#2

Yesterday Derek turned 13 months and today his second tooth broke through, but just barely.  You cannot even see it, but can feel it.  He now has two bottom teeth - bottom front left [then working to the right], a space, and a second tooth.   It looks like there is one more on the way where the space is.  In fact, I though it would come before this one because the outline is so visible under his gums.  Our little drool monster continues....

Christmas in Milwaukee

This Christmas, we were back to our normal routine.  (Last year we changed things up due to Derek's arrival). We celebrated with the Nistler's early so they could head down to Florida and we took off down to Milwaukee.  The one big deviation from our normal routine was my brother.  He and his wife have decided to do the big holidays every other.  This meant that he was not in Milwaukee celebrating with us.

Overall, traveling went well with Derek.  Since he's bigger now (and it's a pretty long trip), I wasn't sure how this trip would go.  He had plenty of entertainment with Mike and Grandpa in the back seat.  After we stopped for dinner, he ended up sleeping the entire way.  Then when we arrived, we brought him straight up to bed to go back to sleep instead of being overwhelmed by all these new faces at 11 pm at night.  While he didn't fall right back to sleep, it proved to be a good decision because he met each person as they woke up in the morning.  It was more of a gradual transition and much better for him.

We had a chance to catch up with most of our relatives.  While it was different because everyone wasn't there, it was nice.  We did get to see everyone a bit more than we do in a normal year because of all of the weddings (my cousin & brother).  Derek got to meet his new 2nd cousin (my cousin's little girl).

Peek-a-boo!

Playing with bowls

Fun climbing the stairs with Grandpa

Building blocks with his 2nd cousin

Happy to meet his new 2nd cousin

There were also two dogs for him to be around at Christmas.  There was a gate separating the dogs from the him, which proved to be a good idea.  The little dog he liked because it was more his size, but he didn't like it when she jumped up on him.  And the bigger dog was very friendly but had a very loud, deep bark that sometimes scared him.  The gate was nice to allow him to enjoy the dogs but to be to close.

Doggie

Safely behind the gate

I was concerned about the drive home.  Derek did great on the way down because he slept most of the way.  On they way home, we coordinated leaving with his afternoon nap and we got a good 3 hour nap out of him. That helped so much.  The remaining 3 hours he did alright.  Again, Mike and Grandpa stepped in and played endless games of peek-a-boo, reading stories, etc.  All and all it was a good trip.  Merry Christmas everyone!

Christmas, Christmas

This weekend we celebrate both the Nistler Christmas and the Schultz Christmas. It was a back to back days of fun.  We started with the Nistler's at Dan & Heidi's house.  We had a great meal and hung out to watch the kids.  Christmas sure has changed with little kids running around and they are the center of attention.  Derek really enjoyed watching his older cousin play & dance around.  We even got a few cute photos:

Reading stories with his cousin

Checking out the opened presents

Reading stories with Grandpa

Walking with Granpda

I thought for sure he would be interested in opening presents this year now that he's a bit older but he wasn't.  He was interested in playing with some of the toys after they were opened but he much preferred walking with Grandpa Chuck all over the house.

The Schultz side of the family celebration was the next day.  Not quite the level of excitement because Derek is the only little one around but we still had a great, relaxing time.  Despite having a "small" Christmas with everyone choosing a name this year (because of the cruise), there were still so many more gifts than I ever expected.  We opened presents in the afternoon, again Derek didn't really care about presents so we opened most of them when he was napping.

Not sure about this hat, Katie

He LOVED these singing dancing snowman

I had been telling my mom about this portable chair I was trying to find (I wanted it before we left for Milwaukee for Christmas) and how I had even called every Babies R Us/Toys R Us store in the state without any luck.  Amazon had it in stock but it would take to long to be delivered.  It's nice because it has so many different ways to use it and it works everywhere because it just straps onto the chair.  Some of the best reviews I've ever seen on a product.  She managed to find this chair - I couldn't believe it!!

Eating Christmas dinner in his new chair

After presents we ate some of the best pot roast I've ever had.  Mom was using us as guinea pigs for a meal she was planning later for hosting Bunco.  I'll happily be a guinea pig again - yum!!!

Overall we had a wonderful weekend full of family and fun.

Roseola again?

Derek has been acting sick again - crabby and running a temp this weekend.  After a few days of this behavior, we expected to see a rash break out on his tummy.  We were totally expecting this behavior to be Roseola since it was the last time we him like this.  When no rash appeared on day 3, we took him into the doctor only to discover that he's just fine and it's a delayed reaction to his MMR shots.


