The Journey of Parenthood…

Tess Summary of Month 13

This is a summary of Tess’s 13th month of life which was from July 31 – August 30th. She was 12 months old during this month!

Nursing/Eating: At the start of this month I was still nursing Tess for both the first morning feeding of the day (7 am) and the evening feeding at night (7 pm). With school starting I decided to go ahead and drop the morning feeding. We’d have to leave the house at 7:30 to get Kye to school and often times she was nursing until passed that! I went ahead and feed her for the morning nursing session for the last time on Aug 3rd:

On August 4th we went to CFA for breakfast and it worked out fine! She didn’t fuss or ever acted like she wanted to nurse from me. It was very, very easy for me as well. No real pain or any issues. This was the slowest I’ve weaned one of my babies and it paid off in a big way! I had Zach handle getting her up for the first few mornings and I think it helped her break from the routine of nursing right when she woke up. 

Since I was only nursing her for the last feeding of the day I pretty much revolved my life around making sure I was home to nurse her at that feeding. I wanted to soak up and enjoy my last days of nursing my baby! It became my #1 priority 🙂 I also went ahead and gathered up all my frozen bread milk. I was pretty sure at that point that she wasn’t drinking much from me at all for the night feeding and felt like it’d be smart to go ahead and give her some breast milk each day from my stash. 

Y’all. I about DIED when I added up all the milk I had stored. I had 516 oz in my deep freezer and Mrs. Charlotte had an additional 109 in hers…that’s 625 ounces. Whhhhhhat!?!? Usually when I wean I have like 100 oz maybe. I was blown away by all that milk! I give her 2-5 oz a day of breast milk mixed in with her whole milk and at this point I will actually be able to give her breast milk for like an additional year haha! It’ll expire before then so I felt like the right thing to do was to bless someone else with some of it. My sweet friend Laura is pregnant with her 4th baby and her 3rd one is still nursing. She’s passionate about breast feeding so I knew the milk would be a big blessing to her. We worked it out to get it shipped and I was able to send her roughly 250 oz. That still leaves Tess with a TON to drink too! 

I CHERISHED that one feeding a day this month! All my other babies I fully weaned by the time they turned 13 months old, but I kept going with Tess a little longer. I just LOVED that special time together with her 🙂

Tess is doing WAY better drinking whole milk now too and I’m not concerned with her dairy intake at all. Her favorite foods are watermelon, strawberries, snow peas (frozen), yogurt bark, and peanut butter sandwiches. 

MESS!

Tess loves to be a “helper” in the kitchen and her favorite spot to sit is in the refrigerator! I put up on IG “A southern girl’s guide to staying cool: 1. hike up skirt 2. sit in fridge” She’s got this thing DOWN 😉


Tess LOVES water. Like LOVES it. Especially out of any sort of bottle. Double points if it’s from Mommy’s or Britt’s rather than her own 😉

Tess is getting clever when in her high chair and will reach the table or counter top and grab things off of them. I have to be mindful not to leave anything sharp out! This particular time she grabbed a spank stick ha!

Sleep: Tess is still a lower sleep needs child. She typically will wake up around 6ish in the mornings and talk happily then fall back to sleep. She will also usually only nap for an hour and 30 min. Again, she’s happy so I don’t stress it! This month she did start getting limbs stuck in her crib slats. Britt had this happen all the time but I’m thankful it took Tess awhile for it to start happening! Bless her heart b/c she doesn’t fuss that much, even when it happens, so I’m glad I have the video monitor otherwise I wouldn’t even know! 

