56

56 weeks! Ok I think soon I'm going to rename each post, instead of the week number. We'll see.
*Getting dean to eat, I've starting doing train or car or airplane sounds haha. And when I say, Beep beep, he laughs!
*So we started doing bed time later. He did start waking up a tad later. It's usually 530- 540. Better than 5!
*He kind of tells us when he gets a little hurt. Like, he scraped his foot on the door way and he pointed to it and jabbered to KR. So cute, and helpful!
*he puts his feet up a lot now. In the stroller, high chair, etc. And he lays on the floor, with his feet on the wall or something, and kicks. Him and his feet!!!
*Ok this next one is big! He walks in to the kitchen when he's hungry! He goes to the sink and reaches (where his bottle warms up) or to his high chair, once in a while. Or if I say, are you hungry, do you want to eat? Same thing.
*And! When I say, let's change your diaper, he walks in to his room!!! Love it!
*He loves the broom on the patio, and he will bounce it up and down, "sweeping" and its so cute! We've neen struggling though at getting him to keep the broom out side. We leave the door open cuz he looves coming in and out, in and out. But he then tries bringing the broom in. He looks at us, KR says noooo, and starts getting up and he does a uturn (not kust a pivot) and runs outside. He knows, but won't listen. He also loves to try bringing his toys out. We don't want him dropping them off the balcony, plus a dog lives down there so he'd chew them up.
*Loves keys. And loves trying to put them in the doorknob. So cute.
*He kicks off of me while I'm changing his diaper. Hurts and frustrating. But then he kicked off the wall, and it scooted him and the whole changing pad and I couldn't stop laughing. Oops.
*He ducks his head better, now that he's practicing with his big box. Once he even ducked under the stool. Haha.
*we've been going to the park a lot and he's loving the play structure.
*first escalator ride!
*Climbs on the couch with help. He's getting better. It's just hard if he has nothing to grab. So as long as he can grab us or use us and a stool, he can.
*I took him to the zoo by myself and we had so much fun. We love the zoo!
*He briefly started doing a tongue clicking sound. Like if you want to get a horse to go. Kind of.
*He's getting really good at noticing he needs help and instantly reaching for our hand/finger. Like stepping off, or up. It's so cute to see him so think and look for it. Melts my heart when he grabs it.
*I'm also teaching him how to get off the couch. I want him to know so if he gets up when I don't see, he won't fall off. He can do it, if I get him in the smart right position.
*My birthday! So the actual day was in Sunday, so that will be in week 57, but Saturday we celebrated. We went to the park with the Falks, and then Costco! Haha. Oh the things that you consider fun when you're old and married with kids. We went for samples, but they had few. Then later just us went to cheesecake factory. Then yogurtland and Bridgeport. We got Dean a new book, about the start spangled banner. They had this whole display though, of books about birthdays! So funny!
*oh and friday!!! KR took his test for his last rotation!! So he's done with third year!!!! One more and he's done!!! So now he has time off but he's going to be studying. His plan is to go to school and study at least 8 hours a day. But we went to fleet week and out to a new hamburger place to celebrate!!!
Phew!!! Caught up!!! Ok pictures.

