Twelve Months

One whole year old. My gosh.

Here’s what I want to remember from the last month of his first year:

• He continues to eat (and sleep!) well. Lately, he has taken to inspecting what is being offered to him before he'll open his mouth to eat it, mostly if I switch to something else on his plate. This little ritual of his is too funny. But I am okay with it as long as he continues to be a good eater!
• He is insisting on feeding himself these days, so his highchair tray is constantly being washed. He has tried a few new foods, including lamb, shredded pork, zucchini, olives, chickpeas, mushrooms, fresh pears, blueberries, and pineapple, and (shhh) York peppermint patty, as well as birthday cake!
• He is taking approximately 24 ounces of formula each day, as well as a sippy of water throughout, but he is down to taking only one bottle at bedtime (woo-hoo!). It’s sippy cups the rest of the day and he’s doing great with that. We go see Dr. N on Thursday, so I’m hoping to be done with formula by the end of the week. (I’ll also post his official stats after our visit with her.)
• He has four teeth. His first top tooth was discovered by me on the 8th, and his second top tooth started poking through a couple of weeks ago.
• He had his sixth haircut this month. I held him on the swing in the backyard and enticed him to sit (somewhat) still with an apple juice popsicle while Kenny danced around and snipped.
• He is now a pro at standing. He took his first few very tentative steps early this month, and continued to improve as the month went on. He took a solid two to three steps twice on the 13th, and he did even better on the 17th and 20th. By the end of the month, he wasn’t walking completely solidly yet, but he can go a fair distance across a room on his feet before collapsing.
• He has learned so many tricks this month: high five from Daddy, “touchdown LSU!” from Nola, “uh-oh!” and sticking his tongue out from Aunt Erin, his own unique cow sound from Grandma and Grandpa.
• He is pointing his little index finger. He points to his ceiling fan almost every time he wakes up when we go in to get him from his crib.
• He is starting to understand a few simple commands. For example, I use “up” when I want him to stand or pick him up; “push, push” when getting him dressed; “arms up” when getting him undressed; and “shake, shake” when he is holding a toy.
• He will pat his chest if asked “where’s Riley?” And right now he does the same if asked where anyone else is, but we’re working on that. He’s also kind of started pointing to his nose when asked. And when we're in his chair and I tell him it's time to go night-night, he usually looks toward his crib.
• He says “mama” and “dada” all the time, but I’m not sure if he actually associates Kenny and me with the words. And he’s starting to say his own version of up (“uh”), more (“muh”), “night-night” (“nye-nye”), and yogurt (“go-guh”) but he’s mostly just repeating when I say them. He is actually repeating a fair number of things we say, in his own special way, of course.
• He started clapping on the 10th when Nola sang “Patty Cake” to him during lunch. Now he claps all the time, both to “Patty Cake” and for himself (“yay for Riley!”).
• He plays really well by himself. He still likes someone to be in the room with him, but he doesn't need anyone down on the floor with him. I love watching him go from one toy to the next and from one location to the next, as well as listening to him babble to himself the whole time.
• He studies everything. From the logo on his bottles to the designs on his clothes to the textures of his toys, this kid doesn't let anything escape his scrutiny.
• He still loves to watch fans spinning and to listen to airplanes and to play with lightswitches and to push things around (although not quite as much as he used to). He also loves being spun around in our desk chair and doing “backbends” holding onto my fingers.

Twelve months old. Not a baby anymore.

Happy Birthday, Riley-bean. We couldn’t love you more.