Dear Bo, You're 12 months old...

1 year old! 

 Here's what you're up to:

• You weigh 22 pounds 3 ounces and are 29.25 inches long (both just below the 50th percentile).  Your head circumference is 18.25 inches (50th percentile).
• You wear a Size 4 diaper, 12 month clothes, and Size 3 shoe (more for the thickness of your feet than the length!).
• You still only have 2 bottom teeth!
• You take your paci at night and when you go down for a nap, but we're going to take it away soon.  A little nervous about that!  It was such a comfort to you when you had your tummy troubles.

• You finished your last bit of formula on Nov. 19 and transitioned 100% to a sippy cup on Nov. 14.  I can't believe we're finished with formula and bottles!  Hallelujah!  Packing up your bottles, burp cloths, formula dispenser, bottle drying rack, etc. was bitter sweet.  You drink 20-24 ounces of milk a day.
• You're still allergic to milk so it's actually not cow's milk you're drinking...it's hemp milk (which is not really milk at all I suppose).  It has more calories/fat/protein than rice or almond milk, 2 common milk substitutes for MSPI babies, and you really like it (of course, it can't be hard to outdo that nasty amino acid formula you've been on!).

• You still sleep wonderfully.  As soon as I said that when you turned 11 months old, you threw us for a loop and started crying every time we put you down.  It only lasted 4-5 days then you went back to your old self.  I hope I'm not jinxing you again!  You take a bath, then one of us rocks you while you drink your cup of milk while the other reads you a Bible story then a bedtime book.  We pray, then one of us rocks and sings a couple of songs before laying you in bed with your lovey and your fish and moose.  You don't fall asleep while we rock anymore.  In fact, you're usually giggling and turning and twisting so much that we cut the songs short and just put you in bed.  
• You're still a scheduled little guy!  You get up around 7:30am, have a cup of milk then eat breakfast.  You've stretched your wake time to about 2.5-3 hours so you go down for your morning nap between 10-10:30.  You're starting to shorten your naps, but they still run between 1.5-2.5 hours long.  You have a cup of milk when you wake then eat lunch around 12:30 and go down again around 3 or 3:30.  You're often still asleep when Daddy gets home at 5:30pm.  You have another cup of milk then supper around 6-6:30pm.  Bath is around 7:45, and you're generally in bed by 8pm.

• You eat all kinds of things!  For breakfast, you have"big people" oatmeal with half a fresh banana mixed in, plain coconut milk yogurt with banana baby food for flavoring, mini bagels, or nutrigrain bars.  For protein, you have rotisserie chicken, turkey (from Rudy's or lunchmeat), hamburger meat, black beans, or edamame.  For vegetables, you have sweet peas, green beans, and carrots (not your favorite).  For fruits, you have diced pears, diced apples, bananas, diced peaches, mandarin oranges, and apple sauce.  For starches, you have baked potatoes, sweet potatoes, and pasta.  For snacks, you have cheerios and Ritz crackers.  I'm amazed at the variety of food you eat now and how easy it is to get away from the house.  You've even eaten part of a kids meal this month!
• You still react to dairy.  We had unfortunate incidents with goldfish crackers and with cool whip this month.  I continue to try things out every now and again to see if they will work or not.  So far, "or not" is the verdict.  

• You still like to play with your Laugh n Learn House (you do not like the window to be up).  You love to look at books and be read to.  You love to be sung to.  You get the giggles when we tickle you or do "this little piggy..." with your toes.  You are less into your toys right now since you've started cruising.  You'd rather just pull up and see what you can get into.
• You crawl extremely fast, and you pull up on everything and are into everything.  Your favorite thing to pull up on is our legs!  Your reach is good---we've had to put lots of stuff out of the way.  You walk along the couch (two major incentives are the computer and Scout---you like to mess with both) and can transition from place to place, but you don't take any steps on your own.  In fact, you fuss if we try to walk with you holding our hands.  Mimi and Pop got you an adorable walker for your birthday, and you use it as a crawler, pushing it with one arm and crawling with the other arm like a lame duck.  If we try to stand you up and show you how to walk with it, you put your head on the ground and cry.

• You babble a lot and say dada, but I'm still not positive you are saying it at Jonathan yet.  If we say, "where's Dada?"  "where's Momma?"  "where's Scout", you look in the right place, but you just don't call us those names right now.  
• The day after your birthday you started waving bye-bye.  You put your arm out straight and move your whole arm up and down.  It looks a little "Heil Hitler" but, of course, we think it's adorable.
• You're getting a little temper.  If you're frustrated by something (you're stuck/a toy is stuck, you can't reach, we take something away from you), you either yell or start to cry.  You're understanding "no" better and better and have stopped crying every time we say no.  If we use a strong tone now, you generally eye us as if you understand (now whether you actually stop doing what you're doing is a different story), whereas before, you'd just look at us and your bottom lip would start to quiver.

• You are just such a happy feller.  We're so grateful to have a little giggle box who follows us around, trying to climb up our legs.  Watching Daddy crawl around the house and you giggle and crawl in pursuit of him is the best sound ever!
• We love you, Pooka.  One year down and a lifetime to go!

Just look how you've grown:

Dear Bo, Your First Birthday Letter,

At 11:54pm just over a year ago, you changed my life.  Truthfully, I had no idea how much at the time (and that was probably for the best).  I was immediately in love with you.  Your crooked mouth, chubby cheeks, and overall tininess were too much for me!  I get tears in my eyes every time I think about the first 6 weeks with you.  Your sweet sounds, the way you wanted to sleep nowhere but on our chests, the way I cried over every little thing because I was hormonal, because I was sleep deprived, and because my heart was so full of love for you that it made me explode with emotions...everything from happy cries to ugly cries.

