12 Months = 1 Year Old!!!!!

How did this happen? I know that I've been saying it each month as we approached the one year mark, but I really cannot believe that we have a ONE YEAR OLD!!! This pretty much means that we no longer have a little baby but now a toddler....wow! We are sad to see him grow so quickly and I'm afraid that we will blink again and he will be starting school, driving, graduating, etc. With that said, we are also really enjoying the age/stage that Jackson is in right now. He is so much fun and full of personality! He continues to learn new things each day and we love watching him do something new for the first time. He also really loves interacting with us and others and is a ton of fun to play with. He remains the happiest little boy - we even get comments on just how happy he is all of the time!

Here are some of the things that I am just loving about this stage:

Jackson, I love how you take several play breaks a day to crawl over to me and just "love" on me! You put your head into me and just squeeze me and it melts me heart every time! A month ago you used to bite when you did this - I called them love bites - but now it is a much less painful love. :)

I love how you make a humming noise each time I run the blender to make a smoothie (or the coffee grinder or vacuum) and that how when I am done making my smoothie you want to share it with me. I let you taste a little on the edge of the cup and you make a little slurping noise each time.

I love how you are trying to feed yourself with a spoon now and how you end up with much more on your hands than in your mouth.

I love how you are giving me full on hugs now too! You wrap those little arms around me, squeeze and then pat my back. Too sweet.

Of course I love it all, but those are just a few particular things that stand out.

This month has been a little more low key than the last few. We pretty much stayed home for the most part, which was really nice after all of the traveling the past few months. We were able to get in a lot of play time and get adjusted back to our normal routine. Mommy also spent a lot of time working on the birthday plans. :)

We continue to hold a pretty similar schedule to that of the last few months. You are sleeping approximately 11 hours at night and are taking two naps still. Your naps were much shorter when we first got home from Switzerland, but you are now taking two pretty decent naps a day again. The main change over the last week or so is that we cut a nursing session. You are currently only nursing twice a day and have transitioned to whole milk in your bottle before bed. We slowly made the transition between a bottle of breastmilk and whole milk and you've done very well with it. We will probably replace another nursing session with the milk soon. We also added a small snack in the afternoon. For the most part, you seem to love all the extra food! If someone had asked us how you ate just a week ago, we told them you ate anything and everything and that you just thoroughly enjoyed food. Like the flip of a switch, you started refusing some of your favorite foods and refused to eat meat for about a week. The last couple days have been back to normal so my fingers are crossed that this little picky phase has passed. (Although, I'm sure there will be more). You remain a very active little fella - you are starting to climb more on objects and wake up jumping in your crib first thing in the morning and after every nap. Even though you wear me out, I wouldn't have you any other way!

You are still a happy, healthy, energetic, fearless, curious, loving little boy. So many things change about you each month, but we hope that as you grow that your awesome personality remains the same.

Speaking of changes, here are some of the milestones reached at 12 months:

• Talking - you continue to try and copy more and more words and sounds. Your most used word (and truthfully probably your first real word) is "meow." As soon as we got back from our trip to started crawling around behind the cats saying "mow mow." You still do this and also say it anytime you see a real cat or a picture of a cat. You also say mama, dada, cooper, kitty, and a few other animal noises at times. Every now and then it seems you may be trying other words but we aren't for certain. You also make a lot more noises - for example, when pushing a truck around you make a "vrmm" noise. 
• Standing - you started standing on your own shortly after you turned 11 months (7/30), right after we returned from our trip. It started out for only a couple of seconds at a time but within a week you had it down. 
• Walking with a toy - you began walking with a push toy on 8/11. You had no interest before that day and then all of a sudden walked with the toy all over the house! 
• Walking - you've taken a few steps on your own! You started a few days before your birthday (8/18) and usually only take a couple before dropping but have taken as many as six! It definitely won't be long...
• Eating - for the most part you are still eating very well. We had a few days of pickiness but you seem to have returned to your normal eating habits. Fingers crossed that you continue to be a good eater! Goal for this next month is to complete the weaning process and have you drinking whole 3-4 times a day in addition to your 3 meals a day.
• Sleeping - again, your sleeping and napping schedule remains the same. 
• Teeth - you have 8 teeth now and look like such a big boy with that toothy smile! 
• Growing - you were 21 pounds and 32 inches at your 12 month appt. This means that you've grown 10 inches and gained 11 pounds in the past year! Crazy! You are currently wearing 18 months in most clothes now, although you do need smaller shorts. I have a feeling we are going to have a hard time dressing your long, skinny body come fall/winter! 
• Favorites - as for toys, you love balls and carry one around a lot of the time. However, you do play with a lot of things and just move from one toy/object to the next. You also enjoy playing in the tupperware cabinet, with diapers, in the bath, and of course chasing the cats! 

And here are some photos from the past month. I apologize in advance for all of the blurry pics - it is hard to take photos of this busy guy on my iphone:

Our little Swiss boy. :)

Big Boy!

Doesn't everyone get parmesan boogers?

Oh stop Mom, you are too funny! 

Too cool for school. 

The month wouldn't be complete.....Max is thinking this is a little too close for comfort. 

Bouncing around in a pile of diapers...

Looks like this boy had a fun play session. 

Mommy's boy! 

Just reading a few books...

And this is what his room looks like when he is done "reading." This happens several times a day. Not sure why I even bother to pick the books up. 

Playing in his room!

Opening a present on his birthday!

12 months old!!

Jackson, you are turning into such a big boy and changing like crazy! We love seeing you so happy and having so much fun. We know that we won't always be able to do everything you want all of the time and that there are times you may get upset, but we hope that you ultimately know that we are doing our best to raise a little boy who knows right from wrong, who is respectful and caring, and who knows the love of his Heavenly Father. I'm thankful we all survived this first year together and look forward to many more great years with our sweet boy! Happy 12  months baby boy!