Month by Month Collage

I finally had time to try and get Caffrey's 12 month photos with the sticker yesterday, but it was honestly a disaster. He was way too wild and distracted for "posed photos", but I did share the album on Facebook for some laughs. What can I say? He's my wild one!

Anyway, I was able to make it work enough that I got a picture to complete my bear growth collage. He's still a tiny thing, but he's grown so much this year. I just love his little personality and can't wait to see how much it develops as he gets older!

And just to show that sweet little face up closer...

He's a Wild ONE!

This weekend, we celebrated Caffrey turning one with a Wild Rumpus! I twisted my husband's arm sweetly convinced Steven that we need to have a Wild Thing theme after realizing what a crazy little boy we had on our hands, but that meant a little more work to get things together for this party to happen. I was actually a little surprised that you can't really buy crowns and jungle theme party supplies easily. Still, with a little crafting, I think this is my favorite party look I've thrown yet, and it didn't cost that much to put together!

I had a few friends come over and help me cut out crowns using thick gold paper. We just stapled them at the end, and then I used toothpicks to poke little holes to tie string to. For future reference, elastic string would have worked better because the crowns kept falling off. Still, they were precious!

Cousin, Jonah, and big brother, Keagan

The banner was just tissue paper and the triangles from cutting out the crowns. I realized after making it that it matches my classroom decor perfectly, so it will be coming to school with me (along with a crown so I can remind students that I'm the queen of my classroom). One of my friends used her Cricut machine to make the one, words for a banner that I didn't get pictures of, and little crown cupcake toppers. Then I just bought balloons at Dollar Tree (they were the only place I could find gold balloons), and we were set!

Caffrey loved his cake, although he was funny about it and couldn't figure out how to eat it as a whole. Steven finally cut a slice of this one, and then he picked it up and dug in.

Balloons also may not have been the best idea. I finally had to pop them all yesterday because I was scared he was going to bite into one. He's a quick little boy...

Thank you to everyone who helped us celebrate. Caffrey had a blast, and we can't wait to see what the future holds for him!

Caffrey is ONE!

Wow! It's crazy to think I technically no longer have a baby. Caffrey turned one on Tuesday, and although we won't celebrate his birthday until tomorrow, I wanted to go ahead and share about his milestones up to now. I haven't gotten around to taking pictures with his sticker (and we'll see if I do), but I shared a few cute ones from my phone at least.

We went to the doctor yesterday and found out Caffrey weighs 20 pounds and is 29 inches long - staying in the 25th percentile - so he's still about the same size as 11 months. We finally used up all of the size 3 diapers and officially moved over to 4s. He is wearing 9-12 month clothes, which is only a problem for pant length. Fortunately it's warm now! Unfortunately his brother and cousin don't really have warm weather hand-me-downs until he can wear 18 month clothes, so guess who may be getting clothes for his birthday!

Some firsts for this month:

• Sticks out his tongue
• claps
• gives high fives
• Makes a clicking sound with his mouth
• Walks behind push toys (first steps may be VERY soon!)
• Eats and loves peanut butter
• Drinks milk (yay for no more formula!!!)
• Puts Legos away, and then immediately dumps them out again\
• first haircut
• played in the pool

And here are a few pictures to document some of his firsts. We took him to Pigtails and Crewcuts for his first haircut, and he did okay with it. He loved the car, but he still fussed when they started cutting his hair. Still, the difference almost makes me cry. He really does look like a little boy now instead of a baby.

Yesterday after the doctor's appointment, we got to play in the pool at Grammy and Papa's. This little boy already loves the water! Although he wasn't such a fan of Papa spraying him to get the mulch off.

And here is a picture of Keagan at 1 year. We have the party tomorrow, so stay tuned for more pictures and fun!

Click here to read about Keagan at 1 year!

11 months

We were at church Sunday and someone asked how old Caffrey was. I said he was almost 11 months, and Steven reminded me, "Hon, today is the 24th. He IS 11 months." I couldn't believe it! Time has really flown by with him. But the most exciting news (to me, anyway) is that we bought what will probably be the last carton of formula. Woohoo!

Well, I mentioned last month that Caffrey had finally figured out the whole crawling thing. I don't think he'll be a crawler much longer, though. He has jumped straight from needy, lazy baby to "I-want-to-do-everything-the-big-kids-are-doing-NOW" child! He pulls up on everything and even recently started climbing. On Saturday, he climbed into the laundry basket (full of clothes) and then used that to climb onto the ottoman and sit. He also loves to pull out drawers, and I'm wondering how long it takes before he discovers he can use them as stairs. Needless to say, we cannot leave him unattended anymore. Ever.