After those first 6 weeks of baby bliss, we had a real time of it, baby boy.  I'll never forget those hurt cries, sleepless nights, and all the squirming from discomfort you did.  But sprinkled in those 7 months were all sorts of special moments, too.  Rocking, singing, bouncing on the bed, baths, smiles, giggles...I wouldn't trade a single moment...not even the challenging ones since they no doubt make me treasure these happy, healthy moments all the more.

I wasn't quite sure I'd be a momma someday.  I thought life would be just as fulfilling without it, if that's the decision that was made by us (or for us).  And it might have been...but I'm so thankful that I'll never have to know.  You are everything I never knew I was missing.

Thanks for making me a momma.  Thanks for loving "bouncy bed" and for loving to play with my hand stitched cup towels...it makes me feel like Mammaw isn't missing out on you.  Thanks for giving me a reason to call Mimi and Lori with questions every day (sometimes multiple times a day).  Thanks for being the reason Pop showed up late at night to do the "bob and weave" with you.  Thanks for giving me a reason to sing all the songs from my childhood again, for giving me a reason to remember the words to my very favorite one, The Crayon Box Song.  Thanks for loving being sung to so much that I'm forced to make up songs because we wear out all the "old standards" so fast.  Thanks for giving me a reason to buy all my favorite childhood stories like We're Going on a Bear Hunt and for fussing when I finish them because you don't want them to end.

Thanks for making me feel so special when you reach out your plump hands for me to pick you up.  Thanks for lighting up when Daddy talks to you...he's one of your favorite people (and mine, too).  Thanks for having his facial expressions, his furrowed look, his hands, and his toenails...looking like a miniature Daddy isn't a bad thing.  Thanks for waking up each morning and from each nap with a grin so big that I have no choice but to match it.

Thanks for giggling uncontrollably and being in such a fun mood at the end of the day when most little ones are fussy...coming home to you is the best part of every day.  Thanks for not fussing when I leave for work and loving the nanny like you do...being a working momma isn't the right decision for every momma and baby, but I think it works wonderfully for us. I always wondered if I would be as career driven when you came along and now I know the answer...yes and no.  Yes---you enhance everything in my life, including being an attorney.  No---our family of three, loving you, and teaching you to love Jesus is more important than any career. 

Thanks for being the reason my prayer life has improved so drastically this year.  You make me want to be better at everything.  Thanks for introducing me to a whole new world...for giving me a reason to scour the Gymboree website instead of Ann Taylor, for the joy of having a carseat in the back of my Acura, for knowing the price per pamper at Wal Mart, Target, Babies R Us, and Sam's, for finding cheerios in random places at the house and in my car, for spit up stains on my clothes, for a knowledge of food allergies that's borderline obsessive, for bringing things like Ritz crackers and applesauce into my cupboard, for slobbery kisses, and nuzzling in my neck when I tickle you.  Thanks for so many experiences this year that I never knew I was missing out on.

You have squirmed your way into my every conscious thought, and I couldn't be more happy about it.  Thanks for the most love filled, emotional-roller-coaster-year.  To say I adore you would be a gross misunderstatement.

 I love you,

Dear Bo, You enjoyed celebrating an early bday with the Z's...

You were pretty good in the car.  You didn't sleep very well, but you played and watched Mimi's DVD player.  You had had it when we got to Jacksboro and yelled your displeasure until we got there.  You got a bath and rocked your Thanksgiving PJ's when we got there.  It was past your bedtime, and you were pooped!

 The next morning was full of loving from cousins...

Daddy and Alyssa played on their iPhones/iTouches, and lots of "Go Fish" and Skip Bo was played...

While you napped, we made and decorated cupcakes...

And your cousins played swords with Daddy and braided my hair...

 

Until finally the birthday festivities began...

That night, your Uncle Chase's parents watched you and your cousins while we went to a wedding reception, then we watched the Ags beat Nebraska (hurray!) before turning in.

We played Sunday morning before heading home, and you were a good boy and actually took a long nap on the way home.  It was a sweet weekend with family!

Dear Bo, Santa Pictures Take 2...

We waited a little bit and tried another round of Santa pics.  You fared no better...

 

 

 

 

Maybe next year...

Dear Bo, You did not care for Santa...

 At first you just stared at him...

Then your bottom lip started to pout...

 You and precious Claire sat together on Santa's lap (she did not cry though, and I do not think she was at all impressed with your Santa tears).

Dear Reader, Some Momma has been working on some baby's first birthday...

We're not having a "full blown" first birthday, but we're having parties with each side of our family.  I've had fun coming up with his birthday outfit, invitations, and some simple decorations (I didn't make any of it...sweet vendors on Etsy did).


Preview:

Dear Bo, You're movin' on up...

One of my projects for our Mommy and Me weekend was to go through your closet and drawers and clean out the things you've grown out of, and we don't use anymore.  I packed up the burp cloths, the receiving blankets, the tiny socks, most of the bottles, the bibs...it was so bittersweet.  I remembered you in every blanket, every outfit, remembered how we used to go through half a dozen (or more) bibs and burp cloths everyday.  How can we be past those stages already?  In spite of how challenging some of it was, those were sweet, sweet times.  I thought I would lose it (and did) when I gave you your last bottle on Saturday night (you've been taking a sippy cup at all of your meals except the night one, and we switched the night bottle to a cup on Sunday).  Time has just flown.

I rearranged your room so that you will have some room to play in the floor now that you're big enough to do so.  I removed the dresser where your changing table to create a little more space.  I really love how it turned out...