One year old!

Ahhhh, I have a one year old!!!!! The last year has been the fastest year ever, and has been the best adventure ever, too! I've certainly learned a lot about myself, Tim, and our parenting styles. We've really been on the same page about most things, so that's been great! Corbin seems to teach us something new every day, and I've loved watching him grow into the little boy he's becoming. It's amazing how much he's changed even in the last month or two. Motherhood has literally been the best thing ever, and I'm so blessed to have such a wonderful little guy! Check out his first birthday here! Here's what we're up to:

Food!
Corbin is down to one bottle a day (at night). He eats all his meals with us and snacks in between as well. We've just recently started him on whole milk and he's been doing great with it! We haven't really found a food he dislikes, either. He isn't picky, he just wants to be sure we're feeding him while we're eating! We've started ordering off the kid's menu at most restaurants and that seems to be going well, too!

Mobile!
Pretty sure he's the most cautious kid ever. He LOVES walking around while holding onto our hands or cruising along the furniture. The moment he feels like he might fall or that he doesn't have something to hold onto, he wants to sit down and crawl. He's so nervous about sitting down, too! Usually his hand has to go down first to see how far it is to the floor. Little turkey! In the past could days he's been all about climbing, though, so maybe he's coming out of his shell. He's been standing by himself for longer chunks of time the last couple days, too, so I don't think it'll be long before he's a walker!

Wheels!
He is OBSESSED. That's the only way I can put it! He is so fascinated by wheels and loves watching them, spinning them, playing with them, and especially steering wheels! He is also in love with the little cozy coupe cars and if he sees one, that is the ONLY thing he wants, and he wants to be in it right now!

Books!
He loves looking at books and "reading". His favorite are the touch and feel books that have different textures for him to touch. He will sit in his room and pull every book off the shelf and sit and page through them.

Dancing!
He loves music and is really getting into dancing!! It's pretty cute! He just bounces and "sings"

Baths!
As soon as the water starts, he is bolting into the bathroom and standing up at the tub! He gets SO excited about bath time!! Even when the water isn't running or it's not time, he goes in there and thinks he needs to be in the tub.

Tricks!
His favorite is "SO BIG" and then he claps after! He also waves bye bye and we're working on blowing kisses. He still says Mama and Dada. He talks steady, but most of it isn't words. He knows what a tractor is and will go find you one if you ask. He LOVES puppies, especially Jersey, and will point out a puppy if one is nearby!

Personality!
Corbin is seriously one of the happiest kids I know! The only time he isn't happy is if we're taking too long to put food on his plate or he's getting tired. He isn't scared of other people, smiles so easily, and just has such a sweet personality! He's a little goofball who loves when people laugh at him--it just encourages him to be even more goofy!

Naps!
We're starting to wean away the morning nap! He hasn't been taking a very good nap in the morning and really fights it sometimes, so at daycare, he's going to have a morning nap every other day to help wean him off of it and make sure he still gets enough sleep. Yesterday was our first day of this and he seemed to do just great! Just another sign he's growing up :(

One year checkup
He'll have his one year check-up on September 2nd. Anxious to see his stats!

The birthday boy on the birthday saddle at Texas Roadhouse!

Love this sweet little dude!! The first year has gone by so fast, and I only hope time can slow down because we have so many more memories to make! Looking forward to our new adventures with a busy one year old!

The Birthday Party!!

All the prep work, pinterest-ing, and planning paid off! We had a perfect party and the birthday boy had so much fun!! There were about 38 of us total to help Corbin celebrate, and he was one busy little guy with all this friends! Take a look at our day!

The Cake!

What little farmer wouldn't want a John Deere combine cake?! Thanks to these awesome instructions, it turned out SO great!!! http://aquietlifeinaloudhouse.blogspot.com/2011/07/john-deere-combine-cake-directions.html

We also had cupcakes for the guests

AND since the combine cake was full of skewers and toothpicks holding it together, I made Corbin his own little smash cake

The Food!