Seriously?!?!?  Those were almost 2 weeks ago!  Had this happened the day or two after his shots we would have attributed it to them but not given that this amount of time had passed.  We went back and read our literature and sure enough, symptoms present 10-14 days after the shots.  We always read the check-up documents but just scan the shot ones because they are all the worst case reactions.  From now on, we'll be reading all documents thoroughly - lesson learned (and paid for with a copay)!

1st Cookie Baking

Derek participated in his first cookie baking.  Cookie baking is a family tradition on Mike's mom's side and for the past few years (with the exception of last year due to Derek's early arrival) we have hosted at our house.  It's always a great time and we end up with way more cookies than we know what to do with, plus it's a nice way to catch up while doing something together.

A new apron for our youngest baker.

Derek was excited to try cookie dough.

First taste (he found a tiny fleck on the table)

The Nistlers with all the grandkids.

Katie & Chris were having fun too!

Brother in-law Matt - He made these chocolate covered cherry
 cookies.  Each cookie had a chocolate chip stuffed in a cherry!

I want the cookies!

As usual, we had way to many cookies left over so I packaged some up for the neighbors & friends.  Then I went to work at freezing them.  I made good use of our Food Saver and frozen tons with 2-3 cookies in a package - the perfect little snack!  One year I made it all the way to the following December, finishing off the last packet a few weeks before our next cookie baking.  I hope I can make it to the next one this year.  

12 Month Check Up

Today we had Derek's 12 month check up and he's a growing boy:

Weight:  22 lbs, 4 oz  (41%)
Length:  30 1/2 inches  (73%)
Head:  18 1/2 inches  (68%)

For the first time ever, we didn't have the conversation about him putting on weight.  While his weight is still more than 25% difference to his height, it made significant improvement since our 9 month exam  (weight was in the 29% then).  I think that has to do mainly with how long it took him to figure out how to move around (and burn calories).  Most kids are crawling all over the place around 9/10 months and starting to walk around a year.  Derek just learned to crawl about 2 weeks ago.

His head size also grew considerably (from 43% at 9 months).  Our doctor wants us to come back.in 6 weeks to have it measured again.  There is a slight chance that rapid growth in head size could be due to fluid in his brain.  If it's still growing at that rate at our next check-up, then it's a CT scan and other tests - the concern would be that the fluid could lead to seizures. More likely though, his 12 month check-up was right after a growth spurt.  I'm surprised that this news doesn't scare me as much as I would have expected it to.  Maybe it's because I realize that there is nothing I can do to change the outcome.  However, I may just find myself measuring his head between now and the appointment for my own sanity.

On the gross motor skills development side, she was again satisfied with his progress.  Overall, it was a great appointment.  I know we have gone back and forth about whether she is the right doctor for us, but after the last few great appointments, I believe she is.  We realized that the appointments we struggle with are when she has a student with her.  We've always been asked if the student came come in first, then she comes in later but is considerably rushed due to the extra time delay.  And Derek is crabbier because he's being examined twice.  In the future, we just need to have the courage to say "no" when asked about the student first.

It's weird to think that I have a 1 year old....wow!

First Tooth Sighting

Just yesterday we had the conversation with the doctor regarding his teeth and learned that it can be up to 15 months before they start to come in.  And this morning while he was chewing on his sippy cup, I noticed a teeny tiny tooth barely sticking through his gums.  It appears his bottom right front tooth is starting to come in.  Soon this beautiful baby smile will look quite different:

Happy Birthday Derek!

Yesterday Derek turned 1 year old.  Since his birthday fell over Thanksgiving weekend, we decided to celebrate with our immediate families during our Thanksgiving visits.  In the future, I don't want to combine the two and really want him to have a birthday only celebration, but at this age, it didn't seem worth the extra effort.  I'm constantly amazed at how much he changed in the last year, but we have over 5500 pictures to prove it!!

I've heard that for a child's first birthday, you give them an entire cake to eat/smash.  And many bakeries are actually giving them away for free!  That seemed a little excessive to me to waste an entire cake on someone so little that was only going to destroy it, so I took advantage of the free birthday cake for Derek at Lund's & Byerlys but also purchased two large cupcakes for him to "smash" - one for each birthday celebration.

Derek started his birthday celebration at the Nistlers on Friday.  We didn't know what to expect other than cake flying everywhere so we stripped him down to his diaper and put up a shield in the kitchen and let him go for it.  This was his very first experience with cake or frosting:

First taste

Yum - I want more

This stuff is pretty good

Getting messy

This is fun!

Happy Birthday Derek!

