Twelve Months

I can't believe that we are passed the "infant" stage with Kieran. He has definitely become a little boy in the last few months and I have found myself in the last few weeks trying to savor him in all of his baby glory. Kieran is a pretty independent little guy for the most part. He happily plays by himself stacking cups, sorting through cupboards, or banging on bowls for 10 minutes plus on a regular basis, but he is a Momma's boy at heart. When he is hurt, or tired, or cranky, or frustrated he wants Mom. He's great being watched by others when I'm not around but when I'm in the room he definitely wants me. He is my Cuddler. He often will crawl into my lap just to lay his head on my shoulder or give me a hug. If he sees me laying on the floor he makes a dash to plant a wide open mouth kiss on me.

Kieran enjoys life so much. He is constantly shrieking with delight over Reed's antics, food, music, and any toys he deems worthy. While he is pretty fun loving we are also seeing a more serious side evolve. He is a pretty determined Kiddo and almost every developmental milestone has come with days (or weeks) of interrupted sleep and fussiness while he works overtime to hone his new skillset. In the moment it is definitely not adorable but I love that this persistence and determination is already such a big part of his personality!

 

I know Kieran will never be able to experience being an only child or first born, but he really has made our family feel complete and for that he has an equally special role. He will be the last baby I ever nurse, rock in the middle of the night, etc. and with that comes a lot of emotion I didn't expect. He is the one that reminds me how quickly time flies and will provide the end to a lot of the chapters in my life. I'm so proud to be Kieran's Mom and can't wait to see the Little Boy he continues to become!!!

Monthly Statistics

Weight: 20 lbs

Height: 30.25 inches

Clothing Size:  Everything is now 12 or 12-18 month, but most pants are way too big around the waist.

Teeth: 7 - 3 on the bottom and 4 on the top

Kieran likes: Playing peek-a-boo, eating, taking Dodger for walks, bath time, balls, watching Reed do anything, his walker/push toy, watching anyone brush their teeth, taking naps, dance parties, being tossed in the air, story time (especially his favorite - I Love you Through and Through book), tickles, crawling/climbing/getting around on his own, drumming on anything but especially trash cans, opening cupboards, sorting and stacking toys, playing guitar with Dad, being held by Mom, and Perrito his stuffed animal pacifier.

Kieran dislikes: Diaper changes, being put in his car seat, being taken out of the bathtub, Mom not holding him, and getting things taken away from him.

Food: Kieran tried eggs and citrus this month with no reaction, woohoo!!! He has also started to show some food preferences but then again one day he will eat a mountain of something and the next day not touch it. Favorites right now are avocado, blueberries, string cheese, oatmeal, and peas. Dislikes are strawberries, raspberries, and squash.

Nicknames: Kier, K, K Dawg, K-Man, K-Bug, Bug, K-Bugger, Bugger, Kierito, Cuddle Bug, and Goldilocks.

How Kieran is sleeping: Bedtime is almost always 7:30 and he sleeps through the night until around 5:00 usually (sometimes there is a 1:00 or 3:00 wake-up). He nurses and usually goes back to sleep until between 6:00 and 7:00am. He takes two naps; one around 9:30 lasting about two hours and another around 2:00 lasting 1.5-2hours.

Words: Momma/Mom, bawl (ball), braw-er (brother), blu (blueberry), uhhh (up),  buh (book), uh oh, bye, appp-pull (apple), and mo (more). He also says Ahhhh when I tell  him it's time to brush his teeth.

Signs: New Category!!! Eat, ball, more (which sometimes he confuses with ball), sleep, and dog.

Favorite Moment: One day we had eaten an early lunch and Kieran was on schedule to take a later than normal nap. He started acting really fussy but it wasn't his usual tired fussiness. Then he started pointing to his mouth (the sign for eat). I immediately got him a snack and he was as happy as a clam. This little peek into the beginning of communication being a two way street instead of a one woman detective agency is so huge!!!

Milestones:
10/06/14  Kieran makes his first attempt at sharing a toy - Sophie the giraffe with Lyla
10/15/14  The Bug starts putting away toys and stacking nesting boxes
10/17/14  First official road trip/sleepover with other Kiddos - we visited the Mathots in Orange
10/25/14  The Kiddo wore his first costume - Fozzy Bear
10/27/14  Kieran claps for the first time
10/28/14  K figures out how to put the stacking rings back on their little pole.

Favorite Photo Shoot Outtake:

Kieran's 1st Birthday

We are having a small family party for Kieran this weekend, but we couldn't let his 1st Birthday go by without at least a little celebrating. On Tuesday morning I made blueberry pancakes for breakfast. I did my best to make Kieran's in the shape of a number one and of course it had to have a candle too!

In honor of the special day Jon left work early so he could join us at Bravo Farms. It's a great place for Littles to explore and both boys seemed to enjoy the petting zoo, mechanical horse, and crazy slide.

During the car ride home Reed negotiated Kieran opening his presents before their naps so after we finished lunch we let Kieran dig in.  He was pretty interested in looking at cards and digging into bags, but decided that the unwrapping of presents should be handled by Mom. He loved everything he received and genuinely played with all of the toys until it was time for his nap.

Knowing we would be celebrating over a few days I had stocked up on ice cream and we all got to enjoy some delicious flavors after the boys woke from their naps. I started off by giving Kieran a spoonful of ice cream which he thought was so wonderful he pushed it aside and took a giant handful which he shoved into his mouth. This was great for about half a second until he realized how cold it was on his hand, tongue, and in his mouth. He screamed for a few minutes and then he was fine.

Kieran has loved all of the gifts he's opened up so far and to close out his lovely Birthday we decided to use the matching Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle PJs Auntie Laurie and Uncle Peter had sent for him (and Reed).

Trick or Treat

I really wanted Reed to be able to trick or treat this year but since he is still fairly young, Kieran would be coming along, and there are car seats involved I decided to do what we did as kids which meant contacting Grandma and Grand Aunt Penny ahead of time and stopping by for very special custom made Halloween treats. Our first stop was Penny and Mark's house. When we got there Reed suddenly turned shy and didn't want to knock on the door or talk much. Penny had put together adorable treat boxes for both boys and Reed quickly warmed up and we had fun hanging out with them for a little bit.

The next stop was Grandma and Grandpa's. Reed was again shy about knocking on the door and was even more scared when Grandma opened the door and Grandpa was dressed in a scary costume. We quickly told Reed it was just a costume and he was totally okay with it. The boys instantly made themselves at home and Reed got to open several different treat bags. We didn't stay too long because we had to get back to our house to make dinner and hopefully have some trick or treaters of our own.

Have you heard of the The Teal Pumpkin Project? It is such a great idea - basically if you plan on handing out any non-food treats you paint a pumpkin teal and display it on your front porch. You can also just print out a sign that features a teal pumpkin. This lets kids with food allergies know the house is safe to trick or treat at. Reed did a craft earlier in the week to make a teal pumpkin sign and I painted some pumpkins teal as well. We don't usually get many trick or treaters but definitely wanted to be food allergy friendly and help support the cause.

As in the past Grandma and Grandpa joined us for dinner. We only ended up with two kids knocking on the door very early in the evening and then a dozen or so all coming together at the end of the night. While it was a little disappointing not to have more costumed kids for Reed to see we had some fun of our own by putting on some of the glow-in-the-dark bracelets from Mark and Penny and some of the glow stickers from Grandma and Grandpa and playing in the dark. It was a fun night as always!!!