12 months old

12 months old!!

Today is the day, my friends. Thank you for walking with me through Wilder's first year! At 6:08 a.m. one year ago, Wilder Dean Boatwright joined our family. What a joy and a blessing he is--far more than I ever expected. As I've been looking through photos from the last 12 months(wayyy too many :-)) I'm overwhelmed with how much Wilder has changed. From a shell-shocked newborn to a happy infant, a charismatic baby to a curious little boy. He laughs all the time and he loves to cuddle. He's precise, determined and meticulous, but loves to explore his world and enjoys his foods. Wilder, I'm so very excited to watch you grow up!

This month, Wilder:

• Height: 29.5" weight 17 lb, head 45.75 cm. His 12 month appointment isn't until December 1, so these stats are what Zach and I put together. He wears 12 month clothes, but his pants are too long.
• Wilder says mamama, hey, and wow. He'll nod his head yes and shake it no, but he doesn't always connect words/actions with what's going on. He points things out all the time though!
• Wilder is standing holding on to things all the time. ALL THE TIME. He's cruising too-- taking little steps while hanging on. And every so often he lets go of everything for a second or two and just stands by himself! He can crawl really fast.
• He eats 3 meals a day with a snack or two. He loves yogurt, any kind of meatball and fruit, especially apples and pears. He's started using a spoon for soups and yogurt and is very deliberate about it, but he mostly still eats with his hands. He'll also "dip" things into his bowl. He can drink from his cup and water bottles with help.
• He goes to bed between 7:30 and 8 and wakes up between 6:30 and 7. He usually takes two naps, sometimes only one (Mama does NOT like that). He will occasionally sleep from bedtime to morning, but usually wakes once to nurse.
• Wilder LOVES airplanes right now. He can hear them from inside the house and will point toward the ceiling. Outside he can hear and spot them before we can. They've been flying around here a lot lately, so he really enjoys walks and being outside spotting planes.
• Wilder will sit in front of his bookshelf and choose books to read--pulling every single one off the shelf. He loves Brown Bear, Brown Bear, Huggy Kissy, Sophie the Giraffe books, Where is Baby's Belly Button? Barnyard Dance and those bathtub dollar store books. He will read for a very long time (like 10 books in a sitting).
• Wilder loves to flip light switches on and off. On and off. Off and on. And he'll open his kitchen cabinet and take out every single cup and piece of tupperware. And sit in front of his toy box and systematically take every toy out. We've not graduated to putting anything back... :-)
• He recognizes people and pets, and is starting to connect things like turning a switch on to the light switching on and off overhead. He'll sit and play with a bead pusher toy or toys with buttons for a long long time.
• He still has 8 teeth - 4 on top, 4 on the bottom, but he's been teething all month. I think some molars are next!

As always, here are some more photos!

Eleven Months Old

11 months old

I wrote this post on Wilder’s 11 month birthday while we were in Italy, but I waited to post it until we took the monthly photo. I’m trying to come to grips with my baby turning one in November. It’s coming on too quickly!

This month I’m seeing Wilder mature into a little boy. He’s a crawler, he’s starting to pull himself up and he has so much personality. He’s a bit cautious and precise in his movements, but he laughs easily and it doesn’t take much to make him smile. He loves interacting with people, petting Pierre, smacking things to make noise and throwing balls. He eats just about everything (except tomatoes and eggs) and loves blowing bubbles in water. Our little boy is the joy of our life, and we’re so happy to spend this time watching him grow.

This month, Wilder:

• Stats—I don’t know how much he weighs or how tall he is. He doesn’t have a pediatrician appointment this month, and we don’t have a scale around. He’s a bit small for 12 month old clothes and too big for 9 month old clothes.
• Wilder says “Hey” when you come in his room after a nap or when you bring him into a room where people are. He says ohlohlohl a lot too. His big thing this month is nodding “yes” and shaking his head “no.”
• He crawls really fast now and can pull himself into a standing position. He’s even started trying to climb up stairs. he’s stood without holding onto anything for a few seconds, but hasn’t started cruising. He’s super careful to sit down deliberately after he’s stood for a while.
• Wilder eats three meals a day with the occasional afternoon snack. He loves cutie oranges, peaches, pears and strawberries. He can feed himself yogurt and soup somewhat with a spoon as well as his other foods. He drinks water like a camel from his cup and blows bubbles in water and yogurt. On our trip to Europe, he’s tried: croissants, pastries, foi gras, pate, gnocchi, gelato (just a smidge), all kinds of pasta, prosciutto…
• Wilder sleeps through the night most of the time. In Europe, he would often wake up when we went to bed because he heard us come in the room, but when he slept in a separate room he slept all night. He takes two naps a day.
• Reading is by far Wilder’s favorite activity. We read him about 20 books a day… or like 4 books, 5 times a day. He is content to sit and be read to for many many minutes at a time. If he’s fussy, pull out a book and he will laugh and clap his hands as he turns pages on cue. His favorites right now are: Huggy Kissy, Brown Bear Brown Bear, Sophie the Giraffe books and a couple of bath books I got at the dollar store. I will always remember reading Huggy Kissy literally 20 times in a row nonstop while traveling on planes, trains and automobiles in Europe.
• He recognizes people and pets, and he will look at the correct person/pet if you ask him “Where’s Mimi?” “Where’s Pierre?” etc. He’ll also wave “bye bye.”
• He got two more teeth on our trip--both on top! That makes 8 teeth in all--three all this last month. Yikes!

Here are some more photos!

This is his fish face. He'll do it if you do it to him too!