I haven't written about Graham since his first birthday in April, so an update is overdue. So much has happened in the past four months! He's walking, he's communicating, he no longer nurses, he has four more teeth, he has had a couple of haircuts, and he has become a strong-willed and opinionated toddler. He also spent a whole week without Mommy and Daddy when we traveled to Spain, which was a huge step for all of us.
If I'm being honest, I almost forgot Graham turned 16-months-old today. This NEVER would have happened with our triplets as the 7th of the month was ingrained into my brain for years and every time we hit that date I took note that they were a month older. Things are so different this time around as I'm incredibly busy trying to juggle so many things (four kids, part time job, homeschool, working out in hopes of reducing stress, etc.) that the date hardly registers. But alas, I remembered!
Weight: Almost 19 lbs. (I must admit that this is the first time I'm publishing a blog without an accurate weight. I think the more kids we have the less of a perfectionist I become, for better or for worse).
Size Clothes: 12 months. He's definitely a petite little boy, but that seems to be the trend in our family since Jack is on the small side too.
Night Sleep: I am so happy that Graham sleeps through the night almost every single night. On the rare occasion that he wakes, Micah usually comforts him and helps him back to sleep. This is a huge change from the first year of Graham's life when I was waking up with him all of the time to nurse him to help him sleep.
Naps: Graham takes one nap from about 12-2. He was napping for about 2.5-3 hours, but just recently it changed to 2 hours. I am a bit bummed about this as I am trying to work on M and W while the big kids are at school and Graham naps, and these shorter naps don't give me much time.
Nursing: As of June 6 Graham has been weaned! I wrote a whole blog post about it
here. I definitely had mixed emotions about weaning him, but I had to since Micah and I had plans to travel to Spain. Now that it is done I feel so free since I can now eat everything again. I have much empathy for those that have to eat a special diet for allergies / intolerances since I had to give up dairy, soy, and gluten for a year, and now I have a great appreciation for being able to eat whatever I want. Sometimes I still find myself questioning if I'm eating a "safe" food, and then I remember that my body is fine with *almost* everything (for some reason I have developed my own intolerance to beef, but I was never a huge beef eater anyway so it's not a big deal).
Solids: He is still a picky eater and the foods he can eat are limited, so he lives on a lot of the same foods. He loves fruit. The only vegetable I can get him to eat is peas. He enjoys breakfast sausage, allergy friendly chicken nuggets, and hot dogs. There are some allergy friendly crackers that he likes. He enjoys cinnamon raisin allergy friendly bread with peanut butter. Sometimes he eats chicken that I make. He likes chick fil a grilled nuggets. Allergy friendly pumpkin pancakes and waffles are almost always a hit. He also eats a couple of baby food pouches a day mostly to help him get more calories. Many days he eats spoonfuls of peanut butter for the calories and protein. Every night as a bedtime snack he gets almond milk yogurt. But that is about it!
Food Intolerances: I think Graham is okay with soy as we recently tested and he didn't seem to react. We still have to retest dairy and gluten.
Milestones: In mid-May he started walking behind his walking toy all of the time, but it wasn't until mid-July that he really started standing up in the middle of a room by himself and taking steps. Of course Micah and I were in Spain at the time, but in hindsight I'm okay with 'missing' it as the trip was wonderful and I have been there for everything else. By the time we got back to ABQ (we were in Michigan for three weeks in July), Graham was officially a walker and he has hardly crawled at all. He walks on various terrains, he attempts ramps, and he has tried some small stairs.
In June Graham really started to eat with a fork. He'll still eat with his fingers too, but he thinks he is a big kid like his siblings so he would rather eat with a fork.
Graham does pretend play that I started noticing when he was 13 months old. He will take the baby soap bottle and pretend to pump it into his hand and then wash himself. He will take our hand sanitizer, pretend to spray it into his hands, and then rub his hands together. He'll pick up a toy phone and say "he-woa." He has also taken toy cars and driven them around while saying "rrrrr." All of this has surprised me as I feel like this didn't happen until much later with our trio.
Teeth: Between the end of May and the end of July, Graham got all four molars. Teething has been hard on him as it makes him fussy. I think he is working on his eye teeth now.
Likes: All things electronics. He is obsessed with things that plug in, like phone charges and baby monitors. He literally spent all morning carrying around the baby monitor and playing with it. He also loves to climb onto the couches and his rocking chair. Parks are now really fun for him as he likes to climb on the jungle gym and go down the slides (with assistance). I think he could play outside or play with water all day.
 |
| He loves his monkey that came from Grandma's house |
Dislikes: Being stuck inside when the big kids are outside. Having toys, including electronics that he has found, taken away from him. Being trapped in the family room by the baby gate when everyone else is in the living room or upstairs. He really wants to do whatever the big kids do. Not being able to pet the cat (we have never let him do this as she's not a nice cat). He knows how to throw a tantrum when things don't go his way!
Speech: Graham still doesn't say many words. He says something that sounds like: yay, kitty, hello, mama, and more. Other than that, he mostly communicates through pointing and nodding or shaking his head. I'm really amazed by his clear head nodding and it's so adorable. He does grab his shoes when he wants to go outside. He has pointed to the stairs and waved bye-bye when he wanted a nap. I'm hoping he starts saying more words soon, but in the meantime he knows how to tell us what he wants!
Places he's been: This summer we went to Denver for a weekend to see Micah's sister and her kids. We also went to Michigan for three weeks, although Micah and I were gone part of that time. He was great on that trip and I'm so glad that we sleep trained him last March and April so that he was a flexible napper and sleeper when traveling.
 |
| Playing at Auntie Becca's house in Denver |
 |
| Long car ride to and from Michigan, but he was a trooper! |
 |
| First boat ride at my family's cottage in Michigan |
 |
| First time playing in the sand at Lake Michigan |
 |
| The most fun he's ever had swimming was at my friend's parents' house in Michigan as the water was so warm! |
 |
| First time blueberry picking |
 |
| Blueberry picking |
 |
| Saying goodbye to Grandpa and Grandma after a great three weeks. He and Grandpa were buddies, especially when I was out of town. |
Things he does to make us smile: Our whole family continues to adore Graham. The big kids get a kick out of the things he does, like carry stuffed animals around in his mouth and other silly things. Everyone loves to make him laugh, and he now tries to make funny noises and do things that make us laugh.
 |
| Water painting outside like the big kids |
 |
| Beware that if you lay on the floor, Graham thinks it's an open invitation |
 |
| I came downstairs one day while the kids were watching a show and found that Graham had climbed onto the couch and into Faith's lap |
 |
| We often take cushions off one couch so he can climb up and down, but he has figured out how to get to the other couch too |
 |
| Another day the kids were watching something Graham snuggled into Jack's lap |
 |
| The hoop was laying on the ground and Graham communicated to me that he wanted me to pick it up and lower the hoop so he can put the ball in the hoop |
 |
| He's figured out how to climb on and off of the tricycle, but it still makes me nervous |
 |
| His first juice box. Alexis had one so he insisted that he have one too. |
 |
| He found this visor on the floor. |
