Alex has 100% fallen victim to the ‘second child probs’ in the sense that this post is now an entire month later from when he actually turned 12 months. Mom fail.
So this recap will likely be a mix of what’s been going on between 12-13 months because let’s be honest…I can’t fully remember all of the details from one month ago. But it’s better late than never, right Alex??
JUST FOR FUN: HERE’S A LOOK AT LUCAS AT 12 MONTHS!
Weight & Height
If my memory serves me correctly (…) Alex weighed in at about 24-1/2lbs and was about 32 inches long at his 12 month checkup. That puts him between the 50th-75th percentile for weight and at about the 95th percentile for height. Alex tends to have adjectives such as “solid,” “tank,” “big,” and “beefy” to describe him, and they’re all totally appropriate.
Eating/Nursing
Alex still loves food, although he has started to show more of a preference for certain things over others. He doesn’t care too much for eggs and will usually only do some red meat before they all get tossed to the floor. But many of his favorites still include…
- Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches
- Grilled cheese sandwiches
- Yogurt
- Pasta of any kind
- ALL fruit (including lemons…)
- Cheerios
We’ll basically give him anything right now as long as it can be cut up small enough. He tends to grab things by the handful and ends up with cheek-fulls of food, so we need to keep an eye on him!
Alex also gets a sippy cup of whole milk 3-4 times a day + one bottle at bedtime. I’d love to get rid of that bottle soon, but he’s super into it, so I’m not stressing about it. We’ll get rid of it eventually.
Much to my surprise, Alex still nurses first thing in the morning. I’m fairly certain there’s not much left that he’s getting, so I’m sure it’s more of a comfort thing than anything else. But I’m not totally ready to give it up just yet because that’s pretty much the only thing I have in my back pocket to be able to use if/when he really needs a little snooze and is fighting a nap. Because we’re going on vacation soon, I didn’t want to take that away just yet, since I’m sure we’ll need to be throwing in a few boob snoozes here and there to make up for what I’m sure will be missed naps.
I really will be sad when it’s over (especially since it’s a no pressure thing for us at this point, it’s not like he NEEDS it), but I wouldn’t be surprised if it doesn’t last much more than a couple of weeks.
Sleeping (naps)
Up until about a week ago, Alex was still pretty consistent with his 2 naps per day; but right around the beginning of July, he started boycotting his second nap (again, that’s where the boob snooze has come in handy!). In the last few days or so, he’s been sleeping in later (8-8:30am) so he’s not ready for his morning nap until closer to 11am…so basically, everything is all thrown off.
He’s also just recently started giving us a little more trouble with going down for sleep, which I’m thinking is a combination of possible new teeth on the way + just another new phase. So we’ll see how this one pans out!
Sleeping (at night)
Most nights, Alex is ready for bed by 7pm and will wake up anywhere between 6:30-8am. We had a week or so with 5:30am wakeups, which was fun, but then that passed. Now we’re in the late wakeups stage, so (as I mentioned above) I guess we’ll just have to see how long this lasts and what’s to come! Very rarely will Alex wake up in the middle of the night (…where is some wood to go knock on??…) and he usually goes to sleep fine (except for these last two days). He sleeps in his jammies with a sound machine on, a couple lovies (which he really couldn’t care less about) and a light knitted blanket.
Clothing
Mostly 12-18 month clothes and size 4 diapers for both day and night.
Social/New this Month
Alex is officially on the move and there is NO stopping him now!
Right before he turned a year old, he really started trying to take a few more steps here and there. And over the past month or so, he has seriously started cruising.
He also really loves waving (backwards), blowing kisses, finding his toes, trying to put his shoes on, playing with shape puzzles, and playing peek-a-boo (although it’s a toss up on whether or wants to cover his eyes or his ears).
We’re up to 6 teeth now, and I’m thinking more are on the way. Alex is still wearing the amber teething necklace and I’m pleased with it.
We’re also at the point now where we can ask Alex to do simple things like “go get your shoes” or “let’s walk to the fridge to get your milk” and he’s able to follow, so that’s a fun new skill he’s been learning!
Likes
- big trucks
- Lucas (and anything Lucas is playing with) and Daddy (he gets SO excited when daddy walks through the door from work!)
- stealing Lucas’s toys
- playing peek-a-boo
- blowing raspberries
- dancing to music (seriously, it’s adorable)
- remotes (real ones only, not any of the 4 ‘toy’ ones that we’ve bought for him…)
- my phone
- walks in the stroller
Dislikes
Still the same, just intensified ; )
- getting his diaper changed
- getting his face wiped (the worrrrrst)
- pacifiers
How is Mommy Doing?
Overall, I’m really good! I mean, sure, I still have my moments or days of feeling totally overwhelmed or like I can’t grab a minute for myself, but I think that’s just par for the course at this point in motherhood, you know?
I know I still need/want to do a follow up post to this post, now that we’re well into a year of parenthood with two kiddos. So I’m hoping to be able to put some thoughts together on that soon. But if there’s anything else that anyone is interested in hearing about, leave a comment below or shoot me an email!
Comparison
Alex, you are a strong-willed, tough little cookie that continues to make me laugh every single day. I cannot wait to see (but yet, yes I can) the little boy you grow up to become. We love you more than you know! <3
Heather @Lunging Through Life says
Aww Love the update! Glad to hear he’s doing well. I actually have a friend who’s daughter is the same age and she’s been fighting that second nap! I want to say we went through that as well. Wonder if there’s a wonder week or something?
montessoriishmom says
My little guy is about three months behind Alex and I always love reading these updates and imagining what’s to come! Your description of Alex eating made me laugh b/c out guy is exactly the same – he shoves as much food in his mouth as possible and his little cheeks puff out, it is nuts….
Kaitlyn @ Powered by Sass says
These little updates are so sweet. I’m sure I’ll do the same on my blog once I have kiddos. I imagine they’re so nice to reread later! Also, the most recent picture of Alex looks like Lucas a bit!
Shaqueefa says
LAWL! He didn’t want to where his stacker! I loved when he tried to stuff a slice of watermelon in his mouth! Hihihuhu
Amanda says
He is just the cutest! What sweet boys you have.
Courtney says
Thank you, Amanda!
Sarah @ Sweet Miles says
I can’t believe he’s already 12 (13) months old!! Where does the time go?! He is so handsome!