Ephram's First Birthday!

Our little boy turned one! Charles took the day off so we could all spend the day together. We headed to Good Gravy and sat at table #1 (we sat at #3 on Wills' 3rd birthday).

We then went home for a morning nap and then ran some errands to prep for his birthday party on Saturday. We had lunch and play time at home, then it was time for the boys to take an afternoon nap.

The Hurst family arrived after nap and we all headed out to Storybook forest. We did this the night before Ephram was born last year.

After Storybook forest, we met up with the Fong family and we all went out for pizza. Everyone crashed when we got home from a full day and full bellies!

52 weeks!

How did this happen? My baby is 52 weeks old and tomorrow he will be ONE! I cannot believe it.

Catch up on his weekly photos here. 

Ephram at 11 months

I cannot believe Ephram is 11 months old and will be one next month! This last year has flown by. Our sweet boy still loves to snuggle. He is getting better about not being held in the evenings. Probably every other night he will sit in the kitchen floor and play while I make dinner. The other nights he is either being held, being worn or just suffering :) Ephram hit the height limit for the infant carrier last month, so we have been transitioning to the next step in car seats. He is supposed to be rear facing until 2. We made it to 22 months with Wills before we felt sorry for his cramped legs and turned him around. Who knows how long we will make it with Ephram!

This kiddo is still an amazing sleeper. He is still taking two naps a day. I think the teething has messed up his sleep some over the last month. He has woken up screaming early in the morning a few times. A few of his afternoon naps have been rough with intermittent crying as well. Overall though, sleep is awesome.

We had appointments with our pediatrician and Ephram's surgeon this month. I posted about the appointments here.  Ephram is majorly on the move. He is crawling and cruising all over the place. He will go from the couch to the coffee table and back. He also started using his walker this month. I think he is going to walk sooner than Wills did. We will see.

Food is still a huge hit around here. We haven't discovered anything new that he doesn't like. We are still working on sippy cups. He uses them, but still prefers his bottle. We also introduced milk this month. He will drink it, but doesn't appear to love it. Hopefully this changes over the next month.

11 Month Stats:
Weight: 24 lbs
Clothing Size: 12 to 18 months
Must Haves: wubanub, baby walker, any toy that Wills has
Milestones: two bottom teeth, free standing, cruising

Brothers side by side:

Soccer!

We signed Wills up for soccer this fall through the Y. He is on a team with his classmates from preschool. There are 11 3 year olds and 3 coaches. We have had two practices. The first game was supposed to be last Saturday, but it got rained out.

We are hoping soccer will be a good fit for Wills since he likes to run laps in the evenings. He runs a loop around the dining table and the living room over and over again.

He seems to like it. The first practice, it was really hot outside. This child does not like to be hot either, so I was surprised that he happily participated the entire time. Tonight at practice, the weather was perfect, and he sat down several times and just hung out. You just never know with this kiddo!

Doctor's Appointments

Wills and Ephram went to the pediatrician last week. It was Wills' 3 year well check and Ephram's 10 month check up. They got weighed and measured. Ephram got his 1st of 2 flu shots and Wills did the flu mist. I asked our pediatrician about doing it so early, and she said you should do it as soon as it's available. She also said she has already had patients test positive for the flu!

Wills' stats:

Weight: 33 lbs 8 oz (65%)

Height: 39 inches (79%)

Ephram's stats:

Weight: 23 lbs 4 oz (88%)

Height: 30 inches (86%)

Head: 18 3/4 (95%)

Ephram also had an appointment with his surgeon, Dr. Smith, on Monday. The visit went well. He didn't have to get a steroid shot because his scar is looking good. We also don't have to go back for a year. Our next surgery (if needed) won't be until he is at least 5 years old. 

Ephram at 10 months

Another healthy month! Summertime is really agreeing with Ephram's health. Our snuggle bug is still that. He loves to cuddle, particularly between 5:30 and 7:30 at night. This kid wants to be held pretty much the entire two hours. He is perfectly content throughout out the day to be on his own. I don't know what it is about that time of night. Makes cooking dinner a little difficult! We are still squeezing him into the infant car seat. His feet are hanging off the edge, but he hasn't hit the weight limit yet. I know there is height limit too, but I have no idea how long he is. We have his check up on 9/6, so I will find out then.

Sleep continues to be amazing. He is still taking a morning and afternoon nap. He is finding it harder to nap on the go. He used to be able to nap anywhere, so going out in the morning wasn't a big deal. Now he wants to know what is going on, so he won't nap until you get him in the car. Thankfully, he does still transfer from carseat to crib. Wills never did. He is a chatterbox now too. You can hear him in his bed sometimes talking to himself. Lots of "mamamama" and "dadadadada".

No Doctor's appointment this month. We got a new insurance so some things had to be moved around. He has his well check with his pediatrician on 9/6 and he has an appointment with Dr. Smith on 9/8. He started really crawling this month and is super fast. I think he really enjoys being able to get places on his own. When playing with cars the other night, he actually had one on the ground and was "driving" it around. I don't remember Wills doing that any where near this early. I am sure big brother has been a good example for things like this.

Food is still his greatest joy! We did discover a food he doesn't like this month. He was not a fan of blackberries at all. I think it is probably a texture thing. Otherwise, he will eat anything you give him. We are pretty much giving him whatever we are having, just smaller bites. He rarely has any type of puree anymore. He would much rather be feeding himself. He got his first tooth this month, so I am sure he will get even better at this. The tooth is on top and near his cleft in the gum. It is rather pointy/sharp. I will be interested to see what Dr. Smith says at his appointment.

10 Month Stats:
Weight: 23 lbs 4 oz (88%)
Height: 30 in (86%)
Head size: 18 3/4 (95%)
Clothing Size: 12 months, 12-18 months
Must Haves: wubanub, lillebaby carrier, trains
Milestones: crawling, first tooth, clapping

Brothers side by side:

Preschool

Wills started preschool on Wednesday, August 13th at Christ the King in Oklahoma City. The school is at the parish that we belong too, so it was a really familiar place for him on the first day. We did have to explain a few times that we were going to school and not church. That first day, we got there at 10 and Charles and I both went to class with him. They did some introductory songs and games for the first 30 minutes, then the children went out on the playground with two of their teachers (he has 3, Ms. Holmboe, Ms. Kirt and Ms. Harrison) and the parents stayed back for a parent meeting. This went really well. When it was over and I went to get him, he told me he wasn't ready to leave.

The next day was his first official day of school. I drop him off at 8:15 and his nanny picks him up at 11:15. He goes three days a week, Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday. Parents are asked to hand their child off to a teacher at the hallway and then the child walks to his classroom on his own. Wills had no problem with this and didn't look back at me once.

Thursdays are show and tell day, so of course we took a train :)

He seems to really be enjoying school this year. He will actually talk about things they are learning (bee hives and bees) and sing songs (If you're happy and you know it). I am really looking forward to seeing how much he learns and grows this year!