Baby A at 12 Months

It's official. This cutie is an entire year old! And I promise he's adorable, even if he wouldn't hold still for his traditional picture without pouting or throwing a little tantrum.

His current stats: 

• Weight: 20.6 lbs.
• Height: 30 inches
• Diaper Size: Still wearing the Size 3's.
• Clothing Size: Still wearing 6-9 Months outfits.
• Likes: Eating, dancing with his hips shaking like crazy, music, using his voice to talk/sing/yell/whatever.
• Dislikes: When mom tells him no, when dad leaves anywhere or tries to give him to mom.

He sings/chants "Dad-Dad" and "Mom-Mom" all the time. I love it. He has also learned the word "No," but doesn't know what it means. I can ask him if he wants something and he'll tell me "no" and shake his head, but then reach for it because he actually does want it. Silly boy!

He loves organizing his toys. He finds things of similar shapes or matching colors and collects them in containers. He loves his pack of Crayola markers more than almost anything else in this entire world.

He also loves music. I think I've mentioned it before but he has a fantastic sense of rhythm. When a song is on the radio and he is tapping along, nine times out of ten he is accurately on the beat! As he has gotten even more vocal lately, he now sings along with the songs too. I think it is one of the most adorable things ever!

It is so fun to take him places because he has such a curiosity and sense of amazement at everything. When something is really fascinating, he says "ooooh" and his face lights up. I love how expressive he is at things.

Lately, he has started to be more cuddly as he gets tired. There is still no chance in the world he'll fall asleep in our arms, but he loves his Blankey and will cuddle on the floor with it or sometimes even brings Blankey to us and wants to curl up together.

 

One of Blankey's specialties is caressing A's nose when he's tired. No wonder Blankey has become one of his very bestest friends!

With the Christmas season in full swing this past month, A was in heaven with all of the lights and decorated trees everywhere we went. Each morning, I could ask him to go find our Christmas tree and he would crawl as fast as he could down the hallway from his bedroom to the stairs in pure excitement so that he could get to the living room to see the tree.

He was really good not to destroy the tree or take off the ornaments, but would just stare at it in amazement or delicately touch the lights. He made the holiday season so much fun!

He loves when his dad throws him in the air or helps him fly around in the sky. Although he is very cautious while he is playing on his own, he transforms into a total adrenaline junky when he's safe in dad's hands!

Speaking of his dad, he loves when we make dad run errands with us because M is apparently way more exciting than I am. Pretty much everywhere we go, these two silly boys find adventures that have them both giggling. Who knew that even Home Depot could be so wonderful?!

Maybe I'm just an overly proud mom but I feel like A has advanced motor skills. For example, I discovered my grocery list decorated with scribbles! So I put a pen and some paper on the ottoman to see what he could do. And he picked up the pen all on his own and started drawing more!

He walks along all of our furniture, does a great job walking while holding our hand, and even runs around the room when he's using his walker... but he doesn't seem to have any interest in walking on his own!

Yet, I'm pretty sure he's going to be saying complete sentences by the time he finally decides he wants to walk. He loves to mimic sounds that M and I make, and does a pretty good job! I feel like he's already saying so many words {even if other people can't fully understand him yet!} and understands a lot of what he's trying to tell us.

He has become very independent and loves to be like the grownups. This has been very advantageous for diaper changes and getting him dressed because he helps rather than fights. He loves to hold his feet out to put his pants on; sets his socks on top of his feet in the attempt to put them on; and willingly puts his arms in the sleeves of shirts and jackets. He also likes to comb his own hair and brush his own teeth.

He is such a happy kid! Although it seems so crazy that he is already a year old, it has been such a fun year to watch him grow and see his personality blossom. I know I've said it a million times before, but I feel so lucky to be his mom!