We made it.

Poor sweet Eliza.  As you can see, when Everett was a baby, I chronicled every teensy thing.  There's not a chance that I'll go back and fill in the ginormous gap from Everett's 12 month post to now.  (You'll notice that my last post was in October of 2013, right after Eliza was born, and she didn't get a mention.  I suppose in my head I thought I would eventually do a post for her birth.  Not sure what I was thinking.  I haven't seemed to have a minute to catch my breath since.)  It's probably best that I don't chronicle the missing months anyway.  It would probably go like this:  Change a bazillion diapers.  Clean up more vomit then I ever cared to see in my lifetime.  Try super hard to hold it together and not cry until Daddy gets home.  Say over and over and over in my head 'These are really really precious moments, try not to wish them away.'  Repeat.

So whatever, water under the lack-of-family-memory-recording bridge.  She's here.  She's almost one.  He's almost two.  We made it.  And that pretty much sums up the last 11 months.

Eliza is, in many ways, our super laid back child.  Food... eh.  She'll take it or leave it.  She gets a little grumpy when we skip naps, but she gets by.  She really would prefer we just did everything for her, as opposed to her super independent brother.  She just recently started holding her own bottle, and even with that, she won't do it for very long.  She eventually just tosses it aside until someone sits and holds it for her/coaxes her to eat.  Same with table food.  She eats it with her hands by herself.  For a bit.  And then she's over it, and someone often has to sit there and talk her into it.  (This is all evidenced by her teensy weensy legs, whose ability to hold her up defy the laws of physics.  Yes I know.  Pot, kettle, black.  If you ever read this Eliza, know that your mother is 29 years old and not very many days go by that I still don't get comments about being skinny.  You will get so very used to it.)  In other ways, laid back - not so much.  She shrieks ALL the time.  She spends zero seconds just sitting still.  (This is a new development.  The Lord was so very, very kind to give me many months of a very, VERY chill baby while I tried to take care of her and her totally insane, still very young brother.  But her days of sitting and watching everything are long gone.)  She started army crawling around 7 or 8 months.  Before that, for a long time she did this swimming thing where she would lift all her limbs off the ground and move them as if that would get her somewhere.  She is able to get up on her hands and knees and move, but she still prefers the army crawl.  About a month or two ago, she started pulling up and standing.  She's definitely not cruising or really interested at all in holding onto our hands and trying to walk.  This is a-ok with me.  I'm not ready for two kiddos running around just yet.

Everett was (mostly) incredibly sweet to Eliza, or Zaza as he calls her, from the day she came home until she got mobile.  Now that she gets into 'his' toys, he isn't quite so much a fan.  She intentionally antagonizes him.  She puts her hands all over his face and pulls things that he's playing with out of his hands and just generally tries to annoy him.  They drive each other absolutely crazy sitting next to each other in the grocery cart.  He pulls her bow out, she scratches him, etc.  We're all getting used to this sibling 'fighting'.  But his face still lights up when she comes downstairs from a nap, and that's just so precious.  He's EXTREMELY bossy with her.  All day, it's 'No ma'am, Zaza!  Stop it.  You may not scream!  You're in trouble!  You go to time out!'  (As you can tell, he's quite vocal.  Just for my records, at 18 months he had about 100 words.  Now, I'm not sure there are words he doesn't have.)  Again, this is evidence of second child-ism.  I would say Eliza's first word was Mama.  She still doesn't seem to really use them specifically to refer to us, but she does say Mama and Dada.  Tonight when I told Everett, 'Eliza's going to bed' she said 'NighNigh.'  So maybe she knows that one too?  She claps and gives kisses and waves, and she signs 'all done'.  She'll repeat any sounds we make.  She has the same laugh Everett had as a baby.  She was a very serious spitter-upper for a long time, but that has settled down quite a bit here recently.

Everett talks all day, all the time.  He started preschool last week.  (His teachers told me on the first day, 'He talks a lot!')  He loves people.  He loves to make people laugh.  He's gotten quite a bit more affectionate this past year.  He gives tons of hugs and kisses and is just generally so sweet.   He's absolutely obsessed with all things Thomas the Train.  He only wants to read, watch, and sing Thomas.  We discovered in August that he gets car sick on long car rides.  He loves donuts and asks for them many times every day.  He's recently gotten very attached to his 'blankie', which is really any crocheted blanket.  He sucks his thumb while he's falling asleep (they both do) and sucks on the corner of his blankie.  (Gross.)  He is very much a creature of habit.  Everything in the house with a buckle must be buckled at all times.  He mostly takes out the same toys in the same order.  He goes around and hands us things that he knows are supposed to be put up where he can't reach them.  (Not that he's 100% obedient, he definitely is not.  This is just part of his routine.)  He loves to help- throwing things in the trash, 'cleaning' up after he spills something, putting away his blocks, etc.)  He loves to blow his nose constantly, so we have no kleenex out in the house right now.

