David's One Year Stats

Weight: 19 pounds 7 ounces, 7% for his age
Height: 30 inches, 56% for his age.
Head Circumference: 18.1 inches, 38% for his age. 

12-Month David

David is an active, easily-pleased, and eager-to-eat baby.  He loves to crawl, climb stairs, cuddle with his mama, and eat.  Boy, does he love to eat!


New Developments In The Last 2 Months

• He can stand up by himself without support.
• He can throw balls and crawl after them.
• He can say, "Uh-oh," "Mama," "ow," and "whoa."
• He has four teeth!
• He began drinking cows milk at 11 months.  He drinks milk two to three times a day.
• He yells in protest when things don't go his way (particularly with Lizzy).
• He has outgrown baby food. He prefers to self-feed.
• He can understand some words, names, and phrases.  He instantly knows what I mean when I say, "David, do you want to eat Mama?"
• He can walk with some help.

Favorite Foods

Raisins, pasta, bell peppers, chicken, grapes, Cheerios, zucchini, squash, mushrooms, shrimp, cookies, carrots, bananas, maple oatmeal, tomatoes, craisins, eggs, cheese, turkey, avocado, ham.... the big question is, what doesn't he like?

Little quirks:

• His new favorite trick is climbing up on Lizzy's bed.  It's his new favorite spot in the whole house.
• He likes crawling under his highchair, looking for dropped Cheerios.  Sometimes he gets trapped under there and it looks like he's stuck in a cage.
• He loves taking out the sandwich bags and grocery bags out of the cupboards.
• He often watches to see if we leave the dishwasher open.  He likes getting into the silverware.
• He LOVES to be sung to.  He always smiles when I sing, "David, David, da da da..."  He also LOVES the song "Open Shut Them."
• He loves drinking milk from sippy cups, but he's not done nursing yet.  He still likes to nurse.

One Year Old

It's still hard for me to believe that one whole year has gone by since the day my precious little baby boy was born.  I remember a year ago, lying in my hospital bed with fear and anxiety in my heart, trying to imagine what it would be like a year from then, celebrating David's first birthday.  I wanted time to speed up fast.  I wanted to know that my NICU baby would be happy, safe, and healthy.  I wanted him to be free of the pain I knew he was feeling that moment. Little did I know how quickly time would go by!  My baby is a big, healthy, and energetic one-year-old boy, with a happy and enthusiastic personality.  He brings so much light and laughter into our home.  We all love him.  He can make each of us smile and laugh, even when times are hard.

I don't think I have ever met such an easy-going, happy, and content baby as David is.  Really, this boy can react calmly in almost any circumstance, even when getting shots or getting his finger poked.  He just seems to accept unpleasant things and move on, finding joy in the simplest pleasures.  He is an inspiration to me.

I am so grateful to have my son in my life.  He means so much to me.  I hope he always knows how much I love and adore his wonderful personality and his beautiful face.  Love you always, my sweet baby boy.

The Highlight of My Day: September 2012

Something good happens each day. Here's what happened in September 2012:

Sat 9/1/12: Brad and I made some excellent progress clearing out the den today and unpacking some boxes. Little by little our house is turning into our home.

Sun 9/2/12: Brad and I finished "Return of the King" today. When Frodo was attacked by Shelob Lizzy cried out, "OH NO! OH NO! SPIDER!" Then, after Shelob was wounded by Samwise, Lizzy kept saying, "Spider is okay. Spider is okay."

Mon 9/3/12: Today was Aunt Marian's annual Labor Day pool party. Later in the evening, after the babies went to bed early, Brad and I enjoyed talking about our teenage years. I told him he should write down some of his unique high school experiences. They would be perfect in a book!

Tue 9/4/12: Lizzy and David enjoyed our walk along the Jordan River today. It was a nice treat after David's doctor appointment.

Wed 9/5/12: David can stand up on his own sometimes, for a few seconds. He's getting to be such a big boy. I started giving him cows milk today, since Dr. Vierra has been worrying that he might not be getting all the fat and nutrition he needs while nursing. He seems to like milk a lot more than formula. Formula is yucky stuff.

Thu 9/6/12: Lizzy and I drove to Entheos today to bring Emma her swimming suit, which she left behind by accident. Since we were already in the area, we drove to the Jordan River Parkway and went for a walk. Lizzy and David loved us walking along the river. At the end of the walk we stopped at the park so Lizzy could play. We found a little flock of ducks that came running up to us, hoping for some food, but we had none to give. David and Lizzy were very entertained by the ducks.

Fri 9/7/12: Brad and I went on a date to the temple tonight. It was Stake Temple night. We carpooled with Bruce and Loralee while Lindsey watched the little ones.

Sat 9/8/12: Brad and I took the little kids to Wheeler Farm today. David got licked by a little Jersey calf. He thought it was funny. We drove to Marian's house directly from Wheeler Farm and spent the afternoon and evening playing Nerts with Marian and Ann. Lovely, lovely day.

