Flynn the 1 year old!

Excuse me while I cry over my last baby turning 1!! I truly can't believe it. How can he be 1? This year has flown by. Time has felt extra weird in 2020. With everything that's gone on in the past year, in a way, it's felt like a lifetime. It's hard to remember life without Flynn around! But then it's also had a surreal feel, so it seems like the past 9 months didn't even happen. So in my head Flynn should still be 3 months old. He's exploding with growth right now. Taking first steps, learning how to communicate even better and starting to really play with his siblings. It's the beginning of one of my favorite ages! <3

Look at that sweet newborn face! So fresh! I'm usually not too sentimental about 1st birthdays, but since this is the last 1st birthday in the family I'm getting a little teary and giving him lots of extra hugs and snuggles! I have loved the tiny baby years of my motherhood journey, but I am also really looking forward to what's ahead. Each time my most recent baby started sleeping through the night I would get pregnant within a month or two. I'm really looking forward to sleeping again for an extended period of time without getting pregnant this time around. ;) Don't get me wrong I chose to do it that way and I'd do it again. But I've been pregnant or breastfeeding for the past 7 years. I know I've reached my limit. It feels weird for this season of life be coming to an end but also right. I'm excited for the time when our whole family can sit down and watch a movie together from start to finish. There's lots of things I'm looking forward to. Sure there are challenges in every season of motherhood but it's all worth it and such a joy. I'm looking forward to all the new experiences this next season will bring. I'm definitely excited to enjoy my 1 year old without being pregnant.

Ok, I'll stop being sappy and get back to Flynn! Here's some stats from his first year.

Weight

Birth: 6lbs 6oz

1 Year Old: 20lbs 13oz

Flynn started off so super tiny! Like in the 2nd percentile or something when he was first weighed at the dr. office. I'm so proud of how far he's come! Now he's near the middle of the pack as far as weight is concerned. He's not as chunky as Atlas was and nowhere near the chubby bunny that Xan was, but he did beat Jane by a couple pounds at her first year check up. He likes to eat, but he is so busy that I'm pretty sure he just burns it all off in the course of a day. Between his 9 month and 12 month well checks he only gained half a pound. This boy likes to move!!

Height

Birth: 20 Inches

1 Year Old: 28.5 Inches

Flynn was a little short when he was born but not by too much. After the first couple of months he had stayed around the middle of the road for height. But at his last appointment he only grew half an inch in the last 3 months and it put him at like the 7th percentile. So weird! I'm wondering if my milk supply had really started to dwindle and I didn't notice. He got his first bottle of milk after his first birthday so I wonder if that will make a difference. Also I always wonder how accurate they are with their measurements of height with babies at the dr. office. They do it so fast and the write their curved lines on that paper and don't seem to be very exact. A 1/4-1/2 an inch makes a big difference on the percentile scales. Anyway, I'm not too worried about it. He could end up being tall like Sam and be a tank or a more compact guy that's super fast and nimble at sports like my brother or somewhere in the middle! Either way would be great. I'm looking forward to finding out!

It's official! All my babies teethe late! Flynn finally got his first tooth at 10 months old. Jane was the earliest at 9 months. And back then I thought that was late! Xan was right after 1 and Atlas took until 13 1/2 months to get his first chomper. Flynn's second tooth popped through about a week before his 1st birthday. Since I nurse for the first 12+ months having late teething babies has worked out great for me! 

Firsts

Awww, it's my last time recapping a first year through their eventful firsts! Can you tell I'm feeling very sentimental about this blog post? They grow soooo much through their first year. Such a huge change from my tiny newborn to my super busy 1 year old boy. Firsts are still my favorite part each kid's birthday blog post.

Bath - 1 1/2 weeks

 

Smile - 1 month 

Laugh - 3 months 

Swing and Jumper - 3 months

Standing with assistance - 3 1/2 months 

Rolling - 4 months

Swim - 4 months

Sitting - 4 1/2 months

Pulling up and food - 6 months

Crawling - 6 1/2 months

Standing - 7 1/2 months

Climbing - 8 months

Beach/Waving/pointing/throwing/clapping - 8-9 months

Sleeping through the night and tooth - 10 months

Steps - 11 months

Walking across the room - coming soon!