I know there's no way for me to catch up, but those are some things I wanted to remember.  Hopefully it won't be a year until I do this again, and I will just put silly little things they do that we can look back on later and laugh.  I'll be honest, these have been hard years.  Having two kids in twelve months is not something we would have ever planned, and sometimes I feel like we're still reeling.  It's by far the hardest thing I've ever done, and I can't really say I always handled it like a champ.  But for the first time since 2011, we aren't having a baby this September.  We're finally out of the infant stage for the second time, and so I'll say it again.  We made it!

(And now, a year in review in pictures.  Get ready to scroll.)

Months 9-12

Oh Everett. I could spend some time here explaining how the last few months were craziness around here due to your super pregnant mommy and there was plenty of mommy guilt to go around. But I won't. 

Here are your 12 month stats:

Height 29 in, 18th percentile 

Weight 22 lb 13 oz, 74th percentile 

Head 19 in, 96th percentile 

About a month ago we ditched the bottle for the sippy cup. The plan was to switch to milk in the sippy cup from formula in the bottle. But you had some tummy issues that may or may not have been related so we are backing off milk for a couple weeks. You get juice after your naps and water at meals. 

You actually lost some weight this month (you were up to 24 lb) as you've gotten more and more active. You can take about 10 or so steps in a row. You love it and are constantly grabbing our hands to help you walk. You've been 'cruising' along furniture for a few months now but in the last couple weeks you've really taken off with walking. You're definitely still crawling a lot as that gets you places much faster. But it shouldn't be too much longer before walking is your preferred mode of transportation. 

You are into absolutely everything. You pull all the Tupperware out of the cabinets a hundred times a day. You love to empty my t-shirt drawer. You love to flush the toilet and turn on any faucets you can reach. You are so very very busy. 

Ever since May, you haven't really gotten sick until this last month. And when it rains, it pours. About 3 weeks ago, you had a 2 week period where you regurgitated food every time you ate. Eventually I decided it must be reflux again and we made an appt with a GI specialist and then cancelled it because you just stopped doing it one day and haven't done it since. The week after that you got some virus that was just a fever and made you super clingy. Then last week you got something that have you crazy diarrhea constantly all day long for most of the week. (Which is why we backed off the dairy.) You seem to be doing ok with dairy right now so maybe it was just another virus? Who knows. 

I am happy to say that for several months now you have been sleeping just like a big boy in your crib. I had started to wonder if we would ever get there but the truth is that very much like every other transition you've had, it was much worse in my head than in reality. 

You have 8 teeth, 4 on top and 4 on bottom. You got them all around the same time. And teething hasn't been bad for us at all.

You still take 2 naps a day. Usually you nap at 9:30 or 10 am for 1.5 to 2 hours and then at 2:30 or 3 pm for 1.5 to 2 hours. Give or take. Every day is a little different. You still go to sleep between 7:30 or 8 pm (on an ideal day- this gets changed up frequently) and sleep until 

about 7 am. 

You do a little talking. (Well you 'talk' all the time, but you have a few real words.) you say Dada alllll the time. Anytime my phone rings it's Dada. When you hear him walk in the door in the evening, Dada. And you pretty much just say it all day. You just in the last week or two started saying Mama and never on command. Usually if you want something. You say 'duh' for duck and dog. You say 'nuh nuh' for no no and night night. You sign all done and please. You give tons and tons of kisses. (You'll just walk over and kiss our legs.) You wave hi and bye-bye, give hi fives, do touchdown, and clap. You also love to switch light switches on and off.  Oh and you've started grinding your teeth. Ugh! There doesn't seem to be anything we can do so hopefully you stop soon!

We had lots of fun celebrating your 1st birthday with friends and family! Good thing we did it early. 2 days after your real birthday- your baby sister made her debut a month early! More on that later. 

We can't believe you are a year old. We just love you so much and love watching you learn new things and grow up. You're starting to understand how to really 'play'. You love for us to chase you. You're so so much fun. Can't wait to see how you'll grow and change in the coming months! 

7 and 8 months

I am WAY behind!!

No standard doctor's appointments to give me stats.  But we did have a number of sick baby doctor appointments so I can say that around 8 months, you were 21 pounds and about 26.5 inches.  Chunky and short.  :-)

You still take bottles about 4 times a day.  Around 7 am, 11 am, 4 pm, and 7:30 pm.  You also eat some form of breakfast, lunch and dinner.  Usually cereal or oatmeal for breakfast, fruit for lunch, and a veggie for dinner.  However, Mommy has been slacking in the baby food department and you've been pretty much eating fruits.  I had been making the veggie baby food myself, and when we went on vacation, I tried getting you to eat the jarred stuff and you wouldn't have any part of it.  Dang it.  So now I need to catch up and make some more.  You also eat random food off our plates when we go out- breads, potatoes, etc.  Anything that seems pretty bland and that we can mash enough for you to eat.  Restaurants are getting tricky since you would rather eat what we eat than what I'm feeding you.

You are back on track taking two good naps a day.  I took us about 6 weeks after we changed you from two naps to three for you to start napping again.  Goodness.  But now you nap from about 9 or 9:30 to 11 or 11:30 and then 2 or 2:30 to 4 or 4:30.  You sleep from around 8 pm or whenever you finish eating your 7:30 bottle and get all ready for bed to somewhere between 6:30 and 7 am usually.

