Tate: 12 Months!

What a year! This guy is just too adorable and lovable. Tate has taken a few unassisted steps but still isn't too close to walking. Sometimes he's excited to walk/take steps with me, other times he gives me a look like, "Really?" and then goes to his knees and gets where he wants to very quickly. At the park he does the elephant walk so the sand doesn't bother his knees and I love watching it.

Tate: 11 Months!

Just realized I never posted this. Next week will be his 12 month post!

Tate continues to be that happiest little guy. I write that every time, but it remains true. He is still huge, yet continues to thin out --without losing his rolls! Go figure. He gives the best hugs, has an enormously cute toothy grin, knows what he wants and loves to be happy.

He is a roamer. He is happy to crawl around discovering anything and everything in the apartment (still have to keep the bathroom and front doors closed or he makes a beeline). He needs to be in whatever room has the excitement and loves playing near June and Anson. Tate continues to love being on his feet and pushing things around to walk, but he has yet to take solo, unassisted steps. He stands unassisted for a long time (generally clapping every time he's on his feet standing by himself and then doing a little dance for show). Speaking of dancing, I love watching this boy dance. It started with the standard bouncing up and down dance and now he has this cute sway dance he does with a huge toothy grin. I read over his 10 month post and really he's the same kid--still wins the coordination prize and LOVES climbing way too much. It's kind of scary and I have to be careful not to stack things and to also barricade anything that could be climbed on.

He had a sad week not long after turning 10 months. Not only did he cut 5 teeth simultaneously, but he also ended up with an ear infection. After several days of being sick he was so fussy one night (meaning I think he and I slept a total of 3-4 hours combined that night) that I finally took him into the pediatrician. We saw a dr we don't normally see, she looked over him and chalked it up to some viral thing that would pass (why I hate sick appts...) and sent us on our way. I figured there wasn't anything we could do, but with 5 days of fever and his level of discomfort, better safe than sorry. Anyhow, not 12 hours later while he was sleeping, Tate's eardrum ruptured. Poor guy. I can relate. My eardrum spontaneously ruptured in April. I have to say, though, he is a pretty happy kid even when he's sick.

After that sickness Tate went back to normal. He started sleeping better (usually goes to bed about 8 and gets up about 5:30-6:30, naps 2x/day). He has been weaning bit by bit and just nurses in the morning and at night. He LOVES food and eats basically everything--by the fistful. He is usually only upset if he wants food, water, a new diaper or to sleep (as if that's different from any other baby). The cute part is that he will come seek me out when he has any of those needs and insist until I figure out which one it is.

I took him with me to Utah for a wedding right after he turned 11mos and he reconfirmed that this is the worst age to fly. He was not so good on the way from NYC to SLC...but his not-so-good isn't that bad. He cried more than normal and just wouldn't fall asleep even though it was past bedtime. I was so happy to take the red-eye back to NYC because he was so tired it was easier to get him to sleep and he slept most of the flight home.

Can't believe he's almost a year old!

Tate: 10 Months!

Time is flying and I think Tate is "older" than my other kids were when they were 10 months old. Tate is still huge - today he wore Anson's clothes to church because he didn't really have any clean church pants. It's funny because the 2T pants were still hard to get on him! But they were super long-rolled up 3x. He weighs 27lbs and is constantly on the move. He seems to be thinning out to me but still maintains his cute, pudgy arm and leg rolls.

Tate likes to eat basically everything. He gets excited about meal time and is, thankfully, a huge fan of drinking water. It was always a challenge coaxing Anson and June to drink water at this age so it's heavenly when Tate lets out a cry because he is thirsty (no constipation! I know you care). He cut his first tooth this month (bottom L is barely showing) and it looks like the other bottom and two top-front teeth will bust out this month (maybe?). He eats 3 meals/day with snacks in between and only nurses when waking and at bedtime.

Tate crawls for transportation, but as soon as he gets where he wants he gets up on his feet. He's so steady on his feet. I love not stressing about tumbling and head-bonks. He wins the coordination prize for this phase of life. He never falls. He cruises around (ie holds onto things while 'walking' around) and likes pushing the stools across the floor. 

He's a pretty good sleeper but should sometimes sleep longer or not wake up in the middle of the night (hope he got that memo). On ideal days he goes to bed at 8 and wakes up at 6am. Some times he falls asleep after nursing at 6 and other times stays awake. Every now and again he wakes up crying at 2. Sometimes he goes back to sleep, other times he gets a little hysterical so I go rock him to sleep. Sometimes he wakes up at 430 and wants to nurse so I feed him and he sleeps again. I can't complain too much since I know he's a pretty good sleeper over all. He takes 2 naps per day and takes the longest nap when it's in his bed (he has stroller naps pretty often).

