It’s well documented that matching pajamas are one of my favorite things. I did my Christmas pajama shopping super early this year, since I was worried about getting them in time for our early December events. While I was shopping, I came across a pair of baby deer pajamas with a matching hat. I thought “My baby has plenty of pajamas, he does not NEED these pajamas.” And then I thought about the state of the world right now and how I’m willing to throw money at basically anything that makes me super, super happy so I bought them.

Please enjoy this photo shoot of Finnegan, 14 months, frolicking like a fawn in the leaves. He ate sticks and dirt and threw rocks and drooled everywhere and was just perfect.

If you need deer pajamas, you can find the hat here: deer pilot cap

And the pajamas here: baby sleeper 

(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.

{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?

(Lincoln 5 months, Caroline 5 months)

Happy five months old, Baby Finn! We have now reached the age where taking Finn with me when I go places doesn’t mean I have stop and feed him twice. We might even be able to start going 5 hours in a row at night without eating, although I won’t get my hopes up too much. Today at the dentist appointments for the big kids, I wore him in a ring sling and when he got tired he just went right to sleep. THAT is the baby stage that means I start to do things again, instead of just surviving each day.

Finnegan has his very first teeny tiny baby cold. It’s barely a cold, just some extra boogers and a very occasional cough, but it’s still pathetic. Poor wittle baby. When he gets snuffly while he’s nursing he ends up biting me and that is my LEAST favorite. I’ve been squirting breastmilk up his nose, so hopefully he gets better sooner rather than later.

Baby Finn still sleeps in the swing (cringe) which means I’m still sleeping on the couch. Every time I think we are close to moving upstairs, he reminds me that he hates the rock-n-play and he hates side-lying nursing. I’m hoping this is the month where he starts rolling in both directions so I can try getting him to sleep in the pack-n-play in our room. I think rolling might be the milestone we need. It’s amazing that after 4 babies I still don’t really know what I’m doing.

He continues to be enormous – at last weigh in he was just under 20 lbs. Considering how much he eats, it’s not surprising. I’m buying him 12-18 month clothes (or more accurately, taking the huge piles of 12-18 month clothes I already had out of storage). He and Linc can sometimes wear the same pants. His socks always leave marks on his ankles. But I do not mind even a little bit – he’s so perfectly squishable.

All the kid love Finnegan (or as Linc calls him, “Oofa”)(no idea why) but Caroline basically thinks he is her special pet. She begs to hold him all the time. She’s obsessed with making videos of him. Today at the dentist I had to hold Linc so I passed the baby to Caroline and she did an amazing job with him until the other hygenist came and stole him (because everyone wants to cuddle the chubby baby). He is so lucky to have three big siblings who are always going to be looking out for him.

Likes include naps, snuggles, nursing, the swing, his blankie, his siblings, being carried around, the cat, the dog, looking out the window, baths, trying to grab food, tickles, chewing on stuff, having his picture taken, being worn in a wrap and Wyatt his fox.

Dislikes include gas, booger removal, nose wiping, not being allowed to eat real food, being woken up from naps by loud noises.

5 Month Milestones 

Mastered Skills (most kids can do)
Distinguishes between bold colors – Let me just ask him about that.
Plays with his hands and feet – His feet are like “Why are you so obsessed with me?”

Emerging Skills (half of kids can do)
Recognizes own name – I don’t think we call him anything often enough to recognize it
Turns toward new sounds – All the time
Rolls over in both directions – Front to back all the time, he’s close on the other way

Advanced Skills (a few kids can do)
Sits momentarily without support – Yes, because his giant butt holds him up
Mouths objects – Yes, thank goodness, now he can shove teethers in his own mouth
Separation anxiety may begin – He doesn’t like being alone, but he doesn’t care if it’s me or someone else