got a new toy for my birthday.

Killean has had a really healthy first year.  We have only had to take him to the doctor once besides his regular check ups.  No ear infections.  No hemangiomas.  No high fevers.  He's been really, really healthy which is a huge blessing.  

Killean had seven teeth as of his first birthday.  He got the 8th one a day or two after his birthday.  I think he has some molars that are trying to come through.  But I also think those molars are going to be coming through for a while.  His gums feel hard and I swear I can feel the tooth, but then the next day it's gone.  Teething gel and teething tablets are our friends.

He figured out how to walk right after the 11 month mark.  And once he started to walk, there was no turning back.  He walks everywhere.  Climbs everything.  And is trying so desperately to go down the stairs.  He hasn't quite figured it out yet-mostly because Ian and I haven't given him the opportunity.  But I'm sure going down the stairs isn't too far off in our future.  

He's not as big of a reader as Rowan is, but if there's a book with flaps or something that moves, he loves it.  He'll want to read the book over and over again because it's just so exciting!  Give him a 'boring' book and he could care less.  but if music comes on, that boy is a moving and a shaking.  

Cake for me

Killean has very few words at this point.  He clearly says 'mama' and it has meaning. But that's about it.  He is jabbering, and we're pretty sure he's talking in Killean language.  We just had no idea what that means.

He still LOVES food.  We've introduced dairy to him and he seems to do just fine.  He loves cheese and yogurt and ice cream.  But one of his favorites is watermelon.  He could eat watermelon all day if we let him.  He is a good eater most meals. 

Yet even though he LOVES to eat, he's a little guy.  He's not quite 20 pounds (10th percentile) and bout 27 inches (25th percentile).  I feel like he's getting skinnier now that he's walking around all over the place, so I guess we'll just have to keep feeding him so he can grow.  Didn't think our boys would be eating us out of house and home at this age, but I guess that's how they roll.

He's slept from 8-4ish a couple of times which is just amazing.  The last few nights though he's woken up around 2ish.  Sometimes he's willing to go back to sleep easily, other times he must nurse.  We're working on completely weaning because frankly, I'm over nursing.  But I think it will be a little while before we can more gently cut him off.  He's only nursing at night now, so that's manageable until I dry up or he gets less attached to the boob.  

Happy birthday baby boy.  You're spunky. Wild. Brave. Adventurous. And full of life.  We love you and everything you bring to our world.

Kind of messy

Rowan is T-H-R-E-E!

3 years old is a ball!

Thomas party

Oh goodness.  Rowan is now 3 years old.  It's hard for me to believe he's that old.  I mean, where did the time go?  Wasn't it just last week that I was pregnant with him? Or bringing him home from the hospital?  But now he's a walking, talking, curious T-H-R-E-E year old.  Crazy!

So what is Rowan up to now that he's three years old.  He's still on the small side of the growth charts at just over 3 feet tall and just under 30 pounds.  I'm not looking forward to winter where we have to wear pants instead of shorts. 2T fits great around the waist but is way to short in the leg.  We'll be wearing shorts as long as possible and then having cinched up waist bands I guess.  

Present overload

Rowan is OBSESSED with Thomas.  He loves the show...the books...the toys.  Everything.  He has probably about 30 different Thomas trains.  He can remember things about Thomas I didn't even know existed.  It's pretty amazing, and a little scary.  But Thomas makes him very happy hence the Thomas themed party

party food train

We can officially say Rowan is potty trained.  He still wears a diaper at night, and probably will for a while.  He will only wake up dry once every two weeks or so.  We still have accidents a couple of times a week too, which is frustrating for all of us.  But we find it's usually tied to when he's distracted doing something or we're too busy to remind him to go to the potty frequently.  Most days though, he's very good at telling us when he needs to go and we make it through the whole day with one pair of underpants.  Thomas underpants, of course.

He's understanding what it means to be kind to others.  He's not always acting that way-sharing can be hard, but more often than not we see a heart of gold in that boy. Some moments he's just so caring and tender with Killean it makes me want to cry.  Other times we're getting after him ALL DAY for being mean.  Lessons that we'll continue to learn I'm sure.

Wishing for another amazing year

He loves to read.  He loves his brother, friends, and cousins. Can't wait to go to school like his big cousin. Loves mac-noodles, chocolate milk, fruit snacks, cheese, bananas, and cauliflower.  Hates watermelon.  (huh? a child that hates watermelon? is that possible?)  He knows what he does and doesn't like as well as what he wants to do.  He's pretty good at expressing himself, when he's not panicking about someone playing with whatever his favorite train is at that moment.

