I'm 1!!!

One Year Old

 My Appearance:  I had an appointment yesterday and I weigh 22lbs and 2oz and I am 30.5 inches tall.  This means I have gained almost 14 lbs in a year and grew almost a whole foot.  I am getting BIG!!  My hair is growing and Mommy says it’s almost time for another hair cut, didn’t I just get one?  I am fitting into 18-24 month shirts and 12 month pants.  For a while I had to go back to 9 month pants so I wouldn’t trip on them while I was learning to walk but I’m tall enough to wear 12 month pants again.  I also am still in size 3 diapers but I don’t think I will stay in them for much longer.  I still have a round belly and it must be cute because Mommy and Daddy tickle me a lot there.  My cheeks are also very round.  I love to smile and I show off my teeth all the time, I have 8 in there now!  My eyes are still blue and since I am 1 now I am sure they are going to stay that way, which is a good thing because I get plenty of complements on those too. 

Milestones:  I got my 8^th tooth this month!  Now I have 4 on top and bottom.  I got sick again this month but it hasn’t been too bad I just had a low grade fever and a sore throat.  I also have learned to RUN this month.  I have so much fun trying to chase after Kiara.  With all of my traveling I was having a lot of trouble sleeping so Mommy and Daddy put me through some sleep training.  I can put my self to sleep (I was doing this before we left to Colorado so it was an easy adjustment) and I am working on sleeping through the night.  (I could also do this before but I got a little messed up a few months ago when Mommy and I went to Colorado in September).  I am having a harder time with this part of the sleep training.   

Daily Routine:  I am finally starting to get back into a routine.  I wake up around 6:30 every morning, take 2 naps during the day, and go to bed around 7:30 at night.  In between my sleeping I like to run all over the house.  I don’t sit still for a minute, I chase Kiara, play hide and seek with Mommy, try to climb up the stairs whenever I see the gate open, and run to see Daddy when he gets home from work.  Another fun thing I have figured out this month is to open cabinet doors.  There are a few that I can’t seem to open because of a latch but I love to play with all the tupper wear and pots and pans.  I also love to play in the fridge anytime it is open.  There is also a cabinet that I can climb all the way into.  I have learned to close doors and do this any chance I get.

Special Events:  I had my first Christmas this month.  It was so fun to open all my presents and play with all my new toys (I was a little spoiled).  I celebrated my first New Year in Colorado but I didn’t stay up late enough to watch the ball drop.  I have started to eat all kinds of new foods this month and I really like to be in my high chair.  I am kind of a picky eater.  The first time I try something I really like it but then when Mommy gives it to me again I don’t like it.  Right now some of my favorites are avocados, black olives, oranges, and chicken.  I do not like to be fed, if I am eating something that needs to be on a spoon or fork I won’t eat it unless I do it myself.  I like to stuff my mouth full of food and chew it for awhile then spit it all out on the floor.  This makes Mommy and Daddy a little mad.  Once I am done I like to get all the food off my tray and do this by throwing it all on the floor.  Meal time is a little messy.  I also started drinking cow’s milk this month and I love it. 

The Magic Car Seat

During the 2 months while we were traveling I am sure that Blaiden thought that he had a magic car seat.  He would go to sleep in one spot and wake up in another. The poor little guy was so disorientated every time he woke up because he didn't know where he was or who all these new people were.  We also traveled there and back (Ohio to Missouri, Missouri to Colorado and back the same way) while he slept at night because it made the trip much easier for him (not for us).  Since we planned all of our driving time during nap time for over a month it has led to some sleeping issues.  The last two weeks in Colorado were horrible nights.  Blaiden would only be rocked to sleep, and then he would only stay asleep for a few hours.  He was waking up over 4 times a night.  It was like having a newborn again.  Since we have been home we have done some sleep training and things have gotten much better.  We decided to do the sleep training in two separate phases.  We have another student living here with us for a couple months and so we thought it might make it easier this way.  Phase one started last Friday when we started to put Blaiden down awake so he could re-learn how to self-soothe and put himself to sleep.  This went pretty easy.  Friday was the only hard night and after that he caught on really quick.  This weekend we moved on to teaching him to sleep through the night.  Last night was not the best, he woke up 3 different times.  The first time was the worse and it got better as the night went on.  We will see how tonight goes.  I am hoping that he gets it as quick as the self soothing because last night was pretty hard on me. 

Our Month in Colorado

I can't believe that we spent 6 weeks in Colorado.  It seems to have gone by so fast.  I am glad to finally be home, being gone for 2 months was hard, but going through my pictures already make me miss it.

 We spent as much time as possible with Jed, Kaitlyn, and Hadley.  Watching Blaiden and Hadley play together, now that Blaiden can walk, they had a lot of fun.  Hadley would get mad sometimes because now Blaiden can go over and take her toys which she did not enjoy, but for the most part they had fun.  When ever they would see each other the first 5 minutes would be full of hugging and kissing.  They even got to take a few baths together.  Hadley would "help" me give him a bath but would always end up in the tub.

