The day has finally come. Our little pepito has taken 12 photos in white onesies. He is officially a kid now. No more baby. And as exciting as that is, I am just a little sad that the baby-ness is gone. He was such a precious baby. By far the most beautiful child I have ever seen, and I KNOW I'm biased, but still - he was gorgeous right from the beginning. And I can't even believe how much more handsome he has gotten every single month. Such a pretty baby kid. But, of course, you expect the momma to feel this way - so I will move on.
I am amazed at how much he has learned and been able to accomplish in just one year. You read the milestones before you give birth, and as the months go along, but it never occurs to you, or atleast it didn't to me, that they have to LEARN how to do it all and watching the wheels turn as they figure everything out is just AWESOME, in every sense of the word. I could watch him all day if I had the time.
I find myself appreciating it so much more when he WANTS me to hold and cuddle him (he's been having a serious Daddy phase of late) and letting him sleep on me five minutes longer before I put him down for a nap. There is going to be a time when, much too soon I'm afraid, when he doesn't want anything to do with cuddles and I'm trying to make the most of it while it lasts.
All in all - it's been a wonderful year. At times I thought I'd never survive and being a mommy is definitely the hardest thing I've ever done, but certainly the most rewarding. His smiles and giggles really do make moments stand still and we are so blessed.
Enough sappy mommy time; Here are the last month's highlights:
*Pepito learned to walk on July 16. He took very few tester steps and it seemed that overnight he decided that he could walk clear across rooms/houses and he has not slowed down since. It is exhausting keeping up with him and it's only been 2 weeks of trying.
*Eats all kinds of finger foods. Eggs are a favorite, as are spinach and cheese tortellini.
*Could still survive on puffs if we let him. By the handful. Atleast he will eat them off the floor after he drops 5 of the 6 he picks up. It's hilarious though - we say "you want some puffs?" and he walks himself straight to the corner of the coffee table where we always put them out. Pavlov's dog kid at its best!
*Can say Ball, Mama, Daddee, UhOh, Bye
*Waves Bye Bye with his entire arm
*Claps every time you say "Yay William!" Thankyou Mimi for teaching him that one! So cute!
*Follows social cues well - if he senses that he made us laugh - he will laugh too - but it's his forced laugh/cackle not his completely tickled with himself laugh
*Loves to bang his hands on tables, faces, anything really
*Knocks on glass doors to get people's attention
*Has been completely and successfully weened off formula and is now drinking whole milk like a pro - from a sippy cup - that he is giving himself
*Loves Apple Juice with water - or as we call it "Baby Crack" Our pediatrician isn't wild about juice and actually told us not to give him any but - yeah - we did. We also gave him real milk before he was actually a year old - we're "hood" like that...haha
*Does NOT like sand. AT ALL. Don't even try to put his feet in it. Seriously. He DOES like the ocean though.
*LOVES LOVES LOVES the pool. He flat chills out in his float - all leaned back and relaxed
*Finally came to terms with wearing a hat. Which is good, because that kid is still basically bald.
*But what hair he does have - is red and curls in the back. Adorable.
*He gets very antsy if he has to sit in a shopping cart for too long. Only problem with that is that when you put him down to let him walk he doesn't follow direction yet and I end up chasing him all over creation. But if I left him in the cart he would be screaming bloody murder, so I guess I'm happy to be exhausted...
*Likes his kid size plastic cups in the bathtub and pool - much better play things than actual bath toys.
*Prefers his Daddy over all others, and prefers men over women in general. I'm not sure what to make of this. Though, if he falls down and hurts himself - he wants his mommy. Atleast I have that.
*Looks just like his Daddy. I guess that I'm also willing to give this point up, but it hurts me a little. ;)
*Was called a "tank" by another dad at the beach - Sam has never been prouder. And we're thinking that will probably be his football nickname. ha.
*Loves to watch traffic.
*When he gets really wound up he literally runs in circles. Literally.
*Has the same bedtime routine as when he was itty bitty. Swaddle, Fox News, Milk, Rocking, Sleepy Blanket, Bed.
*Loves Burnie the cat. And if asked "What sound does Burnie make?" "Meow?" he will give you a high pitched short squeal - so cute.
*Is definitely going to be a climber. God help us.
*Does not like to have his face washed or his ears cleaned. This makes me crazy - I have a thing about ear wax...
*Is an absolute tornado. Good thing I've given up on having a clean house.
*Is still wearing 12 month clothes, unless it's a romper - then the 12 months are getting a little too short... but he is FINALLY in 12 month pants!! (not sure how he got called a tank...)
*I think he weighs somewhere around 21-22 pounds - we go to the one year well check on the 12th...
*Loves to share popsicles and icecream with mommy
*His most favorite play toy ever? Empty water bottles that he digs out of the trash can. I still don't know why we buy him real toys.
*He picked out his own toy for the first time at Target this past weekend - his choice? A glittery orange ball.
*Tries to have (loud) conversations with other babies/kids. From across the room at a restaurant or across the grocery store. Some times they talk back. All times I get strange looks from people without children.
*Still only has two teeth. But he uses them to their full potential.
*Loves graham crackers. And Ritz crackers. All crackers in general really.
*Broke his first pretty thing of Mommy & Daddy's. One of our blue chevron stripe vases. I wanted to cry. He did. But only because I locked him in the living room while I cleaned it up.
*Plays peek-a-boo with his sleepy blanket or newspaper. And loves it.
*He has learned the word No. And while he doesn't necessarily always obey it - he WILL say it back to you if he disagrees. If it wasn't so cute it'd be frustrating.
*Still razzes like his life depends on it.
*Learned how to stick his tongue out at us.
*Likes to put his hands into the baby food and then run them through his hair. I think he knows that it will earn him a one way ticket to the bath and he'll get to play with the plastic cups.
*Hams it up for an audience. He pulls out all the stops and all the "tricks" he knows. Get him alone with just us - he screams and cries. Rotten spoiled child. ;)
*Discovered that kitchen doors and drawers can be opened and that there are fun things inside at the beach house with their "modern easy open doors." This gave him a lightbulb moment and now he can open our "retro" kitchen cabinets. We are installing child proof lock immediately. Boo.
*Is absolutely obsessed with clothing price tags. He locks on and HAS to have them. We did a little outlet shopping at the beach and while I was perusing Clearance, Sam said that he kept "visiting" one specific tag that hung on his level. Hilarious. If he finds them on the floor - he'll carry them around for ever.
That's all we can think of. Like it was a short list - ha! I'll be surprised if anyone made it through all of it - sorry for the super long post. But I figured that since this was the last monthly update I'm going to do - I better get it all in there.
Loves!
