Eli Turns One!

Eli turned one on the 13th! I can't believe it! This first year has been a bundle of so many emotions and has gone by so fast! Time-wise, each month seemed about right, 1, 2, 3...but now looking back, it doesn't seem possible that it's been a year. Eli has been such a blessing in our lives. He is so sweet and fun and happy so much of the time. His smile and laugh just melt my heart. His little stinker personality has also come out in the last couple of months and although I know it will be challenging at times, I love that he has some spunk! I might be paying for my raising here pretty soon ;) Eli has learned and grown so much over this past year and we have loved watching him do it! I can't even remember what our lives were like before he got here and I never could have imagined how much I would love being his mom. 

A few things from his 12th month:

• Has been saying mamama and dada for a while, but lately has been looking at Chris and saying "Dada" like he really means it. Chris will come around the corner and Eli will get a huge smile on his face and say "dada!!".....it's so sweet!
• He's also trying to say a few other words...."duck" is one of them, from his rubber duckie in the bath. He also tries to make the monkey sound "ooh ooh ooh, ah ah ah" 
• He LOOOVES bananas! He will spit/scrape out whatever is in his mouth whenever he sees you peeling a banana so he can eat it, haha
• Also loves beans. Any kind, but especially baked beans
• Started pulling up this month. Really got it down in the last week or two.
• Napping a little better at daycare, but still not great. 30 minutes in the morning, 30 in the afternoon. Makes up for it on the weekends and sleeps a ton!
• Started some whole milk at the end of this month. He's doing pretty well with it.  We're weaning off nursing now and we're down to 2 times a day. We should be done in the next couple of weeks. Bittersweet for mama.
• Still has 7 teeth.
• Still loves playing ball and has gotten really good at rolling it back and forth. Mostly uses his left hand, but sometimes his right.
• Has become such a good player. He plays SO hard....just plays and plays and plays until he crashes. It's so fun to watch him.

 

We had his 12 month checkup this morning and the doc said everything looks great. He is 20 lbs 14 oz (41.58%), 28.5" long (7.09% - shorty like his mama!) and a 18.74" head circumference (87.81%). He has some eczema on his back (gets that from his mama too) but it's not a big deal. He got his regular round of shots and his second round of the flu shot. It wasn't too fun. 

Our little one year old Texan. I like seeing his size compared to the Texas sign now vs. when he was a newborn. 

Aunt Kacy put together this cute little collage:

The night before his birthday, Eli fell asleep in the recliner with me after nursing. He hasn't done that in SO long and I just sat there and savored it for 30-45 minutes, rocking and holding him. What a perfect way to end his first year!!