Taco 'Bout a Party! Tanner is ONE!

And for my last monthly post of Tanner's 1st year...

Here's what's been happening this month:

• Tanner is basically running now (or at least speed walking) and he is still into everything.  He is getting really steady now and can maneuver around things and step over things easily.
• Sleep is a little more tricky these days and he is getting a little bit clingy to me.  
• He is tough to take out places lately, especially by myself.  He will not sit in a high chair for very long and will not tolerate the Ergo Baby for as long as he used to.  Not to mention, he loves to experiment with his volume :)
• We still hit up Disneyland as much as possible (every other week or so).  Blake is pretty darn good when we are there considering her "threenager, I do whatever I want" stage.  Tanner needs more of my attention and Blake is pretty patient and helpful.
• Blake still really loves her baby brother. She is always kissing him and trying to help take care of him.
• He now has 6 teeth. Four on top and 2 on the bottom.  That's 2 less than Blake at this age. I am brushing his teeth with the finger brush and he loves to bite my fingers. Hard!
• He loves music and both kids are super into the music from the new Disney movie Moana. 
• He is now drinking cow's milk along with his breast milk.  He has also started water and is using a sippy cup.  He does really well with both the straw cup and the traditional sippy.
• He still nurses on demand and is probably waking more at night to make up for missing out all day when I'm at work.  So for that reason, I'm not too mad about the constant wake ups.
• His current loves: baths, music, running, climbing, stopping to lay his head down on anything soft (blanket or pillow etc) that he comes across, high 5s, giving kisses, smacking the spoon out of my hand to see what happens to the food, walks in the stroller, kicking off all shoes and socks, and all types of food.
• His receptive language skills are strong. He is following directions and identifying common objects really accurately. 
• It feels like he is changing by the day.
• No real words yet but lots of different babble sounds now.
• His stats are: 21 lbs, 30.25 inches tall. His head is still really large.  I hope that doesn't mean anything to be concerned about.  The doctor doesn't seem to mind it. 

Blake Olivia Turns One!!!

I can't believe it!  This year has gone by so fast.  Even with our sleepless nights, it still flew by.  I swear I'm going to turn around and she will be asking for a car.

The party was awesome, except for the fact that Orange County is baking right now.  It must have been 95 degrees inside my house that day.  Ok so the theme was luau but I got really into flamingos towards the end of my planning so it was sort of pineapples and flamingos.  I don't really know what that technically is but I don't care...it was super cute.

Some highlights:
-We had a great turnout and Blake had tons of amazing people to celebrate with.
-There were tons of babies here, all about the same age, and not one meltdown.  Good job moms and dads.  We have some really great kiddos :)
-Blake participated in the cake eating but didn't really love it.  Yessss, I hope she doesn't get her mama's terrible sweet tooth.
-She wore her adorable gold Gap sandals all day and didn't have a fit about it.
-She received tons of really cool toys and super cute outfits.

And for my last monthly post for the 1st year...
Here's what's been happening this month:

• Cruising and walking holding on.  She is so fast now and has even taken a few steps on her own.  She's really close to just letting go.
• She had a clingy phase toward the beginning of the month and a total sleep regression.  This could be tooth related or just developmental, I don't know.
• She now has 8 teeth in and 2 more cutting through.  We brush twice a day every day now and she loves it.  I have to sing the Raffi "Brush Your Teeth" song every time of course.
• She loves to be sung to and we sing at every bed time and nap time now.  I have to sing to get her to eat, to let me change her diaper, etc etc.  She must love my terrible singing voice.
• She also loves Sesame Street songs which I will admit right now that I'm a terrible mom and she does get a little "screen time" on the ipad watching them. She dances and sings along to them.  I highly doubt I'm doing that much permanent damage ;)
• I'm still nursing on demand and my stock answer every time someone asks when I'm going to wean her is " when we are ready."  So basically I have no idea and we are totally fine with that.  It's so hard in the beginning and we have just gotten to the good part a few months ago so I'm definitely not ready to give that up yet.
• I tried to stop nursing to sleep to see if that might help her sleep longer and it backfired on me.  She was just going through a phase and we are back to the old routine and she's getting better and better.  This week I've had a 8 hr stretch and a 7 hr stretch, which makes me feel like a new person in the morning.  I might try some more light training in a month or two and see how she does.  By that I mean trying to night wean for part of the night and keeping her in her own bed for the whole night no matter what.  We are already starting some of that so it won't be a huge transition. 
• Blake's current loves: books, bath time, Curious George, doing things she's not supposed to and getting caught (she's an adrenalin junkie), flirting, waving, her sippy cup, driving (going for walks in her pink push car), swim class, and cheerios.
•  She's waving and saying bye bye but it sounds like buh buh buh.  I have heard hi a few times also and of course the mama/dada babbling still but they don't have the real meaning like bye bye does.

Over the course of this year, I have experienced extreme sleep deprivation, highs of confidence, lows of insecurity, the fear of baby's first fever, the thrill of her first crawl/steps/word, the amazing feeling that comes when she leans in for a kiss without being asked.  I learned how to do just about anything with a baby strapped to my chest/back or on my hip.  I'm learning to let stuff go, to lead by example (put myself in check), to take one day at a time because you just can not predict what will come up, and I'm even (a year later) starting to find myself again and do some things just for me.  This year, I have learned more than I have in the last 25 years in school.

It's been the most challenging and most rewarding experience of my life and I can't wait to see what I have in store with year #2.