A New Hope

Labor Day weekend project! We finally are rid of that awful carpet (in the living room at least) and have fancy new laminate!

Edit: It occurred to me that some shout outs were necessary. 

Huge thanks go to Karen for helping us with all the grunt work required for this endeavor, and also more huge thanks go to Bill & Michelle for keeping Flynn for two whole days so we could get it all done. It was his first sleepover ever and I know it wasn't easy with his late wakeups and early morning on Sunday!

Thank you, Thank You, THANK YOU!!

Happy first birthday, my darling baby boy, even if it was a week and a half ago :)

It's cliche, I know, but it's really hard to imagine that it's been a year already!

In some ways, this has been your longest year. You'll never again in your life grow as much and as quickly as you have in the past 12 months. You started out as a teeny tiny bundle of joy (and tubes in the NICU) and have transformed into a rambunctious, loving, smiley, and funny little boy.

You think you're pretty hilarious most of the time. You haven't really said your first words yet, mostly just babbles of "mummum" and "dadadadadada", but you love to squeal and grunt and tryout new noises and laugh as if you've told a very funny joke. Though curiously, when Daddy points out trucks now and says "Look, Flynn! A truck!", you have started replying to him with an enthusiastic "uck!". Much like your dad, you seem to be captivated by anything with wheels, so it's entirely possible that your official first word will be "truck"!

Last month, we took your first road trip! We went to Grandma and Grandpa's farm in Saskatchewan for a visit. Your great Aunt Bonney & Uncle Tom were there and you also got to play with your cousins. You had so much fun!  Sleep was a bit tricky as you adjusted to the new place, but the good times made up for it.

You love to walk either with us holding your hands or with your fancy toy sit-to-stand walker. Often Daddy will go fast so you can "run", which always puts a giant smile on your face. You want to walk unassisted so badly, but I know you'll get there when you're ready. You're lightning fast on all fours now, though! You have ditched the one-arm-one-leg scoot entirely for the exciting world of crawling.

Dancing. This isn't new for you, but you've recently switched favorite songs from "Everything is Awesome" to "Hooked on a Feeling". You and Daddy listen to the Guardians of the Galaxy soundtrack a lot and this song now has you dancing in your car seat, sitting on the floor, and sometimes even when you're standing up your butt will start to wiggle as you groove to the music. Watching you dance is still one of my very favorite things. You've even started clapping now and we have fun all clapping along with you!

As for other milestones, I will also say that you are now sleeping through the night 99% of the time. You had your first dentist appointment the day before your birthday (no cavities!) You like to wave at people, but you are still a little shy. You warm up to people reasonably quickly, though, and are quite the charmer once you do :) You are still quite a picky eater and won't touch many, many, MANY foods. But at least you still have fun chewing, throwing, and spitting out during meal time. Much like everything else, you also think food is funny. When you put something in your mouth sometimes you'll just spit it out randomly and start laughing. I don't know what it's like living in your head, but it seems like a pretty fun place to be.

You've now been in "day care" for a week, and you've been doing so well! A friend of ours is providing you with care during the week days and you are quite enamored with her and her little ones. As hard as it always is to drop you off in the morning, it's also wonderful seeing you light up when you see them, not to mention the pile of toys you get to play with that we don't have at home! She's even got you eating meat balls, and we are very very grateful for her. You've made enormous leaps even just in the last week from being around her two kids.

Your birthday was a pile of fun, despite the fact that you don't really understand cake and gifts yet. We ended up making you two smash cakes, one for your actual birthday and another one for the family dinner the following Sunday. You weren't really interested in either! You poked a little, then seemed a bit unhappy that there was frosting on your fingers. You also enjoyed your gifts, even though you weren't very interested in helping us open them! 

A whole year, baby, and I am looking forward to many more. You are still my favorite adventure.

