Thirteen Months

Matchy-Matchy Boys!!

Hey there Devy-boy!

Another month has come and gone, and you are continuing to change every day! Dad and I just watched the video of you at 8 months, and comparing it to the video I made of your year mark. The time has gone so fast, and you have grown SO MUCH!!

The most exciting update is that you're WALKING! You've taken steps here and there, and you could stand, squat, and stand again with perfect balance, but you weren't quite ready to just make it happen. Then while you were playing with your cousins in Utah, you started taking a few steps here and there with your Lovey in hand. It was almost as if holding Lovey felt like you had some support. A few minutes later you had something smaller in your hand. And by the end of the night you were walking as if you'd been doing it all along!

Your vocabulary hasn't grown much this month, but we are communicating much more now, even if it's often in points, grunts, and squawks. Sometimes it's a bit of a guessing game, but you can get the point across when you're ready for a drink, or when you want a certain food. In fact, we worked toward getting over the bottle, and it became very clear to me when you wanted your bottle because you suddenly got SUPER whiney and pouty about your entire life. The first day I noticed it, I just knew the bottle would cure it, and sure enough, you were happy as could be once you had it in hand. Ugh.

While you weren't quite ready to give up your bottle, your love for food has continued to expand. You tried chicken nuggets for the first time on our trip and I now believe that they have some sort of magic infused in them because you had this look on your face like, "Mom, where have you been keeping these?? They are DELICIOUS!!" Once again, ugh. But luckily you're almost as happy about eating broccoli, and your absolute favorite thing is raspberries. I have to hide them in the shopping cart or you won't stop whining for them through the entire store. I handed you a plum to gnaw on one morning as I started breakfast, and you ate the ENTIRE thing, only stopping at the pit because you couldn't figure out why it was so hard in the middle.

Sometimes you still eat things that aren't food

Our Utah trip was mostly business for mom (though we got there early enough to spend the weekend with the family), but while we were out west we hopped on another plane to Seattle for Sarah's baptism. It was a pretty intense weekend with the WHOLE Randall family. That's the first time we've all been together in a long time, and definitely the first time in your lifetime. Dad even flew in on Friday and was there with us the rest of the trip. You got pretty clingy over the course of our adventure. It was a lot of people and a lot of new places in a very short time, so you stayed pretty close to mom, but it was awesome for you to meet the rest of our family. Your favorite buddy was Uncle Derek. You even stayed quiet on his lap for most of church. That was pretty impressive!

Animals we rode at the mall in Seattle. Devin LOVED it!

They don't look like they like each other... but they had fun together.

At the Bluebird in Logan

Devin and Charlotte

The Baby Shower

On the way home from Seattle we had our first ever layover, and since it was 3 hours long, Grandma and Grandpa Cottle came to meet us at the airport and have dinner. You were getting a little cranky by this point, but you were completely fascinated by the escalators and moving walkways. We went up and down a few times, and everyone rediscovered the awesomeness of stairs that move as you giggled and shot looks at anyone that would meet your eye that said, "Is this for real guys? This is the
best thing I've ever done!!" You would keep both hands in mine and walk up the stairs, and then turn around and try to come back down, getting a little put out you couldn't go back the way you came.

We had our first hurricane scare since we've been in Florida (and in fact the first true scare Orlando has had in many years). We were supposed to get hit with a Category 3 hurricane, so we decided to bunk up with Ben and McKenzie for the night to wait it out. They had all the preparations in place, but almost as important, we had each other. Dad and Ben were given Thursday afternoon and Friday off, so we got to hang out and watch TV, play games, and eat junk food (and a little healthy food too). McKenzie brought out Chutes and Ladders to play with you, which you thought was pretty awesome, even though she had to do most of the work, and you kept trying to cheat and put your player somewhere else on the board.

Our Hurricane "Bunker"

It was a fun, crazy, and exhausting month. You keep me running now that you can get around so well, but I love that you're walking, which has opened doors for so many new adventures!! You also smile with all four of your teeth all the time, and it makes me so happy my heart could burst! How was there a world without Devin?

Xoxoxo,

Mom and Dad

One Year

Dear Devin,

Happy first year on earth my little lovebug (even though I'm actually writing this a month late)!!! The last week of your first year was pretty rough for you and for Mom. You were sick a full week before your first birthday, and all the way up to the day before, I was afraid you'd be eating applesauce and rice for your birthday dinner. Luckily, you worked through it literally just in time.

I woke up pretty emotional on your birthday. I am so excited for all the adventures ahead, but I have loved this year we've spent together so much, and it's hard to realize you won't be my baby forever. In fact, you've been my baby for one very short year, and it's been more incredible than I can describe! I just didn't feel ready for it to end (I think I still don't just yet).

You had 3 teeth finally out by your first birthday, and your little toothy grin is absolutely contagious! You are also standing constantly, and occasionally sneak in a step or two. Your balance is there, and you can squat down and stand back up again, you're just working up to actually having the confidence to walk all alone. Jackie (our sweet nanny) is working at it all the time because she loves to encourage you to stretch yourself.

You have LOVED our new house. I could tell the moment your crib was up in your room that you knew we were home. You love climbing up and down the stairs, and you handle them like a champ! you've also been very fascinated with the windows and the floors. you'll stand at the upstairs windows and look out for as long as I'll sit with you, watching people and just seeing what's outside. You also went back and forth across our new rug over and over, clearly trying to figure out and compare the new textures, and exploring how they felt as you crawled over them.

While you aren't saying many words yet, you love to shake your head no, and even nod your head yes, though I'm pretty sure you still don't know exactly what either means. You started saying "Uh Oh", which is super adorable, and you also point and say "Go, Go, GO!" when you want Jackie to take you outside or to the park.

You love music, and Mama's keyboard is getting more use than it's had in months (I'm a little embarrassed to admit) as you plunk away on the keyboard, and experiment pushing all the different buttons. I am happy to let you play around, as it brings me hope you'll learn to play it for real someday. But you'll also dance to music you come across anywhere. In fact, you've occasionally held still for a diaper change in restrooms with Jazzy music playing because you were too busy grooving to the tunes. And seriously, while often you dance, sometimes you just like to groove to the music. It's crazy cute.

You went to your first Halloween party (even though it was only September. At Disney the holidays stretch out longer than anywhere else) and of course, you had to dress up as Jack-Jack from the Incredibles. But just to keep things somewhat original, Dad dressed up as Syndrome, and Mom was Kari (the babysitter).

You basically love any food we will feed you. Spicy, sour, pickled, sweet, and everything in between. So far you are most likely to spit out chocolate though, even in chocolate milk form. One of your favorite things is soup. You love any kind of soup, which I only started feeding you one day after stopping at Panera instead of driving home through traffic. You couldn't get enough of my tomato basil soup and bread.

This month was such an adventure, and you're growing and learning every day. You've continued to sleep through the night, which is AWESOME, and I love how happy you are to get up every morning. Devin, this past year has been the most incredible year of our lives. There's nothing that compares to the joy and adventure of parenthood. Thank you for being our adorable, sweet, lovely little guy. We can't imagine what this year would have been without you, and we're so excited for so many years to come!

xoxoxox,

Mom and Dad


Devin 1 year from Rachel Cottle on Vimeo.