Month 12!!!! (And 13)

How old?

In true second child fashion, this poor kid didn't get a 12 month blog post.  You know, the big year milestone one?  Yup.  So today we are doing an oops guess I should round out the year post but really you are over 13 months now.

Height/Weight

It has been so long since his 12 month appointment I forgot.  I think he was in the 75th for height and like the 30th for weight. 

He is mostly wearing 12 and 18 month clothes now

Milestones:

So much to cover and probably so much forgotten, but here are the highlights:

He started walking about 1 week before his birthday, and he hasn't looked back since.  This kid is almost  running now.  I love this toddler phase.  His little walk has earned him the new nickname of P-Rex

P-Rex (ok confession, trying to make the transition to his new nickname, sorry for the confusion.  Panini was his in utero nickname but now that he has a little personality starting to bud he has gained a new one + it fits so nicely with Zilla), is getting better at doing shape sorters.  Still does not identify the correct hole himself, but is getting better at doing more shapes than just a circle. 

He is still our little climber! Sometimes I am genuinely impressed with his skills; though also terrified.

He is able to throw and "kick" balls. 

He is eating so much better!! 

He is talking a little more.  Definitely has Momma, Dada, Bubba, Night night "na na", Hi "iiiii", and No down.  He also says "Doe" when Boots is around and I think he is saying dog.  When he is done with his meal, he will say "Da Doe" and move his hands to say all done.  He understands quite a bit and even follow simple commands like "go get the ball" "give bubba a kiss kiss" etc.  Speaking of which.  His kiss kiss is starting to develop into more of a kiss and less of a face lick, so that's nice.  He is pointing to things more and making kind of a yeaaa? noise as if he is asking what it is. He likes to make airplane and car noises and does rudimentary pretend play with cars and airplane toys.

Baby's Routine:

Typically he will wake around 6am. Unless he eats at like 4:30am, then he will go back to sleep until about 7 am ish.  Then he will stay awake until noon and then go down for a nap.  He seems to be napping well at school, but on weekends we usually end up doing a stroller run for his nap or I will nurse and hold him during his nap.  Then he's usually up until about 8pm and fairly reliably will become fussy right at 8 to let us know he is tired.  He is definitely not sleeping through the night reliably, but occasioanlly he give his momma a break. 

On weekdays, it feels like all he wants to do is nurse in the evenings, which still makes cooking and doing anything else a bit of a challenge.  But weekends, when he has more access to me throughout the day, nursing is more evenly spread.

Favorite Food:

It may still be milk, BUT he is so much better at eating solids too.  He likes pasta, meat pies (a turkey mini meatloaf with butternut squash), and cheese the most I think.  But he is usually willing to try anything now, as long as you don't try to feed it to him. He definitely prefers independence in the feeding department.  As much as I try, he does not seem to like avocado much.

Favorite Activity:

Gosh, I don't know.  He likes so much!  Maybe climbing? He really seems to enjoy things like puzzles and shape sorters more than Zilla ever did. He also enjoys being pulled around on the firetruck.

Favorite Toy:

Cars

Big changes:

The biggest change is that about two weeks after his birthday, I decided to stop going to the daycare to feed him.  This was primarily because he started to have pretty bad meltdowns when I would leave in the afternoons and it was tearing me apart. I only cried a little on the last day going there. I am also only pumping twice a day now, so the excess milk has definitely gone down.  I made what I think will be my final milk donation, bringing the total donated to about 800 oz total + about 70 oz to a friend.

Zilla and P-Rex

Still love watching these two play together.  There are more arguments with increased fighting over toys.  On the other hand, they have started to really play together recently.  Like, they will disappear into Zilla's room for 30 minutes and I will just hear squeals and laughs as they enjoy their time just being brothers without momma there setting rules.  Of course, I peek in every now and then to make sure they are safe, but I like giving them their space.  It is the very sweetest.  I love that P-Rex is walking now, because now he and Zilla can walk around holding hands, which is the cutest!

And some more just because pictures:

We had a Puppy Paw-ty for P-Rex's birthday and had a wonderful time with friends and family!

 I don't know why people advise not going big on a first birthday party.  Obviously this kid is going to remember everything from that day:

It has been the most incredible year!  I have seen our first son grow and love in a way that makes me melt, I have gained a second son who truly lights up our life with his optimism and charm, and hubskie and I have grown as parents and as a couple.  P-Rex, we love you so much!  I can't wait to see what year two brings!

