13 months.  Connor is over a year old.  It's still hard to believe.  He is growing up so fast and I am so thankful that I have captured a lot of his milestones and memories on this blog so I will always have them!

This past month we have been busy!  From Connor's birthday party in Dallas to spending a weekend in OKC with family and friends we were on the move!  We bought Connor a new "big boy" car seat because we thought having him facing forward would help during the long car rides.  I think that he enjoyed watching the road but he was not able to get comfortable while sleeping and our plan totally backfired.  Honestly, listening to a baby cry in the backseat while on a road trip should be considered torture.  Needless to say we made several stops along the road to get just get some fresh air and regroup.  While on the topic of car seats. I absolutely LOVED our infant car seat.... Chicco Key Fit 30.   Connor is close to 25 pounds and still fits very comfortably in the seat!  Any Mammas out there looking for a infant carrier... This is an excellent choice!

Connor is a very cautious child.  I'm not quite sure where he got that from but I think it is very cute.  I think this is why is hasn't taken more than a couple steps in a row.  Once he gets a little wobbly he just sits down in effort not to fall.  He is very hesitant to take his hands off the wall or table that is balancing him.  As a physical therapist I am all about him hiting his milestones right on time, but I know that he will walk when he is ready and I'm okay with that!  Connor loves moving/ cruising all around the house.  Anthony followed him from his nursery in the front of the house, through the living room and kitchen into our bedroom and finally found me in our bathroom in about 2 minutes.  He uses a combination of crawling and walking along walls and furniture to get where he want to go.  We also got Connor a pair of walking shoes this month.  We went to Stride Rite and found out that he needed extra, extra wide shoes that were only avaliable in several styles and only online.  I think he likes wearing them and he looks like such a big boy with them on his fat, little feet!

Eating has been quite a struggle this month.  We decided to substitute nursing/ drinking breast milk during the day with a sippy cup of whole milk.  This has been hard for Connor because he doesn't seem to really like whole milk.  I just keep offering him milk and water and hopefully he will learn to drink both regularly.  I am still nursing him when he wakes up in the morning around 6:30 and right before bedtime around 7.   Connor has also become quite picky when it comes to eatng solid foods.  He knows what he likes and spits out everything else!  Such bad manners!

Connor also got sick for the first time this month.  He has had several low grade fevers over the past year but this time he had a virus and the doctor gave him medication for his cough/congestion.  He absolutely hated it when we squirted the syringe of medicine in his mouth which made the so hard to give him but I know it helped.  This all started on Halloween so we didn't get very many good pictures of Connor dressed up but he was a very cute lion.  We just hung out in our cul-du-sac and handed out candy with our neighbors.

Happy 13 months!

Connor and his cousin Bennett decided to share their birthdays with each other.  Ok fine, my sister and I thought it would be fun to throw them a joint party and the bonus for me is planning anything with my creative, elementary school teacher sister!  It was a great time and hopefully the boys will look back at these pictures and enjoy the festivities since they surely won't remember a thing.  Except the puppet show... they will definitely remember the puppet show.  Won't they?

Our little boy is ONE YEAR OLD.  I feel like a whole lot has happened over the past 12 months but I also feel like it was just the other day that we were sleeping in Ronald McDonald House rooms while Connor was in the NICU.  Either way, this has been the best year of my life.  I have spent countless hours with my sweet cuddle bug of a son and have watched him grow up into a one year old.

On his birthday morning I walked into the nursery singing "Happy Birthday" and Connor was standing up holding onto the crib laughing at me!  It was so cute.  While I was nursing him I told him the story of the day he was born.  I told him all about going to the doctor the day before, being monitored all day, going home with strict orders to count his movements and then going back to the doctor in the morning only to have her tell us we were going to meet our sweet baby that afternoon!    I told him about his little arm not moving and that they wanted to make sure he was okay so he got to fly in a helicopter to the best hospital in the state!  It's so much easier to talk about those first few days of his life now since we all know that there is a happy ending.

Connor is a baby on the move!  Although he is not yet walking, he cruises around and along everything.  He can make it across the living room in 2 minutes flat moving from one piece of furniture to the next!  In the last week he has started walking with walking toys or while holding onto my hands but he is pretty uncoordinated!  He still crawls a lot but prefers to be standing.  

