Oh my goodness. We survived ONE ENTIRE YEAR with our little angel. I wish I could say that I blinked and I don’t know what happened to the year but honestly, it really has felt like an entire year has come to a finish. I mean, it’s flown by for sure and really I can’t even believe I have a one year old and an almost 3 year old but seriously, it’s felt like forever ago that I was pregnant and a very long time ago that I had a newborn. This year has gone by so smoothly and I have loved most every bit of it. Really the only “hard” part was in February when I felt like we were all sick for weeks and weeks and then it spilled over into March and by that point I think we were so used to being sick that it just started feeling easier. February and March were even harder than having a newborn and an almost three year old. Full disclosure, that was actually a piece of cake compared to what we went through in February and March. But anyways, now I’m getting off topic so let’s jump right into Campbell’s year/13 month post. There’s so much that she’s been doing in the last 1.5 months that I think I’ll lump March 1 through April 27th together. I don’t think I’ll be continuing these posts after this one because it’s stressful for me to keep up with and I’d rather feel compelled to write rather than feeling this stress to write to keep up with what I did with Emmett. It’s kind of like the pregnancy posts I did for both kids. I was so into it with Emmett because I didn’t have anything going on at work and then when I got pregnant with Campbell I had very little time to rest and when I did have time, the last thing I wanted to do was write. Anyways, I have mentioned this before but I want to get back into blogging and not feel pressure to write a specific post (like the monthly updates I’ve done for the past year).
We call her Campbell Bean. I don’t know where that nickname came from but we all do it. A lot of times it’s shortened to Beany or Bean. Even Emmett calls her these names. She responds to them and they actually suite her quite nicely. These past two months have been amazing. My heart aches to think about her getting bigger than she already is but at the same time I don’t even notice her getting bigger. She’s my baby and that’s all I see. Chad and I have both mentioned on separate occasions that she seems so much younger at one year than Emmett did at one year. Maybe that’s because Emmett is almost 3 and 3 is a heck of a lot older than 1 but still. When Emmett was 1 I just remember thinking he was so far removed from being a newborn and while I do still feel that way with Campbell she is still most definitely a baby to me. I see her as much more of a baby than I do a toddler.
Speaking of a toddler, we looked the word up the other day because one of our friends asked us how it feels to have 2 toddlers. We both looked at her very puzzled because we have ONE not two toddlers. And I’m not talking about Emmett being a preschooler or something. She was referring to Campbell. By definition, a toddler is a toddling baby or child. Because Campbell isn’t walking or even toddling for that matter she is still a baby 🙂 That being said she did stand up by herself for the first time in the middle of March, at 11.5 months old. She’s been standing with the help of furniture on her own since before she was 10 months old but we put her in grass for the first time this season over at my parent’s house in their backyard and she hated the texture so much that she just stood right up and balanced on her feet for several seconds before gracefully placing herself back on the grass. She’s so funny how she is so careful and methodical with every action. I may have mentioned this before but Emmett had bruises all over his face between the ages of 9-15 months because he just was so clumsy and would fall on all the wrong places hitting his face on everything. Campbell rarely loses her balance and always thinks before she does something. You can tell that she is thinking about a plan before going into action. It’s pretty amusing to watch go down. She’s also pushing any and every object around the house like crazy. Anything that will slide along the floor, she will push and walk with. Currently she’s pushing around the dog’s kennel. Other objects include her actual push toy, a small bus looking toy that she can ride but can’t yet, bar stools, chairs, and pillows from the couch. I for sure thought she’d be walking much sooner than this but I’m pretty ok with her taking her time. Emmett walked one day before his 14 month birthday and I am thinking this little lady is on the same track. She just refuses to take that first step An update! She actually “walked” (took a few unassisted steps) over the weekend in the middle of April!! She’s been doing it ever since. If you old your hands out so so she feels safe and are within arms reach of her, she will take a few steps. The most she’s taken is about 6 but still much prefers crawling over walking. She will hold our hands and walk but once we let go she gracefully places herself down onto the ground.
