Malachi - ONE YEAR!

Weight

Birth: 8 lbs 5 oz

6 months: 19.9 lbs

12 months: 24.5lbs

 

Length

Birth: 23 in

6 months: 27.3 in

12 months: 31.5 in

 

Diapers

Size 4

 

Clothes

12 or 12-18 months, but starting to out grow your 12 month outfits

 

Eating

We cut a bottle and feeding this month.

Now you eat at 6:30, breakfast, 10:30, lunch, 3:30, dinner and 6:30.

You also get 2 snacks a day

You take 6 oz bottles at daycare

You LOVE table food

 

Sleep

You're still a great sleeper

 

Likes

Water

Dominick – you always brighten right up when you see him

grabbing faces and hair

giving kisses (you’ll grab my face and just kiss so hard)

playing with hot wheels cars (much to Dominick's dismay)

balls

being held

MEAL TIME

standing up (assisted)

Dislikes

Being buckled in the carseat

Being held while sleeping

Grass

Being hungry/seeing food and not getting some IMMEDIATELY

Malachi,

YOUR ONE YEAR OLD! This past year has gone by so fast and it's truly been so magical. The beginning of the month we had your 1 year pictures made. They didn't go much better than our holiday pictures, but you did smile a little bit more.
Due to being so sick and having so many and so consistent ear infections we finally scheduled you for tubes on 23 Jan. You got another ear infection about a week in advance, but the actual procedure went spectacular. We were one of the early surgeries so we got there bright and early and you did wonderful. It seemed almost to the day after you got the tubes you started hearing noises differently or for the first time. Your personality really started to blossom after this. We are so thankful we made the decision to do this.

You are such a great eater and LOVE food. I waited to wean you until after your surgery, but up until then I really was only nursing you at bed time. You did so great with whole milk, table food and snacks. I'm a big believer in weaning right at one or a little bit before. I don't know if believer is the right word, but I'm always ready at that time. Also, at one I take away the pacifier and you did just fine with that too. Sometimes it's harder (bedtime), but you've done awesome without it.

You got your first haircut on the 3rd of February in Michigan! We took a quick trip to MI to celebrate your FIRST birthday with family. I planned a lumberjack theme birthday party and we loved all the details. You were very interested in your birthday cake, but you ate so slowly!

On your first birthday we celebrated with LOTS of snow that cancelled school and closed the base, donuts for breakfast and a trip to the aquarium. You loved seeing all the fish and spending the day with us. Also, a few days later we had your second birthday party at Kids Are Tops for our Ohio friends. You had such a great time and so did your friends.

I just cannot believe you are already one year old! This past year has flew by. Some days it seems like I just had you and we were welcoming you into our family, but most days it feels like you've been around forever. It's hard to remember what life was like before you. You are a dream come true. Such a momma's boy, but boy, do you love your brother and daddy something fierce!

 

Malachi - Eleven Months

*and this is the month I started failing and didn't take a picture*
Weight

Birth: 8 lbs 5 oz

6 months: 19.9 lbs

11 months: 24.6 lbs

 

Length

Birth: 23 in

6 months: 27.3 in

11 months: 30.8 in

 

Diapers

Size 4

 

Clothes

12-18 months or 18 months

 

Eating

We cut a bottle and feeding this month.

Now you eat at 6:30, breakfast, 10:30, lunch, 3:30, dinner and 6:30.

You also get 2 snacks a day

You take 6 oz bottles at daycare of 1/2 whole milk and 1/2 breast milk (more to come below)

You LOVE table food

 

Sleep

You're still a great sleeper

 

Likes
FOOD

Water

Dominick – you always brighten right up when you see him

Your food truck
loud toys

balls

 

Dislikes
New people
Diaper changes
Socks
Being told no

Being buckled in the carseat

Being held while sleeping

Grass

Being hungry/seeing food and not getting some IMMEDIATELY

Malachi,

December is another busy month, but you got to celebrate your first Christmas and New Years! You played Baby Jesus at church for the nativity. You were the biggest baby Jesus there ever was! :) You also met Santa and we can all say you were NOT his biggest fan. Dominick never ever cried, but you SCREAMED! You also got to experience snow for the first time and I don't think you really cared much for that either. On Christmas Eve we spent the afternoon at Urgent Care because you had another ear infection that caused you to have "pink eye" again. That night we went to the Christmas Eve service at church since you weren't contagious and you got sick from your medicine. You threw up ALLLLL over yourself, me, the floor and Daddy. We had to leave early.