10 & 11 Months

How Old?

10 months

11 months

Height/Weight:

When he went for his 9 month check up he was 50th percentile for both

Baby Clothes

He is mostly in 12 month clothing now.  I squeeze him into some of my favorite 9 month outfits still

Milestones:

Panini has been hitting all kind of milestones the past two months

Fine motor - He can fairly accurately hammer objects.  We have a little ball and hammer toy he likes to play with.  I usually give him a little foam block rather than the wooden hammer the toy comes with because I figure he is less likely to smash a finger that way.  He is becoming more and more accurate with placing a ball or circle shape in small holes.  He can try to put other shapes into holes but is still learning the concept of "wiggle wiggle" to get it in there right. He has also started trying to stack objects and every once in awhile he is successful.  He thinks it is more fun to knock things over though.

Gross Motor - Panini is able to stand up independently and has even taken a clumsy step or two. If there isn't something for him to catch himself on, he will fall after attempting his steps.  He enjoys toys that he can push and walk behind. He is great at climbing up stairs as well as crawling up slides. Actually, he just generally LOVES climbing on everything.  Zilla was never much of a climber so this is an adjustment for us.

Communication:  He is understanding more commands and will sometimes respond to our requests, though he is a bit stubborn. He understands no no, dance, milk, our names, kiss, and clap.  He will sometimes use the sign for milk but usually he will just bite me when he is ready to eat.  When he is upset he will start to say Mmmm Mmmmm.  Which I like to think is him asking for momma, but I'm pretty sure it is him asking for milk.  He can wave hello but doesn't do it often.  He likes playing hide and seek games like peekaboo.  He can give the messiest kisses when we ask him for one.

He is also making sound associations.  His favorite is to make the vroom vroom noise for a car.

Cognition:  His problem solving skills seem to be developing well. I watched him figure out the safe way to go down a step all by himself.  I love watching his little brain tinkering away as he figures out the world.  He started to enjoy the "drop" game quite a bit, particularly if it means dropping his food so the dog gets to eat it and he doesn't have to.  I don't know where this falls in fine motor and cognition, but he is starting to play simple games with rules like "toss".  He will roll and do the cutest little attempt at throwing a ball back and forth with Zilla and I

Non developmental milestones

Panini now has 6 teeth!

Most excitingly, Panini is no longer the baby amongst the cousins.  We welcomed sweet Poppyseed this month!

Baby's Routine:

The daycare apprently still tries to stick to a routine.  At home, we stick to, hey Panini what do you want to do right now?  Oh you want to nurse 3 times in 5 hours, okay that's cool.  Usually, I have found on the weekends he does best with one really good nap around noon and maybe another catnap in the afternoon. Many of his catnaps take place in the car or a carrier, because that's the life of a second child.

 Nightime is getting better!  Some nights I still wake up 2-3 times with him, but usually he will only wake once around 5am or 6am and go back to bed after for a few more hours.

Favorite Food

Even if his favorite is still breastmilk.  This kid is finally willingly eating some solid foods!  The first thing he decided wasn't completely evil to eat was yogurt. He is most happy with eating bananas, apples, and peaches.  He has also eaten squash and sweet potatoes pretty well.  Since the last post we started feeding therapy because his pediatrician was concerned about his lack of interest in eating.  The therapist recommended we scratch the whole baby lead weaning thing with this kid and go back to purees.  We did this for a while and he is now eating mashed food as well as uncooked apples and peaches.  I am still having him feed himself rather than using a spoon, because he gets very angry if I come at him with a spoon.

Favorite Activity

Probably climbing or riding on his brother's fire truck or other riding toys

Favorite Toy:

Cars, for sure

Big changes:

Him eating!  I think this has contributed to his improved sleep habits. 

Zilla and Panini

These two are still the best of friends.  Though they have more "disagreements" these days.  Panini will even get a little fed up with some of Zilla's antics at times.  Usually when Panini is tired or hungry and Zilla is (in his words) "detracting" him.  But, other than a few little buttons being pushed, Zilla loves teaching Panini new things.  Whenever Panini does something new, Zilla will say "I taught him that" and he is always the first to point out a new milestone.  He likes to tell people that Panini can walk and talk.  He told me that Panini has said the words Zilla and duck.  He just love his brother so much.

And as always, more pictures, because I just can't stop taking them!