ONE

Our baby boy is ONE!

A year ago, our hearts doubled in size for this new little life and he’s been the most perfect addition to our family. This has been the best year ever with this baby.  I remember the day he was born, knowing the first year flies by.  Soaking up his baby smell, his baby skin, his baby noises.  Making it a point to take in every little moment of his first year every single day.  Although I do feel like this year flew and I'm sad that he's not a "baby" anymore (but let's be honest, he'll always be our baby :) ), I truly feel like we savored every moment and had such a full year with him.

He continues to be the happiest little guy, not bothered by a whole lot.  Although, when he's tired or hungry he definitely lets you know :). He is truly the biggest lover.  He gives the BEST hugs. Best, best, best.  He's especially been loving on his Daddy lately, every time Matt picks him up he nestles right in and squeezes him so tight, a good grip on his shirt.  Whenever you pick him up, he immediately hugs you and will then proceed to pat your shoulder :) But don't you dare try to throw him in the air or lift him any higher than your shoulder-he freaks out and bawls immediately.  So unlike his big brother at this age!  He's been giving kisses more! He opens in his mouth and then leans him head into you.  Last night, I said "Bodey, give Barrett a kiss!" and he leaned in and gave him one! Melt my heart. He LOVES his brother.  Either is smiling and trying to be with him constantly or crying because Barrett won't leave him alone lol. 

He just started being able to follow simple commands-"give the car to Daddy." "Give me a kiss". "Blow a kiss". "Give Jax his bone." It's so cute.  He is talking even more. Favorite words are "booka" (literally says it all day and it's the cutest thing ever. He's so intentional with it), "book" (one of his very first words and he says it all the time), "duck", "mama", "dada", "nana".  He can point to his head, when you ask "where's Bodey?" he covers his eyes and then plays peekaboo, waves, motions "come on" with his hand, isn't doing too much signing but will randomly do "more" and "eat".

He LOVES food. Eats 3 meals a day, a snack, and still nurses 4 times a day.  He yells for food.  Put him in his highchair and don't have food or Cheerios readily available? He will yell. His food is gone before he's ready for it to be gone? Yells. He loves food with flavor and wants nothing to do with bland food.  Not a fan of veggies other than avocado, sweet potato, cooked carrots, and sometimes corn and bell peppers. Don't even try to give him peas, green beans, broccoli, cauliflower, cucumber, etc.  He'll politely throw it off his plate to the dog.  Favorite foods are chicken sausage (the more flavor the better), tacos, meatloaf, ALL fruits, waffles, hard-boiled eggs, sweet potato, dry cereal, yogurt, cheese, hummus, shredded taco chicken, white chicken chili, seriously-the more the flavor the better.  Officially off bottles during the day at the sitter and does milk out of a straw cup instead.  Haven't started milk yet, he still just gets breastmilk in his cups. Does still get a bottle before bed on days I work, but I'm sure we could easily wean him from that.  

Loves baths, but prefers a bath by himself vs a bath with his brother. Barrett is too crazy in the bath and Bodey gets nervous and then cries. He loves splashing and bubbles and playing with his bath toys.  Loves climbing-will climb onto the couch by stepping onto his anywhere chair (which he loves climbing into and sitting in, even if Barrett is already sitting in it). Actually can already figure out how to get off the couch too.

Biggest thing this month? WALKING! He took his first steps the week of his birthday and then a few days after he turned one he was off! Walking all over the place. And stable! It's like he watched and waited until he was ready and then was off like a rockstar.  He even was able to get up to standing from sitting a couple weeks later.  It's so cute.  He'll just walk all over the house entertaining himself and exploring. And getting into things! Loves getting into the toilet, cabinets, drawers, boxes, would rather play in the kitchen pulling everything out of drawers than with toys. But really does do a great job playing by himself! Loves cars and books the most.  Laughs when you "chase" him and say "I'm going to get you!". Wearing 9-12 month and a couple 12-18 month clothes, size 4 diapers. Loves being held and still gets in the Ergo quite a bit-sits still as stone and smiles so big while he watches me put it on :). 

One year old schedule:

430/530 am: wakes to nurse and then goes right back to sleep

7/730 am: lately has been waking up for the day whenever Bear wakes up since he dinosaur stomps down the hallway

8 am: breakfast 

9/930 am: nurses (or milk in cup for sitter)

10 am: nap

12 pm: lunch food

1:30 pm: nurses (or milk in cup for sitter)

2:30 pm: nap

4 pm: snack

530 pm: dinner

730 pm: nurse and bed!

He takes two naps-one is usually 1.5 hours (2 hours on a rare occasion) and the other is 45 min-1 hr. At bedtime, he usually either comes in Barrett's room while we read books or stays with Daddy while we do.  Once B is in bed, we go get pj's on, read a book, lights off (closet light on), nurses, and then I rock him and sing while he falls asleep.  Then he sleeps all night until he wakes to nurse at 430/530 am.

I find myself staring at him and just taking him in-the love I have for him is indescribable. We all do; we just love him so hard.  He is a magnet.  He draws people to him and it's like you can't leave him.  He is the most easy-going baby and truly just goes with the flow. SO happy all the time. He’s our peace in the storm, the sweetest soul, our go-with-the-flow, our little rainbow baby. We’re all basically obsessed with him. 

Happy 1st Birthday, Bodey Frank! you are so SO so loved.

FOUR

Our first baby is FOUR! How did that even happen?! 

