1 year 2 months

Damon. It's becoming clear to me that he is not really a baby anymore. He's a toddler. The baby stage is too short. But I'm enjoying this stage a lot. He cracks me up all the time and I love watching how big he is getting every day.

-14 teeth (all 4 front top and bottom, 2 canines, and 4 molars)
-size 4 diapers
-still not sleeping through the night
-size 5 shoes
-18 month- 2T clothing

-Says:
"Mama"
"Dada"
"Papa"
"This"
"Oh deer" -- at the deer hanging in ky parents house
"Hi"

Will sometimes try to repeat things we say, but nothing consistent.

-He is a picky eater now. He likes things one day and then hates it the next. Some things never fail. Such as:
•Fishy crackers
•Chips
•Egg Nogg

-He's become a rock hoarder. He brings them indoors all the time without me knowing.
-He is an adrenaline junky

52cm head circumference
34in tall
22lbs in weight

1 year & 1 month

For Damon's birthday, we had a family celebration at a park near our house and played Volleyball while the kids played on the playground. It was a good time. Damon repeats some things that I say now such as "mama" and "dada" and "what" and some random things like "hi" and "what" He is a climber and it drives me nuts all day long, but at least he is coordinated. He loves kicking a ball around.. so maybe we'll have a decent soccer player? He gets excited about dogs and other animals, but gets nervous when he is close enough to touch them. I'm not complaining about that. He is getting braver every day, though. He is now in size 4 diapers and size 24 month & 2T clothing. He's taking 2 naps per day (usually 3hrs after he wakes). He is getting better about sleeping at night, but still not sleeping through the night. He is still breastfeeding before he sleeps. He currently has 12 teeth if you count the ones partially through the gums. He has the 9 teeth from last month.. plus 3 more that are all coming through at the same time (poor kid!.. and me at night). So that makes his first front 4 on top and bottom, almost all 4 first molars (except 1), and 1 canine. I am so ready for him to be done teething.. it's never ending. I am hoping that's the solution to him sleeping through the night. One can hope, right? He went on his longest roadtrip so far (3.5hr drive) to Pinetop for our (Wilkins side) family reunion and he was a champ! I sat in the back with him to entertain him while he was awake, but we timed it so that he would be taking a nap for as much as we could. So it worked out that he was awake only about 1/2 of the drive there and 1/2 of the drive back! We also stopped at Woods Canyon Lake and went fishing on the way up. We didn't catch anything, but we did see a bald eagle flying back and forth above the lake. That was pretty cool.

Some things he loves right now:
-Climbing all over the furniture
-Putting his food in his hair
-Putting food on the floor
-His turtle bath toy (Thanks to uncle Eric!)
-Trying to play in the street
-My parents dog, Goliath
-Egg nog (who doesn't?)
-Chasing people around
-His new truck toy (Thanks to the Pooks!)
-Clam Chowder
-Shoving legos into Papa Goodman's mouth
-The light saber toys at Grandpa & Grandma Brown's
-Grandma Brown's walker
-Trying to eat rocks

Some things he doesn't love right now:
-Cuddling (never has been a cuddler)
-Eating (probably due to teething)
-Sitting still
-Macoroni & Cheese



Height-33in
Weight-21.8lbs
Head Circumference-51.5cm

12 months

Where did this last year go? It blows my mind that we have had Damon in our family for a year already, but at the same time it feels like that's how it's always been. I guess that's because it has. He has always been ours. Damon has always been a really healthy baby, but of course on his birthday, he is sick.  I took him to the doctor and he has a viral infectious cough that just has to run its course. So, I have had to change his birthday party to a week after his birthday. This past month, Damon got another tooth. That makes 9 teeth (all four on top and bottom front area and then his first molar- the bottom right side) This molar has been a killer! I will tell you that. Or at least, I like to use it as an excuse for Damon's crankiness. Our typical day consists of us spending the majority of the time in my parents family room. And by that, I mean that it is barricaded off and serves as a baby prison in Damon's mind. Now that he is on his feet, he wants to explore EVERYWHERE. He wants to wander the whole house. He doesn't crawl anymore unless he is pushing a toy car around or trying to go up or down stairs.

A few things he loves right now are:

• Yogurt Melts (Parents Choice brand from Walmart)
• Veggie Munchies (Same brand ^)
• Brooms
• Vaccumes (he will throw a fit if you are not holding him while you vaccume)
• Cars (he likes to push them around on the floor while he walks on all four limbs like Mogley from Jungle Book)
• Climbing onto the couches- back and forth all day long
• His duck stuffed animal bath toy
• Bobbing his head to music
• Trying to drink from everyone's food and drinks (still figuring out how to use a straw so it's usually messy)
• Being outside
• Animals (I'll go ahead and claim that he got that from me ;-) )

A few things he doesn't love right now are:

• When I walk away
• Being stuck in one place for too long
• Being tied down to anything (highchair, carseat, stroller, etc)
• Getting Dressed
• Getting Diaper Changes
• Wearing Shoes (getting better at that)
• Wearing anything on his head (hats or sunglasses)

We just love him to pieces of course! He is becoming more challenging, but more fun every day it seems. He still doesn't sleep through the night. We are working on that in a few different ways during his daytime naps. He is improving slowly but surely. He started getting to the point where he was throwing temper tantrums (didn't get that from me) a lot. I think that was because he was feeling a little bit jealous whenever other kids were around taking some of my attention away from him. He has become a little bit more needy lately because of me working on his sleeping habits I think. I have tried the CIO method and I think that's why. I kept putting this sleep training off because of one reason after another. I didn't want to have him in there screaming his head off if he wasn't feeling well or if he was teething (which he is ALWAYS teething) so it's gotten put off way too long. I should have done it when he was younger, but I was selfish and wanted him to cuddle with me all the time. He is not a cuddler either. He is currently in 24 month and 2T clothing and size 3 diapers. 

