William: One Year Old!

Note: pics taken before first haircut, mullet alert!

12 Month Stats

Weight: ___ (dr appt Wed)

Length: ___ (dr appt Wed)

Eating: Schedule 7/11/3/7:30 milk/formula with 8:15/12:15/6 meal times

Will is eating what we eat full time now! He has had food with many spices and flavors. We do try to limit the amount of salt/sodium & sugar he eats, just with him being a little guy still. Most meals start with some puffs or veggie bites while we get his food ready. We dice up whatever our meal in and he feeds himself (usually in the messiest way possible!). He doesn't like us trying to help him, but sometimes it's necessary. We try to get in at least one fruit or veggie in each meal. We also give Will squeezy pouches of fruited & veggies. He's gotten good at squeezing them himself and/or sucking the puree out of the pouch. For dessert, yogurt drops!

I have moved Will to no bottles! He drinks his milk/formula from a 360 sippy cup and he's doing great. I hold him in the lap after his nap and give him his cup. I try to get him to drink about half while I am holding him so I'm sure he gets some nutrients down. But then, I let him take the cup with him and carry it around as he plays. He will stop & take a sip every little bit. Since he's transitioning to getting more nutrients from actual food instead of milk, I am okay with him not finishing every cup I give him. I also off him a sippy of water throughout the day so he becomes used to drinking from different types of cups.

Bedtime: still going down about 7:30-7:45 each night

Naps: At home, Will takes two naps (9:30-11 and 1:30-3:15). At daycare, he's far to busy for his morning nap, so he takes just his afternoon one. Many times, he falls asleep at daycare closer to 1pm and sleeps until 3/3:30. Hmmmmm, maybe because he's so exhausted?!?

Diapers: size 3

Clothes: 12mo clothing, but still wearing some 9mo pants (welcome to the world of being a short kid!)

Favorites: Being with mom! He likes me to be in the room with him & does not like when I leave, even if there are other adults in the room with him. He dives toward me when I walk by him, whether he's on the floor or in the arms of someone else. I love knowing he loves me so much. It makes up for the times he cries when I have to change his diaper or clean out his nose.

Food! He is excited for meals & lets you know if you are late in feeding him ;)

Dislikes: Being helped to do something he thinks he can do by himself. I think we've got an independent little man on our hands!

Development: Will is WALKING! He has gotten very good at walking and now prefers it to crawling. He can carry things as he walks and can stop, pick something up, and stand back up to continue walking. He is pretty big stuff! His walk looks a little like a cowboy getting off his horse after a few days' ride, but he love it. He smiles as he walks around, so proud of himself! It's as if he's always thinking/saying, "Look! Look at me! I'm doing this walking thing!"

William is getting better at playing on his own. Don't get me wrong here, he wants to have an adult in the room with him still! But he's getting better at entertaining himself and moving around to find something to play with on his own. And if we are in one room and he decides to leave us behind, no tears. I guess he likes to be the one making the decision on when he wants to be alone.

Looking Forward To: 

-Winter break for me to have time with William for two weeks! My goal is to conclude breastfeeding over winter break. I'm sure Will will be just fine with it, but the emotional toll it will take on me is another story.

-Christmas! I know it's technically William's second Christmas, but he pretty much slept through the whole thing last year as a newborn. He's much more aware of everything this year!

meals are messy!

Sleeping Through The Night, Maybe?

We have a breakthrough in sleeping! Well, an inconsistent breakthrough at least! William was waking up at the same time each night to eat (somewhere between 2:30-3:30am). I experimented with just rocking him back to sleep to see if it was habit or hunger that was waking him up. Each time, he was going back to sleep and waking again in the 6am hour. Also, William is 3.5 months and weighs over 12 pounds (research supports that he can make it through the night without eating). With this information, I implemented Operation Sleep Through The Night with our angel. He was not such a fan at first, I'll let you know.

I tried it on a night that Bret wasn't home (he's a big softie and gives into the night cries easier than I do). I fed Will at his normal time and put him down to sleep by 8:15pm. I also added in a dreamfeed at 10:40pm to refill his belly and help him last the whole night. The idea behind the dreamfeed is to not wake them, but let them eat while they are still sleeping (the suckling reflex helps this process). His first stretch of sleep had typically been to that 2:30/3:00am time. But, that night, instead of going into his room and nursing, I let him cry. And oh man, did that little guy cry! But he went back to sleep and made it until the morning. I was a wreck and checking the monitor to be sure he was actually sleeping, but Will got his rest! It took a few nights for this to become his new habit and I'm not completely sure he's bought into the fact that he doesn't need to wake up throughout the night, but we are working on it!

His naps are getting better as well. The first nap of the day is always the best, which doesn't make sense to me. He just woke up from a long sleep overnight, so you wouldn't think the first nap would be the best of the day, but who am I to mess with what works?? I would like for him to have three (at least) 1.5hour naps a day. He loves to wake after 45minutes (when his sleep cycle ends and the next is hard to connect), but that is getting better as well. Even as I write, he has been sleeping for almost an hour and 45 minutes. He did wake and cry out once, but went right back to sleep. 

Our little guy is growing up!!

These are all of the little guy sleeping on us, but I'm not messing with is overnight sleep enough to take a picture of him then! ;)

Better Sleep is Upon Us!

William has been stretching out his night sleep in the past few weeks. He started out going for 5 to 6 hours (til about 1 or 2am), then going another 3 hours between wanting to eat. But this week, he's been stretching for 6 to 8 hours. We start his bedtime routine about 7:15pm an he's usually down for the night about 8pm. So with these long sleep stretches, he isn't waking to eat until about 4am! That is a welcome gift for this mama! I still wake and worry, but I'm getting better :)

We attempted to transition Will from his rock n play to his crib for nighttime sleep, but that did not work so well. The first night, he woke every 3 hours. The second night, he barely lasted 30 minutes. I had a frantic texting conversation with my sister, who assured me that he won't sleep in the RNP forever (eventually he will be too long!). So that night, we wiped the slate clean and started the night over. He went back the the RNP and slept great. Guess he just needs to get a little older before night sleeps in the crib. 

Will still struggles with his naps. No matter how many yawns or tired eyes I see, once he is swaddled, he's wide awake to fight the nap. I am still swaddling, then holding him calmly for about 5 minutes before laying him down. More often than not, he cries when I lay him down. He struggles, but does go to sleep. He still has short naps, but will continue his nap on me after he wakes. He is getting enough sleep (especially with his extended night sleep) so I'm not too worried about that. 

Those little hands!!