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.

(Previously: Lincoln 9 months, Caroline 9 months, Evan 9 months – I think Finn definitely looks the most like Evan at 9 months)

Finnegan is now 9 months out in the world! That always feels like a big milestone, because now he’s more part of everything else than he is part of me. The good news is he’s still surviving mostly by nursing, so he’ll need me exclusively for at least a little while longer. I say that, but I did go out of town for 4 days this last month and everyone survived. But Finnegan still PREFERS me, which I am OK with, because he is my last baby.

Finn is enormous. I can’t wait for his next checkup so I can find out exactly what he weighs, but my guess is around 24 pounds. As Lincoln outgrows his t-shirts from last fall I am putting them directly in Finn’s wardrobe. Any pants smaller than 12 months won’t go past his knees. He is delightfully chubby and round and dimpled and squishy. It’s delicious. Being huge also means he’s finally gotten the hang of nursing sitting up or while in the baby carrier,  so taking him places is now 75% easier. It’s going to be PERFECT for our Disney trip and also very handy at the lake.

In other news, Finnegan now naps and sleeps in the crib, in what may someday be his shared room with Linc. Right now the 3 big kids are all choosing to sleep in one room, so Finn gets the nursery. We’ll figure out which room actually belongs to which kid some point in the future when they care. He still doesn’t quite sleep through the night reliably, but it does occasionally happen and he is taking at least one really good nap every day. For him. Not for me. I rarely get a nap, although I would really love one.

Likes include his siblings, his blankie, biting things, nursing, biting me while nursing, grabbing stuff, cruising, standing up, hitting things, crawling really fast, feet, naps, riding in the car, music, tickles, crackers, cheese, and splashing in the water.

Dislikes include being tired, falling on his face, the 10 seconds it takes to get buckled in his car seat, and teething.

He also dislikes sitting still long enough for his monthly photos, so these are a little…unposed.

9 Month Milestones (from Caroline’s 9 month post)

Mastered Skills (most kids can do)
Stands while holding onto something – Excellent stander
Jabbers or combines syllables – Lots of jabbering, but not a ton of real sounds
Understands object permanence – A little bit, but he’s not that worried about it

Emerging Skills (half of kids can do)
Cruises while holding onto furniture – All day, every day
Drinks from a sippy cup – He (like his siblings before him) prefers to drink milk straight from the tap
Eats with fingers – He can definitely get food into his face with his hands.
Bangs objects together – Yes

Advanced Skills (a few kids can do)
Plays patty-cake and peek-a-boo – He thinks peek-a-boo is hilarious but doesn’t actually participate
Says “mama” or “dada” to the correct parent – Can’t say either mama or dada at all, definitely not to the correct parent

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 6 months, Caroline 6 months, Evan 6 months}

Happy Half-Birthday to Baby Finnegan! This has been both the longest and shortest six months of my life. Somehow knowing this is the last newborn I’ll have has made every day more…everything. More exciting, more exhausting, more fun, more frustrating. MORE.

There’s also so much more Finnegan these days. He’s blossomed into such a nice, sweet baby with an easy-going personality. The kids started calling him Buddy, as in Buddy the Elf, because smiling is his favorite. He loves going places so he can look at new people and smile at them. He likes when I wear him so he can look into faces, but it means he doesn’t really nap when we’re in public. He does love to flirt with everyone though, so besides the occasional crying jag in the checkout line he’s a good shopping partner.

Speaking of naps, he finally has a schedule! Well, sort of a schedule. He takes a morning nap about 2 hours after he wakes up, so if he wakes up at 7 am like he did today he needs a 9 am nap. If he sleeps until 9 am, he needs an 11 am nap. After morning nap he’s ready to play or run errands or nurse and nurse and nurse and nurse for 4ish hours until he needs an afternoon nap. Then he goes to bed at about 9:30 pm. The nighttime schedule is…less predictable. He’s finally started going 4 hours in a row without eating, but sometimes it’s the first four hours of the night and sometimes it’s from 5 am to 9 am, but since I have to get up at 7:30 I’m not getting four hours of sleep on any sort of regular basis. We DID finally move him upstairs to the master bedroom, so at least I’m off the couch. The goal for March is to get him into the pack-n-play as opposed to sleeping in the swing most of the time.

Finnegan’s current biggest problem is that he thinks he can walk. He cannot walk. He can’t even reliably sit up without putting a pillow behind him. But when you are holding him, he spends all his time lunging for things, trying to throw himself out of your lap, and sliding off the couch onto his feet. He is SO DETERMINED to be mobile. And that’s fine! Please, learn to walk! But for the love of God, if you insist on being attached to me then just LET ME HOLD YOU.

At his 6 month check up today, he weighed in at 20 pounds, 5 oz, which is 90th percentile for weight. His head is in the 85th percentile and his height is right on the 50th, so yes, he is a super chunk.

Likes include smiling, friends, his siblings, socks, clean diapers, music, tickles, baths, rolling, the exersaucer, chewing on things, apple slices, the cat, the dog, grabbing things he isn’t supposed to have, standing, jumping, white noise, his green blanket, and me.

Dislikes include waking up alone, gas, when I leave the room, having boogers removed from his face, being tired and when I don’t nurse him the instant he wants to be fed.

This might be the last month I can get him to sit in this chair for photos, at least without bribing him with more that just Wyatt the fox.

6 Month Milestones

Mastered Skills (most kids can do)
Turns toward sounds and voices – Yes, especially if he’s supposed to be nursing
Imitates sounds – Ehhhhhhh he imitates laughing?
Rolls over in both directions – Rolly polly roller rolls everywhere

Emerging Skills (half of kids can do
Is ready for solid foods – I sure hope so, I’m about ready to start handing him pizza crusts (j/k, I gave him apples and sweet potato yesterday, he liked them)
Sits without support – We’re at that point where I keep forgetting he can’t quite sit, so he ends up falling over a lot
Mouths objects – HAHAHAHAHAHA Yes.
Passes objects from hand to hand – Yes, if there is one thing he is really good at, it’s fine motor skills

Advanced Skills (a few kids can do)
Lunges forward or starts crawling – He’s pulling his knees under himself and creeping. Crawling is in our near future.
Jabbers or combines syllables – Not really
Drags objects toward himself – Yes, this is how I get things done. I put him on the floor surrounded by stuff and let him drag to his heart’s content.