I decided on serving a nacho bar! It was a huge hit--tortilla chips, taco meat, salsa, tomatoes, black olives, onions, jalapenos, guacamole, and sour cream! We also had a big pail of fresh mixed fruit! We sure didn't have much left over! Beverages served were a lemonade concoction that Tim mixed up with fresh lemon and lime slices in it. Complete with John Deere plates, napkins, and cups!

The Presents!

I'm pretty sure we have the most spoiled child ever! Everyone was so generous and he got so many awesome gifts!! He has already been trying on his new outfits, and has played with every single one of his new toys! His old toys aren't nearly as exciting now...bring on the new ones!

The Fun!

Corbin was so excited to have so many of his friends and cousins there! There were even 6 babies there who will also be graduating in the class of 2032!! Here's a picture of them!

Nolan, Aspen, Corbin, Haaken, Axel, Harper, Chandler

The Smashing of the Cake!

Best cake smash ever. He was really curious about what was put in front of him, so he just tried a little bit. Pretty soon he decided to go the "no hands" route and just plowed his face right into it!! He loved every second of the cake eating!!

One messy little guy!!

Thank you to all of our family and friends who helped make this day so special for all of us! I can't believe our little man is already one!! Time needs to slow down!

Hand, Foot, Mouth Disease

It has struck our house! When the boys came back from their weekend at Lake of the Woods, I noticed Corbin's chin was full of red spots and looked extremely painful. Then I was noticing a few more red spots on his hand, arm, leg. We talked about what foods he ate over the weekend and it was nothing that he'd never had before. Then the more I'm looking, he's got blisters on his hands and feet as well and a light rash all over his legs.

So, after some googling and talking with people, we determined that it is probably Hand Foot Mouth Disease. He probably had a fever Friday evening, was extremely fussy, and then on Saturday the fever went away and these spots started showing up. I brought him in to the Dr on Monday, and lo and behold, he also has Impetigo on his chin to go along with the HFM. His doctor said he could go back to daycare after he'd been on the antibiotic cream for the impetigo for 24 hours. So, while this mama loved her extra day and half home, would've much rather it been under different circumstances!!!

He seems to be feeling much better the last day or so, and the impetigo is going away. He still has blisters on his hands/feet, and one on his finger opened up. It hasn't seemed to affect his mood much, but hopefully those go away soon!!!!

A farmer never quits...even if he's not feeling well!

Managed to get a little smile out of him!

11 Months....less than 30 days left...

I can't even begin to fathom where the last year went. Like literally, I have no idea. People say that your kids grow too fast, but of course it's hard to really understand what they mean until you're looking at your almost one year old and thinking that you were just making final nursery preparations a year ago. Ahh! I get tears in my eyes just thinking about it!

Corbin is so busy these days!! Here's what we're working on!

Pulling Up

     He pulls himself up onto EVERYTHING now! Nothing is safe anymore, and he is getting more and more brave. He still is cautious about getting down once he pulls himself up, but he's getting better!

Walking

     He's really been getting into walking while holding our hands! He gets so excited--I feel like it won't be long before he's on his own!

Sleep

    This is nothing new, but continues to be one of his favorite things! He's in such a route now that it's really helpful!

Jersey

     Jersey is his favorite toy! :) He loves to chase her around, play "sheep" with her, and he thinks it's hilarious to tease her with her toys.

Lake

     He loves the lake! He's a big fan of swimming in his mushroom pool, loves being on the boat, and is such a good napper at the lake!

Crawling

     He's a super fast crawler!! It really gets him where he needs to go although he doesn't fully pick himself up off the floor! Silly guy.

Food

     He's pretty much eating everything we eat these days. He gets really cranky if you're eating something and not sharing with him! He's still drinking his bottles, but we're starting to work on weaning off a bottle or two and just giving his formula in a cup so he gets used to that. He's really not a fan of that transition!!!

Bath

    Bath time is the BEST! He loves his big boy tub, he loves all his toys, and he gets so excited when we start the water!

Bike Rides

     Corbin is a big fan of bike rides in the trailer! So much so, that he falls right asleep! :)

Birthday Party Planning!