Height-33 in

Weight-21.2 lbs

Head Circumference- 51.5 cm

Big thanks to Rachel Harker Photography for taking these gorgeous pictures!!

11 Months

I can't believe I almost have a 1 year old. Damon is such a little man and I love watching him grow and see his personality blossom. He is currently walking pretty much everywhere WHEN HE WANTS. Or if he is in a hurry, he will crawl (still a bear crawl). He doesn't like to walk when he has shoes on though. We're working on that. He rarely ever wears shoes unless we're at church.. and that usually doesn't even last the first hour. He officially has GREEN eyes like his papa Goodman! He likes it when we laugh at him and will start laughing at himself to feed the laughter around him. He is a little clown sometimes.  He loves blueberries, peanut butter, fishy crackers, cottage cheese, and almost anything you give him. He loves lemons. I don't know if I mentioned that before. He doesn't seem to be phased at all by the sourness and it's super weird. It will be interesting to see how that changes over time and also to see if he likes spicy food like his parents. He hates getting his diaper changed or even getting dressed for some reason. He will only let me change his diaper if he is half awake or if he has my phone in his hand.  Changing his clothes is just a challenge. Poor Adam won't even try most of the time because Damon is such a pill to wrestle. He also still hates his infant carseat. So, we recently switched him to a forward facing convertible seat. He has since been doing 100% better. I'm hoping that sticks. He loves the "elephant song" on youtube. It's amazing how that song sends babies into a trans. It worked wonders with my sisters kids too! Recently I got Damon to say "hi daddy" via snapchat video! Here's a link to the YouTube version. I could not believe he even tried to talk. He blabbers stuff all the time and sometimes blabbers stuff into sounding like "mom" or "dad" but I've never known if he knows what he's saying. Well,  he FOR SURE did this time. He hasn't since,  but hey! We have a less than 11 month old talker AND walker! What happened to my newborn?

Height-31.5in
Weight-21.4lb
Head circumference-52cm

10 months

Damon is such a little man now! He has started walking a little bit by himself (I'm talking like maybe 5 steps at a time if he has some good bribery). I can't even believe it. He now has 8 teeth. (4 on top and 4 on bottom). He learned to make motor sounds with his lips and does it all the time! He learned to wave. He still isn't sleeping through the night. He got sick recently where he was feverish and that didn't help. When we took him to the doctor, he found that he had a throat infection too. The fever lasted off and on about 2.5 days. It's hard to say how he feels with his throat though. A day and a half after his fever was gone, he got a rash all over his body. We tried taking him in to the little clinic by our house, but they wouldn't see him because he was under 18 months old. His rash lasted a couple days and faded slowly. He didn't seem to be bothered by the rash specifically, but he didn't seem 100% himself either. The poor kid couldn't get a break. His sleep..is definitely something that has room for change in my book! I keep hoping to get him trained to go to sleep without me feeding him to sleep. Unfortunately by the "cry it out" method, but there's always something going on. First teething, then sick, then sick and teething.. so it's gotten pushed back a lot. The poor kid can't get a break. I didn't want to do it while he is dealing with painful gums or throat or anything like that. It's already going to be hard as it is.

 He had his first legit haircut. It was getting a little too long on top for fohawks so we trimmed that up just a tad. His eyes seem to be turning more and more green every day. So maybe he will be like his Papa Goodman. They almost seem a little hazel sometimes too, so it'll be a mystery at this point.  He still likes my parents more than me. It is nice to have a break and that he enjoys the break, but I also cherish the moments where he cuddles up to me and wants ME. I always imagined my kids would automatically have an extra special bond with me. Of course I know he does, but sometimes it's a bummer when he is more excited about his grandparents. I do appreciate his bond with them at the same time.  Him being sick has brought more closer to me (in being more cuddly) and I've been cherishing that.. I wish it didn't have to be because he felt bad though. 

We had another little scare this past month.  We were sitting on the floor in my parents family room like usual and I was sitting about a foot away from Damon when I saw him pick up something off the floor and try to eat it. I reached over immediately and pulled his hand away and opened it up to see what it was and it was a baby SCORPION and it was ALIVE! Of course it fell from his hand because I freaked out when I saw it.  Damon looked at me all freaked out by my reaction and so I started checking his hand and face for a sting or bite and couldn't see anything. We vacuumed and sprayed the house afterward and he never showed any evidence of getting stung. Heavenly Father was definitely looking out for us and I am SO grateful.  A scorpion is SO dangerous for a baby especially! It was a miracle and I am still in awe that he didn't get hurt. SO SO GRATEFUL. 

My parents have these little cat puppets and he thinks its hilarious when we throw the cat puppet against the couch. I'm not sure how I feel about it, but sometimes a parent will do whatever to get their kid to laugh. I can't believe we're so close to 1 year. I have started planning his birthday already and it's getting pretty surreal. I'm excited to see him destroy his cake and celebrate with everyone though.

Weight-20.2lb

Height- 31in

Head circumference- 51cm