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. 

Tanner James: 11 months

Wow this year has flown by.  I can't believe he is almost one already.  This month has been an interesting one... And this picture is the best one I could get.  Tanner is not so into our little photo shoots anymore.  Oh well.

• Tanner pulled a heavy bar stool down onto the back of his head and neck while I was at work. We have pretty much cleared the house of everything he can get his hands on.  He is the most busy and curious kid ever.  He wants to climb every large thing and eat every small thing in sight.  
• Then the next night he mysteriously had blood dripping out of his ear.  It was enough that I couldn't tell where it was coming from.  Turned out he had just scratched the outside of it but I was panicked for a good 5-10 minutes :)
• He's officially a biter.  I have bruises all over and scratches from where he grabs and pinches me.  
• He is obsessed with his big sister and wants to follow her everywhere.  
• He's officially walking. 
• He is babbling with lots of different sounds now.
• He is waving bye bye. 
• He had his first trip to the ER.  He had a fever for a few days but was ok.  I went to work on Sunday night and his fever spiked.  He had a febrile seizure and had to go to the ER and get cooled down with washcloths and get stabbed in both arms with needles.  It was scary.
• He had his 1st Thanksgiving.  He loved all the food of course.
• It was a crazy month.

Tanner James: 10 months

{climbing the rocking chair}

• His hair is covering his ears on the sides now. Not sure how he is going to sit still for that first hair cut.
• He got 4 teeth at once and I think they are still coming.
• Sleep hasn't been so great. Probably partly because of the teeth and also, now that he's older, co-sleeping is hard because if he wakes up and sees Kyle in bed he wants to crawl over and play which is not so cute at 3am.
• Still super happy boy and he loves to flash his dimples at anyone who will make eye contact with him.
• He loves his big sis and follows her around laughing at everything she does. He's starting to fight back a little if she tries to boss him around though.
• He runs so hot. He gets so sweaty when he sleeps. It's crazy but I've Googled (of course) and I think we are still in the normal range ;)
• We all keep getting sick.  We share everything in this house including every illness that comes within 50 feet of us.
• Tanner is finally starting to imitate and is high fiving.
• He has bumps and bruises constantly and we have had to start getting rid of everything not bolted down for his safety. He's definitely a climber.
• If he's not eating or sleeping, he/s on the move.
• He had his 1st Halloween. We did a family costume of Blake's choosing. She was Alice in Wonderland, Tanner was the White Rabbit, and Kyle and I were Tweedle Dee/Dum.
• Taking 2-3 steps at a time now.

Tanner's Nursery

Better late than never.  Here's a peek into lil'man's room.

I know these pictures are really bright.  I had too much light coming in the window and still can't always figure out the correct settings on my camera.  That and the fact that I have no time for camera  adjustments with these crazy kids around :)

Tanner James: 9 months

This is the best I could get. It's getting harder and harder.

• Still loves all foods and has tried everything. He's had Chow Mein, spaghetti and meat balls, tacos, etc. 
• Starting to do a few more sounds, finally, and has figured out how to gain attention by raising his volume.  It makes things interesting when we are out in public.
• Cutting 1st tooth
• He is cruising really well now and has let go and taken a few steps. He's at expert-level crawling now. It's terrible because he's so fast that he gets away too quick and is into everything these days.  He's a climber too!
• His hair is still a darker, auburn color.  Definitely different than Blake's in color but about the same as far as the curls go at this point.
• He refuses to wear a hat or socks. This bugs me because I want him to wear beanies in the winter because they are so cute. 
• He's a sweaty hot guy all the time. 
• He was a total trooper at his 9 month appointment shots.  Nothing really bothers him for too long. It's a good thing too because he is always getting bumps and bruises. 
• His stats at 9 month check up are: Weight: 19lbs  Height: 28.5 in Head Size:47.5 (98th percentile) That's a huge head!

**Yeah I know this is over a month late. The pictures are taken at at the correct time and I collect the info/milestones on my phone so the info is accurate. I'm just late on the post ;)  10 month post coming soon. 

Tanner James: 8 months

• Finally my hair started falling out. It's not as bad as it was with Blake but I did start noticing it.
• He started the month with an army crawl and ended with real crawling. He's a man on the move now.
• Eating more chucks now and downing the Puffs.
• He had his first non-preferred food. Avocado. Although he does like it mixed with other foods. He even kept eating it like a little trooper.  He just made terrible faces while chewing haha.
• He's still so smiley and loves to laugh.
• He loves to be scared/startled and cracks up
• He's on the go constantly and it's rare to get cuddles anymore.
• He is pulling up to standing on anything he can get his hands on and starting to cruise along furniture.
• He's waking up more at night which is kind of annoying.
• He is also sooo quiet. No real babbling or anything.  He is not yet imitating either and it's driving me crazy.  I'm working with him as much as I can and I know it will come with time.  

Tanner James: 7 months

• Over the past month he's had bananas, peaches, carrots, peas, corn, sweet potatoes, apples and avocados.  So far he LOVES food. :)
• His hair has grown so much.  It's much darker than Blake's was and has a little tiny bit of red tint to it.  It has a mean cow lick in the back that sticks straight up. Haha.
• His eyes are still blue.
• Spit up has really slowed down now but is still happening occasionally.  The doctor diagnosed him with reflux at the last appointment but we aren't doing anything about it because it doesn't seem to bother him.  I do hear him coughing in his sleep though as a result of the reflux. We might have the doc check it again just to make sure.
• We went to the OC Fair. 
• Tanner sleeps in a regular sleep sack now.  He likes to be cozy.
• He got his fat thigh stuck in the crib bars. He was just in a diaper and it was hot so he got it really jammed in there.  It was a little scary but I kept my cool and finally worked it out.  He had a little bruise though :( 
• He's learned how to blow raspberries and does it non-stop.
• He's sitting up all on his own now.  It's nice to have another position to set him down in.
• He's still a good napper and sleeping through the night some nights.
• Blake loves helping out with him. She is such a good big sister.  She kisses him and tells him she loves him all the time.  They are so sweet together.
• Busy, Busy, Busy.  He wants to be held but also wants to be put down but also wants to spin around in your arms.  He's all over the place on the floor too.  Really close to crawling but not quite there yet.

