We made it! Our beautiful baby boy turned one year old last weekend – wow!!
The big day
Months ago, we had already decided to spend his birthday up at my parents’ in Mid Wales. Unfortunately my dad passed away a few weeks ago, but we stuck with our plans and we think he was watching over us on the big day….
We woke at 6 (standard!) and opened some cards and presents, played around then about noon we headed over to Fantasy Farm – I might write a review if I get a chance but in a nutshell we had a great time – it was the first time we’d taken baby W to a farm park and he loved seeing and touching all the animals – cute little kids, lambs and rabbits. We had a ride on a trailer and we also had a sunday carvery there which baby W enjoyed!
When we got back in the afternoon, I gave him some chocolate cake for the first time (as he got teeth so early I try and be really careful with his sugar intake – it’s the one thing I’m strict about!) and he wolfed it down – never seen anything disappear so quickly!
He had lots of lovely cards and presents – clothes, toys, books, money – but I think his favourite present was this scooter that my sister bought him from notonthehighstreet – I love it, so retro! And he laughs when he’s being pushed around on it 🙂 We knew he’d get lots of presents so we only bought him a little ball pool – something he loves at the childminder’s house but of course he hardly goes in his new one at home :p
Progress updates
Since the last update I wrote 2 months ago, baby W has got faster and more confident with crawling, and has been standing and pulling himself on everything – we still haven’t baby-proofed the house properly which we need to do as he’s in doors and drawers all the time!
It’s amazing watching him grow – every week he can reach something new, higher up!
And some big news… the morning after his birthday, he took a couple of steps! He’s done it once since at the childminder’s too – he’s a big boy now!
He’s getting more chatty – babbles a lot, and still says ‘mama’ and ‘dada’ a lot although I’m still not convinced he knows what they mean! He’s started copying sounds a lot – it’s great fun chatting to him 🙂
Health, eating and drinking
Still haven’t had him weighed (it’s been about 6 months now!) but he’ll be having his jabs (and I guess his 12 month update?) soon so we’ll see how much he weighs then but I’m not worried – he’s mostly in 9-12 month old clothing, and size 4 nappies.
To celebrate his birthday we switched over to whole milk and he took to it straight away – good boy! He still has quite a lot of milk which I am trying to cut down on but again, not too worried. He has a bottle when he wakes up (about 6am) and he loves having another bottle a few hours later before his morning nap (about 9am). Then he can usually get through the day without it til his bottle before bed (about 6pm) but if he’s really grouchy in the afternoon, a little bit of milk can help us all out 🙂
Something else I’m aware I need to do is get him to stop using bottles. He enjoys drinking water (hooray!) out of various sippy cups/beakers, but still has milk in a bottle which at some point I should try and change…..
He generally eats well – loves pasta, fish, chicken, yoghurt and cheese. Doesn’t really like fruit or veg so much so I sneak veg into pasta sauces, and fruit purees into yoghurt. As we went down the baby-led weaning route, he still makes quite a lot of mess and enjoys throwing half of his food but he eats the other half so I’m happy!
For some reason (I let her carry on, despite telling her numerous times she didn’t need to!) the childminder always blends/purees his food – and now she’s wondering why he won’t eat any solid food there (even pasta, which is fave at home!)- I think she’s created a rod for her own back 😉
Personality, likes and dislikes
He’s generally a happy chappy – great with people, but also quite independent – happy by himself! He’s started having mini tantrums if he doesn’t get his own way (e.g. if we take something off him that he shouldn’t be playing with) – will cry until he’s quickly distracted by something else! He’s adventurous, fearless and always on the move – does not sit still for long!
Likes
- Trips to the park to play on slides and swings
- Opening and closing cupboard doors
- Playing with coasters, keys and remote controls (who needs toys?!)
- Dancing to music and cartoons
- Watching the washing machine and trying to press all the buttons 🙂
- Pushing his walker around
Dislikes
- Not getting his own way
- Being dressed/nappy changes – this can be quite hard work, I try and make it as fun as poss!
That’s everything I can think of for now, we’re hoping to have our first foreign family holiday over the next month, and of course we’ll have the dreaded 1 year jabs – wish us luck!
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