Jack: 12 months.

We are officially in year two! This first year with our little guy has been so much fun. We've had our tough moments, but we also have memories I never want to forget. And, most importantly, our little guy has brought more joy to our lives than I could ever put into words. Happy birthday buddy!!

In the last month, Jack has only turned more and more into a little boy. Gone is our snoozy, cuddly little baby. But, this little guy has so much personality. He's always on the move and there's never a dull moment!

Jack has been walking for a couple months and at this point, that's his preferred mode of transportation. He rarely crawls and is usually up on two feet, trying to get into anything and everything. He's really steady, but his curiosity gets the best of him too often and he'll end up running into a wall, or falling down because he wasn't watching where he was going, or was trying to run. He had a row of bruises on his forehead to prove it!

Eating is still ok. I'm beginning to feel like I haven't given him enough options, and that I need to really try to expand his horizons. But, we've been having some issues with his little tummy and diaper rash, so we're on a bland diet for a week or so while we figure it all out. But, he still loves hot dogs, grilled cheese, cheerios, toast, Gerber cereal bars, yogurt melts ... all the usuals.

We are officially bottle and formula-free! As of Wednesday, May 2, we're finished! Dropping the final bottle wasn't as tough as I expected. We went down to 2 ounces on that bottle, before dropping it for good. I think those couple of ounces were more of a teaser, making it worse on Jack than not getting a bottle at all. So, Wednesday morning, I just took him some milk and we never looked back! {It feels great to not have to wash bottles anymore!!}

Jack is such a little ham! He's constantly carrying on a conversation in German and we've been able to decipher a few new words! He says "hiiieee" {hi!} and "DA!" {Jack!} and dada and if prompted he'll say mamama. He has certain "sounds" when he wants more food on his highchair tray and when he's talking about the dogs -- I think he says "dog" but I'm not certain just yet. The funniest thing he does, though is to mimic what we do. My two favorites are when he "talks on the phone". He'll get something {his pretend phone, one of our phones, or his remote} and puts it behind his neck and jabbers away. And, the other one has only happened once, but it was hilarious! I had a bag of chips out one day and while I was holding Jack, I reached in the bag, grabbed some chips, put them in my mouth and started chewing. Right after, he mimics the exact same motions ... even down to fake chewing! Hilarious!

Right now Jack:

• is still taking two naps a day. I'm holding on to two for as long as I can!
• Has 7 teeth -- 4 on top and 3 {one JUST cut through} on the bottom
• was moved to a nap mat at daycare. They say he's doing really well with it, though they have to sit by him and rub his back. Ha!
• loves to bang everything together and shake whatever makes noise
• is really testing boundaries. We've had to say No more often and are seeing a few more "tantrums" than before.
• loves to play on the toilet {lid down...}. It's just the right height to roll his tractor or bang his blocks on.
• is off of whole milk {more on that after this week...} after a few tummy issues. We're hoping things will clear up and maybe we can reintroduce it later. He LOVES milk!
• definitely has some stranger anxiety. With family in town this weekend for the birthday, he had to do a little warming up to family he doesn't see often enough!
•Stays up a little later, going to bed between 7 and 7:30 usually. He's still up by 7 most of the time. {I think once we're down to one nap, I'll be less worried about his wake up time}

12 month stats:

•21 lbs 6 oz., 31 inches tall and 18 inch head circumference

•no bottles, no formula

•all 12 month clothes, size 4 shoe 

•size 4 diaper