Favorites

Look at that smolder! (Just like Flynn Rider, haha! NOT who he was named after by the way.) This boy loves to have his serious face on. I mean he can be smiley and loves to laugh, but he's much more likely to give you one of his serious or grumpy faces when you smile at him. Don't worry it doesn't mean he doesn't like you... most of the time. ;) Like all of my other babies Flynn LOVES the outdoors. Maybe more than all the rest. He can be fussy inside, but as soon as we step out of the door he's smiling again. Just crawling around and exploring is his favorite thing. I think finding something to climb is his goal. He always surprises me with what he can climb. For example, he loves to sit in the drivers seat and hold on to the steering wheel. Little did I know he could climb on to the steering wheel and stand on top of it. He also loves to find sticks, spoons or anything that has a similar shape to tap and bang on things with. Maybe he has some drummer tendencies? He loves to swing and cries when I have to take him out. Flynn is naturally drawn towards any body of water, even if it's just a tiny puddle or of course the dog's water bowl. It's a constant struggle to keep him out of it! He loves the bathtub and the pool as well. I'm looking forward to watching him toddle around splash pads and the sunshelf of my parents pool this summer! One thing that is different from his siblings is that he's not a fan of the trampoline yet. But I think that's because there's almost always 3 big kids jumping on it. He never gets a moment on it to himself. I'll have to try to find more opportunities for him to enjoy it.

Flynn really enjoys eating as long as I can get him to stop crawling around everywhere and focus! Some of his favorites are Ritz crackers, veggie straws, teddy grahams, fruit snacks, strawberries, cheese, popsicles, yogurt, Mac and cheese, spaghetti and bread. He'll try just about anything though!

I'm not sure Flynn has favorite toys... I guess they're not your typical toys. He loves these spoons! Anytime I'm loading the dishwasher he comes and grabs them out and takes off with them crawling around and banging the ground and whatever else is around. He grabs the reusable straws too. A recent favorite from Christmas is his pounding bench. OH and he loves balls! He'll throw them, chase them and bump them along with him as he crawls.

Just recently Flynn has taken an interest in books! Yay! The first 11 months of his life I couldn't keep his interest in them even if they had textures. Now before bed he likes to pick two or three out and enjoys turning the pages and feeling all the textures and finger trails, lifting flaps and pushing sound buttons. His favorite is definitely "Don't Tickle the Hippo". He also enjoys 10 Crunching Caterpillars a good bit. He still doesn't care about a book that doesn't have any special elements. It will happen though! All three of the older kids started that way and now they get sad when I tell them we're done reading books.

Flynn's favorite activities are throwing balls, splashing in puddles, swimming, going to the park, climbing anything, swinging, exploring, going on walks, getting into big brother and sisters things, cuddling blankets and pillows and anything else that involves moving around. He likes going places, but hates getting in his car seat. Feeling restricted is not his favorite. He doesn't love the carrier either. He's a busy boy!!

I usually don't add a section for favorite TV shows in the 1 year old post because I can't tell if they like one more than another. But Flynn always crawls over to the TV to watch Blues Clues when the big kids are watching. Otherwise he doesn't pay much attention to the TV. Unless we're playing video games then he really wants a controller to think he's playing with us. So cute!! He's always trying to steal Atlas's controller when he's playing Mario.

Flynn loves his siblings!! It's so amazing that he seems to have a different, yet special connection with each of them. Jane and Flynn share a busy nature and love anything exciting. He also has a trust with Jane since she's old enough to care for him in a more responsible way than the other siblings. With Atlas he's got the brother bond and he's already trying to play video games with big brother. Of all the siblings Alexandria and Flynn are the closest in age. They fight sometimes because of that, but they also seem to have the most affectionate relationship too. They're always hugging each other and Flynn always wants to be playing near Xan. As the 4th born, Flynn is picking things up from everyone! I think the thing he's learned from everyone is to be loud! ;) "Oh, it's time to scream? I can do that too!!" I don't know why I can't turn the volume down in my house. We're constantly talking about being quieter. I sort of feel like since my first one was just naturally loud it's just my fate to have a loud house. All the rest of them seem to be loud just to be heard. Still, I'm not giving up, we'll keep having talks about not screaming, yelling or just plain talking loudly until I feel like we've come back down to a reasonable level. Even so he's learned good things from the big sibs too, like sitting to read a book, keeping up with a busy household and not letting things bother him easily. He can take several splashes of water to the face without crying and even wrestle with Xan and enjoy it already. I can't get over how blessed we are to have 4 kids and get to watch all of the brother sister relationships develop through the years!

