Milestones: 12 Months Old

At 12 Months, Austin is:

Weight: 20.2 lbs
Height: 29.5 inches

He had his well baby check today and did great! He only cried from the shots for less than a minute and then he was fine. I was expecting him to weigh much more than he does because he feels like 30lbs when I carry him around everywhere. The doctor said he is on the small side for an American baby but measures perfectly average on the world wide growth chart. Now that he is no longer breastfeeding he should start catching up pretty soon. Apparently most American babies are formula fed and since formula has more calories, they grow bigger sooner than the rest of the world.

Playing in the waiting room at the doctor's office.

He is learning how to walk with the first pair of shoes he got for his birthday, but basically he just takes them off and runs around barefoot. He talks up a storm and we are starting to understand what he is saying! The cutest is when he walks around pointing and saying, "Ooooh, what's that?" I'm guessing we say that a lot to him? If not, I have no idea where he learned that phrase. He has also learned to say "go" when he wants to get out of the house, thank you (sometimes) when you give him a cracker, and every once in a while he will say "Amen" at the end of a prayer. These are added to his previous vocabulary of: Done (whenever he is done eating), Mama, Dada, Bye-bye, and Hi.

We are loving that he has started entertaining himself throughout the day with his toys and isn't constantly looking to us for entertainment. It gives us a little bit of breathing room and some time to actually get a conversation in! He loves when we sing the "There was a little house in the middle of the woods" song and does the actions (the best he can) on cue. He even pets his little imaginary bunny at the end! I am so proud of how smart he is. He loves dogs and gets really excited when he sees them on TV or in person. He has a little stuffed dog at home that he pets and cuddles with, it's so stinking cute! We went to visit Dad at work yesterday for lunch and I asked Austin, "Do you want to go see Dada?" He got super excited and started screaming, "Go! Dada!" As we were driving I could hear him in the back seat chanting, "dada, dada" like Josh taught him :). My heart always feels full and I am always wearing a smile with Austin around. He is our greatest joy!   

 

Fun moments over the past month:

Playing with his new fire station he got for his birthday from Aunt Amanda and Uncle Brian.

Taking a walk with Mom.

I love all of his little expressions!

Taking a little break from mass destruction.

He loves to go for walks and explore!

Everything is new for him. Even touching the leaves of plants is an exciting experience!

too cute!

He can't even sit still long enough to eat most of the time.

Helping Mom with the laundry.

Asking to read a book!

Hanging out with Daddy and the giant fish.

We have officially cancelled my gym membership and his daycare membership because he has been going through separation anxiety and cries uncontrollably until they kick him out.

My sleeping angel.

So silly!

We took a little trip to the library and bought a few books they had for sale! It was $1.50 well spent.

Playing at the splash pad! We wish we had half of his energy.

He loves to be outside! I just wish it wasn't so dang hot and miserable.

Wondering why our plants are dying....

Always climbing all over me.

Getting sprayed with water. He LOVES the splash pad and I LOVE his double chin in this picture!

Now that he is no longer breastfeeding, he always has a bottle in his mouth.

We moved the baby gate up a few stairs so he can practice going up and down the safe way.

The birthday man on his actual birthday!

We got a treadmill and Austin had a lot of fun playing with the big box it came in.