Dear Ben,
Happy golden month birthday, sweet boy! I found the 13-24 month stickers on Amazon, but you are getting too smart for me and you
GENERAL: We finally got in to see the pediatrician for your 12 month check up! At 13 months, you weighed it at 17# 14oz and you are 29.25 inches. You had to get 4 shots plus a toe poke! You were sad. Momma was sad. Daddy was sad. I think the nurse thought daddy was crying because she said, "uh oh, it's usually the moms crying not the dads!" But, in true Benji fashion, you were over it in no time at all. You were a little grouchy and extra cuddly that night, but after some tylenol (and 12.5 hours of sleep,) you were back to your active little self!
EATING: Unfortunately, eating is not going as well as I'd like. I LOVE coming home to see you from work, but I get stressed thinking about dinner time because you just do not like to eat that much. :( You do like to snack--pretzels, crackers, puffs, yogurt melts, but meals are another story. The pediatrician gave us some ideas and also referred us to a feeding clinic. She said we could try adding formula to your yogurt, but you actually don't even like yogurt that much these days. You definitely do not like being fed, Mr. Independent. This is frustrating to me because you at least used to eat some baby food that I would mix with a higher protein/fat content baby food that you wouldn't eat alone. Lately, you like to eat fruit, particularly watermelon and raspberries, and cheese. You are taking a few ounces of formula during the day, and you usually have a 6oz bottle in the night and a 6oz bottle in the morning (sometimes 4:00am.) We tried to switch you to whole milk but you were not having it. We'll keep trying though! Nana sure sends me a lot of pictures of you eating throughout the day! You sure LOOK like you like to eat!
SLEEPING: Sleeping has also not been one of your favorite hobbies. You seem to be getting away from the 2 nap business, which is fine, but the times of your naps seem to be all over the place. I wish I was home more to keep you on a schedule. :( At night, we read a book and then you have your bottle and then we'll put you in your bed and you'll fall right to sleep. You have been crying these past 2 nights, but I am hoping that's not a permanent thing! You wake up around 1:30AM like clockwork nearly every night. We give you a bottle and then you'll (usually) fall right back to sleep. You are often up again for another bottle at 3:00-4:00ish. Again, you'll fall right back to sleep. The pediatrician said that although you do not need to eat in the night, she understands why we do it and says it is up to us if we want to break you from this habit. I would at least like to get you through your next surgery before cutting your nighttime calories! Possibly my favorite part of the day is when you wake up for the day, around 6:00 or so, and we bring you into our bed. You just love your morning snuggles. Without fail, after you're all cozy, you'll yell "Ra!" over and over until Rosco comes into the room. You giggle and squeal with excitement as soon as you see her and it is soooo cute.
FINE/ GROSS MOTOR: Even though I already knew it, the doctor confirmed that you are right on track for all of your developmental milestones. I am sure you were doing this last month, but you love climbing those stairs! Actually, you love climbing in general. You like being on our bed when all the pillows are on it or you love climbing on the pillows on the couch. You love to do the "itsy bitsy spider" with your hands too; you have the hand movements down! You are also really good at rolling and throwing your ball. You love each and every one of your balls! You also are quite adept at taking all of your toys out of your toy baskets. It is fun watching you play because you are starting to use your toys properly. You like to stack things and you like putting the shapes into the shape sorter.
COMMUNICATION/COGNITION: It sounds like you are making more noises and words everyday. Your favorite words are still mama, dada, and ra, but it sounds like you are saying some other words too. You like to repeat what you hear and we're going to have to start watching what we say around you to make sure you don't repeat anything you shouldn't! You are really good at following directions such as "go get your basketball and put it in the hoop" or "go bring mama a ____." My favorite thing is when you try and give Rosco one of her bones. She doesn't always want it, but it is so sweet to watch you try. You are doing a few signs pretty consistently: "more" and "all done" and you're starting to use "help" appropriately. You also made up your own sign for "clean" and you rub your hands together like you're watching them. You love waving "hi" and "bye" and you also like to pretend you're talking on the phone when someone says "hi." You are super duper curious and you never stop exploring. It's great, but we can't take our eyes off of you for a second!
 |
| Playing & listening at story time at the library. |
No comments:
Post a Comment