I'm in the process of planning Corbin's 1st birthday!! Invitations went out yesterday, plates/cups/napkins/decorations are here, now just time to figure out food & presents! I'm really really hoping for a nice day. The plan is to have water activities/lawn games set up in the yard for kids and adults to entertain themselves before, during, and after supper, and of course gift opening and cake smashing! Can't even wait, but it still makes me sad!!!

10 Months!

I've got a little guy who thinks he's a big boy! I can't believe how fast this kid picks up new tricks and skills! It seems like every day he's doing something that he wasn't quite doing the day before! Here's what's up:

• Crawling!
• Corbin is EVERYWHERE! We've been baby-proofing like crazy, even when we thought we had that kinda figured out! Yesterday he thought he needed to have Jersey's food--still not sure how we're going to handle that one, since she's used to her food being in a certain spot.
• He's got the army crawl down. I can't imagine dragging myself all over the place, but that's what he does, and he's really fast at it, too! He gets up on all fours, but he just seems to think that dragging himself around his faster. Whatever works, buddy!

• Dancing
• Who just wants to stand up and just hang out? Not this guy! He wants to stand up so he can bounce and loves to dance to music! :)

• Transitions
• He's officially mastered going from laying on his belly to sitting up! He's really proud of himself when he does it, too! Of course we've had a couple hitting of the head on the floor incidents, too while learning this skill, but he's getting pretty graceful!

• Food!
• Corbin really loves food. I'm starting to get a little more comfortable with giving him new things, and he's been a great little eater. Don't you dare eat in front of him without giving him something!! :) Boring old Cheerios don't quite appeal when there's something better. He's really taken a liking to grapes, honeydew, chicken, sweet potato fries, spaghetti, stuffed shells, etc!

• Jersey
• They're such BFF's!! When we get home every day, we say hi to Jersey when we walk in the door. He squeals and gets excited until I put him down so he can see her! I love it! He also will look for her when I ask him where she is. He's still trying to learn which toys are his and which are hers...

• Pictures/Facetime
•  We have a picture of the three of us up by his changing table. Whenever I put him up there to change him, I point to Tim or myself and ask him who it is. He now gets the biggest smile on his face when we play this game. I can't wait until he starts answering the question! We also facetime with mom and dad fairly often and he is so fascinated! He always tries to touch their faces and usually ends up disconnecting our conversation :)

• Lake!
• Corbin is such a good vacationer. When it's time to head to the lake on the weekends, he takes a nap on the way out there, plays and crawls everywhere, "swims" in his pool, drives the boat, and SLEEPS even more than normal! He is such a good napper and sleeper at the lake which is amazing, because we love it, too! He definitely gets his sleeping traits from his mama :)

I'm starting to plan a first birthday party and that's so sad!!! I can't believe he's growing up so fast, and pretty soon he'll be walking all over the place. It's so much fun to see his funny, goofy, sweet personality show! I just wish he'd slow down the growing up process a little bit!!!! :)

Annnnd....

We're mobile!! (well, more than barrel rolling)! I know I just posted yesterday, but last night Corbie decides that he wanted to go after the new bowling set he just got from his friend Riggins. So, lo and behold, he picks up his big belly and crawls to it!! He also wanted to spend the entire evening standing up at his piano and learning to walk along side of it. That's pretty much how we spent our evening last night! So busy, but I love every second of it!

9 months old?!

Well, I have a 9 month old. How is that even possible?! It literally seems like yesterday. Nonetheless, life is SO MUCH FUN right now!! Corbin is such a great kid, and that makes everything fun. Here's what we've been up to!

Baby Cousin!!
     Corbin got promoted again to big cousin on May 15th! Savannah and Evan welcomed baby Axel to the family. I am so in love with this little man, and he's going to know it! Auntie can't wait to spoil him! I am so excited to watch the boys grow up together.

Lake!

     We got to spend our first weekend of the summer out at the lake! Corbin, Jersey, and I went on Friday and Tim joined us late Saturday night. The kids and I had so much fun, and Corbie was such a good boy. I can't wait to do it all again this weekend! We had a picnic by the beach for snack time, had a bath on the deck, and even went on our first pontoon ride!

