leo is one

WE MADE IT! It really doesn't seem possible that you are one. It feels like it was eons ago that I was in that hospital room holding a brand new baby Leo. Everything since then has been a blur of happiness and survival.

I say survival because juggling the needs of two little ones is certainly a lot of work, but you really did make it as easy on us as possible. You've been such a delightful baby that I'm having a hard time accepting that we are officially out of babyhood and into toddlerhood.

We had so much fun celebrating your birthday with a circus lion themed party. More to come on that later. For now, let's cover everything that's happened over the last month (or so...I've come back to this post several times over the past 2 weeks and have failed to finish every time. I blame the fact that I've been solo parenting a lot lately due to Dada's work travel).

The most exciting development is that you are now walking! We knew it would probably happen this month, and sure enough, on Super Bowl Sunday with Aunt Mae Mae, Uncle Boo and Abby in attendance, you took 2-3 little steps. We all failed to capture it on camera, but there were witnesses so it did happen! It took a few more days before you were replicating those few steps, and maybe a week or so after that before you were truly taking little walks. Even as recently as 7-10 days ago, I would say you were about 50/50 crawling to walking, but now that you can stand up without any assistance you walk everywhere.

I love this beginning walking stage so much. You literally toddled around with your arms in a goalpost pose to help with balance. You would just kind of take off and then lunge forward hoping someone or something would catch you. I loved being on the receiving end of that with those chubby cheeks and big smile coming toward me and falling into my lap all day long. You were so proud of yourself! Unfortunately, not everything is as good a landing spot as mama so you racked up a fair amount of bumps and bruises along the way. You are pretty steady now, and able to catch yourself with your hands or bum. You are still climbing stairs like a madman, and you are getting pretty good at going down stairs as well. We are obviously still spotting you, but I'm hoping you'll master them fairly quickly. You even tried to climb out of the bathtub the other day, and you almost succeeded.

Sleep remains the same. Thank goodness! You sleep through the night from about 7:45-7. There have even been minimal tears when I put you down recently. You usually still take a morning nap around 10/10:30 but sometimes we skip it if you slept in late or if we are out doing something. You won't really nap on the go anymore, but it's not a big deal for you to just skip the morning nap so that's been nice. Your afternoon nap is still about 1.5-2 hours, and I wake you up by 3:45.

I'm down to just 3 nursing sessions - morning, before nap, and bedtime. I think we'll just see how the next few months go, but I can already tell you are gradually nursing less and less. We have introduced cow's milk and you seem ambivalent - you don't love it, you don't hate it. You prefer water. You are still eating most of what is put in front of you, but it varies from day. One day you might not want chicken, but the next day, you'll have several helpings. If there is one food that you never seem to love, it might be raspberries or pears. You love using utensils, and insist on having your own spoon or fork (otherwise, you'll demand mine!).

You have 4 new molars now! You actually cut the first two on your birthday weekend, but luckily they didn't seem to cause much angst. They kind of surprised me because I forgot the first set of molars come in before the canines. I was on the lookout because you were drooling and chewing like crazy so I felt your gums one day and was surprise to feel a big, sharp molar. Only 8 more teeth to go and then you are all done.

What did cause some angst around your birthday was the absence of Mama. Even though the spotlight was on your birthday, I got to celebrate too. We went away for a night while Shi Shi and Papa manned the circus at home. You weren't thrilled about it (boy were you clingy when I got back!), but you weren't a complete disaster either. Shi Shi had to offer some extra snuggles around 11:00 p.m. but you otherwise did OK. Unfortunately, most other caretakers don't have such luck. We drop you off at church nursery every Sunday and MOPs nursery twice month, but you rarely make it the entire time without Mama getting called to come get you. We'll just have to keep trying until you learn that Mama always comes back.

You have started to really play with toys intentionally and figure out the "proper" way to get them to work - putting your cars right way up and racing cars on the track, stacking rings, etc. You love knocking down whatever Charlie is building with his magnatiles. You like taking things in and out of containers, and in general, just figuring out how to get into things, work things, etc. We are starting to work on using your shape sorter and doing beginner puzzles.

You also still LOVE balls. We got you a little pop-up tent, which we filled with 300 balls to make a ball pit. I'm sure I'll regret this (I already do to be honest), but it makes you so happy. You love to play catch, and just today I caught you and Charlie throwing the ball back and forth, which naturally melted my heart. You have a pretty good arm for a one-year-old. We also notice that you favor your left hand so we'll see if that sticks.

