Ollie: 1 Year!

And just like that, my baby is not a baby anymore! Where has the time gone?! We celebrated Ollie’s first birthday in California, the day after my brother’s wedding. It was a quiet affair, especially as we were all feeling a bit, ahem, delicate after the wedding festivities. (I’m working on a post about our week in California - I’m a bit behind on the blog at the moment, lately it seems difficult to have time to sit on my laptop and write.) It was lovely to celebrate Ollie’s birthday with my parents, my brother and his new wife Ashley. They brought a cake over to the airbnb we were staying in, which was Ollie’s first real “treat”. He wasn’t sure about the cake at first, but quickly realised he would need to get in there before his big sister devoured it. As soon as he finally took his first mouthful he was bobbing back and forth like one of those drinking bird toys. We let him have a few bites before whisking it away - no need for a 6pm sugar rush! 

We’ve seen lots of changes with our little man over this last month of his first year, the most notable being he is now crawling! He was on the move about a week after he turned 11 months, and he hasn’t looked back since. He loves roaming around the house looking for things to pull off shelves, and has even mastered climbing on to a step. He loves his newfound freedom, and can usually be found looking for power outlets to play with, or doors to bang shut. Ollie is desperate to pull himself up as well, and even managed to do that against the glass patio doors the other day. 

Stats: 

Weight: 10kg

Height: Last time we measured him he was 75cm, but that was over a month ago

Teeth: 10 (4 top, 4 bottom, 2 molars) 

Sleeping/Eating routine

Ollie is still a very routine baby, which suits me just fine. At 12 months, his days usually look something like this: 

*times are approximate and change based on when he wakes for the day, but are generally around the times I've written here

7:30-8am Wake up. We will wake him at 8am if he’s not already awake. Often when we go get him his is sitting up in his cot, playing happily by himself. I think he likes a little playtime on his own before calling out for us.

8 - 8:30am Bottle. We switched from formula to whole milk for this feed. He has about 180ml and then has breakfast about 20 minutes later. Lately this has been the porridge that I make for myself: oats with chia seeds, cinnamon, turmeric, ginger, almond butter and maple syrup. It is super yummy.

10am - 12pm Morning nap. We put Ollie down two hours after he wakes for his morning nap - he’s just very ready for a rest by then. Sometimes he talks/plays in his cot for up to half an hour before falling asleep - but he seems really happy to be in his bed. Perhaps he is a bit like me and needs some daily alone time!

12pm Lunch shortly after he wakes from his nap. This is anything from leftovers from the night before, to a sandwich and fruit, or some "toddler friendly" recipe I attempt. Generally the more effort I put in to a meal, the less he eats. Peanut butter sandwiches go down a treat.

1:30pm Bottle of whole milk (about 150ml).

3 - 4/4:30pm Afternoon nap. We put him down for his nap about 3 hours after he wakes up from his morning nap. He usually sleeps for 1 - 1.5 hours.

5:30pm Dinner. Ideally we would always eat together as a family, but sometimes we feed Ollie first, on his own. It's a lot easier this way as Ollie can be a very vocal eater, so the person feeding him doesn't really get to enjoy their own meal.  

6:30pm Bath with his big sister. This is usually a very pleasant time of day for both him and Ella. 

7:00pm Bottle of formula (180ml) followed by some quiet play and reading books. He currently loves the "That's not my" series, along with lift the flap and pop-up books.

7:30/8pm Bed about 3-3.5 hours after his afternoon nap.

Ollie is still a great sleeper and sleeps through the night pretty much without fail. I am still so, so grateful for our sleep school experience!

Ollie is generally a pretty good eater, but definitely be choosey about what he eats. If I am trying to feed him, but he sees something on the table he wants instead, he will push my hand away until I get him what he wants. Lately he wants whatever I am eating, and he wants to eat it off my fork (no baby spoon, thank you very much!). I’m not sure why I bother preparing him a separate plate for dinner, I might as well just load extra on to mine. 

Development

Obviously, the biggest news is the crawling. It's made such a big difference, he is so much happier now that he is free to explore or get the toys he wants. Unless he is sick or hungry Ollie plays very well independently. 

His favourite game right now is throwing a ball back and forth. He is honestly so happy playing with any type of ball, and is super excited when someone plays this with him. He even likes throwing it and then chasing it down himself!

Ollie also likes opening and closing doors and drawers, and putting something in something else (like a box or bag) and then taking it out again. He does this repeatedly and is delighted when he takes his item out again.

We have half-heartedly tried a bit of baby sign language with Ollie. He does do the sign for "milk" and claps when he wants more or wants you to do something again, which is kind of close to the actual sign for "more". Other than that we probably haven't been consistent enough to teach him anything else, but you can definitely see signs that he understands what you are saying a lot more. When you tell him it's time to say "good-night" he waves happily at everyone which is so cute. 

Over the past few weeks Ollie has shown the first signs of separation anxiety. If I’m around him, and then I leave, he tends to whine or cry until I come back. He's my last baby, and Ella is a major daddy's girl, so I'll admit I kind of love that my baby boy wants me near!

It's been both a wonderful and challenging first year with two children, with plenty of highs and lows throughout. I recognise that my "lows" are nothing compared to what some parents go through, and that we are so, so lucky to have two healthy and happy children. I will admit that I am pretty happy to be moving on from the baby stages of my motherhood journey - I think that because he is my second child, I'm looking forward to this next stage as I have an idea of what to expect. Walking, talking and all of the smaller developments in between are such a wonder to observe. Ollie has changed so much from the newborn we brought home just over a year ago. He is such a content little guy, and I'm looking forward to all the delights that toddlerhood with him will bring.