You didn't really get sick at all in your 7th month, but 8- goodness gracious.  You got some sort of virus that was quick and just involved a fever.  And then a week later, while I was out of town with you for two weeks, you got something else (possibly RSV) which turned into bronchiolitis again which landed us at 3 urgent care visits and eventually the emergency room.  You had to take steroids in the hospital since the breathing treatments weren't doing the trick, and ahhhh the effects of steroids.  Which including projectile vomit and you waking up with a tummy ache at night which would cause you to scream for hours, and these terrible diaper rashes that also caused out of control screaming.  It was terrible, and I felt terrible for you, and we weren't home in our own house with our own doctors.  Thankfully, we are past that part now.  We've been doing breathing treatments for almost 3 weeks now and you still can't seem to kick the coughing and wheezing so it's back to the doctor for us again tomorrow.  I'm never leaving town without your father again.  Lesson learned.

You can crawl!  But you mostly won't.  :-)  You are such a stubborn little thing.  If there's something you must have (usually an iphone), you will crawl to it.  Otherwise, you'll find something closer that you can roll to.  You would still much prefer that we hold your hands and help you walk.  If you do crawl, you will only do the exact number of steps it takes to get to whatever you want.  Typically, you'll go about 3 steps, stretch out as far as you can and grunt, trying to reach for what you want.  If you absolutely still can't get it, you'll go one step further.  You're starting to pull up on things.  There really isn't anything in our house short enough for you to pull up on, so I've been saying every day for weeks that we need to get you a toy or something you can use.  Soon!  I promise.

Still not going to elaborate on the crib situation.  I like you a lot more when I don't think about it.  Once you get over this sickness, your little bed is going to disappear and it's the crib 100% of the time.  I can't believe I've caved as long as I have.

You got your first tooth on your 8 month birthday!  It's a top tooth and boy does it hurt when you bite our fingers now!

You still just love other people.  It's gotten to the point that you lean towards strangers when we are out in public and make all kinds of noises to get them to notice you.  If they don't, you get upset.  I see this causing your mother, who really doesn't talk to strangers, to go WAY out of her comfort zone in the future when you can talk and think everyone is your friend.

You had your first pool day! You're so stinking cute.

The last few months have been challenging for us with a new baby on the way and lots of sickness here recently for you and for me.  But we wouldn't trade any of it for anything in the world.  We love you Everett Charles Gilgour!  Every single month we say 'this one is our favorite!'  :-) And then it gets better!!

Look at you grow!

6 months!

I'm going to skip the 'time flies' blurb to spare everyone else this time. Suffice it to say, it does.


Stats:

Height 25.75 in, 16%
Weight 17 lb 11.8 oz, 57%
Head 17.75 in, 93%

Everett at 6 months, you:

Have now reached a level of chubby that gets a lot of comments out in public. :) You eat 4x a day now. Around 7 am, 11 am, 3:30 pm, and 7:30 pm. You also eat rice cereal and oatmeal. (Since I'm almost 2 weeks late in doing your 6 month update, you've eaten other foods now. But I'll update those next time.) You would like to be able to hold the spoon and feed yourself because we aren't quite fast enough for you. Unfortunately, you're just a tad too young. :)

You started going to bed around 7:30. Which is awesome and you still sleep great at night. But for some reason, this has really put a damper in your napping. You're getting better at it each week, but for awhile you weren't napping for more than 30-45 minutes twice a day. Which wasn't enough and you were so, so grumpy by late afternoon/evening. In theory, you nap for 2 hours in the morning (9-11ish) and 2 in the afternoon (1:30-3:30ish). But I get really excited about a rare 1.5 hour nap these days so we will see.

This was the month of the sick. You got a virus (possibly RSV), which turned into bronchiolitis, which lead to an ear infection. We did breathing treatments and antibiotics and lots of waking up at night and sadness during the day. But you're all better! Yay.

We weaned off the Prevacid this month but it didn't go well. We are back on it.

You've decided crawling isn't your thing. You sit great (although you eventually topple over, either in an attempt to reach something or because you threw yourself backwards to try to stand up or because you think it's a fun game). However, you absolutely will not stay I your belly. I'm sure crawling will come eventually but for now, one second on your belly and you roll over in protest. You'd really rather someone held your hands and helped you walk all day long.

I'm not even going to get started on the crib situation. It's not going well.

You're definitely teething. You've been cutting the same tooth in the front for awhile now. You love to chew on ice cubes.

You're really good at holding your bottle now and can get it back in yourself. If I try to help you, you grab it away from me. (You're really, really independent.) And usually wind up spraying milk all over your face.

You're such a people person. People love you when we go out because you smile at everyone who will look at you. You'll lean toward/ go to anyone. You absolutely love when people stand around and talk to you and tell you how cute you are. You soak it up. You have to be in the middle of the action all the time. You can no longer be held facing toward me, you will just wiggle yourself around until you can face out.

You are so independent, so full of personality, so strong-willed and SO much fun. You greet us with huge grins every time we go get you from your bed or when one of us gets home. We are crazy about you, little man!

You seem more and more grown up every day. Look at you go!