Your other favorite toy is the toilet. You love unrolling toilet paper, you love putting things in the toilet, you love splashing in the toilet. You love the toilet so much that I almost wish Charlie wasn't potty trained so we could go back to keeping all the bathroom doors locked. :)

Here are some things you don't like: socks and shoes. You ALWAYS try to take your socks off, but you usually stop after getting one sock off so you are constantly walking around with one sock on. It drives me crazy always having to look for the other sock. Since you are walking now and we have had a few nicer days to play outside, I had to put you in real shoes, which you didn't love.

You also don't like diaper changes. You just have better things to do with your time. I try to get your brother to entertain you otherwise I have to hold your still with one hand while trying to change your diaper with the other.

At the top of the list is your hatred for not getting your way. You are becoming more and more vocal about what you do or don't want to do. For example, if I move you away from the toilet or don't let you touch the stove knobs, you cry and pout. You also LOVE pushing the buttons on the ovens and then, of course, hate when I don't let you.

You are saying more words, but they tend to come completely out of the blue and then we don't hear them again. You seem to decide every now and then to just go for it. So far, we've heard "uh oh, hello, wawa, and jungle." Random, I know, but they have all been caught on camera or heard by more than one person so I promise we aren't making it up. Dada and mama remain the only two in regular rotation. Dada is still your favorite, but just these last couple of days, I have heard a ton of mamas.

You continue to learn new tricks all the time. When you decide you want to do something, you are a quick study. Papa taught you how to do (what he calls) head-knockers, where you just kind of lean into someone for a little head bump. Boys....lol. You love doing it at the table while eating. You still give great high fives, and we are working on waving. You attempted to wave at the nurse at your 1 year well appointment.

As you have become older and more aware of your surroundings, you definitely are more apprehensive around people. You used to smile at anyone and everything, but now it takes more effort to get laughs and smiles out of you. You are very ticklish, though, so that works like a charm when I want to get giggles out of you. You still have this amazing guttural chuckle. Sometimes it seems like you go straight from grunting to laughing.

As has always been the case, if there is anyone who can make you laugh the hardest just by being silly, it's Charlie. You want to always being doing whatever Charlie is doing (and you are learning how to get into things much faster since you have his example to follow). Charlie has mixed feelings about you always wanting to play with him. He likes that you are walking so you can play "chase" with him, and he loves playing catch with you. He doesn't like when you knock down his magnatile creations. But I see you both learning how to navigate in each other's space more and more each day, and it's pretty cute to watch it all unfold. By and large, you both like each other very much and you are starting to interact more each day. Charlie continues to be a big help, and has lots of opinions on my mothering skills ("put baby down" "i do it" "i'm helping" and on and on).

The cutest thing is that Charlie still calls you "Baby" all the time. I think it started because we often refer to you as Baby Leo so Charlie just shortened it to Baby. The way he says it in his sing-songy way gets me every time. BaaaaaaaaaBY. The truth is that he's not wrong. You're still Baby Leo to me, and you always will be so you might as well just get used to it.

leo is 11 months

Happy 11 months! One month to go until the big first birthday. We're running out of onesies for photos so I had to squeeze you into a 6-9 month one this month. I'm shocked I got it to snap, and it stayed just long enough for the photo.

We had a pretty decent snowfall earlier this month. Unfortunately, you were sick at the time so you didn't get to play outside too much. We took you out just long enough to get a cute photo of you all bundled up. I think your stomach just got all out of whack because everything was running right through you for 5-6 days. We started to get worried you were getting dehydrated, but every time we approached the maximum time your doctor said you go without a wet diaper, you would finally pee. I'm so grateful we managed to get enough liquids in you to avoid taking you in for an IV in the middle of a snowstorm. Whew.

You are always punctual. The day you hit 11 months, we caught you standing unassisted. So far, you can stand for maybe 10-15 seconds before slowly squatting back down. You even took one half step before sitting back down. You look long and hard when we reach out for you to walk, but every time you resort to crawling. If I had to put my money on it, I'd say you will be taking steps by the time you turn one next month.

Speaking of turning 1, birthday prep is in full force for your circus party. I'm having lots of fun planning all the fun little details while still being in complete disbelief that you are almost one.

You have still been doing great with two naps/day, and you are back to sleep through the night on the regular. There have also been fewer tears before bedtime lately. Perhaps you are finally learning that it's far more pleasant to chit chat while falling asleep rather than just protest with tears.