A year and a half ago I read about giving kids roles in the family according to their strengths and personality traits at a young age so they can have a sense of purpose and can contribute to the family early on. For example Jane's role is the leader of the kids and she is the keeper of excellence. Atlas is the protector and the keeper of fairness. Alexandria is the follower/helper and the keeper of kindness. Of course Flynn is little young for roles but at 3 months old I wrote that he would be the keeper of balance and consistency. I also noted that his strengths would be a sound mind, level head and having logic balanced with love. His top needs are having routine, reassurance and security. Now at a year old all those still seem pretty spot on at this point. It could always change of course! But it's true, he's a busy guy, but he does stop for cuddles. And even though he's very adventurous he's pretty good at not getting in over his head. Sure he's a baby and cries, but he doesn't get overly emotional about things and he's pretty easy to settle. He has a great capacity to love, but doesn't give his love easily. You've got to earn his trust first! He knows what he likes and feels safe to have those things, at the same time his joy for exploring is contagious!

All this makes him uniquely Flynn Samuel Daniels and it is my privilege to watch him grow up!

Happy Birthday Flynn! We love you so much buddy!

1 Thessalonians 3:12

And may the Lord cause you to increase and overflow in love for one another, and for all people, just as we also do for you; 

2 Timothy 3:16-17

All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.

Fall Memories 2019: Part 2

This is one of my favorite pictures ever and part of the reason I don't usually try too hard for a perfectly posed picture. I see real life happening here. My kids are... well, kids! They are silly and can be wild. But I love it and wouldn't have it any other way. I don't want to be parenting robot children. I love them with all their quirks and craziness. Sure, I crave the quiet and time to myself sometimes, but years from now when all is quiet and still I'll be craving the noise again. Writing these seasonal posts keeps the passage of time in the forefront of my mind and I really value the perspective. It keeps me grateful and joyful during even the chaotic days of strong disobedience. But hey they're learning to be better and I am too. Lets be like the trees and keep our roots but shed our dead leaves and start new each year, always continuing to grow. Yeah, I love fall. Even when it feels like things are falling apart if we look far enough ahead it's just what needs to happen in order to start something beautiful, fresh and new.

I let each of the kids pick out a pumpkin and I got one to try my hand at carving a pumpkin for the first time! I did ok. I'll have to try again with a bigger pumpkin another year. Jane did so well. She painted that face on her pumpkin with no direction from me. Atlas and Xan had fun. I helped Atlas by wiping off some paint to make a face on it. He was happy with it. And Xan, well, she's just always happy to be included. <3

We love the Little Hearts Pumpkin patch story time event each year! It's so close to our house and free. <3 This year we went in the church and listened to a quick story about pumpkins and then went to the activity area to play in the cornbox and do some coloring. The kids love the "spooky" maze. You can see Jane petting a crow statue and Xan hugging a rat. Haha! So many of our good home school friends were able to attend with us. The kids got to take home a tiny pumpkin too. It was such a good time.

It's Fall Festival time!! I packed in as many fall events as I felt like I could! The first one was at Good Shepard. The same place our favorite pumpkin patch is located. There were train rides, inflatables, a petting zoo and games. I wasn't aware that everything cost money... even the little games and nothing was cheap in my opinion. I guess it's seen as a church fundraiser so people don't mind. I did a little. Sorry, I'm used to free Fall Festivals. Anyway, We got to see our good friends, Lena and Whisper and the kids had lots of fun. So it was worth it. Don't know if I'll go back again though.

Fall Fest #2! My personal favorite! Trunk or Treat on the Trails. It's a fall fest shared by three churches closely connected by the greenbelt trails. I love it because it keeps the flow of people moving nicely. But it has gotten very popular!! We only seem to make it around to two of the churches every year because we wear out before we reach the third. Sam braved the crowds with us since my mom was out of town. It was a great fall festival as usual. Xan especially loved giving the horse a hug! She looks like she's imitating Bregman's "should have walked me" celebration sign in the group picture above.

Arbor Terrace, the same senior living center that we do our co-op at, has a yearly trick or treat event so their residents can enjoy seeing kids in their cute costumes. I think it's a wonderful event. We've been each year that I've known about it. This year it was conveniently on the same day as co-op. So we did our rounds for the trick or treating and headed up to our co-op room to have a dress like your book and share day. I grabbed library books to match the costumes we had. ;) Jane was Belle, Xan was Elsa and Atlas was a monster and I used Nibbles: The book monster as his book. It worked great!

