One Year!

May 25, 2011

Kellen is 1 year old today!

Wow, 1 year old! As the school year has come to an end, I have done lots of reminiscing about last year. The whole experience of having Kellen seems so surreal now and I'm finally realizing how big he has gotten and how different he is. We are completely enjoying watching Kellen grow and learn.

Kellen is still very easy going. We can pretty much take him anywhere and as long as there are people to watch or something to play with, he is happy. He doesn't really point to things or communicate what he wants but I think it is because he doesn't really care. That being said, he has started to throw fits if he is tired and not getting what he wants. He will also shake his head "no" or push our hands off of him if he doesn't want us holding him. He doesn't say any words and can't identify anything with a word but does like to talk and will babble and sing away when in the mood. We are still working on some simple signs and he hasn't picked any up yet but does seem to understand the sign for milk and will respond to that.

We don't have a security item for Kellen, he has never been interested in pacifiers, blankets, or stuffed animals but recently, he really likes to carry around 1/2 of a plastic Easter egg with him. It is his prefered toy of choice and will carry it around in his mouth when on the move. His other favorite toys are his ball activity table, alligator walker, wooden stacking rings, and his new soft tool box. Recently, I have noticed that Kellen can take something out or off of something else and then understands that it goes back together. For example, if you take his socks off he'll try to put them back on or today he took Steve's credit cards out of his wallet and then tried to put them back in. We caught him on video taking some lids out of a cabinet and then putting them back (all while holding his egg). Kellen is very independent and is very content playing by himself. I think alot of times, Steve and I have to make sure not to take advantage of this.

Kellen is getting better at eating foods with texture. He is eating mostly home made baby food that I have kept chunkier. He has also started feeding himself puffs and yogurt drops. He doesn't have any interest in eating our food but can eat paper, plastic, and animal fur no problem. I am still nursing him 5 times a day and he is eating 2 meals a day. We will begin weaning when I'm done with work next week. I plan on talking to Kellen's doctor during his 1 year check up about the best way to do this because I have no clue where to start.

Kellen has been very mobile for awhile now but really loves crawling up the stairs and is starting to figure out how to walk. He can take about 5 steps on his own and I'm sure its just a matter of time before he figures the whole thing out. He can also throw a dog toy about a foot which Trinity is enjoying.

Kellen will sleep hard but does not like going to sleep. He fights naps at daycare but will usually sleep between 1-2 hours there. Sometimes, he'll fall asleep on our afternoon walk too. We put him to bed around 8:00. We've always rocked him to sleep after some books but that has not been working out as well and we have decided to try to get him to fall asleep on his own in his crib. This is going ok and usually if we rub his back, he'll fall asleep. I would say 90% of the time he wakes up around 4:00 am and needs to be repositioned and we rub his back to get him to fall back asleep. On a rare occasion, he'll cry and we'll have to sit with him for awhile at that time. I wake him up around 6:00 am to eat and get dressed for the day. On the weekends, he'll usually sleep in until 7:00.

We plan on celebrating Kellen's birthday tonight by trying out The Village at Edgewater for dinner and playing and then will have his big birthday party Sunday. My last day of work is Tuesday and then will have the summer off to spend with Kellen. We have lots of fun things planned already, vacation in Hawaii, a weekend in Salida with family, a trip to the pacific northwest, and lots of flyball. We are very lucky to have Kellen and continue to enjoy his easy going, independent, and playful personality.