You still love to eat, but you don't necessarily love your high chair. For as much as you want to eat, you can't sit in your high chair very long without getting fussy or antsy. I think it might be a bit uncomfortable for you so we're going to try a different style chair to see if it's a better fit. There isn't much you won't eat, but peanut butter seems to be a favorite right now. You can definitely inhale an entire tortilla covered in peanut butter. You also love drinking water out of whatever cup or water bottle is nearby - mine, Charlie's, etc.

We are still nursing, but we can start introducing cow's milk soon. Waking you up from you naps and snuggling while you nurse is still one of my favorite parts of the day. You are so warm and squishy when you first wake up., and hopelessly foggy as you rub your sleepy eyes (your poor lower eyelid is always red because you rub it so much you've irritated your skin).

You say "dada" all the time. You also say "mama," but I probably only hear 1 mama to every 50 dadas. I'm not positive anything has truly counted as your first word yet, but if we had to call it today, dada would win. Sigh.

Your hair is completely out of control these days. Of course, I can't bring myself to cut it, but you have basically grown wings on both sides. If we can hold out until summer, I know your hair will curl right up in the heat and humidity. Maybe I'll just take a little off the back to avoid mullet territory.

You still love playing ball and you still love playing with everything Charlie has. It's getting harder and harder to just relocate you and try to distract you with other toys. I fear I'm about to enter the stage of life where I am constantly acting as referee. It's not that your brother doesn't like you. He always makes sure the pillow is placed at the bottom of the step in case you fall (even though you can safely navigate 1-2 steps now). He loves to share food with you and make you laugh or tickle you. But yeah, he doesn't love when you get in his way or try to play with his things.

You already love cars and trucks. You are great at moving the cars along the race track, and you love watching them slide down the tower. Charlie got a robotic snake for his birthday, and it might be your favorite thing right now. You chase it all over the house, and you are most delighted when you finally catch it.

When you aren't chasing the snake around, I can usually find you in the bathroom. You love exploring all the fun things in the cabinet, unrolling the toilet paper or splashing in the toilet. It was a little easier to keep you away before, but now that Charlie is potty-trained, we have to keep the doors open so he has access. This has brought you great joy.

You are pointing at all kinds of things now - especially in your books. You still like the lift-a-flap books the best. You are working on high fives and waving bye bye - both in progress, but you're trying! We have also been working on signing "more" during mealtimes. You played a version of peek-a-boo behind the curtain yesterday.

You are still navigating the stairs like a champ. You can climb the entire flight of stairs in no time at all. You can easily go down the one step on the main floor, and you can get down the two stairs leading into the basement no problem. I have spotted you before and let you climb down the big flight of stairs too.

It's amazing how fast you can pick up on things and imitate new things. Dada and I have both noticed that you seem to learn things quickly. I sometimes wonder if you catch on quicker because you have a big brother to show you the ropes around here.

As you get bigger, we are starting to see more personality...and more opinions! You are certainly not a difficult baby, but you aren't as laid back as your big brother was at this age. You demand a little more attention, and you seem to have more thoughts about what you want and when you want it.

You have the best chuckle and big smile, but you can be very shy with new people. There is no doubt you are a mama's boy, and separation anxiety has reached its peak (or at least I hope it has...I'd hate to see it get worse!). We've had several weeks now where I haven't been able to leave you with anyone other than Dada. Church and MOPs nursery have been a no-go in the last 1-2 months. However, I'm happy to report that you made it through the entire sermon in nursery this week and also lasted for an entire MOPs meeting. I wouldn't say you were the happiest either time, but you weren't inconsolable. We have a babysitter coming this Saturday so we'll see how you handle that. It's hard because the only way for you to learn is to practice, but it still hurts my mama heart to know you can be so unhappy when I'm away.

You are also starting to get mad if we don't let you do something or if Charlie takes a toy from you. It's no longer quite as easy to just replace the toy or activity with something else. You have also had a few spells lately where you were just plain unhappy for a couple of hours for no explainable reason. It seems to usually hit in the evening, and leaves us scratching our heads. It's probably different things every time - teething, illness, tiredness, who knows? I still don't understand why babies don't come with manuals or at least mood rings.

We can't wait to celebrate you in one short month!! Love you, mean it.

leo is 10 months

I took the photo a day early this month, but I'm almost 2 weeks late with the post. That's what happens when a monthly milestone falls on Christmas. It just means I have all kinds of fun things to report...and probably not as much to say in 2 weeks when I do this again. :)

I think you hit another growth spurt recently because looking at you today, you just look so massive. You barely fit in your infant car seat. You have outgrown many 12-18 month clothes, and while you are still in size 4 diapers, I bought some size 5s to try and you can easily fit into those as well. You also have two new teeth and more on the way.

