I recently stumbled on the beautiful photography of Brooke Schwab and my first thought was, “why doesn’t she live closer!??!”  I love her work, especially from these mini sessions.  all that white space, all those happy kids! {I even spy sweet Ory!}

pssst – in case you missed it, I shared a few tips on taking photos of kids here.

{all photos by Brooke Schwab}

remember back when I was writing for Babble?  and I said I was going to post updates on Wolf at 4 months, 6 months, 9 months and 1 year?  well, that didn’t happen.  I started back to work and right around that same time my computer died, leaving me to only write when I had free time, which was almost never.  now, still not much “free time” but I wanted to write a few things down about Wolf at 1 year so that I never forget, even though he turned a year old almost a month ago!  here goes.

Weight
birth – 7lbs, 8oz / 41%
1 year – 22lbs, 8oz / 66%

Height
birth – 21.5″ / 96%
1 year – 32.15″ / 99%  {I measured you over a week ago and I swear you’ve had another growth spurt since then.  you’re so tall!!  today a lady at the grocery store thought you were at least 2.}

Words & Communication
you don’t say many words yet but you understand pretty much anything we say to you.  we ask you where things are and you can go get pretty much anything.  ball {which is the big red ball}, baseball, soccer ball, Howl {your wolf stuffed animal}, drum, Harry {the Dirty Dog}, your shoes, mom’s shoes, your piano, your toy cell phone, and the list keeps going.
you say “BA!” for ball, box, bottle and babble a lot.  we walk to get the mail every day and the whole way down to the mail box you point and clap and say “BA!!!” which we are pretty sure is BOX!  {you always say it with enthusiasm.}
you don’t particularly call us Mama or Dada though you know who we are.  Dad asks you “where’s Mom?” and you smile and point at me.
you can follow pretty much any command.  I will say “go put ____ into the bucket” or “let’s go outside!”

Special talents
you can neigh like a horse on command.  we say, “what sound does a horse make?”  and you say “neigh neigh neigh”  you also growl like a lion and say “aa aa aa” like a monkey.
you just learned to drink from a straw!  it’s really fun and you like to do it all the time.
you can throw food on the floor like a champ!!!

Likes
your favorite thing in the world is a little bowl of strawberries, sliced just right for tiny fingers.  we have to be careful not to bring out strawberries at meal times though otherwise you won’t want to eat anything else!
you LOVE to be outside.
Dad plays a game with you that we call “I’m gonna get you!”  basically he stomps around while chasing you and you get all giggly.  then he hides and jumps out to spook you and you laugh and laugh!  you love your dad.  you guys can be quite silly together.
you love to play on the couch.  sometimes I just sit up there and you bring me toy after toy or multiple books to read and sometimes you just sit up right close to me with your back against my side and play quietly.
you love things that make noise.  the ukelele!  the piano!!  the obnoxious blinking octopus thing that sings and lights up in the tub!!!  the drum!  maracas!!

Dislikes
you hate hate HATE the toothbrush.  I’ve tried to make it fun, I’ve tried singing songs, I’ve tried doing it really fast… but nothing works.  I literally have to pin you down and brush in between yells.  the good thing about you yelling at me is your tongue moves out of the way and I can get to those bottom teeth better!
you do not like when I’m on the computer when you’re awake.  sometimes I try to sneak in a few minutes on Google reader or post a really quick find to UT and you immediately let me know that it’s not acceptable.
you are really impatient.  you get that from me, sorry kid.  if I don’t have your milk ready as soon as you wake up from your nap you get so mad!

Sleep
you are a GREAT sleeper and always have been!  when we first moved to Bend, we made a really strong effort to help you learn to fall asleep on your own.  those first couple of days were not fun.  in fact, you skipped two naps and decided to stay up way past your bed time – just to avoid having to fall asleep by yourself.  but now you’re a pro.  we say night night to your animals {your sweet mobile} and I lay you down in the crib.  I gently rub your back for a minute or two and sometimes this puts you to sleep.  other times, I kiss your cheek, tell you I love you, then leave the room.  you whimper a little but are usually right to sleep.  and you sleep from about 6:30 or 7 until 6:30 in the morning!  dream kid.  you have woken up a few times in the past week but those stinkin’ molars are to blame for that.  {you’ve got two coming in now!}  now you’re down to just 1 nap a day and you sleep for almost 3 hours at a time.  {Mom gets to be super productive then!}

our first year was amazing with you, little man.  you are a pure joy and such a good kid.  you make your mom and dad very proud.  kisses!

have you heard of The Mini Social?  I’ve got Abby and Jamie to thank for my introduction to it.  it’s wonderful.  a lot like Zulily with the flash sales and great finds.  today ESP. No 1 is featured and I just picked up a few great things for Wolf.  {you know we love stripes and I couldn’t resist that mushroom tee.

sigh… all of a sudden my once great eater will hardly eat anything, leaving mom frustrated and a bit drained.  he still eats a fair amount of pureed stuff which we’ve been constantly trying to ween him from but he has always had a tough time with certain consistencies of food.  therefore, he doesn’t like to chew a lot.  plus, his bottom two first molars are popping through so I’m wondering if that could be part of the not-wanting-to-chew culprit?  lately, he only prefers to feed himself but has no clue how to eat with the spoon yet.  {we try and each time it results in a gigantic mess – but I know he’ll eventually learn!}  I cut up things like blueberries, corn off the cob, beans, etc and put it into a little bowl and he LOVES to eat that way, but the second I try to feed him the same thing with a fork, he spits it out!  even *gasp* strawberries.