This boy loves to eat!  He would much rather feed himself than to eat anything that I have to spoon into his mouth.  His favorite food items right now are grapes, cuties, graham crackers and yogurt.   He also loves to share his meals with Maddie.  She sits right next to his high chair during meals and usually gets a few treats before I realize what is happening.

At his 12 month doctor appointment Connor weighed in at 23 pounds 8 ounces (65%), was 30 inches long (60%) and his head was 48 1/2 cm (96%).  He only gained 4 ounces since his 9 month check up but grew almost 2 inches!  Needless to say he is really starting to thin out which will hopefully help him start walking in the next month.

Anthony and I decided to each write Connor a letter for his baby book on every birthday.

My sweet Connor,

What a year this has been.  Although your first couple weeks on earth was full of tears, unknowns and lots of needle sticks it was also the beginning of wonderful life as a family of three.

For the first 3 months I stayed home with you everyday and we had so much fun!  We went on lots of walks with Maddie, played with toys in your nursery and snuggled a lot.  We usually left the house at least once a day so we wouldn't go crazy with cabin fever.  You were such a good eater and nursed every 3 hours on the dot!  When you were 8 weeks old you slept 8 hrs straight at night and I woke up worried that you weren't breathing but there you were sweet as could be sleeping the night away!   We went to Oklahoma for Thanksgiving and all our friends got to meet you!  Christmas in Dallas was fun and you saw SNOW for the first time!

In January I went back to work 3 days a week and really missed you but I think it was good for both of us. On my days off work we had lots of fun from walks/runs to play dates and lunch dates with friends to just playing at home!  While I worked you went to Miss. Dana's house and were always a good boy.  She said you were her favorite and gave you extra cuddle time.   You started eating fruits and veggies at 6 months and loved everything you ate!  You still drank breast milk every 3 hours during the day.  You started getting teeth and got to eat a bigger variety of foods.  Right now you favorites are grapes, cuties, graham crackers, oatmeal and yogurt! You have always been a big boy so you were a little slower that others your age to crawl and walk with assistance.  I don't mind because you seem more like my little baby when you are not trying to walk!

You have a wonderful personality and smile at anyone who smiles at you!  You do not have stranger or separation anxiety when we leave you with a babysitter, which makes leaving you easier on us.  Thank you!  You absolutely love being outside which brings joy to your Daddy's heart!  He can't wait to come home from work one day and be able to play catch with you in the backyard.  Remember that special left arm that you couldn't move when you were born?  Well you would never guess that was true! You use it just as much as the right and it's just as chunky!!!  You are a thumb sucker just like I was as a child and you will only suck your left thumb! It's so cute!  In July, your Daddy and I went on vacation with friends to Colorado and you stayed with Grammy and Pops for five days!  You had a blast and they just loved playing with you!

For the past 6 months out bedtime routine has been the same.  6:00 eat dinner, 6:30 bath and pjs, 645-7: nurse and then down to sleep in your crib.  You are usually still awake when I sing you a song and lay you down.  You put yourself to sleep and usually stay asleep until 6:00am when you are more than ready to nurse again.  Over the past couple months you have really started to interact with Maddie.  You try to feed her from your high chair and love to crawl on her and pull her hair.  She doesn't mind and I think she loves you a lot!  She usually hears you wake up in the morning and always leads me to your room and sits at my feet while you nurse.

So much has happened in the past year but the time has flown by too fast!  You have grown into such a sweet, big boy right before my eyes and I fall more in love with you everyday.   Happy first birthday my precious boy!

Love, Mom

My Little Connor Man:

I can’t believe you’re already 1!  You have grown so much this past year.  I have loved every moment I have had with you with the past 365 days.  Among the moments I will always cherish are being by your side and bonding with you during your first 8 days of life in the NICU, taking you home to meet Maddie and using my shoulder to calm you down.  You made cute little sounds while sleeping in our room that first month and made funny faces when trying new foods.  I will never forget the first time you smiled at me and seeing your face light up when I get home from work. Some of my favorite things to do are hug you and your mom at the same time, pushing you in your swing in our backyard and hold you upside down to “shake out the coins."  I loved it when your mom would put you next to me in bed on weekend mornings so that you would be the first thing I saw when I woke up.   We took you to your first OSU football game in Houston which will hopefully be the first of many games we will watch together.  I loved watching you learn to crawl now getting up after falling down while trying to walk.  The list goes on and on.