You are SO active, but you still feel most confident crawling. You are starting to take a couple steps here and there, but not consistent enough to call you a walker. If you think we are going to get you, you will try to crawl away at lightening speed.




You are much more timid and nervous than Dominick ever was, but that's NOT a bad thing.


During meal time you always put your sippy cup right onto your plate and eat around it. Some of your favorite foods are applesauce, yogurt, cooked carrots, fruit and macaroni and cheese. I also mentioned above that you started getting 1/2 whole milk and 1/2 breast milk above. We are really going to start weaning you this month so you can be all done by the time you turn ONE! I can't believe my breastfeeding journey is going to an end.

You think Dominick is by far the funniest person ever.




You can wave and sign all done. You say Momma and Dada. You fake laugh all the time and you have a really big scrunch face smile when you're being silly. It's the cutest! You love to get peoples attention by yelling at them.




You are such a great baby and for the most part very easy going. You are such a sweet thing and so incredibly happy. We all just think you hung the moon. We love you more than you'll ever know and think you are so extraordinary! I'm so thankful for these past 11 months and cannot even fathom what life would be like if we never had you. You fill our hearts with so much joy and love. I cannot wait to see what life has in store for you and I'm excited that I have a front row seat to watch. I love you so much, Sugar Bear!

Malachi - Ten Months

Weight

Birth: 8 lbs 5 oz

6 months: 19.9 lbs

10 months: 23.6 lbs

 

Length

Birth: 23 in

6 months: 27.3 in

10 months: 30.1 in

 

Diapers

Size 4

 

Clothes

12 or 12-18 months, but starting to out grow your 12 month outfits

 

Eating

We cut a bottle and feeding this month.

Now you eat at 6:30, breakfast, 10:30, lunch, 3:30, dinner and 6:30.

You also get 2 snacks a day

You take 6 oz bottles at daycare

You LOVE table food

 

Sleep

You're still a great sleeper

 

Likes

Water

Dominick – you always brighten right up when you see him

grabbing faces and hair

giving kisses (you’ll grab my face and just kiss so hard)

playing with hot wheels cars (much to Dominick's dismay)

balls

being held

MEAL TIME

standing up (assisted)

 

Dislikes

Being buckled in the carseat

Being held while sleeping

Grass

Being hungry/seeing food and not getting some IMMEDIATELY

Malachi,

 

November was a busy month all around. You had ANOTHER double ear infection and we have a referral for ENT for you. Hopefully we can get all of this figured out soon because this is absolutely no fun!

 

We started transitioning you to a sippy cup this month and you drink water from it no problem at all. We are going to try to transition you off of the bottle and 100% on the sippy cup. You still love meal times and you really love food. When you see food you are READ to eat and get so excited. If it takes us too long you let us know how impatient you really are.

 

You spent a few  days with Papa and Gigi in Ohio while Momma, Daddy and Dominick went to WDW again. You had a great time and got lots of spoiling while we were away.

 

We were able to celebrate your first Thanksgiving (in Michigan) and being the food lover that you are you were a BIG fan of Thanksgiving.