This kid is life.  He's been oh so full-of-life since the very start.  I look back at pictures and I can't believe this is the same dark-haired baby boy.  He has been his wild, witty, energetic, sweet self ever since he was born.  He keeps us on our toes and outsmarts us daily. His smile lights up the room and he truly has the biggest heart of anyone I know. He’s opinionated, loud, has one speed (which is full-speed 24/7), and can make you laugh at the drop of a hat with his unexpected one-liners. He makes us better parents, better people, and the world could use a lot more people just like him. 

Barrett at 4 is:

*NON-STOP

*on the go

*hugest heart

*loves people

*loves creating

*always hungry, constant "snack-asker"

*"one more"

*superheroes/fighting bad guys

*so brave

*daredevil

*most agile clumsy kid out there

*eats at least 1 apple a day, maybe two. 

*LOVES fruits and veggies, such a great eater (loves raw carrots for snacks)

*always talking. ALWAYS.

*SO smart! picks things up so easily

*has to learn the hard way/learn on his own

*wants to climb the tallest tree, fastest bike, biggest piece (I want an apple, but I want the biggest apple!), the longest book, strongest boy

*loves working outside or doing projects with his Dad

*loves playing games and snuggling with Mom

*a young man

*puzzles (awesome at puzzles!!)

*creating with any materials he can find

*spills his milk at least 5x a week

*tall! tall and lean

*bruises and scrapes

*The Greatest Showman! (FAVORITE movie! knows the words to the songs and sings them all the time)

*learning to read on his own and can read a few books by himself!

*kicks butt on his balance bike and zooms all over like a pro, will likely have him ride a bike with no training wheels this Summer!

*holds doors for people

*the best big brother and makes his mom and dad so proud :)

His love for people is remarkable, he truly exudes happiness when he's with others and would choose to be with friends or family every waking moment of every single day.  He LIGHTS UP when you tell him we are going to visit someone or someone is coming over.  He loves so BIG and so hard.  He's obsessed with his Daddy, truly his best friend.  As much as we may butt heads sometimes, we have such a special bond that I hope never fades.  He'll always be my first little love!  He is the most loving and adoring big brother, he is SO in love with his little brother.  Wants to be around him and in*his*face every waking moment of every day. He loves to pick him up and carry him around (even though he's not allowed to), give him toys, sing to him, and make him laugh.  He is so patient with him and is careful for the most part lol. Their little relationship is just the best. 

The Bear at 4 is emotional.  It's so hard to control emotions when you love so big!  He's not a fan of being told "no" and we hear a lot of "you are SO mean!" or "That's so rude!" or "I'm so mad right now!" nowadays lol. He goes through phases where he has a harder time with controlling how he feels and with listening, but once we all resurface on the other side, he's a smarter and more mature little guy.  He is hard to parent, challenges us everyday, and makes us better parents and people. He is seriously SO smart and that's mostly what gets him in trouble.  He can talk his way out of anything and can pretty much convince you of anything, and at times you have to step back and realize he just totally worked you over! haha. He is very passionate and VERY persistent.

His imagination is AMAZING. His favorite thing to do is create.  Give him a box or an egg carton with some scissors, tape, and crayons, and his imagination goes wild.  If he sees you throwing away something, he runs to you to "please don't throw it away! I needed that for (whatever thing he wants to make).". And then he gets on with his creating. It really is cool to see the things he comes up with. It's truly his favorite things to do.  Give him all the construction paper, tape, scissors, pom poms, glitter, paint, and he's a happy guy! Loves writing notes and putting them in envelopes, wants to mail them.

He started sounding words out/spelling words this past Fall so we started with beginner reading books in the early Winter. He took on so well, and is now reading a few books all on his own! He's amazing at sounding words out and figuring out what words are.  The beginner books we have, he reads his part with ease. It's truly amazing. He gets better every time we read! He knows quite a few site words and even complicated sounds like "ue", "ay", "ch", etc.  He's been writing his name for a couple months and can write almost every single letter of the alphabet and number (1-10) on his own! He spells and writes out words and always wants to know how to spell things so he can write them.  He can count by 2's and 10's and all the way to 100. 

Favorite movie is The Greatest Showman! He asks for the soundtrack every time we are in the car and walks around the house singing it constantly.  He asks to watch it all the time, knows the characters names, knows what part is coming next, and sings and dances so big to the music.  Still loves the song "Sugar" and "Can't Stop the Feeling" :). Loves riding his balance bike and is such a PRO at it! We plan to take training wheels off this Summer and I'm sure he'll be great! I'm excited to see how well he swims on his own this Summer too!

Loves spaghetti and chicken tenders, and ALL fruits and veggies.  Starts his day with a "snack, show, and a drink"-like literally wakes up and comes to get us to "go in the living room with me" to which he immediately says "Can I have my snack, show, and a drink?" :) He goes to bed around 730/8 pm (asleep by 8 pm is the goal!) and is usually up no later than 7;15 am (sometimes he's up at 6:45 am). He gets up at least once a night to pee, but stays dry all night!  If he wakes up too early, he does NOT like being told he has to go back to bed or that it's time to be sleeping.  Asks for "huggies and kissies" multiple  times a day and especially before bed.  He's the BEST snuggles and would love it if we's sit with him on the couch with him all day and cuddle.  Most of his playing consists or fighting bad guys, crashing cars, running fast, jumping off things-ALL BOY!  Talks constantly. Literally never stops talking. Ever. I'm not kidding lol.

He loves big and is going to do big things in this world. We are so very lucky to be apart of his life. Happy 4th Birthday to our sweet, sweet Bear!