12 months came and went on October 21 and I’m still in shock! October was a busy month for me planning this guy’s first birthday, going back to work and adjusting to new schedules for our family. Add in Halloween and my husband’s birthday at the end of the month and I don’t really know what happened. It’s all been a blur! I figured I better get this monthly update (and last one I might add) written before I completely forget what happened during month 11.

Baby brother is walking non-stop these days and is keeping up with his sister as best as he can! He motors behind her with his walker toy while she rides a toy scooter ahead of him and they both absolutely love it! The interactions between them this past month have been incredible. I’ve always predicted that she would be the happiest with her brother when he turned about 17 months old because he’ll be able to confidently walk, play, keep up with her and understand her better. I also think his personality will lend himself to be a great follower and big sis will enjoy telling him what to do. 🙂 I’m seeing glimpses of this already over the past month as she beams with excitement when he follows her around and giggles at her silly behaviours more consistently. It makes my heart fill with joy!

One more tooth popped up for baby brother this past month, a molar on the top right side of his mouth. It bled when it came through and seemed to cause the most discomfort so far. He’s now up to nine teeth; much more than big sis had at age one!

Food wise I cut out breastfeeding just before I went back to work at a week shy of his first birthday. I had cut out the morning feed at just over 11 months old and finally the bedtime one before I went back to work. He switched to whole milk with no problem. We didn’t heat it up for him like we did for big sis when she initially switched over and he didn’t seem to care. He now has a bottle of milk in the morning, continues to eat breakfast with his sister around 9:00 am and lunch with her around noon. After nap we do a bottle of milk followed by an earlier dinner around 5:30 pm. He then has another bottle of milk before he goes to bed at 7:00 pm. He still dislikes carrots and we’ve now added rice to that list, which seems to be more texture based. Fruit pouches are still a preference along with yogurt, strawberries, blueberries and bananas.

Word wise he says bye bye, dada, grandma and grandpa. He is currently working on “all done” after he finishes his meals. He still hasn’t mastered “mama” which seems like a cruel joke! He continues to say “baba” and smirks every time I get him to try to say mama. Trick wise, he still does drumming when asked what daddy does, he points to his pom poms on his curtains in his room as well as light fixtures and the kitty when we ask where those things are. He’s also always mimicking us, both with sounds and movements.

He’s been back into his soother since about 10.5 months old and uses it to fall asleep with. He still sleeps from 7:00 pm to 8:00 am with no wake ups. If the soother falls out he doesn’t look for it until morning when he wakes up and starts to play in his crib. When a tooth emerges, he seems to desire it more often in the daytime but typically doesn’t need it. He hasn’t attached himself to any objects but does carry around burp clothes sometimes so I wonder if he’ll be into blankets more than stuffies like his big sis.

He still loves to book it up the stairs when we aren’t looking and laughs when I come to retrieve him. He enjoys opening the toilet lid much to my dismay; I’m just waiting for the day he drops something into it which is something his sister never did. He has been opening drawers and cupboards but hasn’t caused any problems with that. He’s mastered opening our bar fridge and will help himself to either his bottle of milk or his sister’s glass of milk when he feels like it. He loves to watch relaxation YouTube videos with fish swimming around and will get upset when it is turned off. He also is a big climber; no surprise there as many boy moms warned me this would likely be the case!

We learned at his one year checkup that he is 75th percentile for length and 90th percentile for weight at 24.5 lbs making him almost the same, if not the same weight as his sister at 3 years of age!

He’s been such a content baby overall with the exception of some days here and there for teething. He’s always happy to be pushed around in the stroller when we are out and about but also loves to be cuddled at home. He often climbs onto my lap and plays with toys in that position. He’s aways asking to be picked up by putting his arms in the air and becomes extremely upset when someone “rejects” him by not picking him up or by putting him down before he wants to be. He’s a snugly guy and I love it! He’s brought a whole new balance to our family and I’m such a smitten kitten with him!

Happy 12 months baby brother!