Ian’s 12 Month Update

Holy moly! Ian is a year old!

The stats: 29.5″ tall, 23 lbs. 13 oz., 6 teeth, 18 month clothes, 6-12 month shoes

He’s walking, running, climbing, and into everything these days. He can go both up and down the stairs by himself. He loves to open and close cabinet doors, play in the garage, hide in the pantry off the dining room, and hang out in the backyard. He also loves to push pretty much anything that isn’t nailed down.

Bath time is his favorite time of day. So. Much. Splashing. It never gets old. Can’t wait for the summer and trips to the pool. He’s going to have a blast.

He has a few words. “Hi” (which is both a greeting and his word for the phone), “mama,” “daddy,” “doggie,” “bottle,” and “more.” He occasionally signs “more” as well.

His hair is darker brown like mine, but less curly than mine. I think it will probably end up being a lot like Isla’s, texture-wise. His eyes are bluer than Isla’s, much to my surprise, but have a few brown flecks, so they’ll probably end up hazel as well.

He’s sleeping through the night most nights and is a much more reliable napper than his sister was at the same age. He’s slow to wake up in the mornings and often needs a bottle and a cuddle to get going, but after that, he’s go, go, go until it’s time to sleep again.

He’s also a great eater, although his favorite thing to eat right now is hands down french fries. He won’t turn up his nose at much of anything, though, unless he sees you eating something he likes better. We haven’t started weaning him off the bottle yet, and he’s still taking formula, although increasingly we’re mixing it with WCM. He can use a sippy and drink from a cup, but frankly, I’m not ready to be done with bottles, so we’ll probably keep it going for longer than would make the pediatrician happy. Oh, well.

Personality-wise, Ian is a little more reserved than his sister. Not shy or anxious, just more independent and more apt to sit back and study someone rather than run up to them demanding attention. He is more than capable of entertaining himself (magical!), although he love, love, loves when his big sister plays with him, especially games where she makes silly noises and faces or where they’re both playing in the tunnel we picked up from IKEA. She gets lots of big belly laughs out of her brother.

Ian has a big, silly, squinty-eyed grin that takes over his whole body when he’s happy or excited, which is pretty frequently. He dances when a song he likes comes on, bouncing up and down and shaking his booty. When he’s really excited, he just runs and screams.

He’s very persistent. If there is something he wants or wants to learn to do, he will keep going for it or trying to perfect it until he gets it. We were at the mall last weekend in the play area, and he tried the same step down in the play area over and over and over until we left. He was bound and determined to figure it out! He doesn’t get discouraged by failure, just dusts himself off and tries again. I’m extremely impressed by his determination, as well as his patience.

The best part of my day is snuggling him at bedtime. He doesn’t slow down for long these days, and it’s nice to get those few quiet, slow moments at the end of the day to enjoy him being a baby for a little bit longer.

I’m so very happy he was born. I’m so very happy he is ours. We love you so much, Ian Mac. Happy birthday!