Love,

Ah, my sweet Flynn,

I cannot believe you are already 10 months old. I am not really allowed to lament this around Daddy, as he doesn't like to be reminded that his time at home with you is coming closer to the end.  I must say he is a really excellent stay-at-home dad. You and he always have so much fun together, I know you both will both miss it when he is back at work and you are in child care during the day.

So much has changed in you this month!  At some point, possibly due to teething, you decided that you don't love eating solids any more.  It's very hard on the best days to get you to eat even purees. Finger foods have turned into toys more than anything and the things you will put in your mouth, you mostly just gnaw on for fun. You do still take bottles, though, so I at least we know you are getting fed! You also started drinking whole cow's milk and it is most definitely a hit! Just like with water, you prefer it in a regular cup rather than a sippy cup, but you'll guzzle it down no matter how it's given to you. I even put it into a smoothie the other night when you wouldn't eat the mango I cut up for you. I mixed up mango/yogurt/milk and you drank it like it was the nectar of the gods or something. So, clearly dairy is not going to be an issue for you.

I'm fairly certain you went through a large growth spurt because suddenly you have loads of clothes that no longer fit you.  You are a very tall baby, and heavy, too! You're growing so fast, I just don't recognize my tiny newborn at all any more. 

You're very very close to actual crawling. You still do the 'wounded soldier' as we like to call it to get around, but you like to toy with the notion of using both legs.  You'll get up on all fours and start to get going, then immediately kick your left leg back behind you so you can drag it around again, with a smile on your face that says 'well, that was fun but this is still better'. As of this week, you can climb the stairs (with assistance of course), pull yourself up to standing using the couch, and go from all fours to sitting up. Good thing we already have our baby gate up! It's all happening so fast :)

Your favorite song is "Everything is Awesome" from the Lego movie. Every time we play it, without fail, a dance party ensues.  You start by wiggling side to side, then often start moving your arms up and down with the rhythm. You even started clapping once (evidenced by the video on your photostream).  Even if you are in the middle of crawling, nothing stops you from feeling the groove. You will stop in place and start to shake your head from side to side and wiggle your butt.  It's not the only song you will dance to, but it is the one you will dance to every time we play it. It has become one of our very favorite things.

Your favorite toy is any shape of ball.  You will chase them around the living room by yourself, but also think it's crazy fun rolling it back and forth with someone.  You even have a mini basketball type net in the tub that Daddy bought you which came with 3 small squeezable balls. When you aren't trying to grab all three at once, you're jamming one of them in your mouth to chew on! You also love bubbles a lot and are obsessed with trying to grab them. Although, recently, you also discovered pointing and now try to stab at everything with your index finger. You also use this finger, combined with your best lovey eyes to prompt one of us to get your ball for you when it rolls out of reach. I can just feeeeel the manipulation ;)

The really bad days of teething seem behind us for now (until the next ones come in at least) and you look so different with a big mouth full of pearly whites.  When you laugh, which is quite often, you can already see the top ones coming down. I still miss your gummy smile, but I must admit, these are also pretty darn cute. I will never, ever, grow tired of that smile.

Love,

From time to time we get asked if we intentionally cut Flynn's hair into a mohawk. We really didn't. He is just a lucky little dude who grew it naturally!

Hello, Mr. Flynn!

You've officially now been on the outside as long as you were on the inside!

It’s been a long time since I’ve written, and I miss this little ritual.

The last months have flown by so fast that I almost don’t even know where they went. You barely seem like a baby anymore, and of course that terrifies me!

You now have at least 6 teeth! The bottom two came in so quickly that I'd hoped the rest would, too, they all decided to start coming in slowly at around the same time. While I'm sure most have now finally cut through the gums, you will no longer let us look in your mouth to see exactly what's there and what isn't! All we know for sure is that you have a 3rd tooth on the bottom, and at least 3 that have cut through on the top. You look so different when you smile now!

You’re crawling! You like to rock back and forth and you have some crazy upper body strength. When we put you down for tummy time, you will often end up in a completely different location a few minutes later just because you’re having so much fun pushing up, reaching for things, and basically turning around on your tummy. You still don’t love rolling, but will do it once it a while whenever it seems to suit you. Mostly, you 'army crawl' to wherever you like to go best (you seem determined to get at my shoes) and almost are up on both legs. Baby proofing is under way!

