A Recap of our First Year with McKay!

The most life-changing month of our lives! We adjusted to our every-three-hours-wakeup-schedule much faster than I anticipated, I healed from the C-Section slowly but surely, and when he was 8 days old, we headed to Oregon for Austin’s brothers wedding. He did GREAT on the road trip, and we loved getting to introduce him to all of Austin’s side of the family!

We celebrated McKay’s one month birthday from home, in quarantine. When we got back from Oregon, just shy of his 1 month birthday, we took him to the doctor because his breathing pattern has changed. He had a high fever at the doctors office, so they suggested we take him to an ER near our home. We did, and after a few hours of different tests, one came back positive. Covid! 😳 They transferred us to the childrens hospital, where he stayed overnight to be monitored. He improved quickly, and luckily we were able to go home the next afternoon. I think the 7 IV attempts took a bigger toll on him than the Covid did!

2 months was SO much fun! We traveled with Austin to Utah for some work meetings, when we unexpectedly got the news that Austin’s grandpa was in the hospital. We were able to go and see him (an angel nurse let us bring McKay into the ICU to have him meet Larry before he passed), and Austin was able to go and say goodbye to his Grandpa. This was a huge miracle!

Three months was one of my favorites! The weather this month was absolutely perfect, and McKay started to love going on walks!! He would get SO excited anytime we went underneath a tree-his eyes would get HUGE and he would follow it until he couldn’t see it anymore!

Four months included another trip to Oregon, family pictures, and McKay’s first Halloween costume! It was our first Halloween in our new house, so we decided to throw a Halloween party, and we had so much fun! Our last minute beanie-baby costumes were a huge hit!

Five months came with a LOT of firsts for McKay! He finally stopped contact napping, went sledding and used his snowsuit for the first time, and wore a plethora of Christmas jammies. He also started sitting up, and got some teeth!

I couldn’t believe we had a 6 month old (and how much can change in just 6 months!! Sitting up, playing like crazy in the bath, and fiiiinally starting to *maybe* like solids.

This was our official crib and “own room” transition month. It was a little unnerving to wake up to the image on the left every morning. 😂 I was nervous about transitioning out of the Snoo, but we did it gradually starting around 5 months, and the final transition went well!

McKay entered FULL explorer mode at eight months. He loved finding small places to crawl in, especially underneath our coffee and end tables. He hated crawling on the wood floor, but loved exploring everywhere else. He got to meet his future bff Alice, while her parents (my BFF) was in town from their station in Korea.

McKay started pulling to stand, and got SO good at walking while holding onto all of our furniture. He became a constant chatterbox,and started saying BAAABYYY after hearing a kid at church say it. He loves clicking his tongue, and watching Austin do just about anything. This month was his first Easter!!

McKay and I took our first solo trip this month! He came with me on our CHP retreat in St. George, and was the best travel boy!! He came along to all of our sessions in a carrier, and hated the pool (it was SO COLD)! He had major fomo, and I don’t think he napped for like 2 days straight, but he got to see all of my favorite sights in St. George, and was REALLY happy considering the circumstances. 😅

So, it turns out that summer with a one year old is the absolute best. McKay loves being outside, but hates the grass. We bought a little blow up baby pool, and he is OBSESSED!! We spend almost every afternoon out splashing and playing (the BEST way to wear him out for bed)!! His favorite toys are still non-toys, like measuring cups, remotes, and our phones, although we try to keep him away from those second two… 🫠 He took his first steps on Fathers Day, then took a break from his walking attempts for about a week, only to pick it up and never go back about 2 weeks later.

Birthday month!! A new carseat (which he is not a fan of so far…), a roadtrip to Oregon (which did not go amazingly due to the carseat situation…), lots of playing with more non-toys like water bottles, dog leashes, and our shoes. He is a master at going up the stairs, standing up from sitting, and walks EVERYWHERE. I swear I haven’t seen him crawl in the last week. He is a PRO, and is SO FAST. We are already in trouble. He loves the dogs, being outside, exploring everything, eating pizza and popsicles, and taking naps. We had so much fun putting together his sports themed party, playing with some of his new toys, and reminiscing on our first year as parents!

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