Wow! What a year! James is now 12 months old and I understand now why it is such a milestone birthday. We have celebrated the gift of his life the last few days and how God has blessed us with such a happy, healthy little boy. I think Stephen and I also have celebrated the fact that we have "survived" (but hopefully more than just survived) our first year as parents. I know we started out this journey of parenthood facing so many unknowns and feeling uncertain about so many things. I know there will likely be more unknowns and uncertainty to come in the future, but we have learned so much in this first year with our little guy. We have made it through sleepless nights, colicky days, reflux troubles, parenting decisions with no clear-cut right or wrong answer -- I know the list could go on for days. I also know that this is just the beginning and there will be more trying times ahead (just different) for as long as we are James' parents. I have never prayed more honestly or sincerely than I have this year and I'm so thankful to have a Savior that loves our little boy and cares about every concern (big or small) I bring before Him. I'm thankful for God's guidance in parenting James and for the comfort that comes in entrusting James to Him.
This will be my last "monthly" update on James' development. I will maybe try and give some updates every 3 months or so and then just some fun pictures or funny stories about James in between. I am very excited about all the funny things he is going to be saying this next year as his vocabulary begins to take off and I definitely want to try record them all. I am also going to have to get busy the next few weeks copying all of these "monthly" updates from his first year into his baby book - I am now even more glad that I recorded them on the blog because I never would have remembered (especially when I was so incredibly sleep-deprived the first few months.) :) For all of you (1 or 2 people) that are reading this still, thanks for reading the updates on James. And thank you for your support and encouragement for Stephen and I as parents.
Here is what our baby/toddler is doing at 12 months:
- He is 30 inches long (55%) and weighs 21 pounds 12 ounces (30%). His head circumference is in the 75th percentile which we attribute to his big brain, of course. :) Please don't accuse us of being the people that always brag on their child though...ha! :)
- He is still in 12 months clothes and probably will be for a while (especially his pants). The "pants on the ground" song could definitely have been written about him but only in the most appropriate way. :)
- He wears size 4 shoes but will quickly be moving into size 5.
- We moved him into size 4 diapers and eliminated our leaky diaper dilemma. :) (He was leaking out of every diaper for naps and nighttime sleep which was not good when we already have a baby that sleeps less than other babies his age.)
- Speaking of sleep, he continues to improve as far as nighttime sleep, but oh, how I dislike the question "does your baby sleep through the night?" We make strides in that direction every day and I'll leave it at that. :) As far as naps go, he is trying to give up his morning nap but hasn't given it up completely yet. Some days he still takes 2 (1 hour naps) but most days he takes one longer nap from about 11ish to 1ish and then goes to bed at 7 (an hour earlier). This seems to work much, much better for him (and for all of us)! He is sleeping between 13-14 hours total.
- He is so active and never stops. I know I say that every month but it's true. He is walking everywhere and now tries to run. He has become quite a climber the last few weeks and climbs (or tries to climb) on all the furniture. He tries to climb into his crib which makes me realize he may learn to climb out of his crib before too long. I'm not sure what to do about that... We got him a slide for his birthday and he climbs up with ease, sits down, and goes down the slide. He absolutely loves it! It will be many more months before I don't stand right beside him as he does it though. :) He has also figured out how to get into drawers, cabinets, etc. and take out whatever he wants and he does it so quickly and with such ease! There is also no telling what we have lost forever in the trash can, diaper champ, and toilet. He also LOVES to play outside and whines at the door to go out. As you can see, my days are full of adventure. But I absolutely love it and wouldn't have it any other way. :)
- He is eating mostly just table foods now. That has really just happened in the last few weeks. Some of his favorite foods at the moment include - cinnamon cheerios, Kix cereal, steamed carrots with cinnamon, yogurt mixed with purred fruits and vegetables, dry waffles or pancakes, strips of toast, crackers, macaroni and cheese (boy does he ever!), shredded cheddar cheese, beans (black beans and pintos) most fruits but especially blueberries, mandarin oranges, bananas and peaches, avocado (loves it!), scrambled eggs, applesauce, and water. Meat is probably his least favorite thing but I'm hoping he will learn to like it soon. Some days/meals he eats great and some days he is not interested at all. I do not stress about it anymore though. I know he will not starve himself.
- He has four teeth on the bottom and two on top. He is in the process of getting more. In fact, the doctor looked in his mouth yesterday and said "Wow! He's teething..." He has unfortunately gotten 1 tooth at a time since he was 7 months old. It has honestly been 5 months of non-stop teething and hopefully it will let up for him soon.
