One Year!

I hope you'll forgive the super belated post and the lack of an "official" picture. Since we last spoke, we have officially moved out of Arizona, and are settled in Mission Viejo for the next week, as we gear up for our big Germany trip. It has been beyond crazy, but wonderful as well. So, even though I'm over two weeks late, let's hammer out our one year memories! No idea how we got here so quickly. This year has flown.

Weight - 23 lb 10 oz! Evan gained 2 full pounds in the last 3 months, which is huge, considering he gained about half a pound the 3 months prior. Lots of solids combined with no sleep training definitely agreed with him. He gained almost 14 lbs his first  year.

Height - 30.5 inches. I have to admit, I thought he'd measure taller, since he seems tall to me, but we'll take it. He gained about 10 inches his first year.

Head circumference - To be honest, I can't remember this number....It was good though!

He's enjoying 18 month clothes, with a few 24 month pjs thrown in, but I think we'll be in 18 for a good long while

Likes:

Meat sauce with zucchini noodles - a favorite!

It's been so fun to see how he just likes (and consumes) more and more food these days. Birthday cake was a huge hit, of course. He still loves berries and things with ground beef. Cilantro lime cauliflower rice is another favorite - when we was sick, it was one of the only things he would still eat! He also really likes freeze dried strawberries, which were a go to on our travels, as well as these teething wafers he was gifted. 

Chicago Park

Standing is now a very often occurrence - he likes to squat down and pop up (usually with a little support). Ed is starting to get eager about walking, but I think we still have a little while yet before we get there. He does love standing and watching people work, especially from the couch. 

I mentioned books last month, but they are definitely one of Evan's favorite "toys" right now. He loves to sit among a pile of books and just turn the pages. Even though I know it doesn't necessarily mean much now, I can't tell you how happy it makes me to see him like that. Really hope he gets my love of reading!

He newer favorite, though, is throwing anything and everything, especially balls. He'll play "catch" with most anyone, but also loves to throw the ball and then chase after it, especially on the hardwood, where the ball often bounces unexpectedly. 

And, much to his parents joy, plane rides can go on this list! Evan did fantastically on his first two flights, sleeping about half of each, and then playing for the rest. Fingers crossed our 13 hour flight to Germany will be as smooth :)

Dislikes

 The carrier was the only place he wanted to nap on our trips

Evan might actually be getting a little better with those diaper changes, but we seem to have fallen off the sleep wagon again. He's gotten his top 2 teeth this month, which were super rough on all of us, and it looks like another 3 are looming. All the travel certainly didn't help sleep either. Evan hated both the pack n play and the hotel crib with a fiery passion, so we've been doing a lot more bedsharing. Hopefully this isn't a sign of things to come this summer with our nomad status. 

Sadly, avocados seem to have lost their popularity with Evan! He now will rarely eat them :(. 

He's still not wild about getting dressed all the time, and will sometimes try to pull his shirt off as we are putting it on him. 

We are also having some issues with him biting us - I'm sure it's teething related, but it's frustrating (and painful) nonetheless. 

Important Events:

We had a lot of great trips this month as we finished our stay in Arizona. 

Our first big trip was the Grand Canyon! This was our only visit here while we lived in "The Grand Canyon State" and it was fantastic for all involved. It was so beautiful, and since we all got the opportunity to go down into the canyon, we were able to appreciate it so much more. 

We also flew to Chicago for Ed's work in the middle of the month. This week long trip was fantastic. Evan and I got lots of solo time to sightsee, go to parks, and just generally explore. We got to join Ed for some meals, and he even took one day off so we could go to the Natural History Museum. 

Of course, the biggest event was gearing up for our move. As of his birthday, we are midway packed up and are feeling like we are more gone than here.

Successes:

Evan is babbling!!!! I cannot tell you how amazing it is to hear him making those sweet sounds. His first "phrase" was na-na-na-na, followed by da-da-da-da-da and then ma-ma-ma-ma-ma. We made it, just under that year cut off that would have red - flagged him. He still is obviously behind, verbally, but we're just taking it as it comes, and for now, this new milestone is the best thing ever. 

Challenges:

Our baby carriers have been lifesavers lately!

While it's been amazing, obviously travel can be tough with a little one. Sleep, as I mentioned, has gotten quite rough, with no signs of improvement in the future, with all the travel yet to come. We've also been getting the "4pm fussies" a lot this month. Something about that time of day has just been setting Evan on edge, so we've generally been going for walks in the carriers to calm him down. We're thinking teeth are mostly to blame. 

We also had a super challenging experience trying to go out to dinner in Chicago. Apparently Evan hated the shirt we put on him, and once we got there and he woke up, he started trying to tear it off while crying. So, we lost the shirt and wrapped him in my sweater, which sort of worked. Of course this happened at the fanciest restaurant we went to. Thankfully, it was 4pm on a weekday, and we were on the tented patio, so we didn't feel too horrible, but it was still a very quick but expensive meal. 

Otherwise, it's just been challenging to get everything done with the house and moving while taking care of a little one. Evan has been great, but it's still just a hard situation. So looking forward to being done!

Mommy Successes:

As I shared (I think!), I officially have a job for next year, which is a huge deal for us. I'm so glad to have this taken care of, and I am thrilled that my new job sounds like a perfect fit. While I have deeply loved staying home this past year, I am ready to go back to work and am excited to be a teacher again in a few months. 

Daddy Successes:

Ed just really enjoyed getting to spend a bit more time with Evan with all of our traveling, and loved having him close by on his Chicago work trip so that he didn't have to leave us for a week!

Best Moments:

First Easter Egg Hunt

Easter

Traveling

and turning One Year Old!!!