Hellobee

I realize this update is very late! He turned one on February 22!

Developmental Milestones: 

On January 27 – Jacobi took his first step!! I classified him as walking about two weeks before his birthday, and by a year old he loved practicing and showing off his new skill! He is definitely still clumsy but he gets so much better each day and he loves to try to run (uh oh!!).

He can do so many new “tricks” and games. If we cough or sneeze, for the next minute he fake coughs! His hand-eye coordination is soaring now. whereas he was fixated on destroying everything: block towers, throwing, etc, he now likes to try and stack his blocks, place his balls in his truck and throw random objects into buckets and bowls.

His grandma bought him the plan toy punch and drop and he is very skilled in placing the balls into the holes and pushing them through. He also received a hammer workbench for his birthday and he loves to push the “screws” through the holes. He has become very accurate when it comes to things like stacking; he has one of those fisher price stacking ring towers and he can place all of the rings on it (though not necessarily in order). I’m sure I’m biased but he seems so smart!

There were so many amazing shots of J from his party we skipped our usual monthly photo shoot and went with these party pictures instead!

He had his 12 month appointment a few days before he turned one, and he did so well! He was very social and interactive with the doctor, to the point of biting her! It is so cute to see how much he loves her. She said developmentally he is doing fabulous and all his numbers and stats are exactly where they should be. He was 28.3” which puts him in the 11th percentile for height, and 19.82 lbs which places him in the 11th percentile for weight as well. That is actually a huge jump from his 9 month when he was 6th percentile for weight. I’m really not too concerned about the numbers though. My child eats incredibly well, both solids and nursing, he is active, happy and meets all of his milestones so I don’t worry about the numbers. But that doesn’t mean I don’t find them interesting regardless!

playing with the play animals at the nature center

Language: 

He is signing more signs; he can now sign “milk” if I ask him to, “eat,” and he still signs “more” He also (finally) started waving hello/bye bye and is obsessed with it so much he’ll wave to anyone who is passing by! I wasn’t too concerned that he didn’t hit this milestone four months ago when other babies his age did. Seeing his coordination I knew he could do it; he was simply refusing to. Still it was exciting when he finally started waving.

As for words: he completely stopped saying mom-mom which is so sad! He still says dad-dad but I’m not sure he’s really saying it to his daddy. He also started saying uh-oh but it sounds like a gutteral uh-uh! Another time we were playing “peek-a-boo” and he definitely said it back to me! It was adorable.

He loves to babble still and lately has been practicing his screaming at decibels no boy should reach! It’s not exactly pleasant… I’m hoping it’s a phase he’ll grow out of!

during his party he loved to stand at the windows and yell at all of the cross country skiiers outside!

Eat:

He has developed a picky side! This was very sudden; he has always eaten anything and everything I’ve ever given him and loved it. But he now tries to hold out for his favorite foods (any berry or fruit). He would eat fruit all day every day if I let him. He doesn’t mind most vegetables if they’re steamed, but he doesn’t seem to care for meat as much. He does like cheese and yogurt, and doesn’t care as much for carbs (which I’m a-ok with!). I’m putting my foot down early and if he doesn’t eat what I prepare for him then he doesn’t eat. I simply try to nurse him a little extra those days he doesn’t eat well. I also remembered what Mrs. Bee’s nutritionist said about evaluating the week’s worth of food as opposed to the amount consumed in just one day. When I started writing down each day what he was actually eating, I found that throughout the course of the week he was eating very well!

He looks just like his daddy in this picture!

Sleep

We finally did it! Well rather, he finally did it. The week before he turned a year old, he started sleeping through the night. Initially he’d have an early morning wake up around 6am. All I had to do was either nurse him or give him his pacifier and he would go back down until 8:30am. But now he sleeps a glorious 8pm-8:30am every single night. The only exception was when he was sick, but once he was better he went right back to sleeping soundly. I could not be happier!

Clothes

So this little dude jumped from the 6th to the 11th percentile in three months! I’m so proud of him! That means that he is actually fitting into some of his 12 month clothes, such as those from Carters and The Children’s Place. As sad as it is that he’s outgrowing some stuff, it’s always fun to be able to add some new items to his wardrobe.

I’ve realized I’m not a fan of Gap sizing though. He is fitting perfectly into 6-12 months right now so I went ahead and purchased some 12-18 mos summer items, and I’m doubting whether he’ll grow enough to fit into them come summer. I feel like that is such a vast size difference but I’m afraid to purchase more 6-12 mos if he will outgrow it by June.

Adventure

I would have to say his biggest adventure this month was TURNING ONE! He had a beautiful birthday party which he loved. And on his actual birth day, we did a few special things: we gave him his favorite breakfast of fruit salad! Later we went to the party store and we bought two helium balloons – oh the fun that ensued! He LOVES balloons now and thinks they’re the best things ever! Although out of helium by now, he still wrestles with them! He also opened his presents from us and those he received in the mail from family on the east coast. This little boy was spoiled for his birthday! He’s still trying to decide what to buy with his birthday money!

I had to admit, I was always nervous and scared to have a one year old. I’ve been a nanny long enough to decide it was my least favorite age. No matter how much I loved those children I watched – one year olds were tough because there was a lack of communication which made for a lot of tantrums and screaming. But I cannot help but feel this is my favorite age thus far! He is learning and growing by leaps and bounds and constantly amazes me with all of his new skills. He is interactive and fun. I truly enjoy playing hands-on with him now. He has so many little “games” he loves to play and he never fails to steal my heart with that adorable smile and precious baby kisses.

Happy {belated} birthday Jacobi!

photo credit for his 12 month pictures goes to Vanessa Raquel Photo.