Brendan turned one today! I spent a good deal of the past 24 hours thinking back on where we were a year ago... last night I was remembering breathing through contractions and the anticipation of his arrival. Today I was reminiscing about his first hours of life and nursing him and also how wonderful it was to return home 12 hours after he was born where Mom and Dad and Ian were waiting for us. I also found myself looking back on the past year... what an amazing year it has been! My three months of maternity leave with my two little munchkins. Then 6 months of work before we made our big move across the country. And now, these wonderful months of family time. We are so fortunate!
We had a wonderful day. This morning Ian and I made cupcakes together which was super fun. After making cupcakes Ian "helped" Brendan open his gifts which actually worked out quite well. Ian was excited about the presents and Brendan was excited to have wrapping paper to chew on! Brendan got a bike helmet which he got to try out immediately because we managed to get the stroller and bikes in the trailer Stephen built and headed out for a bike ride on the park loop road. It was a gorgeous day! I think the temperature reached 65 degrees which is absolutely incredible for mid-March. We all thoroughly enjoyed the bike ride and headed home for super long naps.
After naps we wandered down the road to the cul-de-sac where there was a neighborhood camp fire. It was fun to meet all the neighbors and also fun to have some new friends with whom we could share Brendan's cupcakes.
Now, what is Brendan up to...
He is standing on his own for very brief moments but then quickly melts down to his knees when he realizes what he was doing. He is vocal and easily lets us know what he doesn't like (usually by yelling and also throwing it on the floor!). Perhaps the most exciting part of his development is that he has started to use baby-sign language pretty consistently. He tells us when he wants "more" and "milk" and to get "down." There is nothing more rewarding than being able to communicate with him after a year of trying to guess what he needs. It's also super cute. He is very emphatic with his signs and will clap his hands together vigorously when he wants MORE!
He is also becoming more and more independent and will play quietly with some toys or in his crib for up to an hour at a time. His loves books more than anything and will sit and turn the pages for long periods of time. He also has started to eat! Up until this past week he really hasn't eaten solids very consistently but recently he decided that they aren't so bad. He love broccoli, tofu and crackers. He also has been enjoying a curry dish with lentils and chickpeas that Stephen made last week. And he was pretty happy to eat the cupcake I made for his birthday! I am relieved that he is eating more solid foods. I put my breast pump away last week and decreased nursing to just two times a day. I was starting to get a little worried that he wasn't getting enough nutrition. I know how silly that is but it's been a bit of a relief to see him eating more consistently. He is following a similar growth curve to his brother... they both were HUGE in the first 9 months or so and then their growth plateaued. Brendan weighs about 24 pounds (which hasn't changed much in the past 3 months - or since he began crawling) and Ian has started to grow a bit more and weighs about 32 pounds now. So, together they weigh 56 pounds... I'm still able to pick them both up and carry them on my hips together but not for very long!
I don't really have a sense yet of Brendan's personality. He definitely will not be a quiet push-over type. But I think that's probably pretty typical of younger siblings. He loves affection and, although he is becoming more and more independent, he still loves to be held more than anything. He is sensitive to what is going on around him but he also seems to be more and more easy going as he gets older. He also seems to be very observant. It is so much fun watching him grow into the little munchkin he is... we are so blessed to have such a precious soul in our lives! Happy 1st Birthday Brendan!
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