After the cake & frosting fun, it was bath time:

Happy with Grandma Nistler after bath

With Grandma & Grandpa Nistler
(and the free cake we didn't smash)

After the Nistler's we headed up to Gull Lake to hang out with my family for Thanksgiving and celebrate Derek's birthday.  This celebration took place on his actual birthday after lunch.  He wasn't as hungry then but knew what to do this time so it was still a lot of fun:

With Schultz's

Uncle Chris & Aunt Katie

Katie decided to help him

Again, after he was done, we started his bath.  We did his birthday celebration in the bathroom for easy clean-up.  He LOVES baths so as soon as he heard the water running he was off to check it out, leaving a trail of frosting in his wake:

Oooohh....a bath

Messy boy - bath time!

Happy in the bath tub
(the water turned a slight red color from all the frosting)

All and all, we had a great birthday celebration with family & friends.  It was pretty low key and therefore enjoyable for everyone.  HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEREK!!

Home Stretch

Yesterday I started the exciting process of weaning.  I wasn't sure I was going to start so soon and wasn't really sure how to do it so I called the lactation consultant.  She returned my call surprisingly quickly and I felt much more confident after our conversation. Through talking with her, I realized just how fortunate I am that Derek isn't still nursing and I'm just pumping.  Because of this, I have complete flexibility with my approach.  It was a difficult transition to make at the time, but in hindsight, I'm glad it happened the way it did.  Here's my plan:

Now:  Pump:  5 am, 10:30 am, 3:30 pm, and before bed (around 8:30/9 pm)
Next week:  Pump 5 am, 12:30 pm, and 7ish
In two weeks:  Pump 5 am and before bed
In three weeks:  Pump 5 am
Done!!

Right now I'm thinking about keeping the 5 am pumping the longest because that's when I produce the most milk.  Mike is trying to convince me to give that one up earlier so I can actually sleep in.  We'll see .... he makes a pretty convincing argument.

Thanksgiving with Schultz's

On Friday, we headed up to Gull Lake to be with my family & celebrate Derek's birthday.  Normally we are up at Gull Lake over Thanksgiving and through part of Black Friday.  This year our time started on Black Friday so we opted not to do the traditional Thanksgiving meal and each family planned a meal.  It was a nice change from more turkey and less work for my parents.  We did as much relaxing as you can do with a 1 year old around and enjoyed that we already had our Black Friday shopping complete (we typically do Black Friday shopping as a family).

Playing Peek-a-Boo with Mike

There is a pool on-site so this was the perfect opportunity to take Derek swimming for the first time.  Mike ran down ahead of time to see if the water was a decent temp for Derek to swim.  He deemed it acceptable and about 2 hours later we headed down.

Derek was more interested in watching the
kids play in the pool than get dressed.

Almost ready to go swimming.

We did put on his life jacket but then quickly realized that wasn't a good idea for this particular situation.  The pool was smaller and he didn't really want to be by himself so we took it off and just held him.   He was more interested in watching the other kids swim to even notice he was really in the water and this was something new.  The kids, of course, noticed his curiosity and were happy to entertain him.

In a swimming pool for the first time.

As it turned out, the water was a bit colder now so we didn't stay to long.  We put on warm jammies and headed back.  The stairs proved to be more fun than swimming and we went back to the stand-by favorites.

We also celebrated Derek's birthday with my family but I'll put that in a separate post about his 1st birthday.  

Thanksgiving with Nistler's

Every year for Thanksgiving, we are fortunate enough to get to spend Thanksgiving with both sides of our family.  This Thanksgiving was extra special for us because it was Derek's first Thanksgiving (and his last, first holiday).  We took a few minutes to reminisce about this time last year and how our celebration got cut short with Derek's arrival.  This year was a little more relaxing, but fun never-the-less.

Derek started out by taking his first taste of whole milk.  I was prepared with the camera to capture his expression as I fully expected him to react.  He drank it down like it was no big deal - no reaction at all.  All this time, I've been pumping and nursing and it turns out he likes whole milk just as much!

First taste of whole milk.

He ate a full Thanksgiving meal, complete with turkey, stuffing, and corn.  He loved it all:

First Thanksgiving Dinner

Derek & Grandpa Nistler having fun at dinner.

Smiles after eating - with Uncle Matt & cousins Sadie & Eliza.

Then the whole Nistler family came over for some food and fun games.  And of course, Derek loved being part of the festivities:

Since his birthday was so close to Thanksgiving, we also celebrated his birthday on Friday.  I'll write more about that in a separate first birthday post.