any thoughts, advice?

and he had the best time.

the days before Wolf’s party, we looked at the weather and cringed.  80% chance of rain + 16 mph winds = a recipe for yuckiness at an outdoor BBQ party in the park.  so at 10am the day of the party, we canned plan A and moved on to plan B: an indoor pizza party.  I still made Wolf his birthday cupcakes and all of our guests still wore stripes.  we sipped our sodas from stripey straws and chowed down on all you can eat pizza.  we giggled and watched as Wolf ate his cupcake. when his hands got too sticky, he simply smashed his whole face into it.  he unwrapped every present by himself {mostly} and got “big excited face” when he unearthed each toy.  he was an absolute delight the entire time and even took a rare second nap he was so worn out!

I learned a big parent lesson, too.  when things don’t go as planned, you must must must make the best of it.  of course I had visions of beautiful, sunny photos of the set up and pictures of all our striped guests but you know, it just didn’t happen.  and yes, I was terribly bummed when we had to move the party indoors. {and even more bummed once I had a 4am realization that I’d had the settings wrong on my film camera and most likely underexposed ALL the photos I took at the party}  but I told myself, there might be other parties that get rained out or other things that just don’t go as planned.  and rather than being upset, I need to be happy, if not happier than Wolf so that he’s as happy as a clam when we move on to plan B.

happy birthday, Wolf.  congrats on your first trip around the sun.  here’s to many more.

]]> http://www.unrulylittlethings.com/2012/05/somebody-had-a-first-birthday/feed/ 8 http://www.unrulylittlethings.com/2012/05/somebody-had-a-first-birthday/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/UnrulyLittleThings/~3/vKgjECB5aks/ http://www.unrulylittlethings.com/2012/05/to-be-a-mother/#comments Thu, 10 May 2012 18:19:14 +0000 alyson http://www.unrulylittlethings.com/?p=1394

when I was pregnant with Wolf, I knew I was madly in love with the baby inside of me.  I was SO anxious to meet him, to feel his tiny hands and kiss his sweet head.  I felt like, the second that he’d be born, I’d get butterflies in my stomach because I loved him so much, my body would swell over with indescribable emotion and that my head would virtually explode from all the love I had for him.  but to my surprise, after we brought our tiny new baby home from the hospital, it didn’t.

ok, step back a second.  yes, when Wolf was born, stars and moon beams were shooting out of my eyeballs and I could not believe that this tiny person was mine and we had created him.  I couldn’t believe that I’d given birth to him and there he was, outside my body, tiny and pink and impossibly cute.  I loved him.  but in the beginning, the hard outweighed the love and for me, love didn’t feel like it came easy.

there were nights when I’d cry because I was struggling so hard with breastfeeding or I was just plain tired.  I’d tell Levi that I wasn’t sure if I could do this, to be a good mother.  and I’d just continue to make myself more and more upset.  he’d assure me over and over again that things would get easier and indeed, they did.  I got into the swing of things and my heart started to burst with love a little more each day.

I’m writing this because I know that there are others out there like me, for whom motherhood didn’t come easy.  I always pictured myself as a mother but I never had baby fever and never dreamt of having babies.  I’d never even held a baby before Wolf was born.  but I’ve been thinking a lot about motherhood these past few days and I can’t imagine my life any other way.  I’m so dang proud of Wolf.  every day he makes me smile and laugh and just watching him learning new tasks makes my heart explode.

so the love is there.  and it’s been there all along.  it just took my body a little while to get adjusted to my new role of Mom.

p.s.  I love you Mom, more than you know.

rainbow blocks for building.  and crashing down, obv.

from the Wooden Wagon.

we’ve decided on a stripes theme, obviously, for Wolf’s first birthday which is a little over six weeks away.  while on the hunt for some birthday-worthy duds, I came across this bright collection from Kidscase.  I love those little tanks so much.

I just adore everything from Colette Bream.

I thought I’d been as emotional wowed as I could possibly be through all of Wolf’s milestones but nothing hit me harder than watching my little boy taking his first steps.

we’d been trying to walk for what seems like a month now. he’d take our hand and walk around the living room. but the second we’d let go, he’d plop down or stare up at us as he stood in place for a few seconds before reaching back for our hand or tumbling to the ground. he walked on his tippy toes and we wondered if his little feet would ever flatten to the ground. so when Levi took him out into the backyard on Saturday morning to walk around and play in the grass, we noticed that he was walking with flat feet. he seemed so confident and hardly even held Levi’s hand. so we came inside and practiced. and then… teetering nervously in the middle of the kitchen, he took his first few steps into Levi’s arms. we cheered! he smiled and clapped! and he did it again. and again. and again!!!

rolling over was ok, sitting up unassisted was fun, crawling was way cool, but walking? I see it as kind of like the transition from baby to little kid. every time he walks, he’s walking faster and faster and as I know, pretty soon he’ll be running.  and now as we’re just a short month and a half until his first birthday I ask myself often, where did my tiny baby go?