Dear Kimball, you are one

My dear Kimball,

You are one year old! I can't believe it. You've done so much in the past year. You have been to 13 states, two zoos, AZ to see your grandparents, and three temples (OKC, Snowflake, and Nauvoo). You lived in a hotel for the first two and a half months of your life. You spent hours in the car and survived three moves (ID to MI to KS). I know I'm missing some more things, but I'll stop there. I can't believe how much you have already done in your short life!

Did I tell you that you started walking when you were 11 months old? Aidan loved crouching down, holding out his hands, and saying, "Come here, Kimball. Come here." And you loved walking to him. Let's face it, we all loved trying to get you to walk to us. :) It's been fun to see you try to run as fast as Aidan does and see you fall but get right back up every single time.

You have a lot of gumption and ambition, plus a lot of problem-solving skills which has gotten me into trouble a few times. You love opening the kitchen cupboard doors and recently learned how to open the top desk drawer and make a mess throwing pens and markers everywhere.

You also love throwing books off the bookshelves, throwing cars, throwing balls (throwing pretty much anything - I'm trying to get you out of the habit), running after Aidan and being chased by Aidan, being tickled, being snuggled, going on walks, and taking long drives in the car. I think it's because you like looking out the van window and you're actually out of the house. :)

The other thing you absolutely love is WATER! You love splashing in the water so much that Aidan constantly says, "No, Kimball! Please stop, Kimball." He's gotten more used to it, though. You don't mind me dumping water over your head to rinse out the shampoo in your hair. When we went to the toddler pool on-base, you were like a little fish. I had to keep a close eye on you so you wouldn't go under the water. I'll have to put you in swim lessons in the next couple years.

You're in the 29th percentile for height (29.5 inch) and 38th percentile for weight (20 lbs 13 oz), so I'm not sure how tall or big you will be. To me you are perfect just the way you are right now. You have grown out of most of the 9-12 month clothes, and it kind of broke my heart to take out the 12 month clothes because it means you're growing up. It's definitely bittersweet watching you reach milestones.

You're still not sure how to suck out of a straw. You finally did get used to drinking from a sippy cup. You hated it at first - probably because I've given you free reign over your bottle and you've used it as a comfort more than I'd like. Since we've both been frustrated with the transition, I'm grateful I don't have to wean you from a pacifier! I bet you are, too.

By the way, you have so.many.teeth. I can't even remember how many teeth you have. Almost a whole mouthful, with a few gaps here and there. I'll count them the next time you laugh and put your head way back on my lap like you love doing. You are definitely my snuggle baby, which I love. Thanks for all your sweet hugs and touching your hand to my knee when you want to watch what's going on around us but be close to me too.

Aidan and you have a sweet, funny relationship. Aidan absolutely loves you, but he also has a mean streak. You've had to be patient with him taking toys away from you, hitting you on the head, and pushing you over. However, you've also got a big brother who has your back. He misses you when you're asleep. When you first joined our family and I happened to be out with just Aidan and me, he would say, "Baby?"

You both love playing together in the pack 'n play, and you used to love playing together in the crib too before we banned Aidan from it haha. You two wouldn't go to sleep! It still sounds like a party in your bedroom every night when you two go to bed, though. You both love running around and playing with blankets, balls, stuffed animals, and (sometimes) cars when Aidan lets you. It's also fun and sweet watching you both play at the park and seeing your different personalities come out.

Aidan's first time seeing you.

You're kind of a picky eater. You'll eat four or five bites of something and enjoy it, but then when I give you more, you just throw it on the floor. Then you cry because you're still hungry. I kind of want to tear my hair out sometimes figuring out things for you to eat, but I'm glad you still eat most things. Let's see, I'm usually safe giving you bananas and bread. You also really like cooked peas, sweet potatoes, butternut squash, oatmeal, raisins, baby food, milk, and pancakes. Definitely pancakes. The other day I tried to get you to eat applesauce by yourself by dumping some applesauce onto your tray and handing you a spoon. I left the room for a minute and came back to find Aidan feeding you. It was the cutest thing. He loves helping out. When you drop your bottle or sippy cup on the floor, Aidan likes fetching them for you, too.

Your first word was "da-da." You would say it for everything and then you would say, "Daddy" when you saw Dad. You are for sure a Daddy's boy. :) Still no other words yet, although lately you'll hold things up and it sounds like you say, "What's that?" So I just tell you the word of whatever you're holding up ("That's a book. That's a ball. That's a cheerio.") I love hearing your talk in your baby talk and your belly laugh is the best. Recently you'll laugh just when someone else around you laughs.

Movies still aren't your thing, but the other day I turned on Despicable Me for Aidan, and your favorites were the minions. Every time they came on, you laughed.

One of your other favorite things are washcloths, socks, shirts, blankets, anything soft. If I left a sock lying on the floor, you'll pick it up and walk around, waving it in the air like a flag. Then you think it's a game when I chase you and grab it.