Tate loves music and will dance, clap and twist to it. He also makes a lot of noises and especially like gurgling when he's lying on his back. I love it when he gives hugs (he'll squeeze me and even pat my back--Daddy gets hugs now too). He likes to cuddle, LOVES stuffed animals and blankies, won't take a binky (maybe will chew on it for a little bit), adores his siblings, loves crawling to the bathroom as fast as possible if the door is left open, looks forward to baths and races if he hears water running, is obsessed with peek-a-boo, likes cleaning his own hands and face with a washcloth after eating, likes to feed himself, clenches his jaw if mom tries to sweep out whatever "yummy" think he just found on the floor, gets excited to see anyone talk to him on Facetime, likes sand and being outside, etc.

June and Anson are growing up and the age gap seems to be shrinking. They do adorable imaginary play together (are as I type this) and also now how to push each other's buttons all too well. June enjoys school and is doing well. She loves to draw pictures, write letters, pretend-play, and her walking stamina has drastically increased (she walked probably 4-5 miles with me 3 weekends ago). Anson is a little boy who is two. Read between the letters for that one. He is so stinkin' cute and sometimes really tries our patience. He loves running and jumping and doing things "all by [himself]." Dinosaurs, minions things to jump on/off, friends and candy make him happy. He doesn't know "Anson Calder" is actually a company and our customers don't know Anson Calder is really a rambunctious two-year-old. Now he's jumping on me and June is telling me she wants to play Pinkalicious. A happy mother's day it is!

June made me breakfast while in the shower getting ready for church today. She poured a granola I like and even added the milk. I was so impressed. I smiled inside when she said, "You should eat it now--it may be a little soggy." It was a FULL bowl and soggy--but I loved every bite.

Tate: 9 Months!

We just had Tate's 9 month check up (at a new doctor because we have different insurance) and she was completely enamoured with Tate. I didn't write down the stats, but he is 25lbs. I remember that part! --Off the chart and then 90% height and head (25.4lbs "high"%; 29.5" 89%  and head 18.3", 87%).

This little guy is SO happy. He loves to army crawl or crawl to the party, no matter how far he has to go. He's oddly obsessed with the bathroom (I have to keep the door closed), and I attribute the obsession to his love of baths. Once I turned on the bathtub faucet to wash something out and he came a "running" (Tate-style run). He also "runs" to any device that has someone talking to him on FaceTime. It's adorable how excited he is to have people talk to him. One of my happiest moments with him was when I came home from a nice morning trip to the temple (a friend offered to watch Tate and Anson so I could go). When I walked in the door, Tate bounced up and down and clapped his hands and hollered. It was too much. I wish I could replay that over and over. He gives the same reaction to Daddy when he comes home. Such a loving little boy.

Tate's a hefty eater. He eats everything we eat and really loves green beans. He hasn't eaten baby food for a while and really prefers what we are eating. Enchiladas, waffles, pasta, etc. His coordination is getting better and rather than 75% ending up on the floor, we are more in the 50% or higher range getting to his mouth (depends on food item). He was nursing 4x/ day but now we've switched to 3x per day. He's not going to self-wean like Anson did, and that's just fine. I love our snuggle time.

He's getting really into pulling himself up on his feet

And now an update for the other kids. June was admitted to our local school (not everyone gets in to their zoned school because there aren't enough seats so they get sent to another school nearby). This is a HUGE deal because it means that Anson and Tate are basically guaranteed seats there. YAY! It is an elementary and middle school so we are set until 8th grade, when the crazy high school applications begin - I swear it's worse than college applications.

Watching General Conference from their tent like King Benjamin's people

June is so fun when it comes to imaginative play. She is creative and silly and very girly. She is getting more into drawing and writing. She makes computers frequently as craft projects and loves screen time (playing iPad games, watching "toy videos" on you-tube or PBS kids). I'm a "mean" mom and really limit screen time. I think she'll thank me for it later -- and she is very grumpy if she has too much screen time, especially if she ever has it in the morning. It's weird. She is extremely helpful around the house and with her brothers. Earlier this month she was determined to change Tate's diaper on her own. He has just entered the twisty-diaper-change-phase where he just doesn't hold still. It was pretty hilarious to watch her try to get him to hold still:"Tate! Don't roll! Hold still!"

They had drawing time at the end of Primary class and this is what she drew (it was Easter Sunday). "Jesus on the cross."

Anson has been sick 2x this month. Once he had a fever for 6 straight days. He was really up and down during that time and since (and had a fever again last night). He's cried a lot more than usual about non-cry-worthy things and has had a really tough time going to bed at night. Fortunately once he is asleep he stays asleep. It feels like we are in the heat of "terrible-twos," and I wonder if the sickness has really enhanced it. It felt like he was back to his normal self for a few days but then not again, so I was partially relieved when he turned up sick last night - as it was somewhat of an explanation for his difficult behavior. He LOVES animals and dinosaurs. He likes to play with dinosaur figurines and we could play it for hours together. He still does puzzles, but not as often as before. He also likes to sit and read books (with someone reading to him or just solo--if you're lucky you can hear him read out loud, particularly "How do dinosaurs go to school...." and "Blue said BEEP!"). Whatever June is doing becomes exactly what he wants to do, and he sometimes has fun playing with Tate (other times he shouts, "Tate's getting me!!!"). Anson is still a charmer and very affectionate. He loves to climb and run and jump and is extremely independent, like any 2 yr old. He is probably ready for potty training, but I'm waiting until it won't be a battle of wills. He does get excited to pee on the potty because he earns a jelly bean.

