Our Last Baby is ONE!!

We made it! Our last baby is one year old.

I remember being in the hospital when he was born like it was yesterday. I can close my eyes and be right back in that hospital bed, fighting to keep my eyes open and taking two hour intervals with Isaac. We'd switch off between napping and holding the baby. It felt so good to come home and have our family together. The girls were all enamored with him, and nothing has changed.

 This year has gone insanely fast.

When we found out we were having a boy after three girls, I was pretty terrified. I had no idea what to expect or how to even dress a boy. I always thought having girls was so fun, because you got to buy them cute clothes and accessories, but having a boy would be so boring in that department. I've found my way, and now I love picking out cute little outfits for him, and don't worry, I've spent just as much on his wardrobe as I always did on the girls!

Everyone always asks if having a boy is different. I always answer yes, and I think the biggest thing is that all of my girls were always Daddy's girls. Sure they loved me and lit up when they saw me, but there is just something about this little guy that feels different. Every time we make eye contact, he gets the biggest grin with all of his teeth showing and walks towards me as fast as he can with his arms out. I literally kiss him every five seconds when he's nearby, and I can't seem to get enough. He loves to sleep in my arms and sometimes he won't stop fussing unless I sing to him. His favorite is the Winnie the Pooh theme song, so that's usually my go to at bed time. 

He started out as Baby Brother, but he now goes by Bro Bro. Even all of the neighbor kids, cousins, and little friends call him this, and it's so adorable. We also call him Bubba Cakes, Bubba Stinker, Broski, Bo Bo, and anything else that starts with the letter 'b'. You'll rarely ever see him without a huge grin on his face. He's always happy! He's also very shy and will bury his head in my shoulder when anyone outside of our family tries to talk to him.

He's big on his sisters and will reach for any one of them if they put their arms out to hold him. He's going to grow up with so much love and the best support system having all of these older girls around.

At one year old, he is weighing about twenty-two pounds and is twenty-nine and a half inches tall. Due to us being quarantined at home with the current Coronavirus situation, I haven't taken him to his one year appointment just yet. I'm not even sure if his doctor is doing routing wellness checks right now, so we don't have any percentiles at the moment. Bro is wearing size 12/18 clothes, a size three shoe, and a size four diaper. (Grace was twenty three-and-a-half pounds and twenty-nine inches, Char was almost twenty-one pounds and twenty-nine inches, and Perry was eighteen pounds and twenty eight-and-a-half inches.)

He currently has ten teeth since his bottom molars just popped through, and this boy loves to eat. Since I've been working from home for the most part, he isn't taking bottles again. On the days when Daddy stays home and I go to work, he doesn't have any milk all day. He loves applesauce pouches, but he's finally good at eating real food, too. His favorites are chicken, rice, cheese, eggs, pasta, graham crackers, Hawaiian rolls, and really any meat we offer. He'll eat tri tip, pot roast, taco meat, and turkey deli meat. He's a growing boy, and he'll take whatever he can get. He also loves the weighted straw cups and always has one nearby full of apple juice or Gatorade mixed with water. When I am around, he nurses a few times a day and always right before nap time and bed time. He still hasn't taken a pacifier since he was two months old and just decided to give it up one day. His hair has the sweetest curls and reminds me so much of Gracie's hair. We've started cutting it in to a little mullet, and he gets the sides trimmed every week or two to keep it up.

He almost always naps around ten and two for forty-five minutes to an hour. I like to put him in the swing, and Daddy likes to put him in this bean bag chair he has, so it just depends on who is home with him that day. Just so we remember years from now, we're currently under stay-at-home orders from our governor due to the Coronavirus outbreak. Only essential businesses are allowed to be open, and apparently construction is essential. I've been staying home with the kids since all of the schools are closed for the rest of the school year, and trying to work full time from home while helping them with "distance education". The girls are so helpful, and Grace and Charley take turns in the mornings watching Bro in the living room while the other does homework. They switch every thirty minutes until I'm done working (or until Isaac gets home). I usually go in to the office one to two days a week, so Isaac stays home with them on those days. It's a crazy time to be alive, and we won't be having a first birthday party for the little man until he's older and we're allowed to have gatherings of more than ten people.

His typical bed time is 6:30. If Daddy hasn't put him in the bath yet, and it's after six, he'll go to him and start fussing until Dad picks him up and heads towards the bath tub. After Daddy washes him up and puts his jammies on, I brush his hair and put him in his Zipadee Zip. (It's basically a sleep sack/swaddle that he needs to go to sleep. We also put him in it at nap time. I think he just associates it with sleeping, so it helps him fall asleep and stay asleep longer.) I nurse him and rock him in the La-Z-Boy until he falls asleep, and then I put him down in the pack n play so I can go get some more work done while it's quiet. He wakes up every 30-45 minutes, and I have to rock him back to sleep for a minute or two each time. Once I move his DockATot back in to the bed and he is in between Daddy and me, he will only wake up once or twice throughout the night to nurse and then go back to sleep. 

He started walking right around eleven months, and now he's a total pro. He still falls, but he practically runs everywhere and loves to be chased. He's in to everything and loves to climb. While he loves to play with his toys, someone has to be in the room with him. If he looks up and no one is around, he'll run to the gate and cry until someone comes to his rescue. He loves blocks, balls, and cars - typical boy - and usually has one of these things in his hand as he's running around. When he isn't double fisting his most favorite thing, chocolate chip cookies. He used to wave but may have forgotten since we're mostly just home with him and don't do it very often. He claps all the time and bounces up and down when he hears music. He also loves to climb, and is always getting on chairs, ottomans, tables - anything he can. He's starting to get the hang of getting down by turning on his belly and letting his feet fall first.

He's a man of few words, but he yells "Dad" when he wants Daddy's attention and he babbles constantly. It sounds like he's speaking in full sentences, but it's just gibberish. He still only says "mama" when he wants to eat or while crying if he got hurt. He just started to point at whatever he wants. He woke up the other morning, sat up and saw my iced coffee on the nightstand, and pointed right to it. He does this with toys and food and knows that it means he wants you to give it to him. He loves his blankies, and this kid is all about Copper Pearl. He loves the polyester/rayon blend, and they are super soft. He started with the swaddle blankets and has switched to the quilts instead. They're basically three layers and almost like a weighted blanket. Day care loved them, because it would feel like someone was still holding him when he was put in his crib. We're moving back to the swaddles lately, because it's already getting HOT in Vegas. 

He isn't really in to movies like the girls all were. He's just starting to watch a few minutes here and there. I think it's mostly for Coco or Cars.

We are all so in love with him, and I still can't believe we have a boy. He's so much fun, so sweet, and has the best cheesy grin. I'm lucky that I'm able to spend so much time with him right now, even if it is under weird circumstances.

Happy First Birthday, Baby Boy! We love you SO much!!

(Grace - Char
Perry- Isaac)