Liam: 12 months

Weight: 21 pounds 5.5 ounces (50%)

Height: 29.5 inches (32%)

Head Circumference: 48 (93%)

Clothes: You are wearing all 12 month clothes.  Some of them are still a little big on you.  It's so weird...you started out a huge baby and now you are fairly average in height and weight. We are getting our money out of the 12 month clothes, I feel like we've been in them forever! 

Diapers: Still size 3 during the day, and size 4 at night.

Health: You were pretty healthy this month. I feel like getting you out of daycare really helped your immune system. We have been fairly healthy since! When we got back from Florida you started cutting a top tooth. It was awful.  Your sleep schedule was a mess and you were so cranky.  When we got back from Florida we noticed a rash on the back of your neck.  We assumed it was just from an 8 hour car ride. Two days later you had a fever that lasted a couple of days.  Then a few days after that you broke out in a rash all over your stomach, back, and face. Of course this happened on the weekend so there was little that we could do.  Luckily, our neighbor is a nurse so she calmed some of our worries. We brought you to the doctor on Monday and it was a viral rash. There was little we could do about it and it didn't really seem to bother you.  Once that top tooth broke through your mood changed and you were back to your normal self.

Diet: The major change this month happened at the end of the month.  You went from 4 nursing sessions a day to just 3.  (**Shortly after your birthday you went down to just two nursing sessions**).  I'm so extremely grateful that I was able to nurse you your whole first year. I'm amazed that we made it! I don't want to stop, I'm going to keep going as long as you still want/need it. I decided to cut back the nursing sessions during the day because you didn't really seem interested. You were more interested in whatever KC was doing, or worried about what toy you had to leave behind. By the end of the month we were nursing first thing in the morning, at 11:30, and then in the evening. Shortly after your birthday we switched the 11:30 nursing sessions with a cup of whole milk.

Speaking of whole milk, we introduced that to you about a week before your birthday. I was going out of town and I thought it was be easier to transition to whole milk without me being home. I was wrong.  You could have cared less.

A typical breakfast for you consists of either pancakes, oatmeal, or eggs.  You always have a banana with breakfast. For lunch you normally have deli meat or pasta/sauce with fruit. I try and sneak in a veggie (one of your favorites is cottage cheese with cucumbers). For dinner you normally have a veggie and chicken nuggets or turkey meatballs.  I no longer have to puree your vegetables. If you throw a fit with them I can usually just add a little bit of applesauce and we are all good. You don't normally have snacks unless you are really fussy.  Whenever I give you a snack you get upset because it's over so quickly.  So I try and just fill you up three times a day!

Sleep: I was determined to get you to sleep earlier.  While in Florida, you would try and stay up until 11 o'clock.  It was nuts! With your teething and crankiness we set a bed time schedule and stuck to it. We got you to go to bed between 8-9. By the end of the month you were in bed between 7-8. It was wonderful! I got some time to myself and even got to hang out with your dad for a change. The new schedule was better for everyone! Since you were going to bed earlier, you were waking up earlier as well. Your dad and I don't do well with this.  So you ended up in our bed a lot.  You typically woke up around 4-5, and I nursed you and then you went back to sleep.

You still take 2 naps a day.  You will take one around 10-11 and then the other around 3. They typically last an hour to an hour and a half. 

Likes: your mama, music, cell phones, remotes, KC, playing peek-a-boo, cruising, bath time

Dislikes: watching other people eat, being taken from your mama, eating vegetables, going to bed

Milestones: This month we joined some play groups in the area.  We started with one play group and I didn't really enjoy the activities they had planned.  So we tried another.  This group seems like a great fit for us. We have been to some people's houses and have already made friends! You started throwing a ball this month.  KC of course goes crazy over this.  You have done a few throws back and forth with your dad. This month was the first time you and I have been away from each other at night. I left you for THREE whole nights. I went to Nashville to celebrate a bachelorrette party for my good friend, Emily. I was so nervous about leaving you.  When I was dropped off at the airport the tears started flowing.  I gave you hugs and kisses bye and then you started crying. It was awful.  The goods new - we survived.  Your dad did a great job taking care of you all weekend. I got pictures, videos, and we even video chatted with you. The biggest thing you did this month was take your first steps.  You took them three days before your birthday. It was pretty much a sloppy run/head first dive kind of thing.  But it counts!! You were so proud of yourself those first few days and would laugh and smile when you fell into my arms. 

Personality: We were out shopping for baby gates one day and a woman said you were "the most chill baby ever." She is totally right.  Out in public...you are chill.  I can literally take you anywhere. Thank you for that. You go with the flow and are just along for the ride.  Literally - you ride around in your stroller and just watch the world go by. Occasionally you will kick your feet or talk to a random object as we pass by, but for the most part you are quiet and chill. When someone comes up and says hi to you ... you turn into the most shy person ever and give them the biggest smile.  If I'm holding you, you will bury your head into my chest. At home...you are opposite.  You are loud, love to scream, so so chatty, and are constantly seeing what you can get into. You are comfortable with what you know, and are shy around new things. 

Visitors: Grandma, Kelly and James, Uncle Jeff