Fast Fest #3! The last fall fest of the season. My mom and I decided we wanted to have the best house on the block on Halloween, not with decorations or spookiness or anything but the one with the best hospitality. So we thought setting up a mini fall festival in my parents front yard would be fun and spread joy! I thought about doing it at my house but we have like one or two kids walk down our street the whole night of Halloween. So my parents house was a better location. We set up games, candy and put on some music. It was great! We had a few friends stop by and a few neighbors. Still not too many, but we started and ended a little too early. We'll adjust next year. We also need a sign. A few people walked on by not realizing they didn't need an invitation to come play or just grab some candy. It was like the coldest day of the season so far. I remember thinking it might be too cold for a fishing game with water but it ended up being the most popular game. I'm sort of glad we ended early because once the sun went down it got even colder. We were ready to warm up inside. I enjoy the fun fall festivals each year but I'm always happy for it to be over and to see the scary decorations start disappearing and the Christmas lights start appearing. Because that means the best time of the year has begun!

Across the street from the Botanical Garden, Mercer also has a super fun playground! Being a great middle point between us we decided it was a perfect place to meet our good friends the McNairs on a beautiful fall day. I'd been to the Gardens but never the playground. The kids had a blast. They especially loved the dinosaur they could ride on. The best part was getting to see our friends of course!

Jane's sweet friend Cambrie invited Jane to her birthday party at a local park. Jane was so excited to go! They had unicorn cupcakes which Jane was thrilled about and a castle pinata that she put some great whacks on. She's got a pretty good swing! Atlas and Xan got to try too. So cute! They all had a great time running around the park with their friends. I'm so glad Jane has a couple of good girlfriends to grow up with. <3

Alllll the parks! I love the fall weather sooo much. We take every opportunity to go to parks when the weather is nice. We met up with my longest friend Mindy and her boys at a park we hadn't been to in a while. Her boys are close to Jane and Alexandria's age. Atlas sometimes gets lost in the shuffle. But he's starting to get old enough to run around with Liam and Jane. We always have a great time together. Mindy was just starting up a photography business and I took the opportunity to ask her if she would come take pictures of Flynn's birth. She said she would be so honored. I tried to offer to pay her but she wouldn't hear of it. She wanted it to be her gift to me especially since she was just getting started. She's the sweetest. I was so happy to have such a long time close friend to be able to take birth pictures for me. :) 

It's the first Kinderstars meet of the season!! Jane was completing her bronze routines for this meet and she did so amazing! All purple ribbons which are the best you can get! So proud. She had such a great time. Look at that face when she completed her vault routine. She was so excited that she got it just right! It was a Frozen themed meet as well. She was thrilled to get her picture with Elsa. At this point I wasn't sure if I would make it to the next meet since it was only 2 days before Flynn's due date. I was glad we got such a great meet together just the two of us. We celebrated her success with a trip to Cici's. Look at that face, she really loves pizza. Me too, kid, Me too. ;)

You mean you've never pitched your first tent ever on your own when you were 36 weeks pregnant?? Yeah, me neither, until now. Haha! In the summer my dad was going to get rid of his old tent he hadn't used in years unless we wanted it. So I said, why not! Jane had been asking for a tent for a long time, but I told Jane I wasn't going to put the tent up until the weather was nice in the fall. Well, I didn't make the connection that I would be pretty durn pregnant by that time. I really didn't want to disappoint her so I made it work! I did it! It wasn't too bad actually. I took it easy for the next couple of days afterwards. ;) They love it!! They use it like a playhouse and play mommies and daddies in there all the time.

What is it about piles of leaves and kids that feels so magical? So much joy in those sweet faces! Around January my dad comes by and blows all the leaves into a huge pile for the kids to play in right before he throws them out. Well Jane couldn't wait. She saw some leaves on the ground in late November and asked if she could make a pile on her own. I warned her it wouldn't be as big as she was used to since not enough leaves had fallen yet. She said it was fine. She worked away and got a pile that she was pleased with. It was big enough for them to have a blast covering each other and running and jumping in. I love it when they have their own ideas and it works out how they imagined. These are the days I'll long for when they're all grown up. Happy Fall Y'all!

Matthew 6:31-34

“Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.