12 Months

Dear Ian,

At 5:07 pm, you will be one year old. Happy birthday!

You will no longer be considered a baby, you are now officially a toddler - oh my!

A lot has happened this month. About 2 weeks ago you figured out how to get up on your knees and crawl.

 However, if you have serious, important business to attend to you flop onto to your belly and resume your army crawl - which is fast! It's hilarious to watch, because you still hardly use your legs at all. Upper arm strength, buddy!

About the same time you figured out how to crawl, you also figured out how to pull up to a standing position. The first time you did it I was in the kitchen, and I thought you were playing with your blocks when I heard you giggling. I looked around the corner and there you were, up on your feet holding on to your jumper, hips swaying unsteadily. You were absolutely ecstatic about it. Since then you pull up on just about anything you can grasp. It didn't take you long to figure out how to get back down to a sitting position - thank goodness for cloth diapered bums!

And speaking of mobility, there are noticeably fewer pictures of you this month. This is because you never sit still, and most of the pictures end up being the back of your head. For example.

But success, you sat still for a second.

Until you saw the flower pot.

Eating has taken on a whole new dimension, no more baby food for you. You're all about real people food. Your favorites are strawberries and bananas, but you also really like American cheese and peas (apparently they're okay as long as they're not pureed). Here you're getting some biscuits with some strawberry freezer jam.

Those yogurt melts that Gerber makes? I'm convinced they lace those with something highly addictive. No matter how full you are, I think you would eat an entire package in one sitting if we let you. You LOVE regular yogurt, too. I have some every morning for breakfast and once you get your eye on that container you crawl over and open your mouth wide for a bite.

We made it to our breast feeding goal of 1 year. It was kind of a bumpy road, but I'm so grateful (and a little proud) that we made it. I will start to wean you now, although to be honest you've already started that process yourself. You only nurse right before bed and early in the morning, you're just not interested anymore during the day. I think the only reason you nurse now is for comfort.

Your sleeping is SO. MUCH. BETTER. You go to bed at around 8 pm, sometimes falling asleep immediately, but sometimes after 30 minutes or protest. Once you do fall asleep you sleep until 5 or 6 am, nurse, then sleep until 7:30 am. Naps are still incredibly inconsistent. Some days you don't nap at all, other days it's 2 30 minute naps, occasionally an hour or two. I hear other friends talk about their children napping for 2-3 hour stretches and I cannot imagine what that must be like. Maybe we'll get there one day.

We took you on your first road trip this month, and unfortunately you cried most of the 3 1/2 hour drive. You were not pleased about being trapped in that car seat at all. But you did enjoy the dinner break, you're very first trip to the Waffle House, and ate every bit of your grilled cheese sandwich. You spent the entire dinner twisted around so you could watch the waitresses and cooks and flirt with all the other customers.

The rest of the trip went great. You slept well and loved seeing all the people. Not once did you act scared. And you slept almost the entire drive home (thank goodness).

This month has been brought to you by the letter C. Besides mama, dada, and bye, you have expanded your vocabulary to include car, cat, cold, and cow. Car came first and you say it a thousand times a day. For a while it was the first thing you said when we walked into the nursery in the morning. Sometimes walking through a parking lot is sensory overload. And I'm convinced you know cow because of all the Chik Fil A commercials on PBS. Oh, and unfortunately you have figured out how to shriek, and let me tell you it makes our ears ring and toes curl.

Taking you to the grocery store and Wal-Mart is so fun (unless you're screaming) because you smile at everyone and show off. But that's okay, I'll admit that it makes my day that you make others smile.

We'll be saying bye to your front facing baby carrier, you've outgrown it.

Here's you in August 2011.

And now.

We have an Ergo carrier now, which is infinitely more comfortable for us (and probably you), but you can't face outwards, so you can't see all the action like you used to. Soon enough and you'll be walking anyway (!!!)

So in closing the monthly report, shall we take a little walk down memory lane?

May 2011. Brand new.

June 2011. So small, you're newborn clothes swallowed you.

July 2011. Enter the onset of the chub.

August 2011. Onset of awesome facial expressions.

September 2011. Neck, what neck?

October 2011. Fat cheeks officially established.

November 2011. Discovery of solid food.

December 2011. Double chin.

January 2012. Discovery of toys!

February 2012.  Sitting up all by yourself with no help.

March 2012. Look at all that hair.

April 2012. Nothing better than sitting in the grass.

May 2012. Big boy.

Being your momma is the best job in the whole word. It's also the toughest, but I'm up for the task. I'm sad to see the baby stage go, but I am so excited to see who you become.

You are destined for great things, my little man.

I love you so.