We're seeing him become a bit more confident too.  He is definitely a person that likes to observe before jumping in.  But we're seeing him jump in more than we have before.  Whether it's playing games, singing songs, or telling stories he's participating more and sitting on the sidelines less.

These boys love each other

But above all else, Rowan's FAVORITE pastime is asking questions.  Lots and lots of questions.  "What's this called? What's that do? Where we going? What we doing?" over and over and over again. And no matter the answer, there's always a follow up question.  Ian and I are both glad he's an inquisitive soul, but goodness.  All the questions get old.  I don't think this phase is going away any time soon though.

Rowan lights up our life.  He makes us laugh and challenges us to be patient, kind, and gentle just like we ask of him.  

Love this cheeky little boy

Killean-11 Months

11 Months!

Our little booger is 11 months old now!  What?!?!?  Time has flown during his first year.  I know that's super cliche, but whatever.  It's the truth for us.

Eating corn like a big boy.  Well...gnawing on it at least

This kid-nothing stops him.  He is always so very busy.  He loves music and starts to dance when it comes on.  He loves his big brother.  He laughs at just about everything Rowan does and has fun playing with him.  He tries to play with his trains and read his books too.  They're just so much fun together.

He is SOOOOOO close to walking.  He is much better at taking a few steps (like 5-6) BEFORE getting super excited and trying to dive towards whatever he was heading towards.  He is also seeming to prefer walking between tables/couches/chairs/etc when he can.  He'll go a couple of steps unassisted to get from point A to point B.  I know he'll be talking on his own very soon.

Love this face!

Sleep is maybe..kind of...sorta getting better?  We're making progress some nights (one night, he didn't wake up until 5:00!!!), and then other nights, is' up a couple of times.  We're letting him fuss a bit longer before jumping up to get him. Rowan seems to sleep through Killean's fits, and Killean doesn't seem to be getting "panicky" or really upset, so we're just letting him go until it's clear he's getting upset and/or not going to go back to sleep on his own.  Saves us one or two wakings a night most nights.  Someday, we'll sleep well again...

The best part though about this last month: I'M EATING DAIRY AGAIN!!!!!!  It's glorious and amazing!  He hasn't had any rash or digestive issue since I've reintroduced dairy, so I'm loving that!  I'm still off regular milk as a regular beverage (but I'll cook with it in things like Mac and Cheese and tomato soup), but all things dairy have been consumed.  Butter. Cheese.  Cream cheese. Ice Cream.  Cheese cake.  Yogurt.  It's so wonderful to not have to be worried about every thing I eat.

Killean has six teeth now with one or two more coming in any day I'm sure.  He's been fussy lately, and drooling like CRAZY, so I'm sure some rough nights and new teeth are in our near future.

We often joke that this boy will be the death of us-and he certainly keeps us on our toes.  But I'd be lying if I didn't say I love cuddling him and babying him a bit.  He's sweet and is wholly attached to me.  When I come home from work each day he throws a fit if I don't pick him up right away.  He loves when I hold him...and I'm kind of OK with that.  I know it won't last forever.  So I try to remember that when I'm having moments of "seriously kid? can't I just _____ without you for 2 minutes?".

Play time with brother

My boys. Sweet and sassy

Killean 10 months

10 Month and a little firecracker!

Killean is now 10 months old!  But if you ask this kid, he's much older than that.  Seriously, nothing slows this kid down!  If he's awake, he's on the move.  He crawls everywhere and climbs on everything.  He is trying VERY hard to walk too.  He loves to push the walker toy we have and looks soooooooo proud when he does! He is also trying to take steps unassisted.  He will stand unassisted few a few seconds, look at us, and try to take a couple of steps.  He usually takes 1-2 and then falls forward.  But even if we don't catch him, he's not phased.  He just gets up and moves onto the next thing. 

He loves to climb...oh boy does he love to climb! He's going up the stairs like a pro.  He also likes to climb onto brother's train table.  And the play equipment at the park/mall/play place.  He'll climb up the stairs and the slide too.  Like I said...he thinks he's bigger than he actually is. 

He still only has four teeth.  I was convinced he was going to get a couple more the other week, but nothing yet.  He's got a cute little gap between his top two teeth too.  It's very adorable.  =)

He officially loves food now.  He eats the purees we give him, but definitely likes finger food.  We haven't followed all the food rules this time around (I've heard second time parent are much more relaxed than first time parents?).  He's had whole egg as well as some almond milk.  He loves to sneak bites of my cereal, so that's where the almond milk comes in.  He seems to like chicken pretty well too.  And beans.  And bananas.  Oh my goodness does this boy love bananas!  For a while I thought bananas plugged him up, but he seems to handle those OK now. 