Being silly doing somersaults in the bed 😉

Schedule:


7:00 Breakfast with whole milk

9:00 – 11:00 Nap

12:30: Lunch with Whole Milk

1:00 – 3:00: Nap

3:30: Small snack with whole milk to drink

4:00: 35 min of independent playtime

5:30: Dinner with family (whole milk to drink)

6:15: Bath

6:45: Nurse (nursed for last time when 13 ½ months old)

When done nursing straight to bed for night

Chest Concerns: This month I really noticed just how protruded Tess’s chest is. Zach actually noticed it waaaaaay before I did, when she was much younger, but I really started to notice. I think it’s because she’s getting thinner looking so it’s more noticeable? These photos really show what I’m talking about:

I was thankful to hear that we don’t need to be concerned when we had her 1 year well visit.  From my research it is known as “benign thelarche” and is related to an increased circulating estrogen level. It typically occurs in toddlers under age 3 and it may grow in proportion with the toddler for 6 months or so prior to receding. Also it could remain unchanged until puberty. Either way it doesn’t signal an early onset of puberty or an abnormal growth of the mature breast. IF, however, other signs of puberty start to appear THEN we have cause to be concerned (such as development of odor, pubic hair, growth in genitalia, etc). In that case there may be issues with over production of hormones such as thyroid, brain, or reproductive organ disorders. We are just going to keep an eye on things and see what happens but I feel confident that it’s simply not a big deal!

Independent Playtime: Well. It got tougher this month! She started crying the entire time. Yuck. I tried a few different things and ended up switching out some of her toys and having the big kids do independent playtime at the same time (so she couldn’t hear them). I also stuck close to the kitchen so she could hear me but I wasn’t in sight. I did 15 min and she did well. When she heard the timer she even started to clean up! I kept going and she was soon back to 30-35 min. 

Tess is REALLY into high-fives which is super fun for the whole family 🙂 

She’s officially on our family measurement doorframe now! 

She still LOVES to open and shut doors

And is quite the climber. I’m SO thankful for our baby gate (and for my awesome handy husband who made it). Kye does a great job always making sure to lock it so I never have to worry about her getting up the stairs. 

It was unlocked once so I waited to see what she’d do…sure enough she got it opened and BOLTED up there haha!

I’m really anti shoes on babies. They are a HASSLE and a PAIN and baby feet are too cute to cover up 🙂 Since Tess isn’t walking yet, she still isn’t wearing any shoes but Little Mama got her some Keds for her birthday which are SO cute to me! 

Tess hasn’t ever been much of a hip baby or a “mama’s girl” when it comes to being at home. This month thought she lived at my feet and this was a constant view I had!

Her favorite thing is taking things out and putting them back in. The bottom drawer of my desk in my room is filled with pens and highlighters and she loves to race into my room and go straight to that drawer and just empty it and refill it. Easy entertainment…at least for now until she discovers how to remove pen tops 😉 

Tess also really loves the baskets of busy bags I have in our pantry. She is constantly pulling out the bags and dumping out their contents. I was sitting with her while she was doing this and did send Zach this first picture because hello bag over face ain’t too bright haha!

Not only does she like to put things in other things and take them back out, but she loves to get herself into smaller spaces and then figure out how to escape 🙂

Her two favorite toys are still the laugh and learn table and also her Cozy Coupe. With it being SO hot outside I moved it inside and I joked with Zach that it’s like a free babysitter b/c she will play with that car all day. 

Of course she prefers stealing Britt’s car over playing with her own…sisters 😉

Tess is much more interested in reading. She still very much loves touch and feel type books and her attention span is getting longer for longer stories. I make an effort to sit and read with HER because the older kids read books more on their reading comprehension level and I want to make sure she still gets to read books on her level. 

In Tess’s nursery we have several framed postcards from places we have visited. Just above her changing table are a few of them and one is from the Blue Grotto in Capri, Italy. Tess’s middle name is Capri after our favorite spot in Italy 🙂 I love that she pics this postcard as her favorite! 🙂

Tess had an awesome 1st birthday and has really enjoyed playing with all the awesome toys she got as gifts. I rearranged the toy situation in the living room so there are more “girly” toys available. Kye put most of his stuff in his room and I stored his trains and such in the garage to pull out as needed. The Little People sets are a HUGE hit for BOTH girls and Britt does a great job sharing with her little sister too!

I got this little walker toy from someone in my neighborhood and it’s a big hit! 