This girl LOVES water. She loves playing in the bath and loves going swimming. She also loves drinking water. We joke that she’s a lot like Chad (aside from the fact that they look like identical twins) because if she’s given something to drink in the form of liquid she downs it in 2.5 seconds. She’s gotten really good at drinking from a sippy cup and from a straw too. I remember it took months for Emmett to learn how to drink out of one and this girl has been doing it pretty much since about 8 months old. She caught right on and hasn’t looked back. I have taken her swimming several times too. She loves splashing, getting her face wet, getting her hair wet, and laughing at her brother and all other kids that play around her. She could care less if someone splashes her in the face and she even has a death wish for herself sometimes because she will face plant into the water without giving it a second thought.
I will touch on her eating habits too. This girl is SUCH a great eater!! I’m actually really impressed with how much she can put down. And I have yet to find a food that she won’t at least try. I can probably attribute it to the fact that she LOVES putting things in her mouth so it would only make sense that she has to put whatever is on her tray into her mouth. The other day I made a pizza with cauliflower crust, pesto, cheese, olives, artichokes, and sun dried tomatoes. She DEVOURED it!! And we had plenty of leftovers so I have been giving her slices throughout the week and every time she puts it back like a champ. She loves mixed veggies, green beans, and eggs as well. I just have zero problems giving her food. I know this won’t last as most kids start getting super picky around the 18 month mark but I am definitely relishing in the moment for now. I also just kind of throw things on her tray without cutting them up now. With Emmett, every piece of food he got looked like the size of a pea. With this kid I just throw the food on her tray and she figures out how to “chew” it without have any teeth and still manages to get it down without choking.
Her sleeping is going GREAT. She’s having some pretty major teething moments and she’s been doing so well with every tooth that’s popped in. I see her huge molars trying to come in but so far they have given her minor problems. She’s still taking two naps a day which is good and bad. During the weekends when Chad and I are both around, one of us will usually stay back with her while she naps while the other takes Emmett somewhere. I also have them mostly on the same afternoon nap schedule so that I can have an hour or two to myself in the afternoons. She is just the happiest little girl but as has been the theme throughout her short little life thus far, watch out, if she gets pissed…SHE GETS PISSED. Luckily she seems happy most of the time. She’s so easy to get to smile. You really don’t have to work at it. I mean, she just really wants attention and when she gets it she laps every single second of it up. It’s not often that Chad and I get one on one time with her but it does happen and I think she knows when it happens.
One of her favorite activities right now is playing on pillows and blankets that are raveled up in a ball on the floor. She absolutely loves jumping into pillows and blankets and rolling around and laughing while doing it. It’s hilarious to watch. She also really enjoys watching Emmett do just about everything. She tries to keep up with him and actually holds her own pretty well. She is such a climber and I’m sure has watched him do it. I have found her on tables, step ladders, couches and beds, just to name a few places. I really can’t believe the strength that kid exerts to get to where she wants to be. She is determined and tough. She also gets along really well with other kids. She likes being in the center of it all. When we are in a room full of older kids, especially girls, she loves just staring at them. And this actually works out really well because the little girls just love looking at her too.
Campbell also had her first pony tail in the back of her head yesterday. She’s growing quite the mullet back there and now it’s finally long enough to throw back in a cute little pony tail. I think that’s about it for these past two months. She’s the most squishy, adorable, wonderful thing I have ever done (of course I feel the same about her brother) and I just still can’t believe she’s mine. She’s perfection and brightens my worst days. I look forward to seeing her every morning when I get up and just don’t know what I will do with myself when she leaves my house one day. Is it frowned upon to move into the dorms with your kids? I’d just take the top bunk. How would that even be a problem for anyone ;)?? Love you to the moon and back my perfect little Campbell Bean. I can’t wait to see what this next year has in store for us!!!!
Pictures coming soon once I finally download them off my phone and super nice camera Chad got me for Christmas!!!
Thin Runner 