You are one of the best things that has ever happened to me, son.  I love you more than I could ever say and I know the next year will be just as adventurous and exciting as the first.  We can’t wait to witness all of the “firsts” you have in store for us this year, buddy. 

Love,

Your Dad

My baby is eleven months old.  Next month he will be ONE year old.  These days he looks more like a toddler and less like a baby.  I am both sad and excited to accept these facts.

Connor has really grown up this month.  He crawls ALOT!  Sometimes it's his "army crawl" on his belly which gets him across the room quicker and sometimes it's a real crawl on his hand and knees.  He also does a hilarious maneuver where he will crawl then kick his foot under him, spin around, and sit up and then repeat.  Anthony calls it his parkour move.  It is so fun to watch!  Another favorite activity is cruising along furniture or around the coffee table.  He tries to pull up on EVERYTHING and is learning that not everything can hold up his stout 24+ pound body!

He is still a great eater but has become a little picky.  His favorite food include bananas, grapes, beans, butternut squash and cherrioos.  We feed him 3 meals a day of baby food mixed with whatever we are eating for that meal.  He also drinks breast milk 5 times a day.  I have tried to cut back on a feeding but Connor did not like that idea.  I'm starting to get nervous about weaning him from breast feeding next month.  Any words or wisdom or advise would be appriciated!

Connor is talking a lot these days and getting pretty loud!  I could listen to his sweet voice all day long!  He is saying "momma", "dada", "ball" and "dog".  We are also in the process of teaching Connor baby sign language.  He is pretty good at saying "all done" and "more" on occasion.  We are working on "food", "milk", "mommy" and "daddy".

I think he weighs around 24 pounds and seems to constantly be getting taller!  He still has his amazing rolls but is really starting to lean out a little bit.  Hopefully this will help with walking in the next couple months.  He has 5 teeth and is working on a few more.  He still has light brown hair but every once in a while I see hints of red.  His hair is getting long and starting to grow over his ears.

Anthony hung Connor's swing from the pergola in our back yard and Connor absolutely LOVES swinging in it.  Sometimes I will walk to the back door to let Maddie out and Connor will yell and crawl towards the door in hopes of going out to swing!

We took Connor to his first college football game last weekend.  Oklahoma State played Mississippi State at Reliant Stadium here in Houston and we were able to score tickets in a full service suite. 

Happy 11 months my sweet boy!

There is no way Connor will be ONE in 2 months, no way.  Some days I think I still have "a little baby" and then look at him and realize he is turning into a little boy before our eyes.  His 10th month was quite eventful.  Connor started crawling, pulling up on furniture and started eating a lot more different types of food.

Connor nurses or drinks a bottle of breast milk 5 times a day and eats food 3 times a day.  In addition to pureed fruits and veggies he is eating small pieces of chicken, turkey and whatever else we happen to be eating for dinner.  Even though he only has 3 teeth so far he does a great job "chewing" with his gums! Ha!

Anthony and I took a trip to Colorado over the 4th of July with some good friends (blog post to come) and Connor stayed with my parents, Grammy and Pops, for 5 days!  He had a great time and so did we!  I think 5 days was a little too long to be away from him for the first time but I knew he was in good hands.   I had pumped and frozen enough milk to give Connor while we were away and had to "pump and dump" while we were in Colorado.   While at summer camp Connor started moving himself from his tummy to sitting up independently!

Over the next few weeks he started army crawling and pulling up on furniture and now that is all he wants to do!  He moves around his room and playroom with purpose and finds every non-baby friendly item in each room!  He is intrigued by things that are not toys such as the computer cords, remote controls and my cell phone.  He gets so frustrated when I scoop him up right before grabs the off limit item!  He loves playing with a toy for a few minutes then waves it around before handing it to me and saying something very profound (I'm sure) in baby talk and then moves on to the next toy.  He also is loving Maddie more and more.  He loves to crawl toward her and sometime on her and really loves to pull her hair.  Maddie is quite tolerate of Connor but usually keeps her distance, which is what we have trained her to do since he was a newborn.  She loves to watch him play across the room and always sits below his high chair waiting for treats.

Anthony keeps wanting to plan Connor's 1st birthday but I just can't accept that fact that he will be ONE in 2 months so I am putting off any party planning.  Wasn't I just pregnant a few months ago?

Here are the latest pictures of our little man.