I started doing puzzles with Britt and Kye at a young age and try to remember to sit Tess in her high chair to have some puzzle time too. She gets very urgent when put in her high chair because she wants to EAT so having her sit and do activities I’m hoping will help her with attention span as well as with sitting in her chair at other times than just meals. 

Tess loves to look out the windows. She loves to see the dogs and “talk” to them through the windows and just stand at them with her little face pressed against the glass. 

Checking out the BIG spider outside her window!

Sitting with Daddy waiting on Kye off the bus!

Tess doesn’t LOVE it outside the way Britt always did but she does enjoy some good swing time 🙂 We have a good bit of time between dropping Kye at school and then dropping off Britt so we are able to take advantage of the swings at Britt’s school! 

Sweet girl also loves the pool!

The BIGGEST shift this month was the relationship between Britt and Tess. With Kye going to school all day Britt is really, really starting to show more interest in Tess and they have become fast buddies. I LOVE it and they are so, so cute together. Britt is an awesome big sister. I especially love how she calls Tess “sweetheart.” 

I think THE moment that their relationship really took off was when we brought the Cozy Coupe’s inside. The girls were in the living room while I was fixing lunch in the kitchen and I noticed that Britt was pushing Tess around and Tess was cracking up. My heart just filled with such joy to see them playing and laughing together and Britt took so much pride in playing with her little sister! 


I LOVE having two girls! I can’t imagine life without my precious boy either, of course, but sisters are already so fun!

It ain’t always roses 😉

Before I know it they will be arguing over clothes but for now they enjoy Mommy’s jewelry!

Sharing toys so sweetly!

Britt loves “reading” to Tess

These are my favs as you can really see the love they have for each other!

Comparison pic! Britt on left, Tess on right (both 12 months old)

Another comparison pic….

Gotcha! This is actually a comparison pic of Britt (on right) with ME at her same age! When I found it I legit got confused and thought the baby on the left was Tess. I thought that I looked like Britt in this comparison but WHOA Baby Emily and Baby Tess are like dang twins!

More About Tess:

  • She points very decisively at everything
  • Tess growls a lot
  • She is starting to get more fussy if she doesn’t get what she wants
  • She LOVES small board books
  • I started a new sleep routine with her…I sit in the chair in her room with her in my lap and read a little book and cuddle before laying her down. Since I know nursing will end soon, this is a good way for me to still get cuddle time with her
  • When we start to pray she always puts her hands together. 
  • It freaks me out b/c she will often hold her breath when she cries
  • In Bible Class she knows when I say “no ma’am” to not put the little toys in her mouth
  • She mimics what we do a LOT. Those little eyes are always watching!
  • She’s more interested when we put on the potty before bath
  • She saw her shadow on the pool deck and kept kissing it
  • She had her first big choking scare this month: and it was on WATERMELON which you wouldn’t think would happen!
  • She is VERY tough and has a very high pain tolerance. She’s always smashing her fingers in drawers and rarely cries.
  • At church Mrs. Liz was talking to us and Tess said the words “bye bye” to her and did hand motions! I remember Britt did the same thing but we were at Cheddars and she said it to the family!
  • Tess just has a natural smile. She’s always so happy and is always laughing
  • I LOVE when she gives BIG hugs right when she wakes up
  • She knows for sure that i’m “Mama” and Zach is “Dada”
  • Words she’s saying: dada, mama, mmmmmm (for more), go, dad, that, gog (for dog), cat, and bye bye

Videos:

Tess is our precious baby girl! She may be a toddler now but we are still clinging to the baby stage as long as we can…no walking for her anytime soon 😉 

Sibling Comparisons: You can see Britt’s 13th month here and Kye’s here! I love seeing their similarities at the same ages…but can’t BELIEVE Britt pooped in the potty for the first time at this age. Man! I wish Tess would!!! And so funny that Kye loved to get in the dog crates too…and omg does my husband ever age?!?! He still looks as young as he did back when Kye was 12 months old 🙂 

Emily Parker
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