12 Months Old

What a month it has been! The most exciting news around our home is our ONE year old is walking! He started taking a few, wobbly steps shortly after he turned 11 months old, and he has been fearlessly walking for about 2 weeks now. One day he just stood up and decided he'd walk, and he's never looked back. So far, he's only had one bloody lip and it happened on my watch! He hit the coffee table pretty hard. However, he only screamed for about a minute but my shirt and his was covered in blood! It freaked me out to say the least.

That's our emergency nausea med (phenergan) he snagged from under the counter while he was destroying our bathroom while I was in the shower. You do what you gotta do. 

He is into everything and has to be supervised 24/7, whereas before he started walking I could leave him in a room alone for more than 60 seconds and not worry about him. Not anymore! He knows how to lift toilet seats, find dust bunnies under furniture, open cabinets, slam doors, pull up on the curtains, swipe picture frames off tables, run toy trucks along the walls, and take clothes off hangers - Phew, I'm tired just typing that!

Over the past month, he also started eating table food like a champ! I think I was more excited about this than the walking. His absolute favorite food is a sweet potato. He can eat an entire sweet potato alone and whines for more in between bites. Hilarious! He usually has apple sauce and cheese toast for breakfast. His personal fave for lunch is deli turkey. I usually give him a baby food pouch of fruit or a fruit/veggie mixture with the turkey. For dinner, he's tried mac n' cheese, chicken salad, spaghetti, and mashed potatoes. He's on all table food at school as well. For the most part, he eats whatever is on their menu for the day. However, I notice on his daily report card that he refuses green beans and most solid fruits. I'm a very picky eater and Grant will eat anything, so he's taking after me in the eating department.

He still only has two teeth on the bottom and four on the top. I started brushing his teeth when he turned 11 months, but I have to admit I'm not consistent! I have a feeling there are a few more teeth trying to poke through now because his hands stay in his mouth.

We've ALMOST dropped the bottle and transitioned to a sippy cup. As of about a week ago, he's completely off formula and only drinking whole milk. He's using a trainer sippy cup with a nipple so it's basically like a bottle with handles. We offer him a sippy cup with whole milk at each meal (8am, 11:30am, 5pm) and for snacks around 10am and 2pm because that's what his school does. He still drinks milk out of a bottle at 6:30pm before he goes to bed at 7pm. He usually wakes up for the day around 6:30am and he gets a milk bottle then as well. I'm so glad the middle of the night wakings are a thing of the past :)

He now says "daw" for dog, "baba" for bottle, "bah" for ball, mama, and dada. However, I haven't heard him say "mama" since the first time he said it :( If you say "William, what does a dog say," he shrugs his shoulders and blows air out of his nose. I guess that's his way of saying "ruff, ruff." If he hears one of the dogs barking in the neighborhood, he starts imitating him in his own special way ;)

 This face is just too funny not to post. I was making some crazy noises and faces to try and get him to smile. When he's outside, he's all business and he could not have cared less what I was doing.

Lately he cries when I leave him at school, which is tough. He sticks out his bottom lip and clings to me for dear life. However, I never leave until I know he's calmed down. His favorite teacher, who also babysits for him, doesn't get there until 8am and I usually drop him off at 7:50. His two other teachers have even told me how much he lights up when Ms. Janelle gets there. This group of teachers is probably my favorite of the three classes he's been in.

He is only taking one nap at school from 12- 1pm, which doesn't seem like enough to me! On days home with me, he still naps in the morning and afternoon. The time of the nap varies depending on our errands and outings we have planned for the day.

He has decided that he HATES being in his car seat which makes for some super FUN moments - ACK! The child is so strong I can honestly barely get him buckled in alone. The nice buggy boy at Publix had to help me the other day because W was pitching an all out tantrum and I couldn't get him in the car-seat no matter what I did! I'm hoping that once he can sit facing forward it'll help!

An interesting thing I've noticed over the past month is that his attention span is getting longer. For instance, he will show interest in a toy for longer than 5 seconds. He's obsessed with mine and Grant's phones because he knows they are a "no no." He usually gets a guilty look on his face and starts laughing when we tell him "no no." I guess it's time to freshen up on all my grad school course notebooks :)

He's fascinated by things that he knows he isn't supposed to touch. Hence, the socket that he's lingering around in this picture.

 He's extremely curious and very observant. I'm sure all babies are like that, but his curiosity has always struck me as one of his unique qualities. 

Lastly, he LOVES playing peek-a-boo and having a tickle war on Mommy and Daddy's bed. We get the best giggles at night when we are all in our bed just enjoying each other.

I probably won't keep up with William's monthly "birthday" posts anymore. I feel like I have the first year of William's life well documented. It's been a lot of fun watching him reach developmental milestones over the past year. I love his innocence and eagerness to learn! Happy 1st Birthday baby boy! Mommy and Daddy love you!