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
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
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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!
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