Tanner James: 6 months

• We survived Hand, Foot, Mouth Disease.  Oh man that was bad.  I thought Tanner had a drool rash (which now I think he did have along with the HFM) but as the rash spread, we decided to go to see the doc.  He was diagnosed at first sight and they informed us that it was going around like crazy and is very contagious.  Unfortunately, you can get it over and over so it might be in our future also.  It seems to be the most common childhood disease around here.  We all had it but Blake and I had hardly any symptoms.  I had a fever and sore throat for a couple days and Blake had a runny nose.  Tanner had a rash all over but was otherwise pretty happy.  Kyle, on the other hand, GOT. IT. BAD.  I felt so bad for him.  It was head to toe and very uncomfortable.  The sore throat especially.  It's so weird how it affected us all in different ways but the doctor said that's typical.  The very last symptom Tanner and Kyle had came about a month after they were healthy again.  Their nails started falling off. So weird!
• We went to Cabo.  Tanner's first vacation :)  We had such a good time.  Blake had the time of her life playing in the pool and Tanner loved cruising the pool with me in the water sling.  
• Tanner is rolling all over the place and can get across the room in the 2 seconds you turn your back.  We have to watch him pretty closely. Especially since he puts everything he can get his hands on in his mouth.  He is really close to being able to sit up unassisted.  He can do it for a few seconds on his own but still topples over.
• Spitting up is finally slowing down.  
• We started solid foods and he LOVES it.  He's had bananas and peas so far and can't get the food in his mouth fast enough.
• His hair is getting really thick now but it sticks straight up at the top of his head :)
• He's sleeping in the crib and with us still and takes good long naps during the day.
• He's still such a happy and easy baby.
• My hair hasn't fallen out which is a nice surprise.
• Concerts in the park started so we have been doing that weekly.  Tanner loves to ride in the Ergo and watch the other kids playing and listen to the music.
• He officially has "real" poop, which we aren't too excited about :)
• He's still making sounds but I would like a little more out of him.  I'm constantly singing and making animal sounds and babbling at him.  He must think I'm nuts.  

Tanner James: 5 months

What's been happening this month:

• He found his toes.  I don't know why but it's just the cutest thing ever when they start grabbing their feet.
• We are using the Zipadee Zip now instead of the swaddle.
• He's such a happy baby.  He loves to smile and be smiled at.
• He's weighing in at 16 pounds.
• Still spitting up. Ugh
• We got out the Baby Einstein Bouncer.  He loves it.  That is the best baby product.
• Rolling over a lot and starting to roll from back to tummy.
• Gnawing on anything he can get into his mouth.  He especially likes our fingers and his own toes.
• He had a really bad drool rash.  Or so I thought...  More on that in month 6.

Tanner James: 4 months

What's been happening this month:

• Scooting around all over. He tries to scoot on his booty out of the bouncy chair and swing.  He has to be buckled at all times now. He can also turn himself completely around when laying on his back.
• Still swaddled but gets his arms out a lot.
• Still in bassinet and sleeping with us.
• He is waking up more at night since I have gone back to work.  I don't really mind it since I get extra cuddles at night.
• I'm back to pumping, so that's annoying.
• I've had a lot more trouble losing weight this time around so Kyle got me a Fit Bit for my birthday.  It's helping a lot.
• He still spitting up a ton.  It's frustrating for all of us.  We all need an extra change of clothes at all times.
• He is super snuggly and loves to be held, worn in a sling, and cuddled.
• Rolling over from tummy to back.
• He doesn't mind his tummy time and will hang out there for a while.
• He has set a predictable schedule with a long afternoon nap but is pretty flexible too.

Tanner James: 3 months

What's been happening this month:

• Lots of smiles and laughing.
• He is super ticklish.
• Loves taking baths but cracks up in anticipation of being tickled when I wash in his neck rolls.
• Getting really chunky.
• He is starting to lose his hair and its kind of patchy.  It's not the best look.
• He is still the most easy going, chill baby. He doesn't mind tummy time. He can and will go from wide awake to asleep all on his own, although I nurse him to sleep anyway because I like to.  He never cries.  He just so happy all the time.  
• His neck is getting really strong and he's more and more sturdy every day. 
• We got a swing and he loves being in there.  Blake never really liked the swing.
• He tries to mimic our facial expressions and coos. 
• My milk supply is still really good.  That's making things less stressful this time.
• My nursing aversion is almost completely gone. I'm so glad I finally have a name to what I was experiencing. I had it in the beginning with Blake also and never could figure it out after many hours of Googling.  I described it as itching or that my nerves felt like they were going crazy when I was feeding Blake.  I would scratch and tear at my face and neck whenever I was feeding Blake in the beginning.  Then it went away and I forgot about it.  Then I had Tanner and it started up again. This time I Googled "skin feels like it's crawling while nursing baby."  Up popped all this info about nursing aversion.  I seem to have a mild case since all it really does is make my skin feel creepy and sensitive but some people get bad feelings toward their children which is terrible I'm sure. Anyway, it's gone now, yay!
• I went back to work which is going fine but still sucks. Thankfully he's easy on all of our baby sitters and Blake is a great big sister helper.