Elijah's 12 Month Milestones

All good things must come to an end and dressing your child up in a white onesie and putting a sticker on it to take pictures on a blue and white chevron blanket is one of them. Laying Elijah down to take pictures has become a little bit like giving a cat a bath and I have the picture out-takes to prove it.

My posts may be two weeks after the fact, but I am pretty proud of myself for finishing what I started with this one and that I have documented memories for me to look back on in the coming years. That's some good sappy stuff for this momma.

So what do I want to remember about this month? Well, this face for sure.

Elijah's separation anxiety and preference for Ry and I is in full swing. I am pretty sure that after I hit publish on my last entry stating that we were not dealing with separation anxiety, Elijah started screaming from the other room.  

Little has always been a relative term describing our little guy and this month is no exception. He is 2 and 1/2 feet tall and 24 pounds. Yes, that is 100'th percentile for weight...the dude is solid. My back hurts just typing that. 

You don't get into the 100th percentile by not loving to eat. He continues to love bananas, oatmeal clementines, rice cakes, apple sauce, any kind of meat, fish, most all veggies and whatever else we are eating. This foodie's new fav grub is blueberries though. Seriously, if Elijah found a golden ticket inviting him to Willa Wonka's factory, the oompa loompa's would shortly be rolling him out as a giant blueberry.

He loves to play hide and go seek with daddy (mainly where Ryan takes advangtage of Elijah's lack of peripheral vision and hides and jumps out to scare him resulting in Elijah shrieking in laughter and then burying his head into my chest). Hopefully, we are not scarring him for life. He also loves to rough house and be thrown up in the air, and he loves watching airplanes and spotting dogs on our family walks. He looks so cute when he spots them...something like this.

He got spoiled with a slew of new toys for his birthday, but is still pretty easily entertained by everything. It doesn't matter if you are supposed to sit on it, rock it, push buttons, etc. he will try to pick up said toy and bench press it over his head and let out a man roar. I think the kid has the crossfit games or body building in his future.


He says ma-ma, da-da, and duh for dog or airplane. He still goes through weird sleeping stages, but he is getting more consistent...like he slept through the whole night (before teething woes set in again for the umpteenth time) for a solid week. We actually started to feel human again. It. Was. Awesome. I forgot what feeling chipper and not having raccoon eyes was like.

He continues to hit milestone after milestone, but I would say Ryan and I have hit just as many in becoming parents. We were able to celebrate keeping this boy alive for a whole year a few weeks ago (will get around to posting pictures of the party...promise) and it's amazing how much we know about and love this tiny human. We have met his every need for a solid year and he has met ours. We have stumbled, muddled, rejoiced, prayed, cried, felt guilt and shame, but also felt much grace. This whole parenting thing is not easy, especially doing it with no family within 3000 miles of you, but it is so worth it. We have been sanctified and grown in more ways than we expected when we set out on this journey to start our family and we anticipate more challenges and more struggles as we transition to parenting a toddler and one day adding to our family, BUT we are reminded to trust, rest, depend, and soak in God's grace in those moments. We are grateful that we don't have to be perfect parents because Jesus was on our behalf. We look forward to continuing to show, give, and teach Elijah about the grace offered to him through faith in Christ.

We don't even know those bright eyed youngsters we were before we had Elijah. If we were able to meet with them, we would be a little jealous of the consistency of their sleep routines and how easy it is for them to get in and out of the car, but we would tell them to just wait...the best and most difficult is yet to come....but it's so worth it....and don't try to do it on your own strength though we know that is something they will have to fail at first before they learn to cling to the Father for what they need in the moment. And even then, it will be a constant battle. We would pray for them and excitedly anticipate the cute pics of that baby that is to come. Oh how I wish time travel were a real thing. 

And with that, here is the final month of Elijah's life before he turned ONE according to our iPhones:

At a park on a sunny day that is close to our home.

Clementines and sunshine.

Overalls and the Kubota Gardens.

This scares everybody, but he loves it!

Nothing like a good rock.

Picnic on the porch.

Our first spring in Seattle did not disappoint. 

Walks with this goof are my fav.

Shopping with daddy at manly stores.

Visiting the tulip fields in Mt. Vernon, WA. A must.

Amazed by kites flying.

My two studs posing with the kites.

We were greatly reminded of our new life in Christ by the tulips. 

My dapper looking boys on Elijah's second Easter!

So handsome.

This face melts my heart.

Hunting easter eggs in the front yard.

Walking against the wind on a ferry ride.

Still loves hiking with us.

Dude can get some air.

Swoon.

Getting used to have rocks instead of sand on the beach.

I mean. Come on. Can't even. Too cute.

This kid loves his daddy!

Waiting on momma and daddy to get some coffee and yes that is  a mini bench...promise he is not that gargantuan.

My little Washington baby.

Eating a cinnamon roll on his You are Special Today plate on his actual birthday.

Waiting to drive back on the ferry.

Our make-shift baby gate...promise we have one now.

Sunshine. Daddy. And Mt. Ranier. Some of Elijah's favorite things.

Momma takes a safer approach...always.

Real life: the state of our car most of the time.

Little man at his birthday party....I have WAY too many pictures  of Elijah with his grandparents (both sides...yay!) from his birthday weekend in Seattle so here is a sneak peak! A birthday weekend post is to come!

ditto above:-)

What a year kid! Looking forward to the 17 more we have with you before you leave our nest. I know they will fly by faster than I want, but that I will love watching you grow and will love looking back on your beautiful life! All my love bugs!