12 Months of Drake

Well, 10...but who's counting :)

Drake - ONE YEAR!

I am almost a month late in posting about my sweet baby boy's first birthday. I should really be fined, it's that embarrassing.

We did too much for Carter's first birthday (as all first time parents do...) so we decided to pair things back but still make the day special for little Drakey. We had a little party at home with just family, some yummy food and of course, a smash cake.

^^ the face of defeat


^^ "ya, i'm done"


^^ "over itttttt"

At one year, Drake...

-Loves garbage trucks almost as much (maybe even more) than Carter does.

-Says MAMA now!!!!! Took the kid a whole year but he finally did it! And a few days later he spat out "truck." Dada may have taken first place, but I'm so relieved I at least beat out truck!

-Has way too much testosterone. He wants to rough house allllllll dayyyyy long and loves getting thrown around. It's so cute when it's with Daddy, not so cute when it involves him pulling my hair and smacking me in the face.

-Has had a pretty drastic change to his personality. He used to be my "sweet" little boy and now he is 100% mischief.

-Wants to be outside all the time. If we have to go outside for whatever reason, we have to either move him to another room or distract him with a toy because he will BOLT after us to try to get out too.

-Still loves his brother and is noticeably sad when they're separated.

-Is a pretty picky eater. Unless vegetables are covered in some kind of sauce, he wont eat them. I guess I got spoiled with Carter who eats vegetables without even a trace of salt....but ugh. I guess this is karma for me, since I'm not the biggest veggie fan myself.

-Has lost interest in his binky and bottle. I still give him a bottle most of the time because I just haven't bought new sippy cups yet but Drake has no attachment to either one anymore. I think when he got a bad cold it was difficult to breathe while using either so he kind of just self weaned.

-Is at the 92% for height and 95% for weight. Still enormous, but definitely a difference from his "off-the-charts" days

-Is starting to like reading books a bit more now, but unfortunately likes ripping them apart even more. He's probably destroyed at least 10 books now. However, his current favorite is the Very Hungry Caterpillar

-Flirts with everyone when we're outside. Smiles and waves for days to everyone. The old ladies at Target love us.

-Is still OBSESSED with dogs. Nothing makes him happier than dogs and garbage trucks

-Is so so so busy, as you can see from these photos. I have never been so tired (ha!)

Drake, this year with you has been an adventure to say the least. You make my hair gray but melt my heart even more. I have a feeling I will always have a special soft spot in my heart just for you, my sweet baby blue ;)

Drake - 11 Months

10 days late, but OH MYYY do these pictures make up for it. Look at this kids face! I just cannot handle him sometimes. Can't believe little mister will be ONE next month!

At 11 months, Drake

-Is a champion walker. He'll even run sometimes when Richard chases him around the condo. He walks so differently than Carter did. Carter was super bow-legged and Drake almost marches around with how high he picks up his knees, so cute.

-Still gets stopped everywhere about his blue eyes. I feel like maybe people just don't expect them after looking at Carter and I when we're out.

-Loves to wrestle with Carter. If Carter is laying on the ground to get his diaper changed, Drake will bolt over and body slam him and proceed to roll all over him. Carter loves it, luckily.

-Hates shoes. I'm always terrible about putting my kids in shoes before they walk. I thought I would be the type to dress them up but it just never was worth the extra step to me. However, since he's walking now...he kind of has to wear shoes. So I was putting some hand-me-downs on him and he just didn't even know what to do with his feet when they were on. #momfail... I'll have to get some super soft soled ones to help him transition because he's just not having it!

-Still is a big fan of bath time. However, he's not one to stay in forever either. He'll let you know when he's done. Usually after 10 minutes or so.

-Is sleeping through the night!!! I wish I would have just done it sooner, dang it. We put Carter's toddler bed into our room for 4 days and went to work. The first night we laid Drake down in his crib, sleepy, but awake and he cried for 30 minutes and went to sleep. The second night, he cried for 5 minutes and went to sleep. The 3rd night, he whined until I shut the door, then he went right to sleep. Literally the easiest thing ever. Life is just so much easier when you can get at least a 7 hour stretch.