55

Man I'm behind! So I have to blog weeks 55 & 56. Then this weekend is 57. Just to give you an idea of where this falls on the time line. (And I will be less flowery in my descriptions, to hurry along).
55
*Waking up early. His time was getting earlier. First it was 545, 530 &515 then 5!! So end of the week, when peggy watched him while we did the starlight run, she put him to bed later. He still woke up earlier sunday but we decided we would just try later bed time the next week.
*Forestry center. Peggy took us, with Jameson to the world forestry center. It was pretty cool and Dean had a great time. They had some exhibits and sensory/hands on things. It was pretty empty so Dean was able to just walk around and Jameson has a blast with Dean. And Peggy added us to her pass so we can go anytime!
*one day, Dean had diarrhea and it lacked a tiny bit. Where it leaked, he got these weird bumps, that kind of looked like bug bites. They were raised and inflamed. Punk, not red. But he didn't have any inside his diaper. Then later that day, they relaxed and turned darker, red. Then the next day, they turned into scabs. They naked up and that was that. Still not sure what it was.
*I've been struggling with the concept of letting go of my milk and trusting he would get nutrients from milk and other foods. So I called and got great reassurances by his dr. I feel better and the mental road block has been lifted and I've been making good progress slowly switching my milk for regular milk. And Dean is doing pretty well with it. I do notice he gets gassy and constipated if we make.too big of a jump, which is why I'm doing it gradually.
*Dean knows how to say Neigh when asked what a horse says. He shakes his head and kind of sounds like hes laughing, because whats what I do haha. Oops.
*He got his first scraped knee! He didn't cry or anything but it was bleeding a little bit. He reopened it at the rose festival so I gave him his first bandaid (that wasn't from shots).
*Starlight run!!! Saturday, we went to the rose festival during the day, walked around and enjoyed the carnival and Saturday market. Then we dressed up and peggy babysat while we went to the run! If you remember, it's the run in the evening, along the parade route where thr starlight parade goes right after. It's a night time parade so it's got lights and stuff. (Same concept as electrical parade, but a lot less cool haha. But still really cool!) We did this run two years ago but it was my first time and I didn't realize people dressed up. I was soooo bummed! So this year (skipped last year since I was only 3-4 weeks post partum) I told KR that's what I wanted for my bday present. So I went to dollar tree and got patriotic stuff and KR was such a good sport to dress up, wearing a plastic, non-breathable hat and everything. Haha. We had so much fun!!! And we got to do it with danny and emily falk! (Reagan's parents haha). I was proud I didn't stop but my time wasn't as fast as my best 5k time. But soooo fun! We took advantage of the fact we both had babysitters, and went to watch a bit of the parade! We felt so free! Haha. It was our first time out with friends without Dean. I don't wish to not have Dean though!!! But it was fun to be a little carefree.
*back to monday, memorial day, we went to the Rose gardens. We packed a lunch and it was so nice out! Dean loves running around at the park. He is quite a wanderer though. Yikes! But I stick to him like glue, so all is well haha.
Ok on to week 56 haha

54 (I'm a week behind)

So this should have been posted last weekend. This weeks will come later today. (And I'm going to be more lazy about changing my copied and pasted list to full sentences).

*Says mah for more again. Repeats over and over. Although he's already stopped again, as well as most words I will talk about in this post. He briefly talked up a storm and, in true Dean fashion, learned something and then just stops doing it for a while. He's slowly adding words back in to his vocabulary. But he would say mah or meh, especially when he wanted a spoon from my utensil jar. (Like wooden spoons, spatulas.)
*Bad rash and diarrhea. We had to spend a few days just rinsing every diaper in the tub again. Poor little guy. Not sure what brought the diarrhea, other than maybe switching to milk, his body is adjusting.
*Equipment at park! He can finally climb and play at the park. He loves climbing up the steps.
*Sleeping til 7. Ha! This was short lived haha. As I will mention in my left post, he is definitely not sleeping this late anymore. But it was nice while it lasted!
*Point to utensils. I pretty much already mentioned this.
*Pull piece off to eat. So like when he has a chunk of food in his hand, he will pull a little piece off with his other hand, pointer finger and thumb, and feed him self. It's so cute and proper.
*What does a lion say! Big development! He says rarrr! So so adorable!
*Don't make me laugh. When he is kind of winning or upset, I will tickle him or do something fun and he will laugh out smile for s second and then go right back, in a get don't make me laugh, I'm mad way. Cracks me up.
*Fell out of crib!!! Ok I'm not proud of this, and although I don't necessarily want people to know I'm such a bad mom, I want to journal it. Usually in the mornings, he wakes up and I leave him in there for a period, often times he [used to] goes back to sleep. And several times, he's made noises where it kind of makes a bang and I wonder if he fell out, but never had. I would be staying at the monitor, watching. But one morning, I had just looked, and hard a small thud and something inside me just knew. I didn't even look at the monitor to check, I just ran in. He was sitting back on his feet, like on his hands and knees. He was crying but recovered quickly. Making, he didn't get hurt, just scared. KR was in the kitchen and had no idea, that's how quiet it was. It was so scary though and KR lowered his crib right then, before leaving for school.
*he had been bringing me his hat to put on him. Also sometimes my headbands. Haha. I put it on and he walks away with his hands behind his back, smiling and laughing. He also had been bringing me books, and asking me to read to him, which I love!!!
*Runs away if he has something he shouldn't. If I ask, can you give that to mama, instead of sweetly giving it to me, he runs away! It is hilarious to watch. Usually if he's in the living room, he runs straight in to the couch. Haha.
*made the Shhh sound.
*KR taught him the Bzzz sound for a bee.
*He says Brr for bird (another one of those words he stopped saying this week) he does better with dah for dog (and still says it) and bird cuz he sees those at the park a lot. But one day he was in his high chair, pointing out the window and says brr brr. I look and a tiny bird on the wire across the street. Good eyes!! And thats when I knew he could say bird. He would say it all the time, when he saw birds. (Now, nothing, for the time being haha. )
*Put balls away. If I tell him to, he will put stuff in the buckets that we keep his toys in. So cute. Doesn't last, as he immediately dumps them out again after gaha.
Water
*Rides motorcycle. Hes been putting his leg over and sitting on it, so I put the handle down, since he doesn't use it to walk any more.
*Hands up. KR taught him to put his hands up when we say to, when we put him in his hogh chair and put the tray on.
*He knows where his head is. He says dah and puts his hands on his head. Since he was born, I've sung I've got a lovely bunch of coconuts. When I got to the end once while changing his diaper, I sang some as big as your head, he said dah and put his hands on head.
*He has started putting his hands behind his back. Just randomly and he'll stand or walk like that. So cute.
*my friends and I created a play group and we went to this water feature in the pesrl district. It's a really nice area of portland and it was way cool! Dean looooved it! He wound up being the only one in our group who did. We stayed in way longer than the others. It made me soooo excited for summer!! Pictures
below.
*Saturday, we hiked dog mountain, or at least to the first view point. It's known for its hillside of flowers and it was almost perfect time of year for it! It's on the Washington side of the Columbia gorge. Dean did pretty well. He didn't love being in the ergo, but he did well. He even fell asleep in the way down. And the view was beautiful!
Ok on to next week's!!

