I realize that my child is past the 12 month mark. I realize that I completely missed a 12 month picture/blog post. I have a toddler boy at my house who keeps me VERY busy. That's my excuse...
Walker is a full blown pre-toddler boy (that's what the books say)now. It makes me sad that he is quickly losing that "baby" look about him and starting to look like a little boy. At his 12 month check-up the doctor said he was as healthy as can be. He weighed in at 22 lbs and was 30.5 inches long (50% in both) and his head was 46.5 cm. Needless to say, he's come a long way from the 5 lbs 14 oz that he was when he entered this world.
If I had to describe Walker in one word these days it would be FUN! He makes everything so fun and has so much fun all day long. He is set on GO from the time he wakes up until the time he goes to sleep at night. He is so curious and loves looking around at things and pointing at things. It's the cutest thing when he sticks his little finger out to ask for something. At first he would just point and say "dis" (this?) but now he's starting to learn actual words for things. He loves to go "outs" (outside) and this is what we hear constantly throughout the day as his little finger points to the window. It also results in several little fits when he realizes he can't go "outs" as it's now 90 degrees before noon! He is learning to make animal sounds like "bark" and "moo" and he will also makes noises as he pushes around his tractors and trucks. He says (yells) dada all the time and will only occasionally say mama. I will actually look at him and say mama and he will look at me just as plain as can be and say dada. However, when he is upset the mama comes out just fine. He "talks" a lot but we don't understand much of what he says just yet but he does like to try to imitate words we say. Words we do know are "hi", "bye", and "outs." He does say "yes" on occasion and has now learned to shake his head yes or no but he's not always accurate in doing so. We are still working on the sign language and he will sign "done" and try to say it but that's as far as we get with that.
Walker started walking on his own the week of his 1st birthday and has not stopped since. He practially runs now and even likes to hop every once in awhile. He will dance by bending his knees up and down. He lays down on the floor while playing now like he's "resting" but will move his butt around so you know he's not asleep. He is fascinated with belly buttons and will now pull your shirt up to see yours. He loves toilet paper and paper towels and especially loves to unroll them. He loves getting his picture made and when you say "cheese" he will give you his cheesy grin. Walker is into everything these days and we have had to put up gates everywhere to keep him contained. When left to wander around he will get into anything from the kitchen cabinets to the toilet to the towels in the bathroom to the garbage. He can also move very fast when you catch him doing something he's not supposed to do. He will now hold a phone up to his ear and say "hi" and knows that you can use toilet paper to blow your nose. He finally started waving hi and bye but will not do it if you ask him to, only when he feels like doing it and if it is completely his idea.
It's amazing that as young as he is, he already has such a personality. He is pretty strong willed and must be told about 10 times not to do something before he will comply. This usually involves a pat on the bottom as reminder before he will get the hint. And there are times when he gets a "spanking" that he will laugh at you. "Spankings" do not phase him at all but they do help with him understanding when things are dangerous. We've also started time away in his crib because Walker has started hitting and biting when he doesn't like something. It hasnt' happened too often yet, but it has happened. The first time I couldn't believe my sweet child would do something like that but the second time, I decided we needed to intervene quickly!
As far as eating, Walker eats mainly table food that we eat but still some baby food. He loves string cheese, yogurt, bananas, strawberries, blueberries, peaches, apple sauce, crackers, taco meat, chicken, tortillas and bread. Most of his veggies still have to be pureed because the texture is a little weird for him. We are also officially off formula and on just milk during the day (which he eats 6 oz. 3 x's a day). Next step is weaning to the sippy cup. He hasn't been a big fan of the sippy with milk in it yet. He loves his sippy and does great with it at meals when it just has water but when it has milk in it, he won't even touch it! Mealtimes are when Walker chooses to exert his independence a little, by either spitting out his food that he clearly likes, or by throwing food, or by chewing it, then taking it out of his mouth and throwing it. He also really wants to use a spoon and must have his own spoon during meals, even though mommy and daddy still feed him his veggies. He's tried to feed himself a few times with the spoon and done fairly well with it so we let him keep trying. He feels so big when he does this and gets so proud of himself. He will even put his chunks of food on his spoon and try to get it to his mouth before it falls off. I'd say about 50% makes it to his mouth! He's eating meals with us now and only gets a snack in the afternoon around 3:00. He's now wearing 12-18 or just 18 month clothes and pajamas and I feel certain we won't make it to the end of summer in those clothes. All in all, he's a healthy, active, loud little boy!
WHEW! I think that's all I can think of to say about my sweet boy at the moment. Hopefully this catches you up on what Walker's been up to since he turned 1. Now that school's out I hope to post more frequently...we'll see!
He loved watching daddy mow the lawn so he got on to sit with him for a minute. This was the best picture I got because Walker was too busy looking around and trying to push or pull things to pose for a picture!