Dr Appointments

     We had our 9 month appointment yesterday and weighed in at a whopping 21.8lb (80th percentile). We are actually on the charts now for height, too! (27"--6th percentile) and head size 18" (70th percentile). He's following right along with his milestones and he even watched the nurse give him his shot and didn't even cry! He's such a tough guy!

Teeth!

     Tooth #5 is really really really close! He loves showing off his teeth when he smiles--which happens quite often! Thankfully we haven't noticed any change in behavior/diapers while he's been teething. Let's hope that continues as the rest of the teeth come in!

Barrel Rolling!

     Corbin's so incredibly close to crawling, but finds barrel rolling a much more efficient way of getting where he wants to go. It's pretty funny how he'll whip himself around in a circle on his belly, roll, rotate, roll, etc!

Sleeping!

     We've officially moved bedtime up to 8:15 now. We're in the process of cutting out our short evening nap. If I can keep him distracted enough he does just fine and then is really tired by that time. We're going to work towards 8:00, but that'll be the earliest we'll make him go down--otherwise we don't get much time with him!

Toys!

     A resident favorite is our John Deere block set, his toy John Deere combine, his big green monkey, his John Deere corn cob, and his firefly. It's pretty funny to watch him search out those specific toys. Such a smartie pants! :)

Food!

     We've mastered the art of Cheerios (thank goodness...cheaper than puffs) and are starting to explore "real" food. He definitely likes to be doing what we're doing and eating when we are, so we try share a little bit.

Life is pretty awesome right now with our handsome, funny, blue-eyed sweetheart!! He's growing up too fast though...

Quick question...

Is it possible to be obsessed with your child? Because I am. Like, seriously can't get enough of him! I'm sure every mom experiences this, and it's probably the coolest thing in the world. I'm pretty sure I fall more and more in love with this little guy every day, even when I didn't think I could love him any more. His funny, goofy, flirty personality is really starting to show and it makes time with him SO MUCH FUN! I love watching him learn and explore new things that even the day before he might not have been interested in. I love our "conversations" and making him giggle. I hate when he's upset, but I love being able to soothe him (even if sometimes it takes longer than I'd like...). I also really look forward to his "unwinding" nap after we get home from daycare so we can just snuggle! I know my days of snuggling are going be numbered, so I try take every opportunity I can and embrace it! So what if my house is just a little more unkept than it used to be, or that my dishes need to be done, or my laundry needs to be folded. There's always time for that later! I'm just so loving every single step of this mom journey and get excited for my friends and family who are new moms who are about to enter this journey, too, because it's seriously indescribable how amazing it is! It also makes my heart hurt for those who won't get to experience it. I can't imagine life without my little monkey and I count down the hours every day until I get to go pick him up!

ALSO, really excited to spend our anniversary weekend away with just Tim, though...I'm going to miss Corbin every second we're gone, but can't wait for that time to just be husband and wife again! It's so important not to lose sight of that :) Love my boys so much!

6 Month Update!

I feel like I say this every month, but really, HOW DO I HAVE A 6 MONTH OLD ALREADY?!?! I still tell him every day to quit growing up, but he doesn't listen. We had his 6 month check up on February 25th and he weighed 18lb 2oz (63rd %) and was 24.75" long (1st %). His head size was also in the 97th percentile this time. Lots of brains! I was a little concerned about his length, but his Dr told me that he could probably re-measure and get a totally different number since it's so hard to get their length when they're squirmy. He had shots and handled them like a big boy, too! We have to go in towards the end of March to get the 2nd round of his flu shot. Our little boy LOVES his schedule, and while it's a blessing that he does, when it's off just a little he'll let you know! I'm nervous for daylight savings time to come. I wish it started on a Friday so we had all weekend to get "straightened out!"

Here's what we've been up to this month:

• SLEEP!
• Continues to be one of Corbin's favorite things, and mine, too! He takes about an hour nap in the morning, down to about a 2 hour nap in the afternoon, and still takes about a half hour-45 minute recharging nap after we get home from daycare.
  

