Ann Clatyon - 12 Months

Nothing like a 12 month post when she's almost 13 months (forgive me, AC)...

 Height and Weight:

28.2 in (10-25th %)

19lb 1 oz (10-25th %)

Diet:
The child is eating us out of house and home!  The above weight has definitely changed since her appointment - she is getting CHUNKY!  Thanks to her new class at school, she is strictly drinking from a sippy cup (and we even dropped the bottle before bed this week)! 

Her favorites are - pizza, mac n cheese, green beans, oranges, strawberries, hotdogs, and she has my sweet tooth.  She loves ice cream and icing - smart kid!!



 Clothes:  She is wearing some 9 month dresses and bubbles.  She mostly wears 12 month clothes.  She is getting longer, so we definitely need to get her some longer pj's!

Personality:  She.is.a.mess!  I absolutely adore this child.  She is certainly coming into her own.  She has a temper that makes Kate's look mild (reaping what I sowed).  She will throw a fit at the drop of a hat if she doesn't get something she wants.  BUT she is a little lover.  She has a smile that lights up a room.  And with the exception of being tired, hungry, or pitching a fit...she is always smiling.  Since she has started packing on some weight, her dimples are shining through and I am obsessed!

Likes/Dislikes:  As I've already said before, she LOVES Millie.  And Millie is super sweet with her and will let her love on her and pat her and even crawl all over her.  She will stand at the door and say "daw daw" over and over.  She wants to be doing EVERYTHING Kate does.  I can already sense the big sister annoyance (my apologies to my big sister!).  She likes baby dolls and is so cute when she puts them in the little stroller and pushes them around. She likes being outside and pitches fits when we come in.  She comes straight to the bathroom as soon as she hears the water running... LOVES bathtime.  She doesn't like to be told no - especially in the bath when she is trying to stand up.  She always wants to be on the move - she does not like to sit still.  She doesn't like to have her diaper changed or get dressed/undressed. 

 Milestones:  She started taking steps a couple of weeks ago, right after her birthday.  She will walk a little bit, but then knows she can get places quicker by crawling.  She is QUICK!  She is a climber, too.  I'm going to have to be on my toes constantly with this one. 

She has 6 teeth - 2 bottom, 4 top. 

We have had her sitting in a booster seat instead of a high chair because she likes to be included.  She kept pitching fits at dinner, so we took her tray away and put her food on the table so she can eat like the rest of us.  Dinner is SO MUCH nicer since we did that.  She is a lot happier.

She isn't doing much more talking than she was last month.  Still mama, dada, daw daw, da da (duck), bye bye, baby.  She will wave and blow kisses.  If you ask her where her head is she will pat her head.  If you say, "Love ______", she will hug whoever or whatever you are telling her.

 

She looks so big in all of these pictures!  Where did my baby go??

 

Side by side 12 month comparison:

 

 

First Birthday

My baby turned 1 (May 6)... kind of hard to believe.  We went back to Auburn to have her party at my parent's house.  I didn't do a ton of "decorating"... We really just wanted to spend time with our friends and family and celebrate Ann Clayton.

Thank you Sister for the cupcakes (and toppers)! 

As always - she had a ton of smiles to share.

 Precious picture of AC "loving" on Clayton.

I had high expectations for the smash cake... Kate DID NOT love hers at all.  I kind of anticipated AC liking it because she definitely has my sweet tooth. 

 Testing the waters...

 She would pause every so often as if to wait to make sure that it was okay that she was eating it.

 To say she loved it would be an understatement.  She wanted everyone else to like it, too.

 LOVE

 She had to get straight in the bath after she was done...

I still can't believe she is actually 1.  It feels like yesterday that we were bringing her home and getting adjusted to being a family of 4.  She is without a doubt, such a blessing to us.  I am amazed each and every day at how deeper and deeper I fall in love with her sweet self.  We are more than blessed that God allowed us the opportunity to be this sweet angel's parents.

Happy Birthday, Ann Clayton!  We love you more than you will ever know!



Clayton's Latest Triathlon

The Sunday after Kate's race, we went back to Montgomery for Clayton's triathlon.  It was really neat how they did it... it was in downtown Montgomery, so they actually boarded the ferry to be dropped off for the swim.

We sometimes get a little antsy waiting while Clayton races, so I try to fill time with photo shoots of the girls.  It was interesting this race because Ann Clayton is mobile and wanted to be up and about instead of content in the carseat.  There were a few whines and complaints about "sissy touching me" and "sissy is taking my snack"... Fun times.

They had a few different races for this tri.  Clayton did the sprint (a shorter distance), so he was in the first group. 

After the swim, we tried to get up to see some of the bike, but it took us a little longer to get to the bike part than we thought.  Clayton ended up being the first one in on the bike and out for the run, so he had a police escort the entire way.  He was boogying! 

Love this sweet smile. 

Crossing the finish line! We were hopeful that he would have won since he was the first one in... 

She was so excited to see him and so proud. 

When the results came in, Clayton actually got 2nd (so impressed).  He missed 1st by 3 seconds.  He was a tad bummed, but I was/am super proud!  Second place?? So incredible! 

Now, he is gearing up for an Olympic distance triathlon in Nashville in July and a half Ironman in September.  It's going to be a busy summer for our family!

Kate's First "Triathlon"

Ever since Clayton started doing triathlons and we started cheering him on, Kate has been talking about doing one of her own.  Clayton found one for both of them to do ... hers on Saturday, his on Sunday.  It was in Montgomery, so we were fortunate enough to have a cheering section (Martins and Ninny/Crawdaddy) for the race.

