12 Months!

Oliver is 12 months!

Weight: 20lbs (unofficial, but seems consistent every time I weigh him)
Height: Probably the same as last month, 27.5" but possibly 28"
Teeth: 8, more coming in slowly (very, very slowly - as in not sure which ones, but having classic teething symptoms as with the previous eight)

Diapers: Just wrote a detailed diaper post.  The short version is this... still using disposables when it's necessary (travel or running around) - cloth at home (which is most of the time).  I have noticed my preference for type and brand has changed.  A friend recently had a baby (Sweet Ruby!) and liked Rumparooz.  I ordered a couple, liked them, got another half a dozen.  I'm also loving bumGenius right now.  All of them.  Elementals, 4.0 (tried and true despite that I kind of hated them a while back), and Freetime.

Clothes: Mostly 9 month.  Some 12 month sizes.  Carter's 12m is still too big, 9m fits perfect - except pajamas.  We have a couple zipper 9m that he can still wear but otherwise the 9m are too short and the 12m are way too long.  PJs without feet, 12m is fine.  Gymboree he can actually still wear 3-6m tops.  Go figure.  He can also pull off 6-12m and sometimes 12-18m.  Who does these sizes anyway?!  I really don't understand why they don't use weight instead of age.  Size 3.5 shoe (in Stride Rite).

Food: We are still nursing and doing solids about 50/50.  He nurses in the morning when he wakes up.  Has breakfast (usually Cheerios and yogurt or a waffle and yogurt or fruit) and nurses briefly again before his AM nap.  We aren't really giving him lunch in a routine yet.  He nurses well midday and then goes down for a nap, wakes up and nurses briefly.  He eats a solid dinner and then nurses before bed.  When I move him from the swing to our bed around 10:30, he nurses briefly then and maybe once at night if he wakes up.  He eats just about any food.  So far there is nothing he has spit out or not eaten.  He loves macaroni, yogurt, apples/applesauce, and Cheerios (This makes his Aunt B very proud!).  Oh, when he's done nursing he clicks his tongue.  It's the cutest.  ...and he's a super wiggly nurser.  It drives me crazy most of the time.  He still hasn't bitten me but I fear my time is coming.  I try to redirect him when he's done and just hanging out to prevent it.  He also likes to fiddle with whatever side he's not nursing on at that time.  ...and he'll often blow raspberries on me.  He's a hoot to nurse lately.

Sleep/Naps: Wakes up around 6:30, after he's been up for a couple hours, takes a one hour AM nap.  (He would sleep two hours most days if I let him, but if I do, he won't take a good PM nap and that one is more valuable.)  He naps again between 12:30 and 2:00 depending on the day.  Tues/Thurs when I go into work for a few hours, he doesn't nap until close to 2:00 when we get home.  Other days, it's all I can do to try to keep him up until 1:00.  This nap is usually 2.5-3 hours long.  Lately they've been 2.5 hours.  He goes to bed around 8:00.  He still sleeps with us and has become a rather wild sleeper.  He twists and literally makes a snow angle go 360.  Thank goodness I have a bed rail on my side!

Says: Mama, Dada, bye, hi.


What he's up to?
-He continues to be the fastest crawler I've ever seen.  People are always telling me how fast he is.  Mm hm.  Yes.  We think he will be slow to walk because he's easily frustrated and has an extremely short attention span and prefers to crawl to get to where he wants to go since he can do that faster.  I'm fine with him not walking.  I prefer it actually.  Once he walks, he'll officially be a toddler and no longer a sweet, needy baby.  Sigh.  Guess we'll have to make another pretty soon.

-He hasn't shown a lot of interest in communication.  Lately, I've found that I have his attention the best in the bathtub.  He's learned 'bye' and where mama's nose is from hanging out in the bathtub.  If a bath is what it takes, then smart and clean he will be. :)

-He LOVES his toys.  As much as I hate being a consumer, it's hard not to want to buy him fun things when I see how much he enjoys them.  I never understood parents waiting in line for the best new toy until seeing Oliver get excited about something.  I can no longer say I won't be that parent.  However, I have another post in my head about consumerism and materialism and general clutter.  One day...

-He still loves Nola.  She yawns and he thinks it's the funniest thing he's seen.  Her tail wags and he falls over laughing.  Heaven help him when she comes up to sniff his milk breath.  He's hilarious.  And she is SO good with him.  I was worried about how she'd be since we had some aggression issues.  We're still extremely careful to keep her food off the floor when he's crawling or to keep them separate in general when food is involved.  She loves licking his fingers when he holds his hands down on the sides of the high chair.  Gross and cute all at the same time.

-His hair is sooooo long.  I will not cut it.  I'm holding out until the summer.  Or later.  Or sooner if I decide I can't take it anymore.  He's totally rocking out a mullet.  And it's in his eyes.  He can deal.  Mama has issues.  Admitting it is part of the solution.  Perhaps by summer I'll be cured and he can have a haircut.

-He's recently been okay with me cutting his finger/toenails.  I used to have to wait until he was asleep, until it woke him up.  Now, he sits in my lap and watches.  I'm amazed at how well he does.  Big boy!

(No diaper in this picture, I like to live on the edge. :))

-BIG NEWS this month, he's learned to use a sippy cup!  He prefers a Playtex style that has a straw but he also likes a Nuk that has an all silicone spout.  It's so odd that he prefers the soft spouts since he never took a bottle. I'm half tempted to give him a bottle of water just to see what he'd do, but I'm too lazy to climb up to the top shelf to get them down.

I know there are more things I'm forgetting.  I used to be better about keeping up with milestones and then I got a new phone that is way better (went from android to iPhone), but the apps are different so my notepad is not as easy to use for bullets.

 (I can't believe I'm getting this posted EARLY!  Only an hour and twenty minutes early, but early no less!)