Evan 12 months, Caroline 12 months, Lincoln 12 months

I started this on August 29th. I thought I finished it, but I went to look for my photos this week and realized even though I took them, I never edited them or posted them. Oops?

The good/bad news is, even if I didn’t document it in a timely manner, Finnegan still turned one. He insists on growing even when I don’t remember it’s happening or write about it on the internet. Although I can’t let that happen without at least a quick post, so luckily this was still hanging out in my drafts.

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This is my last monthday update. The very last one ever. My last baby is now counted in years instead of months, because today he turns one. One year ago I was giving birth for the last time, on the maternity floor where all four of my babies were born.

Finnegan continues to be a doll baby. He’s so cute and funny and snuggly. He makes a great shopping buddy. He likes his stroller and falls asleep both in it and on my back. He likes to go places and do things, see new stuff, loud noises and all foods. He often forgets that he needs me until I walk into a room and then he desperately needs to be picked up. He doesn’t mind being left with friends for a little while, but still needs lots and lots of nursies so I wouldn’t leave him overnight.

Speaking of overnight, he sleeps from 9 pm to 7 am about 2/3rds of the time. The other 1/3rd, he wakes up once or twice or four times or won’t go to bed until midnight or gets up at 4 am. It’s unpredictable, is what I’m saying. But since MOST nights I am getting 8 hours of sleep without too much work I am a happy mama.

Finnegan is wearing 24 month or 2T clothes, although I am buying him nothing because there are at least 6 bins of hand-me-downs from his brothers I need to sort. I finally started making him wear soft-soled baby shoes but they aren’t slowing him down at all. He is in size 5 diapers (the same as his 3-year-old brother) and his thighs are still fantastic.

Likes include yogurt, squeeze pouches of baby food, cereal, apples, grapes, juice, water, snuggles, nursies, rocking, his blankie, his siblings, his dog, his cat, climbing things, trying to stand on his head, rolling around on the floor, playgrounds, being worn, water, baths, tickles, and smiling.

Dislikes include being tired, being hungry, diaper changes, having his face cleaned, and smacking his face on things (although he does it so much maybe he actually does like it).

12 Month Milestones (originally from BabyCenter)

Mastered Skills (most kids can do)
Imitates others’ activities – He thinks he’s a big kid, so he tries to do big kid stuff, like reading books and climbing.
Indicates wants with gestures – His two moves are grabbing and throwing.

Emerging Skills (half of kids can do)
Takes a few steps – Hahahahaha
Says one word besides “mama” or “daddy” – No. And doesn’t say mama either. I think it’s likely we’ll be doing speech with him too, if only to get super on top of it.

Advanced Skills (a few kids can do)
Walks alone – I feel like if there’s one thing that applies to all children I give birth to, it’s their advanced walking skills. (I didn’t even change this from Lincoln’s post)
Scribbles with a crayon – Yes! Mostly on non-writing surfaces.
Says two words besides “mama” or “dada” – Nope.

(Lincoln 11 months, Caroline 11 months, Evan 11 months)

I have a great big talky, walky baby. Well, not really talking. He makes a lot of talking noises and babbles non-stop. But the walking is ridiculous. Caroline got him to walk the full lap around the first floor, up and down the transition step and everything. He cannot be stopped. He gets into everything, touches everything, reaches everything, spills everything. I have to pin him down for diaper changes and won’t even sit down to nurse – he stands up.

Finnegan is still pretty bald, so it’s hard to tell if he’s going to be Team Blonde or Team Ginger. The bald look makes him seem babyish still, which is fine with me. He can look like a chubby little baby as long as he wants. I’m not ready for him to be a toddler, even if he spends most of his time toddling around.

Finn takes one nap a day, usually around noon, but will take a second one later if we are in the car for any reason. He goes to bed about 8 pm and sleeps until about 8 am, which means I am finally getting 7 hours of sleep a night and my stress level is significantly lower. If I went to be right after the kids there’s a chance I could get TEN HOURS in a row. I’m not even sure that’s physically possible.

He’s wearing 12-18 month clothes (or 2T shorts if they’re not stretchy) but 6-12 month shoes, because he has tiny feet and huge thighs. It’s truly amazing he can even stand up, let along walk. He still isn’t a fan of things on his head but he will sometimes let me tie on a hat if it’s really sunny outside. He loves being outside, especially on my back in a baby carrier. Once the weather cools down I’m looking forward to wrapping him instead of always using the buckle carrier. I’ll be down to just Finnegan in the mornings, so  we’ll have lots of time to practice using our woven wraps and just wandering around the neighborhood. Or Target. Probably Target.

We’re celebrating both Finnegan turning 1 and Lincoln turning 3 with a joint birthday in mid-August. Our summer schedule was too busy for me to commit to 2 separate parties, but I couldn’t bring myself to not throw any party at all. The themes is children’s books. Finnegan is also having a children’s book smash cake photo session done by our awesome photographer who did his newborn pics. Considering how much he loves eating, I’m hopeful he loves the smash cake with his whole face.