Since we don't have another doctor's appointment until next month, I can only estimate his size. He's still a little guy (probably still close to 20 pounds) and fits in his infant carrier without trouble, although he really doesn't like it anymore. I actually found another whole box of size 3 diapers, so we went back to those right after my last post, and I haven't had any problem with him outgrowing them yet. Most of his clothes now are 9-12 months minus a few of the cotton pants. I need to buy him more shorts and summer-y clothes because Keagan was in these sizes when it was colder.

There will be NO waiting until he turns one to get this hair cut, though. His Aunt Becky calls it Donald Trump hair, and one of our friends said the same thing. There can be NONE of that! We just haven't had time to get it cut yet, but it will happen soon. Very soon.

We have continued introducing finger foods, and so far he prefers hot dogs and carbs. Give him all the carbs! He's like his mommy in that way. He's a little finicky about pasta, though. Usually mac and cheese is okay, but not always. We tried pizza yesterday, and he ate a few bites before quitting. He's become a heavy drinker, though. He will ask for his bottle at every meal and will even start fussing if he sees someone else drinking, but he fortunately holds it on his own completely now.

Caffrey is such a chatterbox! He calls for me all the time, which is precious ("Maaaa-ma!"), and as I mentioned earlier he will ask for his "baba" (bottle). I think he tries to say thank you ("tss" with a head nod), and he calls for daddy ("dada") and brother ("bubba"). Papa swears he says "papa" too, but I haven't heard it for sure yet. Maybe when he's over there.

Caffrey has also had quite a few firsts this month (and not all good):

• crawled
• pulled up
• attempted his first steps (I missed this, but I'm sure I will see it soon)
• bloody nose (after falling on his face at the babysitter's)
• lost a nail (Keagan accidentally caught it  when trying to close a door)
• started waving bye (of course, right now it is at himself)
• climbed stairs (I was right behind him, don't worry!)
• tried dog food (I thought I knocked it all out of his hands, but he was quicker than I thought)
• ate some grass (when you have an outdoor cookout, you can only prevent so much) 

Waving to himself

So we need to child-proof our house again. We're already looking into baby gates that will work on our stairs, and we already have the latches for cabinets. I have all of the outlets covered already, so we're good there. And things that are breakable or dangerous have been moved from his reach. Good thing he's short!

You may not be surprised to hear that Keagan and I have nicknamed him "Wild Thing", and I think we've finally agreed that that's what kind of party he'll have next month. Speaking of which, I need to get to work planning it. I'm sorry you're a second child, Caff-man. But I did finally buy your baby book!

Click here to read about Keagan at 11 months!

10 months

My baby boy is inching closer and closer to one year, and he's starting to act less like a baby and more like a toddler. Just in the past month, he has started tons of finger foods, learned how to crawl, and is pulling up on everything!

Caffrey is probably over 20 pounds now, but not by a lot. I have packed up most 6-9 month stuff and am switching over to 12 month with the exception of cotton pants. He's still a shorty, and some of the 12 month pants are way too long still. Even the few 12 month shorts we have look a little funny right now length-wise. We use mostly size 4 diapers now, but he does still fit in 3s. We just didn't bother buying more when we started running out. Caffrey also is cutting a 4th tooth on the bottom, which will put us at 8 teeth. His hair could use a cut, but we're trying to make do until he turns a year. I've noticed it curls up some in the back, like Keagan's did!

Caffrey isn't a big fan of "baby food" anymore, unless it's chunky. We've tried a lot of firsts in the past week including hot dogs, chicken nuggets, biscuits, goldfish, peanut butter cookies (yay for no allergies!), and bacon. He already loves good Mac and cheese, pancakes, green beans, carrots, and cereal. He's a pretty good eater so far, although he doesn't seem to like picking up "slimy" foods, like bananas. He'd rather eat the whole thing than have it in slices.

He loves being outside, and we have made good use of his baby swing Papa bought for him last summer. We can stay outside for a long time just swinging him, and he's perfectly content. Of course, when he's inside he is all about crawling around and exploring every inch of downstairs. He's gotten into quite a few of Keagan's toys already and may have already broken one. Fortunately he hasn't tried to go upstairs yet, but we have to sit him on the floor instead of our bed when we're getting ready in the mornings now. Let's just say I hope he doesn't get up before we're ready for him once we go back to work next week. It's not easy to get ready when he's getting into everything. He's already heard "no" a lot in the past week! 

He may be crazy, but he's so cute and fun right now, and I'm loving it! This is the phase where his little personality is starting to shine, and I can't wait to see what kind of crazy little boy he will grow to be. He loves his big brother, and Keagan is thrilled to finally have someone old enough to play with him some. He's been waiting so patiently.

And it's funny to look at pictures because I finally am starting to see some similarities between the boys. It's the facial expressions, I think. They're both so precious!

Click here to read about Keagan at 10 months.