16 Months

Words:
Ma-Ma
I- Stuh (It's stuck)
Duh (Duck)
Ba (Ball)
Moe (More)
Bah (Bye)

He still loves playing with balls and is showing more interest in planes and especially cars.

He wants to play with whatever his big sister, Kensie is playing with.  He enjoys antagonizing her by trying to play with the toys she is playing with.  He especially likes taking her favorite stuffed animal, Lady and sitting on her ottoman chair in her room.

Eating is one of his favorite things to do.  I swear he is always hungry and he definitely eats more than his sister.  He will eat just about anything I give him, which is awesome.  Some of his favorites are bananas, avocado, grapes, strawberries, blueberries, and cheese.  Oh and of course any type of chocolate or candy.

He loves Kensie and tries to wrestle her and give her hugs.

Tate is still a momma's boy but not quite as clingy as he used to be.  He walks up to me when I'm cooking or doing the dishes, puts his arms around my legs, and gives me a hug.  Sometimes mid- playing he will stop what he is doing, walk over to me, lay his head on my leg or chest and then go back to what he is doing.  Other times he will walk up to me and lean his head into mine until our forwards meet.  My ultimate favorite are his sweet open-mouth kisses.  He doesn't give them very often but when he does, it's so sweet.

I usually put him to bed at 8 p.m. and get him out of the crib at 8 a.m.  He usually takes one nap now after lunch about 1 p.m.  He could go down as early as 10:30 or 11 a.m. but I keep him up because it works better with our schedule.  He tends to get cranky in the mid morning because he hasn't adjusted fully to one nap.

He has become more attached to his monkey and dog pacifier.  He is also attached to his monkey and elephant stuffed animal.  When he wants his monkey he says "oo oo ah ah."

He has started to test limits, be mischievous, and make his voice heard.  Church is difficult because he is so busy and loud.  Looking forward to starting nursery soon!

Tater is our sweetheart.  He has such a funny and cute personality, we love him.

Tate: 13 Months

18 lbs 11 oz.
10th percentile for weight and height

He is close to walking.  He took a few steps this week but is still very cautious.
He loves balls.  He wants anything round and calls it a 'ba'.
He really likes his bottle and doesn't want anything to do with milk in a sippy cup.  And he wants me to still hold him while he drinks his bottle, which I am perfectly ok with.
Thinks toothbrushes are the best thing next to balls or anything round.
Started climbing.  On just about everything.
He learned how to climb under the safety gate at the top of the stairs and goes up and down the stairs on his own now.
Discovered the toilet.
And the toilet paper.
Has 5 teeth.  Two on bottom and three on top.
He has grown attached to his monkey stuffed animal.  I find him sleeping with it tucked under his arm.
New Words:  "uh-uh" for uh-oh and "uh-un" when he doesn't want to do something.
Grocery shopping or shopping of any sort with him is almost impossible.  I have to come prepared with something for him to eat or play with.  Otherwise he is constantly standing up and trying to get out of the cart.

Since Tate turned one he has become much more vocal, strong-willed, and demanding.  He does this awful loud scream/screach when he doesn't get what he wants or needs something.  He gets really frustrated because he knows what he wants but can't communicate it to us.  I've tried teaching him sign language in the last 3-6 months but he has no desire to sign for me.  He started pointing recently which helps.

Tate is busy.  And he isn't even walking yet!  I'm nervous for when he starts walking because I know he will only get busier.  I'm trying to savor these last few weeks of crawling because he still feels like my baby.  I'm not ready for him to be a toddler yet!

Tate: 1 Year

My baby is one.  The year went by pretty fast.  Tate has been a good baby and I've been so grateful for that.  He is happy and smiley.  The hardest part of his first year was the fact that he got sick so often.  I'm not exaggerating when I say he was sick as much as he was well in his first year of life.  Since he got sick so often it was really hard to sleep train him at night and get him to take longer naps.  Six months he started sleeping consistently better at night and taking longer naps.  After the six month mark things got significantly easier.

He loved nursing and wouldn't have anything to do with a bottle until around 10 months when I ran out of milk so he eventually had to transition to formula.  It was a process though.  For a few weeks he would only drink an ounce or two at each feeding and just eat more solids.

says "Ma Ma Ma Ma" "da da"

says, Mmmmm when something tastes good

He calls balls "Mah"

He thinks it's funny to feed us. 

He started making airplane noises with his airplanes.

He crawls everywhere but bear crawls if he is wearing shorts or is outside.

He learned how to push the play shopping cart while standing a week or two before turning one.

He is pretty independent and loves crawling around the playroom and playing with toys.  He wants to play with whatever Kensie is playing with and gets a lot of satisfaction out of trying to get the toys Kensie doesn't want him to play with.  He pulls her hair and pulls on her dresses.  

He is a total mamma's boy.  During the day he doesn't like to be far from where I am.   If he can't see me, he'll come find me.  He'll crawl up next to me and climb up my leg and give my leg kisses or put his head between my knees.  If I'm sitting down, he'll crawl up to me and give me hugs.  If anyone else is holding him, he'll lean towards me to hold him.  I love how much of a mamma's boy he is.  

He still takes a morning and afternoon nap.  

My favorite part of the day is right before bedtime when he lies his head down on my shoulder.  

For his first birthday we had a BBQ and pool party in our backyard.  We had the Eliason's, Wheelus', Kramer's, Iroz', and Tayla Shurtz over.  We got him a Cozy coupe car, airplanes, cars, and a Jake and the Netherlands Pirates ship.  Niel did most of the birthday shopping and thoroughly enjoyed shopping for a boy.