- Some of his interests right now as far as toys/books include: Mickey Mouse (of course), his slide, cars, trucks, trains, balls, dinosaurs, and animals. He loves animals actually. I found a little plastic cow in his crib this morning that he must have been holding in his hand when he went to sleep last night.
- He loves to "hoard" things in his hands - especially cereal and small toys. I usually find him in his crib after a nap with cereal gripped in his hands. We also have discovered that he will hide his toys in various places but then forgets where he put them. It kind of reminds of a squirrel that buries his nuts. It is very cute. :) I don't know why he does this though because we let him have all the cereal that he wants. :)
- He has really been doing more "talking" the last few weeks. We understand very little of it but I think that very soon he will be saying a whole bunch. I know for sure that he says "mama" and "uh-oh." I think he tries very hard to say "ball" and I think he says "go-go" instead of "bye-bye." And he has a lot to say when I say "Mickey Mouse." It is so cute because I know that he knows exactly what he's saying even if we don't. He will often "talk" as he looks at books and "sing" with us. It's hard to describe what his singing is like -- maybe a low hum. It is so cute! You have to hear it!
- Unfortunately his separation anxiety has returned with a vengeance, especially when it comes to the church nursery. I know though that "this too shall pass" just like everything else I have unnecessarily stressed about and know that it is just part of normal development for a little one.
- I love when he is amused and laughs so hard - at Daddy being silly, or when we fall down on the bed with him yelling "timber", or when we pretend like we are asleep on the floor and are "snoring" and then we he touches our face we open our eyes and say "boo," or when we stomp during "If you're happy and you know it." I love to watch him laugh and will do just about anything to make it happen. :)
Well, I know that was a bunch and there's probably still a million more things that I could say. Stephen and I have loved being James' Mama and Daddy for 365+ days now and look forward to all the days that we have with him in the years ahead.
James,
The second you entered this world, God gave me a love for you that is hard to comprehend. You have filled our lives with even more joy and inspired us to be better in ways that you'll probably never fully understand. We love you so much and pray that you will always know that you are loved and that your life is so valuable! We pray also that you'll understand how much God loves you and that you were created by Him to be exactly who you are. You matter, sweet boy. You matter to us and you matter to God. We will always value what you have to say and will never be too busy when it comes to spending time with you. As you grow you may find that the world can be cruel at times, but I pray that our home can be your soft, safe place to fall. Please forgive us in advance for the ways that we may fail you in the future. We will never be the perfect parents but we have trusted our lives to the only One that is. May you come to know Jesus and loves Jesus all of your days, may you be content in whatever circumstances in which you find yourself in this life. and in whatever you do may your life bring glory to Jesus Christ. We love you, James - to the moon and back.
Love, Mama and Daddy
And...very soon I will post about his Birthday Weekend. I promise. :) But I think I have broken a cardinal rule of blogging with a post thing long, so I'm signing off for today. :)
This will be my last "monthly" update on James' development. I will maybe try and give some updates every 3 months or so and then just some fun pictures or funny stories about James in between. I am very excited about all the funny things he is going to be saying this next year as his vocabulary begins to take off and I definitely want to try record them all. I am also going to have to get busy the next few weeks copying all of these "monthly" updates from his first year into his baby book - I am now even more glad that I recorded them on the blog because I never would have remembered (especially when I was so incredibly sleep-deprived the first few months.) :) For all of you (1 or 2 people) that are reading this still, thanks for reading the updates on James. And thank you for your support and encouragement for Stephen and I as parents.
Here is what our baby/toddler is doing at 12 months:
- He is 30 inches long (55%) and weighs 21 pounds 12 ounces (30%). His head circumference is in the 75th percentile which we attribute to his big brain, of course. :) Please don't accuse us of being the people that always brag on their child though...ha! :)
- He is still in 12 months clothes and probably will be for a while (especially his pants). The "pants on the ground" song could definitely have been written about him but only in the most appropriate way. :)
- He wears size 4 shoes but will quickly be moving into size 5.
- We moved him into size 4 diapers and eliminated our leaky diaper dilemma. :) (He was leaking out of every diaper for naps and nighttime sleep which was not good when we already have a baby that sleeps less than other babies his age.)
- Speaking of sleep, he continues to improve as far as nighttime sleep, but oh, how I dislike the question "does your baby sleep through the night?" We make strides in that direction every day and I'll leave it at that. :) As far as naps go, he is trying to give up his morning nap but hasn't given it up completely yet. Some days he still takes 2 (1 hour naps) but most days he takes one longer nap from about 11ish to 1ish and then goes to bed at 7 (an hour earlier). This seems to work much, much better for him (and for all of us)! He is sleeping between 13-14 hours total.