 

You now have 8 teeth and another one is fixin to come in. You are getting SO close to standing from sitting unassisted and have started taking a few steps at a time. We are all waiting for it to really happen and cheering you on while also hoping you take your time and stay little. You wave hi and bye and it’s the absolute cutest. You will also say bye which I guess is your first official word (although we think you said momma before bye, but we’re not sure if you’re just making the m sound over and over or saying momma). You also started clapping and I just love that. You have such a great personality and it’s really starting to come out more and more. This month your personality has really soared!!!!! One thing that I love that you do is if we’re not looking at your or paying you as much attention as you think we should you will put your face RIGHT in our face and when we look at you you will cheese SO hard. You also understand the word no and sometimes you give us a little grin and keep doing it, while other times you cry. Some mornings Dom gets on the bus before you wake up and he will whisper outside your door, “bye Malachi” and give you an air hug. It’s the sweetest thing.

 

One of my favorite things is going to see Santa really early in the year when there’s essentially no line. Dominick NEVER cried or was scared of Santa, but for your first trip let’s just say I got the crying picture I always laugh at. You were NOT fan.

 

Kai baby,

 

You are SO loved and such a wild little thing. It’s hard to believe you’re entering the double digits in months. These t10 months have flown by, but we are so lucky you are ours. Your smile lights up my life and I couldn’t be more grateful, proud, lucky and happy to be your momma. You filled a void in my life that I didn’t know was missing. You are such a dream baby and also very much a hip baby. You love to be held and don’t play all that great by yourself. We try, but honestly nobody likes it when you cry so someone always comes to you. Malachi I hope you always know how loved you are because it’s a tremendous amount. Happy TEN months, muffin!

 

Love you to infinity and beyond,

Momma

Malachi - Nine Months

Weight

Birth: 8 lbs 5 oz

6 months: 19.9 lbs

9 months: 22.2 lbs

 

Length

Birth: 23 in

6 months: 27.3 in

9 months: 28.9 in

 

Diapers

Size 4

 

Clothes

12 or 12-18 months

 

Eating

We cut a bottle and feeding this month.

Now you eat at 6:30, breakfast, 10:30, lunch, 3:30, dinner and 6:30.

You take 6 oz bottles at daycare

You LOVE table food

 

Sleep

You're still a great sleeper

 

Likes

Water

Dominick – you always brighten right up when you see him

grabbing faces

playing with hot wheels cars (much to Dominick's dismay)

solid food

standing up (assisted)

 

Dislikes

Being buckled in the carseat

Being held while sleeping

Grass

Being hungry/seeing food and not getting some IMMEDIATELY

Malachi,

 

Fall in the Midwest is always a fun time and with this being your first we did it up big! We went to Michigan for some fall fun. We went to the pumpkin patch/cider mill for your first time. It’s one of Daddy and my favorite ones in Michigan. The weather was actually beautiful for fall in the Midwest. You enjoyed yourself too, but I do think you got hot.

 

We had family pictures this month and you were absolutely NOT having it for these. I hope she got some good ones because you made her WORK. Haha!

 

You show your silly personality the most at dinner time by constantly being silly and making us laugh. The more we laugh the more silly you are. Speaking of dinner time, when you are done eating you will flip your plate over on the ground. It’s beyond frustrating. Hahaha!

 

We carved you a pumpkin and you got to celebrate your first Halloween. We were able to attend quite a few Halloween festivities and trunk or treats. We dressed you up as Chewbacca and you were by far the cutest little wookie I ever did see.

 

You started at your new daycare this motnh and you did so, so good! The transition was a little rough at first (which we expected), but you really did do great.

 

This month you became SO mobile and started to crawl and get a round. Before you could get where you needed, but also didn’t realize how far you could go. Now you do the four legged crawl with no struggle.

 

Sugar Bear, we all think you hung the moon. You are so special and made our family so whole. I honestly forget what life was like before you. You are very easy going, so happy and fit into our family perfectly. You have a really great personality and we can’t wait to see more and more of it really come out. We are so excited to watch you get bigger and grow into your own even more. I can’t believe how close to one you are! Time is a thief and I wish it would slow down. I love this stage and age so much. I pray every single day for you and your future!

 

Love you to infinity and beyond,

Momma

Malachi - Eight Months

Weight

Birth: 8 lbs 5 oz

6 months: 19.9 lbs

8 months: 21.3 lbs

 

Length

Birth: 23 in

6 months: 27.3 in

8 months: 28.2 in

 

Diapers

Size 4

 

Clothes

12 or 12-18 months

 

Eating

We cut a bottle and feeding this month.

Now you eat at 6:30, breakfast, 10:30, lunch, 3:30, dinner and 6:30.

You take 6 oz bottles at daycare

You LOVE table food

 

Sleep

You're still a great sleeper

 

Likes

Water

Dominick – you always brighten right up when you see him

grabbing faces

playing with hot wheels cars (much to Dominick's dismay)

solid food

standing up (assisted)

 

Dislikes

Being buckled in the carseat

Being held while sleeping

Malachi,

 

This was another month full of the sickies. We battled your infections a lot this month and then…you got croup AGAIN! We are praying month 8 is your month and we can all just be healthy for a change. You also got TWO more teeth and I have a feeling another won’t be too far behind. You have 5 total.

 

You LOVE standing up to furniture, in your crib or pulling up on our legs. You also really like holding our hands to stand as well. Another big thing this month was we left Rainbow and moved you to the CDC on base. We weren’t sure it was going to be the best choice, but we happen to LOVE your new providers and I think they’re pretty smitten by you too. We were sad to leave Rainbow, but we have no doubts that this is going to be the better option for our family. Before we left Rainbow at lunch they gave you fish sticks (on accident) and you had a really bad reaction to it. So after talking to your dr we decided to avoid fish until after your first birthday. Hopefully it was just a fluke or that you grow out of it, but you had quite the little rash.

 

You are just THE happiest and sweetest baby ever. You have such a content demeanor. I know I say this every single month, but you’re so, so good! Even though you are the smiliest little guy you make us WORK for a giggle or laugh. You do think Dominick is just the funniest person around.

 

You crawl around like a little champion and you get around so good. Nothing can stop you now.

 

We are super excited because we picked out your Halloween costume. We are pretty excited to see you in it (*hint* Star Wars)!!!

 

Malachi Monster, I am so glad God knew how much we needed you. You’ve blessed our lives and brought so much happiness and love into our life. You are so different from Dominick and we often feel like first time parents all over again. You’ll never know how loved and wanted you are. You make my job as your mom pretty easy. While you’re far from perfect I love getting to learn all of your quirks and personality. We couldn’t love you anymore if we tried.

 

Love you to infinity and beyond,

Momma

Malachi - Seven Months

Weight

Birth: 8 lbs 5 oz

3 months: 16.8 lbs (unofficial)

6 months: 19.9 lbs

7 months: 20 lbs

 

Length

Birth: 23 in

3 months: 25 in (unofficial)

6 months: 27.3 in

7 months: 27.5 in

 

Diapers

Size 4

 

Clothes

9& amp; 12 month

 

Eating

You are still exclusively breastfed and eat every 3-3.5 hours.

At daycare you take about 5 oz bottles

You LOVE food and eat like a champ!

 

Sleep

You're A Professional Sleeper

 

Likes

Water

Dominick – you always brighten right up when you see him

to be worn in a carrier

grabbing faces

playing with hot wheels cars (much to Dominick's dismay)

solid food

 

Dislikes

Still riding in the car (but are getting better at it)

Being held while sleeping

Malachi,

 

This month you had your first AIRPLANE RIDE! We flew to Orlando and you got some good quality one on one time with Papa and Gigi! You also got to meet Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Daisy and Goofy at Chef Mickey’s and you were so intrigued. You were very interested in Goofy and he gave you a lot of attention as well. You did pretty well on the flight and stayed awake for basically the whole thing. Before take off you SCREAMED, but soon calmed down. Unfortunately, Hurricane Irma was making her way to FL and we left early. We took a 2 day road trip back to OH and you did really well. I think it helped having the world’s best Gigi sitting next to you.

