First off, let me say that this year has absolutely flown by. Everyone tells you that time flies with a baby and to enjoy them when they’re little. I truly heard all that advice and thought I was taking it all…but looking back it’s a blur. I have no clue where the time went (actually that’s not true – a lot of it went to creating Campbell’s bedroom mural) but the year has just absolutely zoomed away. I cannot believe that our little baby is a year old and has turned into a busy, babbling little being.
I know that life will only get busier with this guy, and all the little details are going to merge together if I don’t stop and take the time to note some of them, whether they’re big or small. To mark one of Campbell’s first big milestones – his first birthday on September 4th! – I thought I would stop to reflect on this past year, and also mark where we are now.
Stats
Age: 1 – 365 days of greatness!
Height: 72.cm on July 15 (so even taller now!)
Weight: 8.36kg (or 18lb 7oz) on July 15 (definitely heavier now!)
Head Circumference: 46.5cm on July 15 (absolutely bigger now!)
Teeth: 2.1 (bottom 2 + top left just starting to make an appearance)
Where in the World
This Year He Lived in: 1) Wan Chai, Hong Kong (in this little apartment)
This Year He Traveled to: 1) Koh Samui, 2) Vancouver (x2), 3) Hua Hin (via Bangkok), 4) Melbourne, 5) Sydney, 6) Gili Trawanga (via Denpasar, Bali) You can read more about these adventures here.
Favourites
Breakfast: Campbell cannot get enough of strawberries, devours toast and will gobble up an entire scrambled egg. Sometimes he’s hungry enough for all that in one meal.
Lunch: Sweet Potato Lentil & Carrot Croquettes are always a hit (Braden and I think they’re pretty tasty too!).
Dinner: the immunity-boosting tomato sauce with mushrooms from my Oh She Glows vegan cookbook, served with noodles or bulgar wheat. He definitely eats better than Mom & Dad.
Snack: Cheerios (surprising not available in Hong Kong, so we stuff our suitcase full whenever we somewhere they are available).
Drink: water or his bottle of milk of course.
Colour: blue – always blue! We thought it was coincidence at first but, more often than not, Campbell reaches for the blue items in his collection of toys before anything else.
Inside Activities: super content to crawl around and always wants to be moving. He also loves being in the tub splashing around with rubber ducky.
Outside Activity: getting out and about in his stroller. He’s our little pharaoh, the way he gets rolled around in his chariot. This summer he hasn’t been able to get enough of the pool, and loves splashing around, dropping in off the edge and torpedoing through the water. Such a little water baby!
Game: peek-a-boo (always with palms facing out when he covers his eyes).
Animal: no opinion that we know of!
Song: we probably don’t sing to Campbell enough but he seems to like “If You’re Happy And You Know It” or “Wheels on the Bus”.
Book: Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb when we’re reading it to him or when he’s looking for something to flip through, or any book with textures he can touch.
Toys: despite the plethora of gorgeous toys we have for Campbell, he is forever tossing them aside to reach for Braden’s blue shaker cup or his Aveeno sunscreen bottle (?!?!) He is also constantly reaching for our phones or remotes of any kind – we cannot keep our air conditioner set on a consistent setting!
Clothes: seemingly no opinion on this (but I think he looks cute all the time!), though he prefers to be barefoot and keeping sandals or shoes on him is a daily struggle.
Take to bed: A blue blanket that we got from a random acquaintance ended up being the right weight to fold over Campbell when he first started sleeping in his cot. Now it’s become a critical self-soothing tool that he shoves into his mouth before he falls asleep. If he rolls over in the night he will not settle until it’s within arms reach.
Least Favourite: the texture of grass has been a tough sell for Campbell. There’s not a lot of grass in Hong Kong, so to keep him happy while sitting on it he needs a reasonable distraction or to be wearing long pants. We made some progress while in Vancouver but he’s still not a huge fan. #citybaby
Notable Achievements
Milestones: rolling over, crawling, outgrowing his soother, cruising and now standing on his own (while sufficiently distracted), walking holding only one hand, stands for a second unassisted, usually if distracted.
Vocabulary: noisier and noisier every day, with frequent “Mamama”, “Dadada”, in increasingly more deliberate and demanding “Up” and all other babbling baby noises in between.
Favourite Phrase: “Uhoh” after dropping anything; “ahhhhh” after enjoying a drink of water or sip of orange juice.
Low-lights: a couple colds, some grumpiness from teething but luckily nothing even close to terrible to report.
Birthday Celebrations
Hong Kong Party: we hosted a little party for Campbell to celebrate with our nearest and dearest Hong Kong friends. Since a one year olds’ birthday is basically just a bunch of adults standing around and babies on the floor we opted for a little theme. In honour of Campbell’s (aka our) favourite bar, guests were requested to dress in a Tommy Bahama’s inspired outfit. We had tropical-themed beverages, snacks and a flower crown making station.
Having grown up celebrating birthdays with so many tasty and beautiful homemade cakes, I was a bit sad I wouldn’t be able to do the same for Campbell. However, an amazing friend came through with the most gorgeous cake decorated with pineapples. It tasted incredible, as Campbell will attest!
Campbell’s ‘real’ birthday was on a Monday, so it was a pretty typical day. My favourite part was how oblivious he was to any birthday goings on, though he did take quite an interest in his cards for a while.
Predictions
Our sweet little Campbell is constantly on the move now – I think that will continue with no end to his explorations, especially when he starts walking. I think he’ll be a climber and get into all sorts of trouble as soon as we turn our backs (or before we turn our backs). I predict more than a few bumps and bruises (but I hope I’m wrong!)
Campbell has an astonishing ability to play in his cot entirely on his own, sometimes for an hour or two when he wake up, which tells me he is self sufficient, independent and content. I hope this continues (if only for our ability to have a little lie-in on weekends!) I predict (hope?!) he continues to self sooth and sleep through the night.
I think Campbell will continue to be a noisy, animated little guy, and I’ll be interested to see how this translates in to him expressing his interests (and probably demands). I absolutely cannot wait until he starts talking more!
Campbell, you’ve had a incredible first year and we love you endlessly. I can’t wait to see what this next year brings!
xo Mama
A Life Shift 