We're still off dairy, but I think he's getting less sensitive.  I haven't been as strict lately, and we haven't seen any apparent digestive issues or rashes appear. So...maybe...possibly, he's working through his dairy issue!  Thank goodness!  I can't wait to have mac and cheese soon!!!!!!

Sleep is the same.  He's doing some longer stretches in the first part of the night.  He's still struggling in the week morning hours.  Last night he was up at 3:30 and 5:30 and then finally for good at 7:30.  He's napping pretty well though.  Morning nap is longer-about 1 1/2 hours.  Afternoon nap is shorter-about an hour.  But he's generally happy during the day despite the interrupted sleep.  So I can manage with some coffee and Ian manages with an afternoon nap most days too.

This little boy is so much fun.  He keeps us on our toes for sure, but we love him and all his fiesty-ness. 

9 months

9 months!!!

Killean is now nine months old!  I suppose it's time for a short (emphasis on short) and sweet update on this little guy.

Killean now how four teeth-two on top, and two on bottom. I'm sure more are coming...and probably will be in rapid succession too!

He is 17lb 13.6oz.  So it seems he has lost a little weight since we took him in around 8 months, but only a few ounces.  Still, surprised both Ian and I.  Doctor isn't concerned about his weight or height.  They are around the 10th-15th percentile each, so he's proportionate.

He is starting to like food a little bit better.  As long as there is some fruit mixed in with whatever we're eating, he'll take it OK.  His favorites seems to be peaches/nectarines and bananas.  He does love finger food though!  We aren't doing that much finger food yet, but cut up blue berries, puffs, and then steamed veggies seems to go over pretty well for him.

His sleep is still not good.  The early morning time seems to be the worst now.  3am to 6am is filled with frequent feedings and nursing is the only thing that will get him to go back to sleep easily.  It can't last forever right?

He is quite happy though.  A mama's boy to the extreme. Stands all the time and cruises around furniture like a pro.  I would be surprised if he's not walking around his birthday.  He loves to clap and is starting to dance to music too!  Just a few minutes ago he was jamming out to "Moves like Jagger".  Proof that he is my kid =)

His eyes-so blue.  His hair-so red.  Our fiery little boy is a joy despite the lack of sleep.

8 months!

Wowzer...Killean is 8 months.

Kid is on the move too!  He tries really hard to cruise around a table already.  He loves to climb when he can.  He thinks he can stand up already (OK...he can kind of stand up...he just isn't super stead yet).  He's still preferring to army crawl, but he has crawled a couple of times like a 'normal' baby.  He is also ends up on his feet and looks like he's going to bear crawl some times.  He's definitely figuring out how his body works and moves.  And boy, does. he. move.

Teeth: we're still at two.  I was convinced he was going to get some more...but nope. Still at two.

Sleep: meh?  Any night we only wake up twice I consider it a win.  When we're not feeling great, we can be up every. hour.  We're getting more consistent at only waking up twice.  We're also getting much better at going to sleep in our own crib happily.  He's no longer insisting on sleeping in our bed for part of the night.  Gives me hope that we're progressing to sleeping on our own for an entire night.

Food: we're getting better at eating food.  We discovered tonight that he does not like carrots.  He seems to really like fruit.  Veggies...not so much.  At least he's starting to eat something other than milk.  He has been exposed to carrots, squash, sweet potato, peas, potato, broccoli, pears, peaches, banana, apple, avocado...and PUFFS!  That kid is a puff monster.  He loves them.  They are turning into a nice tool to keep him occupied while we get dinner on the table for those that eat real food :)

Growth: He's a little over 18 pounds now 27+ inches.  He had to go to the doctor because I was convinced he had an ear infection-I was wrong.  Was nice to get his stats though.

At this point though I'm seriously considering switching to formula.  I'm tired of having to watch every single thing I eat.  I'm tired of always wondering if the reason he's not sleeping great is because I ate a chocolate chip...or didn't read a label right...or didn't pick all that cheese out of my pasta I didn't realize came with cheese at the restaurant.  I'm tired of being tied to a pump or a baby every 3 hours.  I'm just...tired.  I feel as though there is so much pressure this time around to make sure I'm not only pumping regularly at work or when I'm away from Killean but also really watching what I'm eating.  It's exhausting for me.  I know breastfeeding has so many benefits for Killean.  I know it has benefits for me (can't say I've missed my period at all).  But...I just don't love it right now and I'm tired.  Bad thing: the formula we would likely need to use is stupid expensive.  My original goal was a year...my revised goal is one more day.  Every day I wake up and say, one more day.  Re-evaluation will happen at Killean's 9 month appointment.