Likes include food, more food, any food, all the food, cuddles, being upside down, nursies, tickles, his brothers, his sister, walking, the trash can, stealing things, chewing on crayons, climbing stuff, doing gymnastics, his blankie, naps, sand, grass, smiling, the cat, the dog, and mama.

Dislikes include being very tired, sitting in the car if it’s not moving, when I leave the room and when people won’t share their food.

11 Month Milestones 

Mastered Skills (most kids can do)
Says “mama” or “dada” to the correct parent – Calls me mama sometimes, Says dadadadada.
Plays patty-cake and peek-a-boo – Peek-a-boo yes, and it’s hilarious
Stands alone for a couple of seconds – Walks.
Cruises – Walks.

Emerging Skills (half of kids can do)
Understands “no” and simple instructions – Understands no, does not obey no.
Puts objects into a container – Only to be annoying. Like throwing the same block into my lap 50 times or trash in my coffee.

Advanced Skills (a few kids can do)
Says one word besides “mama” or “dada” – Bababababa but that’s not a word.
Stoops from standing position – He practices he squats like it’s leg day every day.

Evan 10 months, Caroline 10 months, Lincoln 10 months

This is almost 2 full weeks late, but at least I’m getting it done before he officially starts walking, which I am pretty sure is going to happen in the next week. Maybe once that happens he’ll thin out a little bit, because right now he’s one big solid chunk and carrying him with my arms is terrible. I HAVE to wear him in the Tula even if we’re just running into Target because he can climb out of carts and I’m too weak to haul him around. It’s a real problem. Being an enormous squish is adorable though, so it’s hard to complain.

The fact that he eats ANYTHING is definitely contributing to his size. Meat, vegetables, snacks, seafood, cheese, dessert, anything he can put in his mouth he will eat. He’s got a whole mouthful of teeth too, so he can handle even crunchy stuff (he loves Cheetos) or chewy stuff (today he ate clam strips). I’m not super worried about keeping him away from junk food or sugar because, well, fourth baby. I’m more worried about keeping him from eating the soot in the fireplace or bird seed (both things he tried to eat today).

He’s in 12-18 month clothes at the smallest and 24 months/2T for coming months. I have no idea what size his feet are because he never wears shoes. He still does this funny half-crawl half-scoot thing to get around super fast, but he’s getting quicker with cruising. I’m hoping by the time it’s cold enough for shoes he can walk for real and I can just buy him some tiny Bogs, since those have been perfect for Lincoln.

After we got home from vacation, we moved Finnegan down to his own room. Well, Linc’s room, which Linc doesn’t use and it has the crib so now it’s Finn’s room. After just a couple nights he got the hang of it and now he’s sleeping through the night. He also lets E put him down for the night or for naps. It’s delightful. I love my baby 10x more now that I am getting sleep in blocks greater than 3 hours at a time. He likes napping too, although that’s less reliable with our summer schedules. Luckily he also likes being worn still, so I’ve been practicing my baby-as-a-backpack skills and hopefully he starts napping that way.

Likes include water, sand, grass, his siblings, eating food, eating things that aren’t food, the dog, the cat, animals, nursing, sleeping, cruising, biting things, making a mess, trying to fall on his head, mommy, daddy, strangers, smiling, and hitting me.

Dislikes include being buckled into his car seat, being too hot, being too tired, being told no, and being hungry.

10 Month Milestones 

Mastered Skills (most kids can do)
Waves goodbye – He can clap. I’ve never seen any intentional waving.
Picks things up with pincer grasp – Yes.
Crawls well, with belly off the ground – Nope. He crawls like my other babies have, scooting on one leg.

Emerging Skills (half of kids can do)
Says “mama” or “dada” to the correct parent – Meh. He says both things, but never really to anyone.
Indicates wants with gestures – Mostly just by screeching.

Advanced Skills (a few kids can do)
Stands alone for a couple of seconds – Yes.
Puts objects into a container – Sometimes. If he wants to. Mostly he likes making a mess.

{Lincoln 8 months, Caroline 8 months, Evan 8 months}

Finnegan had a rough day today. There was a lot of crying. Like, a lot. Way too much. He’s started crawling and pulling up on furniture, which is exhausting when you’re a super chunk. Then his sleep schedule got thrown off and it was too late for his nap but too early for bed, so it was time for lots and lots of crying. I’m hoping he might actually be tired enough tonight to sleep for more than 3 hours in a row. I would really, really love to sleep for more than 3 hours in a row.