-Is still such an animal lover, especially dogs. We have this little stuffed pink poodle that Richard's grandma gave to us and Drake is obsessed with it and sleeps with it every night lol

-Can officially climb things now. His favorite being Carter's toddler bed and the couch. Today instead of grabbing him down from the couch, I just kind of hovered and wanted to see how he planned on getting down. To my surprise, he turned around and went down feet first! I don't know if he learned that from watching Carter, but I am very, very grateful.

-Is in the process of getting like 4 new teeth. One on his bottom left has poked through, but his gums are so swollen and sore, poor buddy

-Still only says Dada, but is continually babbling more. Fingers crossed for a "mama" for Christmas!

^^I cannot get over this photo. I laugh out loud every time!

-Eats so.much.food. I feed him the same amount as Carter and he'll sometimes want more. I'm glad we got a Costco card this year because I have a feeling with 3 big boys in our home...we're going to need it.

-Got transitioned into Carter's old convertible car seat and has a bit more wiggle room which I think he likes! 

-Love you my little Drakey Pakey!!! (sorry if you're embarrassed reading this 15 years later) You are the perfect addition to our family and we are so grateful your goofball self belongs to us.

Drake - 10 Months

I really don't even feel bad for being 2 weeks late on this post because my life is the craziest (some good, but mostly not) it's ever been! However, I've already missed a month with this little dude and some big things have happened with him that I just must document! Also, his face in pictures is just too much. I could just devour him. Also, he's naked this time because onesies aren't made big enough to fit 2T lol

At 10 months Drake...

-Is still such a cuddle bug. Although he is so, so, SOOO wiggly...he still craves lots of cuddle time with mama.

-On that same note, when he wants cuddles and I'm busy with something, he will cling onto my leg until I pick him up which makes things impossible to get done (like getting out of the door on time in the morning for work...)

-Is WALKING! He took his first few steps late in his 9th month but he can easily walk across a room now. I was walking fully at 9 months, Richard was 10 and Carter was early 11 so it might just be a genetic thing because I sure know I wasn't helping encourage it.

-Is not a big fan of green vegetables. I attribute this to us being much more lenient with his food than we were with Carter #2ndchildprobs

-Is still built like a total cinder block. However, I've had multiple people tell me he's starting to thin out. (tear) Also, he and Carter can still pretty much share clothes and diapers. |

-Is obsessed with dogs. If he so much as sees one in a commercial on TV he will laugh, wave or babble excitedly at it.

-Adores Carter and thinks he's just the funniest person in the entire world. However, he's not a fan of hugs. Poor Carter will try and Drake will literally push him off with two hands.

-Had a really good couple of weeks where he was sleeping almost all the way through the night. This has changed a bit over the last week or so and I'm hoping it's just some more teething.

-Is done nursing. We were down to just nursing when he woke up in the middle of the night. Otherwise, my supply was just so low and he just didn't have the interest/patience to nurse. I thought I'd be sad, but I'm actually totally fine with it! Drake was so over it so I don't feel like I'm depriving him at all. However, washing bottles is such a pain...

-Loves being outside. If we even crack the door, he bolts. We just laid some new sod in our backyard and I can't wait until I can just throw both those boys back there to play again :)

-Still only says dada. No other words yet. I don't know if my expectations were skewed because Carter had a 5 word vocab at 5 months, but I was a little worried. Google says first words usually happen around their first birthday so that helped my mama heart a bit! He will sit through books a little better now though so I think that should really help!

-Loves bath time. Will bolt whenever he hears the bathroom door open, which is sometimes a big hassle since we're in the middle of potty training Carter

-Has so much hair. The kid really needs a haircut but I just can't imagine him sitting still for someone yet.

-Speaking of hair...he pulls my hair at any chance he gets and YIKES it hurts!!

-Still loves climbing all over me and smacking me in the face while I'm on the ground. He basically just beats me up all day long but I just can't ever be mad at him...his face is too cute.

We love you Drakey boy! Can't believe we're starting to think about your BIRTHDAY PARTY!!