William is 1 year old!
Unbelievable. It feels as if a second ago I was burping him, rocking him, waking up in the middle of the night feeding him, tummy timing, and watching for huge milestones like first smiles or rolling over. And here we are now... he's walking around the house like he's always been a walker, feeding himself, petting Maggie, flipping the pages of books, racing up the stairs, dancing when music comes on...
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| Very curious |
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| Loves the water - even freezing cold water! |
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| Playing with toys and always wants to show me what he's doing |
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| He could climb the stairs all day if you'd let him |
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| Going for long strolls - our favorite since the newborn days |
The last 6 months went the fastest for me. It is hard to find the time to sit down to write posts. The free time when he naps is spent around the house picking up whatever mess was created during his waking hours. Then he wakes up and we start all over!
Where William is at now...
We are down to 1 bottle and I am pretty sure that last bottle can go out the window here shortly. It will be sad to see the bottle go because it seems like such a nice relaxing way to end the day before hitting the hay. I bet he won't even notice, but the bedtime routine will need to change a little.
William has a huge appetite. His breakfast is usually much larger than mine. Bowl of oatmeal, fresh fruit, yogurt is the usual scenario. We went to Dunkin Donuts this morning with Dada and before we left the house he had a granola bar and fresh fruit (a pretty decent breakfast as is) then ate an entire sausage egg flatbread at DD! I had the same - minus the granola bar and fruit - he eats more than an adult! He's really not picky... pb&j he doesn't seem too interested in right now though. I can see why so many parents fix them though. Talk about easy!
Two naps a day still and down for the night by 7:15p. Up by 7:15a. He's really great at putting himself to sleep. I've never had to rock him to sleep. I put him down and he knows it's time to be quiet. He may play for a little bit then puts his head down to sleep. He's been using a soft green blanket the past couple months and sometimes when I turn the monitor on I see he's pulled it up over himself. Adorable to see him covered up snoozing away. He also has Dog 2.0 and a soft book in his bed. By the morning he's thrown them both overboard though. He's a big fan of dropping things. Such as food - to Maggie.
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| In love with his dada! He's so happy when he gets home from work. |
The week before William turned 1 he was walking very well. I'd say by 11.5 months he was a "walker." He would fall, but make the point to get himself right back up instead of reverting to a crawl. The week before his 1st birthday he was walking really well with minimal falls. The day before his birthday he put on his first pair of shoes to walk in and they looked like they weighed 100 pounds each. He's usually barefoot, but in a few days he's gotten used to the feel of shoes.
William still ooohs at everything and makes lots of other funny noises like his growl. If you're sitting in the couch he will go around the back, try to grab you, growl once you turn around and then he bursts out laughing. He also loves to come "running" at you while yelling at the same time.
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| Big helper - walking Maggie |
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| Loves the ocean. We need to watch him because he runs to the water! |
Still enjoys his blocks. Adores his ball. He even wants to play "catch" with the ball. He waits for you to roll the ball, pick it up and tries to throw it back. We can play that game for quite some time. He also has grown fond of balloons. We picked up a couple balloons the day before his birthday and whenever he sees the balloons he says "loon loon loon." He definitely associates loon with balloon. He never makes that sound unless he sees an actual balloon. Another first word!
Life is so different than it was a year ago and you can't understand it until you're there. It requires a great deal of patience, but all the laughs, funny stories, beautiful pictures and memories outweigh those trials of patience, sleepless nights (though you may not be so sure in the midst of them), concerns over is this normal or not, and worries. It's hard to put it all down, but it's been an amazing year. We've all learned so much. Matt and I just as much as William.
Happy first birthday, William! Mama and Dada love you very much!
12 month outtakes:
