And Then There Were Four: Twelve Months

Well, Brock turned twelve months old yesterday. A whole year has passed, and it's a little hard to believe. My tiny little baby isn't so tiny anymore and doesn't really qualify as a baby anymore either. Guess what "Mom of the Year" did for her child's birthday yesterday... scheduled him a 12 month checkup at the doctor. He's always gone for his checkups on the 19th of every month because they would just schedule us based on his date of birth. At his 9 month checkup, I went ahead and scheduled the 12 month appointment and didn't think about the fact that he'd have to go to the doctor and get shots on his actual birthday. Oops... Happy birthday Brock as we stab you with needles! Live and learn. Hopefully the little doctor visit didn't create a birthday phobia for him; although afterward, almost every time we'd sing the "Happy Birthday" song that day, he'd start crying.

Anyway, his weight was 22.4 pounds (44th percentile) and his length was 30 inches (58th percentile). This means I was a little off with my measurements last month because I thought he was 24 pounds and 31 inches, although he could have lost a couple of pounds since then. Anyway, Dr. Smith said he's right at average for weight and length (which is surprising because he seems so much bigger than other babies to me), and his head circumference is above average. He didn't tell me the actual measurement, but he said, "That boy's got a big head." I'm sure it's just his enormous, above average brain ;)

Here are some of Brock's patterns and accomplishments for the time between the eleventh and twelfth months:

He's still not walking independently yet, but he does a lot of traveling along furniture. He is able to stand without holding something, and he can sit down from a standing position without falling, but he doesn't like to let go usually. He can walk some with one of those push walker toys we got him. He'll go from one side of the room to the other if he's holding on to it.
He can throw a ball now. Granted, we're not going to be signing him up for little league any time soon because his throw is more just him holding his hand up and letting the ball go, but we still count it as a throw because that's what he's intending to do. We'll toss a ball back and forth, and he gets so excited and wiggles his legs and grins. I need to videotape it because it's pretty cute how much he gets a kick out of it.
He started saying a few little words this month. The first word he clearly said was "shoe" and then it was "dada" for daddy, and now he's trying to refine the word he says for "Piper" the dog. It was "ah-ti" but it's turning into "tuh-tuh" now. He started understanding a lot more things this month and will respond to some phrases or words. He knows what "ball" and "drink" mean. He responds to "Look at the stars" when we're outside at night and just the word "Look" in general. He definitely knows what "no" means now, and he's getting pretty good about obeying it in certain situations. He still likes to test his boundaries though. He'll also respond to "Can I have it?" and give you whatever item your asking for if it's in his hands (unless he wants to keep it, of course).
He's growing more hair. That's not very significant, but I thought I might record it just in case I wonder with future babies when they're hair is going to come in. The past couple months his has gotten thicker, but it's still blonde so it doesn't look like he has as much as he really does.
He was drinking about 16 ounces of whole milk a day and nursing in the morning and at night, but he dropped the morning feeding at the beginning of the eleventh month, and then about two weeks later dropped the bedtime feeding so he takes about 24 ounces of whole milk now for breakfast, lunch, and dinner and has water for a snack. I was really surprised at how easily it was to wean him, and really I didn't even try to wean him; he did it all himself. It was like he didn't have the patience to sit and nurse anymore because he wanted to be up moving around, and then by the time he was drinking 16 ounces from a sippy cup, he didn't want to bother with trying to breastfeed anymore. It was a relief to have him self-wean because I didn't want it to be a huge ordeal and take forever and him be upset about it. I have to selfishly admit that I love the little extra bit of freedom I have now too!
Brock loves to be outside now and loves strolling. Before this month, he wasn't too crazy about the stroller and would only sit in it for about 10 minutes before he started fussing. I don't know what changed, but he is a huge fan of it now. We went on an hour-long walk to the park and back one evening last week and he didn't make a peep. He loves watching everything and hearing all the outdoor sounds, like the birds and the cars and the children.
He can eat from a fork or a spoon now if we put the food on it for him, and he really enjoys feeding himself this way. He'll eat more vegetables with a fork than he would with just his fingers.
He cut four more teeth (the incisors surrounding his top and bottom front teeth) this month. The top two came in first and then a few days later the bottom two. Teething was just as awful with these four as it was with the first four, and I was saddened to realize that he has like a million more teeth that have to come through.
He learned how to climb the stairs this month. In case you missed it, here is the video I took. Now, of course, we need a new baby gate that fits the stairs.
We went through his second time change this month with Daylight Savings Time. This one was actually much easier and more desirable than the one in the fall since it moved his wake time to 8:00 in the morning and allows him to stay up til 8:30 because his internal clock thinks that's only 7:30. I'm not going to change his wake time or bedtime because I don't want to have to adjust it again in the fall, so we'll just have later mornings/evenings in the spring and summer than we will in the fall and winter.
This will probably be my last monthly update: One, because it's getting harder and harder to make him sit still in the chair to take his picture, and two, because I doubt he'll experience as many new changes each month as he gets older. His developmental milestones kind of leveled off over the last couple of months even. I may do one every six months or something, but it definitely won't be every month anymore.