Attempting to bear crawl

Standing!!!!!

Puff monster!

Killean 7 months

7 Months Old

 Killean is now 7 months old!  He's more than 6 months old...we're more than half way to his first birthday.  Ho.Ly. Crap.  These 7 months have gone by so incredibly fast...and at times they feel like they've dragged on forever-though I think that's mostly due to feeling like I have no clue how to raise a baby since he's so very different than Rowan.  But more than anything, I can't imagine what life was like before we had two precious little boys in our family.

Happy Easter Baby

Killean continues to prove he is his own person and dramatically different than his brother.  After he crossed that 6 month mark, we decided to attempt 'solid' foods.  Now, solid foods for babies really isn't solid food.  It's food that gets pureed to a lovely runny consistency and we expect babies to love it.  Right?  Rowan certainly did.  We could feed him anything and he'd eat it.  He didn't even mind baby cereal.  Killean has struggled to find a food he'll eat.  We've discovered that he does much better with food when we put it in one of those mesh teething pouches and let him eat real food rather than the pureed version. But even then, we're not always winning.  He has liked bananas and blueberries...and that's it.  He seems to like avocados OK.  Squash, sweet potatoes, and carrots are a no go.  He didn't mind gumming on broccoli, but when it came to actually eating it...he wasn't impressed.  So he's still about 95% nourished by milk alone. Not sure what his official weight is, but it's certainly over 17 pounds now.  He's still fitting into 6 months clothes, but I'm starting to make the switch in his closet since some 6 month clothes are pretty tight.  There's such a big change between 6 and 9 month things though...so I guess he'll either be in tight clothes or baggy clothes until he grows just a little bit bigger.

Easter Twinsies

I'm still off dairy.  I've started to become much more strict in what I'll eat.  Up until this point, I haven't been too concerned with watching out for small bits of dairy in foods.  I ate a little bit of chocolate regularly.  I also didn't read all the labels on bread products that certainly contained a little bit of milk.  Right before he turned 7 months I decided to become much more strict in hopes of getting his sleep sorted out.  I noticed a rash develop on his neck after Easter when I ate some foods that definitely had milk in them, so figured it wouldn't hurt to become more strict.  I haven't noticed an improvement in sleep yet, but I have noticed a small lingering rash on his back/stomach has gone away.  Looks like I'm in for an ice-cream-less summer.  Here's hoping he grows out of this dairy sensitivity before his first birthday (fingers crossed!)

Teeth...we have teeth!  Had popped his two bottom teeth through on the SAME DAY.  We had a terrible night on the 13th, and then on the 14th I noticed there were two little teeth on his bottom gums. Guess that explains his terrible night?  No other teeth popping through yet, but I'm not going to be surprised if they all come in pairs since his first two came through at the exact same time.

Bath time with brother

And sleep...or lack there of.  Killean still does not want to sleep through the night.  He seems to think he needs to get up every two hours.  Frankly, this is getting old.  I understand he's little...and I understand it's normal for babies to not sleep for a solid 8ish hours when they're this age.  But seriously kid...every two hours?  I'm hoping that in the near future we see a change in this pattern.  Last night was better?  He went for about 3 1/2 hours, then 2 hours, then another 3 1/2.  If we can just combine some of those chunks and get one wake up after about 5 hours that would be wonderful.  I think I'll feel more human if that becomes the norm rather than the exception.

Cloth diapers aren't going as well for Killean.  Turns out high efficiency washing machines work very different than the traditional washing machines we used when cloth diapering Rowan.  Since they work differently, you have to wash diapers differently...or else you get build ups which can result in amonia burns on your baby.  Ouch.  We got that issue all sorted out though, and are back to using cloth diapers about 50% of the time.

He has started to move around like crazy.  He isn't 'crawling' but he can motor around and get to where he wants.  He's doing an army crawl most of the time.  He sometimes will get up on all fours and look like he's wanting to crawl, he's just not getting it consistently.  He doesn't have a need to really either since he's pretty efficient with his army crawling.

Slightly evil smile

Killean continues to be a happy baby.  He really only gets upset when we have the audacity to try and make him sleep, or if he doesn't get fed the SECOND he decides his hungry.  Most of the time though he's great at going with the flow and happy to just be where ever we are.  His laughs and smiles come freely.  He is starting to scrunch up his face when he smiles (proof that he's my baby) and we're capturing lots of evil looking faces in pictures.