53! As in, over a year old?!

53 weeks. Man I can't believe his birthday is passed. It was a fun weekend. But I was really relieved when Monday rolled around and he was overall, the same as he was the day before. No magical transformation into an ADULT or anything.
So Sunday was mothers day and his birthday! Dad an Linda were still in town so they came to church with us. It was my guest time not feeling guilty receiving the mothers day gift from the priesthood after sacrament haha. Not that anyone should, whether you've given birth or not, all women are mothers! We were given pretty flowers but plants so that last longer!!
After church, we headed to KRs parents for mothers day dinner. As usual, delicious, and always good to spend time with his family. I'm grateful we live so close and can see them regularly. And that they've adopted me in.


Monday, before dad and Linda had to go to the airport, we met Peggy and Jameson at the zoo. It was a beautiful day! Always so fun at the zoo!

Tuesday, Dean has his 12 month appt. First, hid ears were clear!!! Yay!!! Such a relief and bonus, we made it through the month of April without going in! So his measurements are....
22.04 lbs 30.6 in. long and 18 3/4 in. head.
He had to have 5 shots!! He cried really hard but when the nurse left, he did his where did she go? hands. It was so cute. I had given him Tylenol before we left and again at bed and he really was great. I didn't suspect one bit of anything from him, which I was so grateful for.

So, his list...
*he hands me toys and books now. Sometimes it's cute haha. Sometimes I'm like, ok, thank you...again....hehe. I enjoy it.
*he got this small balloon on a stick for his bday. Well he patiently and adamantly worked on getting the stick in the hole on the balloon. He got very very close several times. But the balloon wasnt steady enough. So as soon as I held.it still for him, he easily got it in! I'm impressed with his hand eye coordination.
*hes learned to blow bubbles with his mouth. Just where you open your mouth wide, slowly.
*i put my sunglasses on tuesday and suddenly he wanted to wear his. We went to the park and he kept tripping in the grass, and every time they would fall off, he would ask me to put them back on. He keeps his hat in most the time as well.
*He drips water on his head in the bath. He takes the cup with holes and lets it drain on him. He's getting braver!
*Waving bye bye more and better. Much more wrist signed less arm. He anticipates when certain books are going to say bye bye and will wave.
*He has sippy cups that create a vacuum and he knows how to release the pressure haha.
*Says Beeh for ball.
*Towards the end of the week, he stopped saying more and please. Kind of driving me nuts because I want to continue teaching him manners but he absolutely will not say it. Before, I would try to get him to say it and then give it anyway. Then he learned how and I only gave it if he said it. Now it's like, I know you knew but do you still know? Do I hold you accountable and wait to give it til you say it? But then he never says it, I can't starve him! He really developed an attitude this week and it was really frustrating. He just yells and throws things when last week, he would simply communicate. He doesn't even nod yes or shake his head no. I think we are both frustrated. I'm just trying to stay patient and stick to it and hope he picks it up again.
Still love him though!!!