Tate: 8 Months!

What a cheerful--and chubby--this little guy is. I don't think I've ever seen a happier baby. We still call him Tate the Tank on occasion and he gets attention every where we go: either for his bright smile or his cute fat rolls. He grew out of Carters size 12 mos a bit ago and I have him mostly in 18month loathes.

Tate likes to eat anything. He can feed himself a little (works best when the foot sticks to his drool-covered fingers since he's still working on that dexterity). He still has blowouts, though decreased in number - yay! He nurses 4x/day (sometime between 4-6, 10, 2 and bedtime about 8. He has 1 other meal per day (starting 2) and takes 2 naps. He sleeps pretty well but was stuck on that sleeping from 8pm-4am schedule. With going to Utah and daylight savings I haven't been pushing a schedule too hard.

Tate likes to be where the fun is. If I'm reading a book to June and Anson, Tate will exert all of his energy to army-crawl to where we are so he can participate (and try to take whatever we have and put it in his mouth). He is happiest when someone is talking or singing to him. He has the most adorable giggle (he's ticklish!).

He's good at clapping, army-crawling and discovering. Part of discovery for him is still to put 'everything in the mouth.' He jabbers and also smacks his lips (like a kiss).

The poor kid had a temperature of 104.3 a few weeks back--I think it was his first fever (?). I decided I think it was roseola because he had a slight rash after his fever broke--though nothing like the rashes June and Anson sported. Who knows, I just know he got better and I was relieved.

Well he's going to be 9 months in just less than 2 weeks so I'll try to be as accurate as I can. I did actually take this picture on his 8 month mark. We were in Utah visiting family and I took it on Curt's phone and I haven't taken the time until today to get it.

Hilton Head

Tate: 7 Months!

To start off, I'm back to catching up on the blog I guess. It was funny to see the last posts I've done. Looks Like Tate really is the star. Well, I'm going to do a few posts of photos that you've missed since August. To make it easier for me when I compile the 2015 family photo album, I'm going to go in chronological order. That means you'll be reading about what we've done in 2016 pretty soon (snow storm, etc.

Tate is a joy. A near-perfect baby (can't get much better honestly). He LOVES people, baths, rolling around, eating everything - especially food these days - and playing peek-a-boo. You can't hold him and eat at the same time unless you are particularly good at avoiding hands that can grab anything.

Tate is starting to scoot and can basically get anywhere he wants. He's not really efficient, but he's starting to get the hang of it. The best scoot yet was when we were talking to Daddy on the iPad (in Utah for a wedding). I put the iPad in front of him and he quickly made his way to grab (and eat) it. He can sit on his own but is very wobbly (I put pillows behind him). He's started to have fun in his jumperoo but doesn't quite jump that much - just sucks on whatever thing he can chew on. Speaking of sucking, he won't even use a binky for anything other than holding in his hand and occasionally chewing on it. If he's crying and I try to give him one, the crying escalates. It's almost humorous how much he doesn't like a binky. 

He recognizes (and prefers) Mama and Daddy, and if he wants you and you walk away, his frown and cry melt your heart. He is very attached, and, at the same time, is happy to be held by other people.

Tate eats baby food like a champ. He also like to mush on anything I put in his little mesh-chew-thing (no idea what to call it). He's getting better at mashing puffs and bananas in his mouth so his food selection is about to grow exponentially. He can't pick up food and get it to his mouth yet, but he sure tries. No sign of teeth, tons of drooling, nurses 4x/day, poops explosively (fewer blow outs lately - which is nice, knock on wood). Our schedule: He'll nurse morning (4 or 6 or whenever he wakes up first - if he wakes up at 4 he eats then goes back to sleep until at least 6), nurse 10am, nurse 1:30pm, meal at 5 then nurse before bed. He has 2 naps / day (sometimes 3 if they're sporadic) and is good at going to sleep by himself in his crib. He can sleep just fine in the stroller -- but stroller or crib, he has to have something to snuggle right next to his face.

Tate jabbers more and giggles when you tickle him or talk to him. It sounds like "Hi Dada" most times (which I went back and read Anson's 7month post and he said the same thing). It's funny to read where June and Anson were at 7 months. About the same, but a few different things. Anson wants to wrestle with Tate and June is an excellent helper. Can't believe he's already 7 months! Oh, and speaking of his age. He barely fits in his 12 mos clothes. Will he keep growing so exponentially!? He's at least 23 lbs. I'll weigh him to day and see (he's napping now).