During our bedtime routine, you still hate folding your arms for prayer, but you LOVE it when me or Daddy brush your teeth. I think the bathroom is your favorite room to go to. Probably because you're not allowed in there.

Can I just tell you how much I love you and am so, so grateful for you? On your one-year birthday, I couldn't stop thinking about the day you were born. I was excited when I went into labor all on my own, but then I was scared when a possible infection most likely caused it. The labor and delivery went really, really well, and I didn't have to push long with you at all. I wasn't sure if they would let me see you before sending you to the NICU, but I was so grateful and joyous when they placed you on my chest. My Kimball. When I think back to that day, I can't help but be so, so grateful you are here and healthy and thriving. You have brought SO MUCH joy to our family. Thank you for being happy and showing me how to better love others.

I hope and pray that someday you will have a relationship with Alma, too. Your dad and I miss him so much. When you were born, there were a lot of similarities between your facial features and Alma's, as well as other features. Although it made me miss him more, I was grateful I had you to help remind me what it felt like to hold him.

Happy One Whole Year to you, my Kimball. I love you like crazy and hope this next year brings even more happiness and milestones for you.

Love,

Mom

PS: Your birth story is here.

Kimball's One Year Birthday Party

Kimball turned one year old on May 10, 2017.

His first year seemed to go by much faster than Aidan's first year. It's probably because we did a lot of things out of the ordinary for a baby's first year (aka moving across the country, living in a hotel, new outings every week...).

It's always hard coming up with a theme for a baby's first birthday. For Aidan, I did a play off the meaning of his middle name ("champ/champion") and went with a baseball theme. For Kimball, I decided since Aidan and Kimball like animals, that's the theme we'd go for. And it turned out cute! Very simple, but cute.

This banner that took me wayyyy too long to make, along with big red, blue, yellow, and orange balloons strewn all over the floor, were the only decorations. But since our apartment is so small, it didn't seem to lack for other decorations. :) These, along with the animal crackers, assorted fruit, air-popped popcorn, and bright red cupcakes really added to the birthday atmosphere.

Although the cupcakes turned out just the way I was hoping (presentation-wise) and the kids liked them, the store-bought frosting was definitely nothing to brag about. Next time I'll make my usual homemade cream cheese frosting.

We had a few friends over (those who could make it on a random Thursday night) who brought their kids over. Kimball wasn't much a fan of playing with the other kids, but Aidan had a blast. One little boy couldn't stop eating the pineapple, and everyone's fingers were dyed red from the cupcake frosting.

We sang "Happy Birthday" to Kimball, who was the center of attention in the high chair, and Aidan happily helped K blow out the one birthday candle.

Then Kimball dug into his cupcake. He ate a lot of it and threw the rest overboard onto the carpet. I think he had a good birthday. :) 

It was so fun celebrating our little man. It's still surreal to me that he's a whole year old, but I also love watching him reach even more milestones and get old enough to play more games with Aidan. We're so grateful for him.

Father's Day, Sickies, and A Couple More June Updates

I've been absent on here for almost an entire month! With my goal of writing at least 4X/month, I'm going to have to get cracking. I thought I had written at least once in June, but nope. So here's a little update...

The boys (and Jayze) are a little sick around here. Jayze is on the verge of losing his voice, and Aidan and Kimball somehow picked up a couple of nasty coughs and have had fevers for the last few days. I stayed home from church with A and K, but we still had a cute Father's Day card for Jayze when he got home. We topped off the evening with homemade cinnamon rolls and bread (Jayze's first time shaping the loaves!). Yum.

I love that cute boy reading in the corner. 

I'm so grateful for the good dad that Jayze is. He loves all of our boys so much, and he works hard to provide for their needs and mine. He's quick to play with them and adds spontaneity to our home. We all love him so much.

We tried out a new park in the sweltering heat on Saturday. Since Aidan and Kimball had fevers, their faces got red and sweaty quicker than normal. They both kept walking back to us to drink water, Aidan almost fell off the rock climbing ramp, and Kimball tripped over that narrow crack between the cement and rubber at least 25 times. They still had so much fun playing, and I'm glad we got to spend time together outside as a family. Brought me back to our days in Michigan! We could practically drink the air, and our skin felt sticky.

The kids and I are still mostly home-bound (thanks to us only having one car), but we still have fun when Jayze comes home from work.

The couch is their favorite spot lately.

Aidan: "Aidan and Kimball play on the couch, Mom?" 

Aidan loves to replicate one of his favorite books and "hang upside down by one toe" on the back of the couch. Kimball mostly likes looking out the window and laughing at Aidan.

In more good (and some bad) news...Kimball finally got used to drinking from his sippy cups! Just in time for him to get sick and drink from the bottle again, haha. I'm glad he's able to get the fluids in somehow. Wichita really is so humid.

The summer has been fun so far. We haven't done a lot, but it's been nice to kick back a little. Hopefully we'll plan a few more things in the next couple of weeks. Summer is for sure one of my favorite seasons, and I want to make the most of the hot, hot sun.

That's it for now. :)