Oh! The pic above. So he started this thing when he doesn't want it, doesn't like it, he's unhappy. He scrunches his face up, tilts his head back, kind pulls his top teeth over his bottom lip and opens and closes his mouth, while making a small whiney sound. It makes me laugh and he kind of laughs too, so I can't take it seriously. Later in the week it turned in to straight yelling and anger again. But when he did that, it was so cute. The dr even was surprised. She said most babies just cry but he was communicating, saying he didn't like it/was unhappy.

52!!!!!!!!!!

52 weeks!!! As in 12 months!!! As in ONE YEAR!!!! I have a one year old!!!!! Oy vey!!!
So as I started my list on Sunday, May 4th, I added that dean was starting to take a few steps on his own. He continued that all day Monday until.... Monday night, we got together weigh friends for cinco de mayo and Reagan was there, who is newly walking herself. Well or of no where, I'm just sitting, reading, and I see Dean walk across the whole room!! I flipped out of course, it was so exciting! So all week, he just got better and better!
*He is also talking a ton more, or trying. He says more please when I ask him to before giving him more food and says thank you, both prompted and unprompted, after I give it. He also says amen, I think I've mentioned that. But Sunday May 4th (I'm almost a week behind) I was listening to a talk and the speaker said something about Jesus Chris, not finishing his talk or anything, and Dean said amen! Haha so cute, crazy how much they are listening already!
*When asked to give it to mama, he will give almost anything to me! He also will find a piece of dirt or something small and bring it to me. So cute! I'm enjoying it while it lasts cuz I'm sure it won't.
*so milk, this week we adjusted to 5 oz breast milk for his first and last bottle, and then his two middle bottles are a 3 to 2 ratio. He is spitting up like once a day and it's very very stinky but hopefully that doesn't mean he has an intolerance. I'm waiting to up the amount until talking with his dr on Tuesday may 13th. (spoiler alert, she said it's normal and hes since, stopped barfing. It was only ever a tiny bit, but enough to stink!)
*on his own, he started saying wow! Its so cute!
*he also does his I dont know hands a lot. But he does it for "where is it", not I don't know. So when someone leaves, or we ask where it is, or he wants to know what that sound is. It's accompanied by his gasping sound.
*Later in the week, he started pointing with his gasp, which he has done a while, but now he does it more and often times his pointing hand goes up against his face. Haha. So cute!! We love it!!
*He gets mad if I close a drawer or the dryer or dishwasher, but if I ask him to help me, he loves it and is fine. I also had him put his clothes in the dryer, he loved it! So cute to have a little "helper" haha.
*he learned how to do mouth bubbles, like where you open it wide. He learned by accident and doesn't do it frequently, thank goodness.

This week was busy getting ready for the party. I went to Peggys and we made cookies and cupcakes, and she helped a TON! I don't know if I could have done it without her. Then Thursday, Bethany and Jennifer organized for dad and linda to come visit Friday! It was a fun surprise! So friday I ran around and made dean's cake and went and picked them up and they helped set up. Saturday morning, more setting up and help, again, not sure if I could have done it alone, as I had to get dean down for a nap and get myself ready. Wow! It was fun but I'm sure glad it is done. Haha.
So his party was Mickey themed, but a classy, vintage mickey. None of the Mickeys had faces, to keep it.classy and clean and streamline. I love how it turned out. KRs parents were both busy with previous obligations so it was mainly just friends thst came. Danny and Emily, Jamie and Andy, Catherine Teng, Kelly Stanley, Susan and Chris, and team jd! We had pizza and salad, then samg happy bday. Dean was just.overwhelmed by it all. He had just woke up when everyone was already getting there, and I don't think he ever quite adjusted. But he was ok. When ever did the smash cake, he was unsure at first, but then I gave him a fork and he had a blast. He didn't actually eat any, but had fun finger painting with the red frosting. We had to take him to the tub after. Luckily it didn't stain any where but one small red spot on his cheek that went away quick. Then he had fun opening presents after most people left. It was so nice. I'm really grateful for all the help and for good friend and especially moral support from family as I stressed about planning.
Later we went to Davidson's for dinner. It was the restaurant we went to last year, after my dr appt which triggered my labor. So I was in labor the whole dinner, intense, but obviously still manageable. So we went exactly one year later, to celebrate and reminisce. It bright back strong emotions and memories. I still can't believe it's been a year! I love reminiscing about my labor.
Ok here are some pictures and then I will pick up from mothers day in the next post.