- He is so active and never stops. I know I say that every month but it's true. He is walking everywhere and now tries to run. He has become quite a climber the last few weeks and climbs (or tries to climb) on all the furniture. He tries to climb into his crib which makes me realize he may learn to climb out of his crib before too long. I'm not sure what to do about that... We got him a slide for his birthday and he climbs up with ease, sits down, and goes down the slide. He absolutely loves it! It will be many more months before I don't stand right beside him as he does it though. :) He has also figured out how to get into drawers, cabinets, etc. and take out whatever he wants and he does it so quickly and with such ease! There is also no telling what we have lost forever in the trash can, diaper champ, and toilet. He also LOVES to play outside and whines at the door to go out. As you can see, my days are full of adventure. But I absolutely love it and wouldn't have it any other way. :)
- He is eating mostly just table foods now. That has really just happened in the last few weeks. Some of his favorite foods at the moment include - cinnamon cheerios, Kix cereal, steamed carrots with cinnamon, yogurt mixed with purred fruits and vegetables, dry waffles or pancakes, strips of toast, crackers, macaroni and cheese (boy does he ever!), shredded cheddar cheese, beans (black beans and pintos) most fruits but especially blueberries, mandarin oranges, bananas and peaches, avocado (loves it!), scrambled eggs, applesauce, and water. Meat is probably his least favorite thing but I'm hoping he will learn to like it soon. Some days/meals he eats great and some days he is not interested at all. I do not stress about it anymore though. I know he will not starve himself.
- He has four teeth on the bottom and two on top. He is in the process of getting more. In fact, the doctor looked in his mouth yesterday and said "Wow! He's teething..." He has unfortunately gotten 1 tooth at a time since he was 7 months old. It has honestly been 5 months of non-stop teething and hopefully it will let up for him soon.
- Some of his interests right now as far as toys/books include: Mickey Mouse (of course), his slide, cars, trucks, trains, balls, dinosaurs, and animals. He loves animals actually. I found a little plastic cow in his crib this morning that he must have been holding in his hand when he went to sleep last night.
- He loves to "hoard" things in his hands - especially cereal and small toys. I usually find him in his crib after a nap with cereal gripped in his hands. We also have discovered that he will hide his toys in various places but then forgets where he put them. It kind of reminds of a squirrel that buries his nuts. It is very cute. :) I don't know why he does this though because we let him have all the cereal that he wants. :)
- He has really been doing more "talking" the last few weeks. We understand very little of it but I think that very soon he will be saying a whole bunch. I know for sure that he says "mama" and "uh-oh." I think he tries very hard to say "ball" and I think he says "go-go" instead of "bye-bye." And he has a lot to say when I say "Mickey Mouse." It is so cute because I know that he knows exactly what he's saying even if we don't. He will often "talk" as he looks at books and "sing" with us. It's hard to describe what his singing is like -- maybe a low hum. It is so cute! You have to hear it!
- Unfortunately his separation anxiety has returned with a vengeance, especially when it comes to the church nursery. I know though that "this too shall pass" just like everything else I have unnecessarily stressed about and know that it is just part of normal development for a little one.
- I love when he is amused and laughs so hard - at Daddy being silly, or when we fall down on the bed with him yelling "timber", or when we pretend like we are asleep on the floor and are "snoring" and then we he touches our face we open our eyes and say "boo," or when we stomp during "If you're happy and you know it." I love to watch him laugh and will do just about anything to make it happen. :)
Well, I know that was a bunch and there's probably still a million more things that I could say. Stephen and I have loved being James' Mama and Daddy for 365+ days now and look forward to all the days that we have with him in the years ahead.
James,
The second you entered this world, God gave me a love for you that is hard to comprehend. You have filled our lives with even more joy and inspired us to be better in ways that you'll probably never fully understand. We love you so much and pray that you will always know that you are loved and that your life is so valuable! We pray also that you'll understand how much God loves you and that you were created by Him to be exactly who you are. You matter, sweet boy. You matter to us and you matter to God. We will always value what you have to say and will never be too busy when it comes to spending time with you. As you grow you may find that the world can be cruel at times, but I pray that our home can be your soft, safe place to fall. Please forgive us in advance for the ways that we may fail you in the future. We will never be the perfect parents but we have trusted our lives to the only One that is. May you come to know Jesus and loves Jesus all of your days, may you be content in whatever circumstances in which you find yourself in this life. and in whatever you do may your life bring glory to Jesus Christ. We love you, James - to the moon and back.
Love, Mama and Daddy
And...very soon I will post about his Birthday Weekend. I promise. :) But I think I have broken a cardinal rule of blogging with a post thing long, so I'm signing off for today. :)
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