Sun 9/9/12: We went to Stake Conference today. It was a broadcast with Elder L. Tom Perry presiding. We heard a lot of good things that we needed to hear, and we were so glad we went. After conference, we drove to Westbrook 2nd Ward and watched Brad's dad get released and a new bishop called-- Bishop Dabo. It was nice seeing familiar faces at the ward. We've missed so many people.

Mon 9/10/12: Brad and I finished watching Casablanca tonight. I've lost count how many times we've seen it together. It's a classic that we never get tired of.

Tue 9/11/12: Emma, Lizzy, and I made geckos out of beads at Activity Days. Emma made a white gecko with red eyes, and I made a green and yellow one for Lizzy. On the way home, Emma said she was glad I could go to Activity Days with her. I am, too. I love spending time with my girls.

Wed 9/12/12: Scott and I drove out to West Jordan to drop off his birthday party invitations to Quinn, Brett, Jordan, and Jacob. All the boys seemed really happy to see Scott again and didn't want to stop talking to him. It took much longer to drop off those invitations than I was expecting, but it was all good. I loved spending the one-on-one time with Scott.

Thu 9/13/12: I watched more Merlin with Bradley tonight. I've become addicted to this show. The series started out overly cheesy and predictable, and at first I didn't really care for it too much, but now I like it. Season two is definitely better than the first season.

Fri 9/14/12: Tonight was our ward's Soup Potluck and Cake Auction. My mushroom soup won a prize for the fanciest soup. The cakes were amazing! We bid on a red velvet cake with cherries and whipped cream on top and we won. Brad and I ate some while watching more Merlin tonight.

Sat 9/15/12: We had a houseful of geeky boys this afternoon to celebrate Scott's 15th birthday. I made a chocolate cake for Scott and decorated it using a design he came up with himself. Video game logo, of course.

Sun 9/16/12: We invited Brad's dad to dinner tonight. I made Shepherd's Pie. It was our first formal dinner at the new house.

Mon 9/17/12: We celebrated Scott's birthday for Family Home Evening tonight. We had German pancakes and fruit salad for dinner, as well as homemade banana cream pie and presents. The boy has a bunch of painting supplies now. He needs to get to work and become a famous artist!

Tue 9/18/12: Tonight was library night! We had about eleven DVDs that needed to be returned, but then we forgot them and had to come back to the house to get them. I picked up two more DVDs tonight. I'm looking forward to watching War Horse with Bradley.

Wed 9/19/12: I enjoyed having my visiting teacher come visit me tonight. She stayed for almost a whole hour talking to me. I liked that.

Thu 9/20/12: David learned how to say "uh oh" today. He's been practicing all day. We headed over to Aunt Marian's house tonight for pizza and Nertz, and David made sure to show off his new skill there.  Brad and I love spending time with Marian and Aunt Ann. Marian won the Nertz game, which made her happy, because she claims she never wins with Brad and me. We left earlier than we wanted to (school night). Brad and I stayed up and watched the end of War Horse. GREAT movie!

Fri 9/21/12: Brad's friend Dan Robinson came over for dinner. My homemade chili and salsa turned out really well. Brad received a bunch of U2 gifts from Dan: U2 coasters, a Joshua Tree mug, and a magazine with an article about U2. Brad really liked that.

Sat 9/22/12: Brad and I spent most of the day cleaning up the house while looking for our temple recommends. Although we did not find the recommends the way we had hoped, we accomplished a lot cleaning up the house.

Sun 9/23/12: Today was the Brigham City Temple Dedication. Brad and I thought we wouldn't be able to go, because our recommends ended up going through the washing machine. We didn't discover the remnants of the recommends until late Saturday night, but Brother Western came to the rescue this morning and got us new recommends. The dedication was beautiful!

Mon 9/24/12: We gathered rocks around our yard and our street tonight for FHE. We had a contest to see who would gather the most rocks. Scott won the contest and was rewarded with Snicker candies.

Tue 9/25/12: We headed over to the Western's wedding reception at Wheeler Farm tonight. We enjoyed getting our photos taken at the photo-booth; eating cotton candy, popcorn, and ice cream sundaes; and of course it was great visiting with people and congratulating the bride and groom. We liked all the creativity that was used to put together this fun event.

Wed 9/26/12: Today was Grandma Whitcomb's birthday! The little ones and I made a Happy Birthday video and posted it on Facebook. Lizzy had been excited about Grandma's birthday all day.

Thu 9/27/12: Brad and I watched three episodes of Downton Abbey while drinking Martinelli's apple cider. We really like the show so far. Very well done!

Fri 9/28/12:  Brad and I finished Downton Abbey tonight!  Definitely one of our favorite shows!

Sat 9/29/12:  Today was a busy day!  Emmy and I went to practice the primary program at church this morning.  We had pizza and kool-aid for lunch.  I went shopping by myself most of the afternoon, and in the evening Brad and I watched some more shows together.  I love busy days!

Sun 9/30/12:  The Primary Program went exceptionally well today.  I loved sitting with my Sunbeams.  They are so adorable!  In the evening our family went to visit the Bruce-Clan.  Loralee made a wonderful beef and  noddle soup.