Baby D Monthly Update | 12 Months Old

I’m not one to break tradition and since I’ve said it in every other update…

WHERE DID THE TIME GO?!  My baby is no longer a baby!  Officially he’s a toddler now that he is 12 months old (13 months old -Poor second child – all his updates are delayed!!) however, I still plan on calling him Baby D until he tells me he isn’t a baby anymore!  How could my little (okay, not so little at 9lbs 4ozs) baby get to be this big, beautiful, sweet, happy toddler?

If you missed his first birthday pictures you might want to check them out – they turned out great!  You can also catch up on previous monthly updates here.

Growth:

I mentioned in his 11 month update that Baby D had gotten long and skinny.  At his 12 month appointment I learned I was half right.  He is 30 inches like I thought he was, but he was not 22.5.  In fact he actually lost weight, putting him below his weight at 6 months old.  Part of his FPIES diagnosis was that  wasn’t supposed to trail anymore foods, but rather simply continue to breastfeed him until his hospital food trials.  I did exclusively breastfeed him for 12 months, but at this time we were given a failure to thrive diagnosis and had to start Baby D on a special formula.  (More on that in Food/FPIES).

I’m pretty sure I made this same face in the office when they told me my sweet baby had actually lost weight.

Looks:

The most noticeable difference that has changed over this past month is Baby D’s hair!! I LOVE his hair!! When it is wet, or he’s sweaty it curls right up.  I think it’s too fine to hold a curl long term, but I love it while it does!!  Plus, it has gotten really long in the past 30 days.  With K I thought I was supposed to get baby’s first hair cut after they turned one… this time around I have no plans to cut his curls or baby soft hair any time soon!

Firsts & Milestones:

Baby D spends his days watching his brother like a hawk, and recently he has really started to mimic him.  It’s a lot of fun to watch, and K certainly get’s a kick out of it.  Baby D has also (as of December 26th) taken his first step.  It took every inch of restraint I had not to push him over and cheer him on instead.  Really, I’m so proud of him, but watching these firsts fly by is sure bittersweet.  It didn’t help matters that he decided to do it the same day he finally figured out standing on his own for more than a few seconds!

New at 12 Months:

• Walking – well taking up to 6 or so steps at a time.
• Talking more and more
• Mimicking a lot
• Dancing and playing music whenever he can
• Rides in a Big Boy convertible car seat
• Sleeping at night!!!!!!
• Loves sharing his toys and taking them back over and over

Food/FPIES:

Our faux birthday cake since Baby D can’t have real cake. I actually really love this one! It’s from Alex Toys.

This has probably been the hardest FPIES month for me.  While the throwing up, going limp, and even blue, and trying to figure out what was going on was scary, this was heartbreaking.  A month ago we had a follow up appointment with our allergist where I learned that my poor baby was hungry and losing weight was awful feeling.  Like someone punched me hard in my heart.  I knew he wasn’t putting on weight, but I had NO clue he was losing it.  I had wondered in his 10 month update if my breastmilk was enough for him, but the reality of it not being enough was hard.  Obviously I would do anything to make sure my baby is happy and healthy, I just didn’t expect it to happen like this.  After learning that he was considered failure to thrive for losing nearly 3 lbs and dropping from the 87% of the weight chart to the 13%. I cried in the office.  We started Baby D on Elacare which is an amino acid based formula that most FPIES babies respond well to.  We have bi-monthly weight checks, and if after 4 weeks he had not put on weight we would have to put in a g-tube.  Thankfully (and a benefit of not getting these monthly updates up on time) he did put on a few ozs at his first 2 week weight check.  We have is second and follow up with our Gastrointestinal doctor where I plan on asking for blood work to check Baby D’s iron levels (he’s been bruising easily lately).

While I am super happy that my baby is putting on weight and taking the formula well, this past month has completely destroyed my breastmilk supply.  I’m guessing because the bottle is easier and the formula fills him up more, several times a day he refuses to breastfeed.  We always try to nurse first.  When he refused I would pump, but I went from getting a few ozs to drops in a few weeks.  All my doctors are very supportive of breastfeeding and still want me to continue to do it, as do I, but given this past year and how many hurtles we over came to breastfeed as long as we did, dealing with this has been a huge blow to me.  I rarely get the sweet cuddle time when he would curl into me and nurse, and I’m working so hard just to get a few ozs saved for when I need it.  Most days I get about 6 ozs total and that goes right into a bottle and into his belly.   I’m realizing as I write this that it needs to be it’s own post and not here in his baby update…  What I can say is that throughout all of this, my baby has been nothing but happy (okay except maybe at night).  He’s smiley all day long and waves at everyone he sees.  He had every right to be screaming and miserable, but he isn’t.  That alone is a blessing.

Sleep:

One of the good things that came almost immediately after starting the formula was sleep.  Baby D started sleeping and slept for 6 hours in a row for the first time in his life.  I can only imagine how happy he felt to wake up refreshed and not screaming in the middle of the night every hour on the hour…  Sleep has been a blessing for all of us, and I am hoping it continues!

Language:

Oh my!! This baby doesn’t come with an off switch.  From the moment he’s up it’s talk talk talk talk babble talk.  Mama, Dada, BoBo (for Bro-bro which to me is sweeter to hear than mama!), Bus, Hi, AhDuh (All Done), Bye-Bye, This, Ball.  These are all of his new and favorite words.  I imagine baba will come shortly, but for now he still continues to just try and pull my shirt off even if it’s the bottle he wants! Ha! Silly boy!

Favorite Moments:

Besides signing Happy Birthday to him and having him sign more, my favorite moment this month was the first time he said Bro-Bro.  Gosh these boys love each other so much!

Happy Birthday Baby D!  You make my heart smile and my soul happy.  May your next year be filled with wonder and excitement!

Xoxxo,

Mama

• Biography of the Author(Read Below)..
• Latest Posts (view them )..

Emily

Emily is a wife & mom living in Las Vegas. The owner and writer at Our Knight Life, Emily loves sharing her two adorable boys and journey through motherhood. Emily has run four half marathons to date and is always training for her next big race. She also enjoys creating healthy recipes for her family and sharing family friendly product reviews.

Latest posts by Emily (Posts)

• Don’t Call It A Comeback - February 7, 2019
• The Little Prince at The Smith Center Las Vegas – Ticket Giveaway - January 31, 2017
• 3 Simple Ways To Add Color To Your Diet @SUBWAY @OfficialSubway - January 13, 2017
• Disney’s Moana in Dolby Cinema at AMC Movie Review - November 27, 2016