• DAYCARE!
• We switched daycares at the end of January, and have been so happy with our decision! It's so nice being able to leave the house at 7:45, drop him off with a little time for kissing those cheeks, and still get to work before 8! There are two little girls who go there and he pretty much just flirts with them all day! He is always so excited to see his daycare lady and his friends every morning!
  

• FOOD!
• We're up to 2 meals a day of baby food (fruits and veggies). He's still getting the same amount of bottles every day. We've discovered that sweet potatoes are his favorite, and he definitely does not like carrots!! He'll start eating them, but then about half way through the container will just start crying/screaming! We're in the process of switching formula to Similac Sensitive to see if something different will help his spit up. He definitely hasn't been "projectile" spitting up like he was on the Gerber, and it's definitely happening much less often. Yay!!

• PLAYING!
• Corbin LOVES his piano still, as I've mentioned a lot in previous posts! He's also really figuring out the whole bouncing thing in his bouncer. He still enjoys rolling around on his play mat, but has discovered his toes, so that's usually what he plays with now. We just recently bought the VTech Sit to Stand walker, and he loves to explore that. It's so fun watching him reach for things and his reaction when what he touches makes noise!
  

• TEETH!
• Two teeth have poked through in the last couple weeks! You really have to look out when he wants to bite your finger, because those little buggers are sharp! He wasn't overly fussy and didn't have any difference in his diapers, so we're thankful for that!
  
  

• TOES!
• They can finally reach all the way into his mouth now! He really likes to play with them when he's laying on his back and when he's sitting. This usually results in a face plant while he's sitting, but he makes sure those toes don't leave his mouth when he does it! :)

• PICTURES!
• It might be a sign that I take too many pictures of him, but when I get my camera out, or hold my phone up, he instantly starts smiling! He's such a little ham. Dad took his 6 month pictures while we were up in Hallock, and they've been a hit with everyone who's seen them! I shared the picture with USA Curling and there's about 920 likes on the picture, a bunch of comments, and it's been shared over 150 times! Canadian Curling News is even using it in their upcoming publication. Can't wait to see that! :) We're working on his autograph now.
  
  
  
  

• COUSIN!
• Corbin welcomed his first cousin on the Caillier side on February 17th! Aspen Ann was born to Ross and Amy. I think he'll be a good big cousin and teach her everything she needs to know!
  

• COLD :(
• AND we're starting off 6 months with a cold. The dr's ruled out pneumonia and bronchitis, thankfully. It's just a virus that will have to run it's course. Thank goodness it's almost the weekend so we can relax and lay low!
  

5 months!

Since it's been a full MONTH since I posted last, I figured I better get back on it! :)

Life with a 5 month old...how come nobody told me that a 5 month old who can't crawl/walk/run is so busy?! We will lay him down on his play mat, and he'll lay on his back for anywhere from 5 seconds-a minute, before he's up on his tummy trying to move! He eventually gets frustrated when he can't get anywhere, and then I think he forgets that he can roll back over, so he just gets mad. He LOVES to play his "piano." Mom and Dad gave him a Fisher Price Step N Play Piano for Christmas and he spends quite a bit of time in there! He loves to sing along with it and just gets so excited when we put him in it. He is also finally able to reach the floor in his bouncer and is starting to get the hang of bouncing! He just always has to be doing something or he gets bored--oh, and he talks STEADY! I had to ask him the other day if he was going to stop to breathe, and he just smiled at me and kept on talking. :)

We've also started baby food! Right now he just gets one tub of food each day, but he really loves it! He is unsure about the first bite, but then once he swallows it, it's game on and he sits with his mouth wide open ready for more! So far the only food he's turned his head away from is pears, and the next day we tried them again and he gobbled up the whole thing!

One of his new favorite things to do is "feel" things. As soon as you pick him up, or when he rolls over, he's always feeling things with his little fingers. His personality is also really starting to show! He's such a fun little guy and is typically always happy unless he's hungry or tired. He's such a flirt, too! There's 2 little girls at his daycare and he just watches them and smiles and talks to them all day--I witnessed it the other day when I went to pick him up, and he's quite the Casanova! :) He started a new daycare at the end of January and he's loving it! It's super close to home and work, so it's very convenient. They have a set schedule of activities every day and they are constantly learning something new!