 

 

 On 12/12/12 Hadley turned 2.  We went over to her house and watched her open a few gifts, she got a puppy from her parents.  That weekend she had a big birthday party at her Aunt's house.  It was a Minny Mouse party and Hadley looked so cute in her outfit but she was a little tired and so she was a little grumpy.  After a while she came around and started to open her presents.

 

 I took Blaiden and Hadley to a Christmas party at church and they got to meet Santa.  Hadley said she would only go to see Santa if Blaiden went with her.  They sat on Santa's lap for only a little bit and then Blaiden started crying.  Hadley told Santa that she wanted real trees for Christmas from the movie the Lorax.

 

We spent some time over at Grandma's house.  She has horses birds, cats, and dogs, and one of the dogs even had puppies that we got to see.

Blaiden had a great time while we were decorating the house.  He broke several of G-ma's decorations and loved to play with the tree.

We did some cooking and cleaning.

One night we all went out to dinner and ate some pizza.  Hadley and Blaiden got to ride a horse but as you can see Blaiden did not like it very much.  After dinner we went to the parade of lights.  It was pretty short but that was okay because it was a very cold night.

Overall it was a very busy month and we packed in as much as we could.  

Happy New Year

New Year's Eve was going to be a fun night where we were going to play games that we got on Christmas.  However that did not happen.  The night before, Fred stayed in Denver after the Bronco game and was heading home. I caught the flu that everyone had on the day after Christmas and was very sick all day.  When Fred got back to the house he watched Blaiden while I slept most of the day.  I tried to stay away from Blaiden so that he would not get what I had and it helped because he did get his flu shot this year.

This was the first time that I had been really sick since I had Blaiden and it was so hard to take care of him.  Every time I had to get up and chase after him I would get sick to my stomach.  It was a good thing that my Dad came in to check on me several times during the morning before Fred got home so I could rest or run to the bathroom.

New Year's Day was more of the same.  I felt way better then the day before but still not 100% so we just stayed at my parents house and relaxed for the day.

Day After Party

Since our family is starting to grow and we have to split time during the Christmas holiday My mom decided to start a new tradition a few years ago.  The day after Christmas we have just our family over for a party at her house.  We don't get gifts for each other on Christmas but we draw names and give those gifts on the day after.  My mom and dad also gets us all a gift.  This year with 9 people and 2 gifts each our tree looked like it was Christmas morning all over again.  Last year we had to miss this party because we didn't make it home so we were excited to be there this year.  Fred had to miss the party again this year because he had to head back up to Ft. Collins to be back at work on Thursday. 


My Mom and I spent the day getting ready and cooking a great dinner.  In the afternoon we learned that Kaitlyn, Jed, and Thad were all sick but we thought it would still be best to have the party because we couldn't find a better time to have it.  The party was a bit of a bummer and only lasted about 2 hours.  Those who felt good ate and then we opened our gifts.  It was nice to get together but it's to bad people didn't feel well. 

Blaiden's First Christmas

We spent the night with my parents and woke up about 6 to open gifts there.  Jed, Kaitlyn, and Hadley came over and it was a great morning.  Blaiden had fun, I think, but I think he enjoyed watching Hadley and playing with her toys more then opening his presents. 

Once we were all done we got ready and headed up to Creede to spend the day with the Korpi's.  It was a great day.  Blaiden got spoiled up there and he got a lot of practice opening presents.  At first he would open a gift and then just want to play with that toy.  we kept having to take them away so he would open another gift.  After a while he started to figure out that there was fun stuff under all that paper and worked a little harder at opening them.  That day his favorite toy was a set of nesting balls from Uncle Casey.  A few other great gifts were a 4-wheeler from his Great grandparents and a sweet book from his Grandma.

 We also went over to to Fred's dad's house to open gifts.  Blaiden loves it over there because they have a dog named Bella that Blaiden absolutely loves.  Every time we are over there all he wants to do is play with her.  We all got some great things there as well.  Blaiden got a pair of NFL pajamas but his big present from Ukki and Tonka was a trike that I can push from behind and take on walks.  It arrived the day we got back home in Ohio and we might get to take it out on our first walk tomorrow!

Christmas Eve

This year we got to spend Christmas Eve with the Larsen side.  Our tradition is to all get together and eat a big dinner, then we tell stories and the kids do a small talent show, then to end the night we all get to open 1 present.  The gift is always pajamas that you get to wear that night!

This year the party was at Kit and Melissa's house.  We had a sandwich bar with all kinds of breads and meats, it was very tasty.  Melissa loves the story of "The Christmas Orange" so we heard that and then she gave each family a chocolate orange (YUM!!). Then kids then sang some songs and played the piano.  Once all of the kids were done it was time to open presents.  This was the first real present Blaiden had opened and he was not really sure what to do.  This pictures turned out great and it looks like he is tearing the paper off, but it didn't really happen that way. 

This last picture of the night was one of our whole family.  The last time we took a photo of all of us was when Hadley was about 2 weeks old, so we needed a new one.