 

You’re still eating solids like a champ and you love food! Your favorite foods right now are meats, pasta and vegetables. If you see us eating or food you want it too and you are quite vocal about it. You are not patient when it comes to meal time. When you’re hungry, you’re hungry!

 

You also started standing up to things assisted. Whenever I go and get you from your crib you’ll be standing there screaming because you’re afraid to fall back down. You have no trouble getting around anymore, but you don’t like having to crawl long distances. So often you’ll sit up and just cry. You have also started giving high 5’s (more like place your hand on ours)! Dominick thinks that’s pretty awesome and he asks for them often.

 

We call you Malachi monster and will rawr which you think is so silly. You will also make hoo hoo noise when you get really excited (you sound like an owl).

 

You still are such a hard baby to get to laugh and giggle, but you smile constantly. You are very serious and just don’t think things are very funny. Your happiest time is in the mornings, but you’re a pretty content baby. You’re just a really, really good baby!

 

Buddy, we love you SO incredibly much. I can’t believe we’re on the downhill slope to ONE! I cherish these baby stages with you and hope you slow down. You’re just the sweetest little guy and I’ll never take for  granted being your (and Dominick’s) Momma! This month was such a fun one getting to explore and travel with you. We’re really looking forward to what’s in store for your first FALL and HALLOWEEN! I love you so much, Sugar Bear!

 

Love you to infinity and beyond,

Momma

December

+We did our book advent with the boys. Both loved it. Dominick was always patient with Malachi and let him rip open some of the paper!

this was Christmas Eve!

+Dominick and I built our gingerbread houses and he did so good this year! He was extremely proud of our little houses. He did a fantastic job!

love his little proud self!

+I cut quite a bit of my hair off! I was ready for something new and it was SO MUCH lighter!

+We went to a Christmas event at the USO on base. It was very random that we were even able to go. We had no idea that it even was going on, but we ran into the USO to grab a snack for the boys while we had to run lots of errands and they invited us in. Santa and Mrs. Claus were there and Kai was still not a fan.

+Last year I took Dominick to the Tykes Shoppe and he was able to buy presents for Ryan, myself and my parents. This year we took him again and he bought for the same people as last year as well as Malachi. He was very excited about it because it's ALL him. They help him wrap, nobody is there to influence him but there are helpers who can help keep him within his budget. He was very excited about his gifts and did a great job keeping them all a secret.

+We went to Clifton Mills to see all the Christmas lights. It was just okay, but I'll be honest and say we were underwhelmed.

+Ryan's work put our name in for a family sponsor. I'm not sure who did it or why us when we are definitely already blessed, but we appreciated the thought. Whoever played Santa to our boys spoiled them abundantly. We were so thankful.

+On December 22nd we had the hard decision of putting our husky, Calli down. She was 11 years old and just not living her best life. In fact most days she was just struggling. It was really sad to watch her and she was barely able to get up or move. The decision was a hard one to make, especially since that day she decided to get a little pep in her step. Aside from her struggling and not moving well at all she was having accidents in our house basically all the time. We miss her still and it was such a hard choice. She loved us all so well and had the best temperament

+Ryan, Malachi and I played Joseph, Mary and baby Jesus (biggest baby Jesus EVER) on Christmas Eve for the morning service.

+Christmas Eve was so funny to me. Malachi had pink eye from an ear infection that was basically coming out of his eyes. I had taken him to a little clinic only to be told they didn't accept patients his age. So we went to the childrens hospital. We were in and out pretty quickly, but given a different medication that made him sick to his stomach. We were sitting at the candlelight service and projectile vomited about 10 minutes in. We left to go get cleaned up and left Dominick with our friends. We met them at a thai restaurant later that night. I know life and holidays won't always be this crazy so we try to embrace it now. Our life is chaotic and crazy, but I love this life I get to live.

+Ryan and I played Santa and finally got to bed. Dominick was up early, but Malachi was sleeping in. We finally let D go in and wake up M so we could get the day started. Dominick loved every single present he opened while Malachi

.