She was so excited... she got to have her own timing anklet.

It was a run-bike-run.  She was in the youngest division (3-4 year olds).  Pumped and ready. 

 A little pre-race pose with Daddy.

They lined them all up and they got to say their names into a microphone.

And they are ... off!

 Her smile was so contagious.  I grinned the entire race because you could tell that she was having the most fun!

 We had never really practiced starting by herself... we just assumed someone would be there to help out.  She got a little stuck and we kept yelling for someone to give her a push.

 They finally did and even though she was a bit behind, she kept on smiling... completely unaware.

 Down to the last "sprint" across the finish line.

 And she ended the race running straight to Clayton.  They got medals and a little light for their bikes.  I was one proud mama!  Definitely shed some proud tears.

 

We of course had to take her picture on the podium.

 So thankful our cousins were there to cheer her on. 

11 months

One more month and this angel baby will be 1.  It is just too hard to believe.  A lot has happened this month and she is really turning into more of a toddler than a baby!

Her personality is definitely shining through.  She is pretty laid back until she gets mad about something... when that happens, look out.  She has a temper that makes Kate's look mild.  I think it is actually probably easier to bathe a cat than change her diaper/get her dressed.  She just wants to be on the go all the time now.  She is crawling quicker and quicker and is doing her "foot crawl" a lot less.  We started using her little push walker recently and she LOVES it.  She is also cruising on the furniture now... walking might be in our near future (time slow down!!).

She is "talking" more and more these days.  We can tell she says - mama, dada, ka (Kate), bye bye, and daw daw (dog).  If we ask her to find Millie, she will look toward the door and try to get over to her as fast as possible.  She loves to beat on the door and will say daw daw daw over and over.  

She pretty much will eat anything you put in front of her, but her favorites are:  green beans, oranges, pasta, PIZZA (she will down a piece of pizza), ice cream (which we would have never given to Kate before she was 1...), she loves sweets - I'm thinking that she is going to demolish her birthday cake.  She is getting better with the sippy cup, but still prefers the bottle.  I'm still pumping, but we started giving her one bottle of whole milk a day to help out with my supply.  She eats meals when we do, but gets a little bit of milk in a bottle before bed.

 She wants to do everything that Kate does and wants to play with everything she has (which drives Kate bananas).  She does idolize her sister though and it's really sweet to watch them play.  AC has started "playing" with Kate's baby dolls.  She will pick them up and hug them.  It's precious.

AC has 4 teeth now (crazy since Kate didn't get a tooth until her 1st bday).  Her 2 top teeth FINALLY broke through this month.  I love her sweet toothy grin! 

And for a side by side comparison of Kate and Ann Clayton at 11 months...
You can tell that Kate was a bit chunkier than AC at this point.  I put AC on the scale the other day and it said she was 16lbs.  She is just a sweet, little bitty thing!

::4::

Not sure where my baby has gone.  She is such a big girl now...

4 year stats:
Weight: 35 lbs (55%)
Height: 41 in (75%)

Perfectly perfect in every way!

4 year questions -
~What is your favorite color?  purple and pink
~What is your favorite toy?  Leap pad (new present from Ninny and Crawdaddy)
~What is your favorite fruit?  Strawberries
~What is your favorite TV show?  Dora

~What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch?  ABC's (spaghettios)
~What is your favorite outfit?  My purple outfit (purple chevron ruffle pants with Kate shirt)
~What is your favorite game?  The game on your phone where I put the pieces together (puzzle game)
~What is your favorite snack?  Bugs (fruit snacks)
~What is your favorite animal?  Zebra
~What is your favorite song?  ABC song
~What is your favorite book?  The Christmas Carols book
~Who is your best friend?  Ryan Lily Ferguson, Londyn, and Ella
~What is your favorite cereal?  Apple Jacks and Froot Loops
~What is your favorite thing to do outside?  Play on the swing
~What is your favorite thing to drink?  Milk
~What do you like to take to bed at night?  Baby (pink lovey)
~What is your favorite holiday?  Easter
~What is your favorite thing for breakfast?  Apple Jacks and Chick-Fil-A
~What is your favorite thing for dinner?  Laredos
~What do you want to be when you grow up?  A doctor

 

She is quite the little girl.  She has a budding imagination and is the sweetest big sister to AC.  She could play baby dolls for hours.  She loves Millie and has recently taken over the responsibility of feeding her at night.  She has blown our minds with the things she says and does.  She really is not a baby anymore, but is turning into a little girl.  She has a sweet heart and is kind.  She loves her family (especially her cousins... she calls them, "my boys").  I am so proud of her in every sense of the word.  I am unbelievably blessed to be her mommy.

 

3 year old interview

Kate is 4!

Kate turned 4 on March 10th.  When I asked her what she wanted to do for her birthday, she said she wanted to have pizza over at Ninny's and Crawdaddy's with them and her cousins.  Easy enough...

It was a beautiful Sunday afternoon.  We played outside until the pizza came.  The kids had a blast. 

 

  She really is a special little girl.  Love her so much.

 A good time was had by all. 

 

Kate,

We all love you so much sweet girl.  You have brought us so much laughter with the absolute precious and crazy things you say and do. I adore your sweet spirit and bubbly personality.  You light up the room when you come in it.  Your daddy and I are blessed to be your parents. 

We love you!