Your interaction has been off the charts this month too. It's so fun to see more personality coming out. You are picking up new skills left and right. You learned how to clap at the beginning of the month, and you even recognize that you are supposed to clap when we start singing "if you're happy and you know it..." Tonight, Dada successfully taught you how to high five. You can turn the pages in books, and you've started to point at things. You think it's so fun when Dada points at you and you point back. It's very ET of you both.

You also started "talking" this month. I probably remember it so clearly because it was Charlie's 3rd birthday, and I was already lamenting how quickly my boys are growing up. You woke up that morning and turned on the babble like flipping a switch. All kinds of "dada" "baba" "gaga" noises with lots of new variation. I hate to admit it, but we hear a lot more "dadada." There's still hope because nothing has sounded like an official first word yet, but I'm afraid I'm going to lose that one.

You may say "dada" first, but in my heart, I know you're a mama's boy. This can be both good and bad. Sometimes only mama will do, and you don't like not being in my presence. Even in Oklahoma for New Years, you were pretty clingy with mama - often nuzzling into my chest when others wanted to hold you. You did warm up to people after a few days or as long as I stayed within few/didn't leave for too long. I'm not sure when we'll attempt a babysitter again. I'm afraid it wouldn't go well.

Sleeping and eating remain the same. You weren't a great sleeper over this last month or while we were in Oklahoma - not terrible, but not the dream baby you were on our last trip. I'm hoping we can get back to sleeping through the night now that we are home. You still love solids and eat anything put in front of you. We've successfully weaned down to 4 nursing sessions/day. We have skipped morning nap a time or two lately without too much trouble. I think you'll probably be ready to drop your morning snooze on the earlier side, which is fine by me since it usually means an even longer afternoon nap.

You were a good traveler again. Even though we got delayed landing in OK and then had to wait a looong time for a gate and our luggage, you were such a champ. On the way back home, we had an early, early flight and you fell asleep on my shoulder before we even took off!

You are really getting around cruising these days, but you aren't quite brave enough to take a step. I have caught you standing for a second or two after letting go, but you always get down to crawl from point A to point B. You'll use anything as a push toy to help you walk around - chairs, stools, small tables, boxes, etc. Perhaps most exciting this month, you learned how to navigate the step down into the living room. Now I can worry just a tad less about you bonking your head every time I turn around.

Your favorite toy is whatever Charlie is playing with at the moment. This works out great since 3 yr old's love to share. Insert eye roll. It's definitely been a little more love/hate recently. You both have great moments of hugging, laughing, tickling (Charlie loves to pretend to be the tickle monster getting you) and reading books together, but also some more challenging moments of stealing toys and hitting/pushing. You do love bath time together, and my favorite thing is when you talk to each other. If you are babbling, Charlie will make those same repetitive sounds back and forth with you. Charlie also loves to share his food with you. This is normally fine, but I've had to intervene a few times before he shoved a whole grape or popcorn in your face.

You love playing with balls. You think dribbling balls is hilarious, and you've learned how to roll the ball back and forth with Dada. The toilet brush and toilet are also on your favorites list. Sigh. You like to open drawers and pull everything out. And you love dumping toys out of bins as well. Unlike your brother, you don't seem scared of loud noises - you crawled right over to the vacuum the other day to investigate. You were pretty fascinated by the tree as well. You liked to pull off ornaments and chew on them. Luckily, we have plenty of soft ornaments to put near the bottom in reach of tiny hands.

Goodnight Moon is still your favorite book. Charlie has requested it recently, and once you hear me start reading, you always make a beeline to come over for story-time. Speaking of beelines, nothing gets you more excited than nap time. When you hear the water running, you cannot be held back.

Of course, as you get older, you also get more opinionated. You are still delightfully drama-free 95% of the time, but you have your moments. You get mad when you want to eat (I don't blame you), but you also get mad when you are done eating and want to get out of your highchair and move around. You have learned how to take your bib off and you love throwing your water sippy cup on the floor. Diaper changes have become a wrestling match, and there are still tears at bedtime pretty much every night. You've also been a little more resistant to getting buckled into your car seat lately, but once strapped in and moving, you're fine with it.

Birthday party planning has started in earnest. Less than two months to go!!