He's still such a good sleeper, and is on a really good schedule! His days are pretty much like this--to a T:

7:30--wake up or get woken up to get ready for daycare
8:00ish--bottle
9:30ish--1 hour nap
Noon--bottle
2 1/2-3 hour afternoon nap
4:00--bottle
5:30ish--45 minute nap
8:15ish--bottle
8:30ish--down for the night!

It's really awesome to see how predictable this is! The weekends throw us off a little if we're traveling or have things going on, but we still make it work! :)

We're really working on sitting up unassisted. He's getting better at it! He just finds his feet so fascinating that when he does sit up, all he wants to do is lean forward to play with his feet and try get them in his mouth....which leads to tipping over! He also does good until he gets excited and whips his head around to see what his "sister" is doing. He definitely LOVES watching Jersey and she is usually so excited to go into his room in the morning to see him! They're going to be such good buds :)

Well, that's about all we've been up to! We'll have his 6 month appointment in a couple weeks and I can't wait to see how much he's grown! :)

Life with a 4 month old

At our 4 month appointment, Corbin weighed right around 15 lbs (37th percentile), was 23 1/2 inches long (3rd percentile--poor kid!) and his head size is in the 94th percentile! Of course there were shots, which he handled better than before, and he was back to himself in no time! Life with little C is starting to get more and more fun! Here's what we've been up to this month:

• DROOL!
• It pretty much consumes us these days. This results in many bibs and clothes changes throughout the day--and you better always have a rag nearby, because it comes out by the gallon, I swear! He always has his thumb, finger, entire hand in his mouth. Look out if yours is anywhere near, because that's probably going in his mouth, too!! He really likes to chomp down on things, but no teeth are poking through, yet.

• SLEEP!
• We've been having some pretty awesome sleep lately...like 12 hour stretches!! Sometimes he'll wake up about 5am and start talking to himself and sucking on his hands, but then usually puts himself right back to sleep! That's all I will say on that so I don't jinx this wonderful thing we've got going here!
  

• CEREAL!
• We got the go-ahead from the doctor at his 4 month appointment to start solids sometime within the next couple months. We aren't really in too much of a rush, but figured with how much he's been eating from a bottle, we might as well try. Well, the first try was pretty funny! There was cereal everywhere and he didn't eat too much. The second time we tried it, he really like the idea of it, but just can't quite figure out why he can't suck on the spoon! We haven't tried for a few days now, but will slowly keep at it!
  
• ROLLING OVER!
• He's rolled over from front to back several times, but sometimes just can't quite get it! He sure grunts and kicks and tries hard, though! His new favorite thing has been working on back to front. He gets SO close, but then his arm gets stuck and he can't quite figure that out. He's become a side sleeper while he's working on mastering this skill, too
  
  
  
• TALKING!/SQUAWKING!
• Constantly. He is always telling us stories and singing! He got a new "Step and Play" Piano for Christmas and he likes to play music and sing along with it. Last night he was even "singing" right on key! It was pretty cute. Hopefully that means we have a musically-inclined little dude!
  
• SPLASHING!
• Bath time is the best!! He gets so excited when he gets in the tub! He usually uses one of his legs to hold himself up in his little tub and uses the other one to kick and splash! It's pretty funny!
  
• BLOWOUTS!
• Well, we made it 4 1/2 months without one...and then it came. It was like a "throw away the onesie-hurry and get this kid in the tub-rinse off-try not to get covered in it while taking off the diaper" type of situation. Poor kid started getting really nervous while I had him "standing" in the tub because we were panicking trying to figure out the least messy way to tackle this! haha. Once he got rinsed off and in his little tub, he was a happy camper! :)
• NEW SKILLS!
• The newest skill we're working on adding to our bag of tricks is sitting up. He does a good job until he moves his head! haha. It's tough having a big melon! We get lots of practice and he really loves being able to see what's going on....ESPECIALLY when his big sister is around because she's so fun to watch! They're buds :)
  

That's pretty much been our "4 month" happenings so far, even though we've still got a couple weeks left of this month. Time can slow down any day now!! :)

4 month picture!