Almost One!!!

Wow....I was just reading the last post and so much has happened since then! I'm telling you....baby days are equivalent to 2-3 weeks in real people days, based on how many new things they accomplish.

There have been a ton of things I've been trying to remember to post....so this will be a hodgepodge of sorts.

Eating: Several new things on the eating front. His new favorite thing to do is scream at the top of his lungs, little girl style, when his tray is empty or if mommy/daddy isn't shoveling it in fast enough. Because apparently, the thought of waiting more than 3 seconds for new food is just too terrible to bear. We're moving past the puree stuff... and are starting to really just cut up little pieces of what we're eating to give to him. I gave him turkey sausage yesterday and he LOOOVED it. He also can't get enough chicken....and today we gave him turkey for the first time. Mmmm. Now we just put all of his little foods on his tray and he finger feeds himself. He's pretty good at picking everything up... and even picks up his veggies! After he devoured his peas and carrots tonight, I joked with Mike about how we should take a picture as proof to him in a few years that yes, he did used to like veggies. :) Last weekend, he learned how to spit out (raspberry style) his food. Lovely. We've tried a few things to get him to stop... I think that completely ignoring him (looking away, even) seems to work the best. Tonight when he did it, Mike cleared off his whole tray. THAT got his attention. So hopefully this will stop soon! (ha, I know it won't). Also - yesterday he surprised me by feeding himself with his own spoon!!! He kept putting it up to his mouth, and since we were eating mushy lentils, I was able to get it to stay on his spoon. I'd fill up the spoon and he'd put it up to his mouth. It was so cute!

Still trying to move toward the sippy cup, but he still loves flinging it through the air, smashing it all over his tray/food and dropping/throwing it on the ground. I got him to drink 1 oz of his formula with it yesterday...not much, but an improvement.

READING: This kid is SO funny with his books. He still has his certain favorites (Hop on Pop, Truck Duck, Animal Books, That's Not My Car, etc) and if you attempt reading something to him that is not on his favorite list, he takes it out of your hands and throws it (literally) to the side. It's hysterical and amazing to me that he could have favorites. And WHY doesn't he like Gossie and Gertie? Mommy LOVES them!

WALKING: He's a full fledged walker now! It's so amazing how quickly he has progressed. I love seeing his little balance checks and wobbly-wobbles. He still must be carrying something around with him...usually his remote (we got him his own), a bottle or his blocks. He can walk and make turns and follow mommy anywhere. I'm still not used to it. I walked into the bedroom the other day and was momentarily shocked to see a little person wander in. Or now I'll be reading him a book, and he'll walk up to me and stand there to read it with me. I took him to Central Park yesterday for a playdate with his buddy Sawyer, and I was surprised he was able to walk all over the bumpy field. (lol...and he quickly kidnapped Sawyer's pink stroller so he could push it around. Too funny.). And when I took him to the playground, he could actually walk around! So much more fun! (He's still scared of the swings... I think we're going to have a non-ride kid on our hands here).

He's really starting to copy us much more. All we have to do is show him something once and he does it right away.

He had great fun following around his 2 year old cousin, Bethel, when she was in town for a visit. He LOVED her and kept chasing her around.

Still a great sleeper! We have a cute bedtime routine now. After his bottle, we both take him in the bedroom and lay him on our bed...we take turns giving him hugs and squeezes and kisses. He just lays there laughing and smiling and grabbing mommy's nose and daddy's ears. He also seems to have a great fascination with hitting mike on top of his head.

I know I'm leaving a million things out. To be continued. :)