1 year old

 I am super behind on blogging.  Mostly because I have been working on this.  But, I figured I should get Oliver's 12 month post up before Madeline's birthday tomorrow.  At 12 months, Oliver loves books.  He gets really sad when I stop reading books to put him to bed at night.  He is able to point to a few things in his books like dog and cat.  He will also do the sign for airplane when we find that in his book.  Sometimes you can even hear him trying to do a sound for the airplane.   He does the most adorable sign for "book" that it is really hard to resist reading a book with him, even in the middle of the night.  

 I am not really sure what his first word is.  I think I am going to say, "whoa".  He says it all the time.  But, he is also saying "fsh" or "f" for fish now and "bye bye".  He will also say, "moo" for most animals.  And he says "sh sh"(choo choo) for train. 

He is using lots of signs now:

~milk - although this can be used for "apple, fish and all done" as well.  You just have to use some context clues.  

~eat

~book - this one can be used for "train and again" (once again, context clues)

~please

~dog (and of course, any 4 legged creature is a dog at this point)

~airplane

~waves bye bye

 He eats pretty well.  He's not a champion eater by any means though.  If he hasn't eaten it within the first 10 minutes of sitting down, then most likely, he won't eat it.  But, he will come back and eat food off of my plate.  He still drinks his bottle.  But, he seems to be slowing down on the amount of milk.  He is drinking half milk and half formula right now.  I put him on all milk a few months ago and it totally wrecked his digestive tract.  So, we went back to formula.  

He is a pretty happy guy.  Although he seems to have been sick a lot this first year.  Which can make him a little grumpy.  But, who can blame him?  He still smiles with that huge grin where his eyes scrunch up and he can barely see.  And he is really easy to get smiles out of.  He also still has his temper.  When he doesn't get something he wants, or something is taken away from him, he will scream and kick.  But, I notice that it gets better when I am consistent with discipline with him.

He shakes his head no when he gets ready to do something he isn't supposed to.  Sometimes he listens to his inner conscience, other times he doesn't.  But, he is learning.  

He still absolutely adores his big sister.  Whenever we say, "where's Madeline", he stops what he is doing and goes to look for her.  If he is awake first in the morning, he continually goes and stands by her door to wait for her and then giggles so much when I open up the door to go get her.  And Madeline says that Oliver is her best friend.  It is so sweet to see them together.  She is always taking care of him by holding his hand, getting a paci for him when he's crying or telling me that maybe it is time for him to eat.  

At his 1 year doctor's appointment he weighed 20lb 14 oz (20th%) and was in 92% for height (although I can't remember what the exact measurement was at this moment.) So, he is growing great!

Oliver, we love you so much and can't wait to see what this next year brings.  It is so fun to watch you learn and grow and see you loving on your sister.  Happy Birthday, Oliver!

(And thanks to mom for taking all these pictures over Thanksgiving :))