We love our Tater-bug!

    

Tate: 9 Months

He claps

Sleeps from 7:30 or 8 p.m. until 6:30 or 7 a.m. (sometimes later depending on when his sister wakes him up)
He takes two naps. The first at 9 or 9:30 and the second about 2 or 2:30 p.m.
He says "ma ma ma ma" all the time.
Mom is still his favorite but he gets really excited to see his dad and leans towards him when he comes home.
He still likes nursing and nurses 4 times/day.  7:30 a.m., Noonish, 4ish, and right before bed.
He has perfected his army crawl and gets to where he wants to go.
He loves pushing a ball around and army crawls after it.
He does 'stiff legs' a lot when we try to get him in the car seat, stroller, highchair, etc.  
He wants whatever toys his big sister is playing with.
He especially enjoys trying to get Kensie's favorite stuffed animal Lady and play with it.
He also gets a kick out of pulling Kensie's hair, pulling on her dresses, and taking her toys.
Two bottom teeth and two coming in on top.
He doesn't want to eat baby food anymore.  He loves to eat whatever we are eating.
He doesn't like getting his diaper and clothes changed and almost always cries.

At his nine month appointment he weighed 16 lbs 9 oz.  He was in the -3rd percentile for weight and 10-25th percentile for height.  The doctor was a little concerned and said I need to supplement with formula.   This kinda stressed me out.  I want him to be getting enough nutrients but my milk supply is pretty low and he won't drink hardly any formula.  If we're lucky he will drink an ounce and then bat the bottle away.

 Tate's first story time at the Library.

I love Tate so much.  I love his soft chubby cheeks and I can't help but kiss them 100+ times a day.  He makes the cutest facial expressions and is so smiley.  I look at him and can't believe he is mine.  I think he is the cutest and sweetest little baby boy and I love being his mom.  He is in a good stage right now because he sleeps through the night, takes two good naps, and isn't too mobile.  I want to freeze time because I don't want him to grow up.  I'm a little terrified for when I have two children on the go!

Tate: 8 Months

Doing crossfit with his dad.

 Tate's first time going on the swing at the park.

He got his first two bottom teeth just before his 8 month mark.  

On a side note...notice how all of these pictures are taken from a camera phone?  Things sure do change with baby#2.  I need to take more pictures of my adorable little guy, especially with our good camera!

Tate: 7 Months

-smiley

-no teeth

-finally started sleeping through the night consistently from about 8 p.m.-7 a.m. HALLELUJAH!!!

-His naps are STILL horrible.  Usually two 30-45 minute naps.  Sometimes I get lucky and get an afternoon nap of 1-1.5 hours.

-drank 2 oz. from a bottle for the first time since he was newborn

 We had a scare two days after Tate turned seven months old.  He had an allergic reaction to peanut butter.

About twenty minutes after Tate was given peanut butter, I noticed red dots under his eyes and thought maybe he was having an allergic reaction to it.  I figured I was overreacting and put him down for his nap.  But he wouldn't go to sleep or stay asleep.  I went into his room after awhile and got him out of his bed to rock him to sleep.  I noticed hives and redness on his face and neck.  Soon his neck became quite red and swollen.  I didn't know what to do so I called the doctor's office.  She asked me if his neck was swelling and I said yes. The nurse told me I needed to take him to the emergency room ASAP.  I quickly loaded both kids in the car around 9:30 a.m.  My hair wasn't done and I didn't have any makeup on.  Kensie was in a princess dress and scraggly hair.  The nurse checking us in at the ER kept saying, "you should never give a baby peanut butter!"  "I KNOW!  It wasn't me!" I kept saying.  We must have looked like such a wreck.  I was so relieved after she took Tate's vitals and his breathing seemed ok.

Long story short...

After being in the ER for almost 3 hours all by myself with two small children and no food we got the clearance to go home.  Just as we were about to leave, I noticed Tate's reaction flaring up again.  They gave him a shot with the EpiPen and he cleared up completely within 15-20 minutes.  We were in the ER for a total of 4 hours.  I wish I had taken the doctors advice and given Tate the EpiPen when we first got there instead of some other 'lower risk' shot.  I am so glad he was OK.  He is too little to be diagnosed with a peanut allergy but things aren't looking too good after this incident.  Sure hoping he won't have to deal with a peanut allergy his whole life.

Tate: 6 Months

Height:  25" (5-10th percentile)

Weight:  15.5 (25th percentile)

Everywhere I go with Tate people tell me he is the happiest/smiliest baby they've ever seen.  The ladies mention he's a flirt.  I believe it.  Tate is seriously the sweetest, happiest little baby boy.  I love him to pieces.

He loves to nurse and won't have anything to do with a bottle.  He has seemed really interested in food the last month or so and always tries to grab our food but won't have anything to do with baby food.  So far I've tried oatmeal, rice cereal, peas, carrots, squash, sweet potatoes, and beans.  He makes the most disgusted face when I try to feed him baby food.  Flares the nostrils, tilts his head back, sticks his tongue out, and spits it out.  I guess I'll just keep trying, but for now he will only nurse!

He's started making his voice heard more.  He'll cry if you take a toy away or sometimes when I walk out of the room and he can't see me.

Tate: 5 Months

Tate went through a phase of sucking his thumb to comfort himself.  I thought he might be a thumb sucker but he doesn't do it anymore.  

Tate: 4 Months

Height:  24 3/4" (25th percentile)

Weight:  15.4 (25-50th percentile)