You have SUCH a personality now. We’ve always thought so even since you were tiny, but it amazes me how much it grows and grows. You love being outside, you dislike wearing socks for any length of time (just like me), you giggle back at us when we laugh at you, and squeal with delight when you discover something new. You reach up and scratch the top of your head when you are tired, and run your hand on the pillow as if you're making a snow angel when you have a bottle. While you’re happy wearing hats, and I think you look great in them, you have more fun these days taking them off and studying their patterns before promptly jamming them in your mouth to chew on. You think saying “da da da da” over and over, both whispered and rather loudly, is funny, and you’ve discovered that bath time can be a lot of fun.  You love other kids, too, and we still meet up with the parents from prenatal class for baby dates!

You developed your pincer grasp quickly, and you are really improving at feeding yourself! You love mealtime and are pretty easy going about what you will and won’t eat. (except when teething... you went almost a week without any solid food!) You make funny faces when we try to give you stuff you don’t like (no beef, but turkey is a go!) and generally just let it fall out of your mouth. You love pretty well all fruity blends of food we give you, though prunes are not really your favorite. We’ve also been trying to give you fist sized chunks of what we eat, whatever seems easily gummable, and so far you seem pretty good at gnawing away on the pieces you like.

You can stand up with assistance, and an even hold your self up on a table or chair, so long as you don’t start reaching for something and throw yourself off balance! Needless to say, we are always there to hold you when you slip. You aren’t pulling yourself up yet, but I’m pretty grateful for that one!

You’ve been sleeping in your own room for a while now and you’ve always slept well in your crib. You wake up usually twice a night (once after we go to bed), but you are still the lovey-est, happiest guy in the morning when you get up. While you go to bed still awake most nights, we’ve typically cuddled you to sleep for naps (and often stay cuddled with you, too!). Sadly, you’ve recently decided that you would like to sleep alone and Daddy has had to start putting you into your crib for naps and letting you fall asleep on your own. I am already missing these cuddles a lot.

Being back at work has left me with lots of mixed feelings. I miss you so much during the day, but love how big your smile gets when I come home at night. Though I will say that your dad has been so wonderful at being a stay at home parent that it has made it so much easier. He’s got you out for walks, he takes you swimming, and on days like today, he’ll even bring you by my office so we can go shopping or have lunch. You started your swimming lessons already, as well as music lessons at Gymboree! Luckily, your music class is only a block away from my office, so I got to come and dance with you for your first time there.

I must admit, it's been a whirlwind these past few months. I try so hard to make time go slower, but I just do not have that power! I really wish I did, though, because I feel like you'll be a little boy in no time and I'll wonder where my baby went. I already see that boy in you so often. I guess it's inevitable, though, and can't say that it makes me sad to experience the joys of seeing you grow. 

Just keep on laughing, Flynn. It's what you do best!

Bath time has been getting more fun lately. He had his first bubble bath last night!

Bedtime routine (almost) always starts with a bath now. It is quickly followed by lotion, jammies, a story or two (or three), then finally bed. It’s nice getting into the groove. Now… if only he’d start sleeping through the night again… Poor Scott!

I realized the other day that I never posted the photos that we got back from the photographer after Christmas! 

If you got a holiday card from us, you'll likely recognize a few of the images. We had these done in November when Flynn was just over 3 months old.  They were taken by Julie at Quantum Images Photography and we couldn't be happier with the results!

New car seat!

Flynn hadn't quite outgrown his infant car seat, but it was starting to look like he was ready for an upgrade.

Just like with his first car seat, we consulted the Consumer Reports website and decided on this one, the Evenflo Symphony Deluxe. Its an all-in-one that will convert to a forward facing seat when he is ready and then a booster after that! So far he loves it. The only down side is we have to wake him to get him out!