USUALLY, Finn is a super cheerful baby. He loves people, he isn’t afraid of strangers and is happy to be carried around by anyone. He likes the stroller, he likes shopping carts, he likes when I wear him. He’s the fourth baby, he basically has no choice but to go with the flow. Except for now, when he’s working so hard to become a person that he forgets how to be chill.

The only thing he never forgets is eating. Finnegan eats so much he’s actually almost taking a bottle. That’s a huge accomplishment for one of my babies. He also eats: crackers, fruit, veggie sticks, rice, cheese, you know what, basically anything he can get into his face he will eat. Even if it’s not technically food. Paper is pretty high on his list of favorites. But all the solids haven’t slowed down the nursing at all, which is one of the reasons he’s up so many times a night and also why his thighs are so ridiculous. He wears 12-18 month clothes at minimum, and I’ve started taking stuff straight out of Linc’s drawers and put them on the baby.

Likes include food, nursing, standing up, crawling, knocking things over, the dog, the cat, his blankey, rolling, music, water, his feet, my feet, looking at new things, smiling, snuggles, dada, mama, his siblings, scratching me, pulling hair, laughing well you tell him not to bite.

Dislikes include being tired, falling on his face, getting stuck under the furniture, waking up alone, not being allowed to eat things he found under the couch.

How do you get an 8-month-old to stay in a chair for pictures? Physically push him down every 3 seconds. These are not all in focus because he is strong and fast.

Look at his filthy baby feet from walking around out on the porch. My inside floors are clean, but the porch is FILTHY.

8 Month Milestones

Mastered Skills (most kids can do)
Says “mama” or “dada” to parents (isn’t specific) – Is this really a skill most kids have at 8 months? He can say “mama” and “dada” but they don’t mean anything yet.
Passes objects from hand to hand – Yes

Emerging Skills (half of kids can do)
Stands while holding onto something – All the time now, and he can almost always sit back down again
Crawls – He can crawl. He mostly does a one legged monkey scoot, like his brothers before him. But he isn’t as fast or as adventurous as previous kids.
Points at objects – No pointing.
Searches for hidden objects – Sometimes

Advanced Skills (a few kids can do)
Pulls self to standing, cruises – Yes, mostly successfully
Picks things up with thumb-finger pincer grasp – Does it fit in his mouth? Then he will pick it up.
Indicates wants with gestures – No, he mostly just cries

Previously: Lincoln 7 months, Caroline 7 months, Evan 7 months)

Baby Finnegan is now closer to 1 year old than he is to being born. He’s  way past the lump stage and can no longer be trusted when I put him down – pulling things over onto himself is his new hobby. He also has started trying to pull himself up on stuff, although I’m not allowing that. Nope. He eats anything you put in front of him, but still isn’t sure about bottles or sippy cups. I’m hoping he changes his mind about that pretty soon, since I have plans to go out of town for a few days and his life is going to be SAD if he doesn’t get any milk during that time.

The tentative schedule he started working on a month ago is sticking around. He takes 2 naps most days, a morning and an afternoon. He’s pretty good about letting you know he’s tired, so I don’t spend too much time wondering why he’s being a grump. Mostly he’s super cheerful. Old ladies love him. He’s big enough to put in shopping carts now, so he makes lots of old lady friends when we’re out running errands.

Finn is wearing mostly 12-month clothes and lots of hats. He doesn’t mind hats so I put them on him a lot. He feels strongly about cold feet (he hates them) so he wears more socks than any of my other babies. He’s a perfect rolly polly little chunk. Because he can sit on his own now, I’ve started wearing him on my back, which is much more comfortable for a 20+ lb baby.

He does not sleep through the night. Not even close. But he does sleep in a pack-n-play instead of a swing, which means we can take him on vacation this summer. Hopefully in the next couple weeks we can start cutting back on wake-ups.

Likes include crackers, pears, apples, french fries, snuggles, smiling, being carried around, dogs, cats, goats, other babies, sitting, rolling, his blankie, nursies, naps, the outside, warm feet, water, mama, daddy, music, wiggling and grabbing stuff he shouldn’t have.

Dislikes include being tired, falling on his face, having his nose wiped, having things taken away, and 3 am.

He was very cooperative for photos this month! Such a good photographer’s baby.

7 Month Milestones 

Mastered Skills (most kids can do)
Sits without support – He really likes sitting and will sit for greater than 1 hour on the floor if you give him toys.
Drags objects toward herself – Yes.

Emerging Skills (half of kids can do)
Lunges forward or starts crawling – Definitely lunging. He can do a plank, but not really crawl.
Jabbers or combines syllables – Mostly squealing
Starts to experience stranger anxiety – Nope. Loves everybody.

Advanced Skills (a few kids can do)
Waves goodbye – No waving. I don’t think he has that kind of control.
Stands while holding onto something – Yes, sometimes he refuses to bend his knees.
Bangs objects together – Sure, but maybe not on purpose?
Begins to understand object permanence – I don’t know, let me ask him?