One — updated!
What a great year! I don’t think I’ve had a better one and I think I can say the same for John — but this is Sam’s blog so back to him ;-).
We went to the doctor on Wednesday and she told us he’s a healthy, growing, strong little guy. He’s 31 1/4 inches tall maintaining his position squarely in the 95th percentile for height. He’s 23 lbs which is 50th percentile for weight (same %ile that he weighed in at at 9 months too). His head size grew 2 more cm (50.5 cm) putting him still off the charts.
funny story – when we went to weigh him, the nurse said he could sit up on the scale. I said,"ok" knowing that that would lead to more things being in reach than was probably advisable. He was fascinated by the balance bars and quickly figured out where to put his fingers so the mechanism wouldn’t work. So he could be 23+ lbs or he could be less than that — the nurse quickly expedited the process once his hands got involved.
As far as development goes, besides walking for the first time, Sam has been pointing at every object he can and saying,"Ba Ba" which translated means "what is that?" When John or I give him the name, he more often than not tries to pronounce it himself. It’s amazing to watch. And his retention is very good. While he may not be able to initiate the identification of the object verbally, he does point with accuracy or if possible, crawl over and find the object, holding it up in triumph (usually with a cute grin on his face :-).
"Ba Ba" has had many meanings and still does — everything from his cup of water at mealtime to me when he’s distressed and needing a little one on one time.
His 12th month accomplishments include:
— clapping for the first time for Daddy (it was so great to come home from the gym and hear that Sam had clapped for John for the first time. I get to see most of the milestones first so I’m always pleased when John gets one :-).
— identifying his (or more importantly to him mommy or daddy’s) tongue, belly, nose, eyes, and feet.
[Sam just woke from his nap so I have to interrupt this post to go get him. Then off to SJC to pick up John who returns from Tokyo today. Will finish this up later.]
— identifying all the barnyard animals and where they go in the barn (sheep, cow, horse, pig, chicken)
— swimming: Sam now regularly puts his arms out in front of his head when we are in the pool and he’s floating on his stomach. He even puts his head down in preparation for going under water.
— play: he loves putting toys inside each other to see which fit and which do not. It’s fascinating to watch. He also loves to see what happens when he puts different food in his water — does it float? Does it sink? Of course, in this hot weather he also loves splashing his hand in his water 🙂 In his playroom, he loves the big sliding glass door and thanks to its easy glide track, he can move it back and forth. He’s come close to smashing his hand a couple of times, but thankfully that hasn’t happened.
— Food: Sam can now eat anything but peanuts and peanut butter so we are trying new things. For the last month, he tried watermelon (liked it), english muffin pizza (liked it), fish (didn’t like it). Peaches, crackers (graham and Earth’s Best), and banana are still his faves. He eats a lot of bean and cheese, oatmeal and fruit, and cheerios too.
— Responsiveness: this month was dramatic in Sam’s demonstrated responsiveness to 1 sentence "commands" (both safety focused like "be careful….." and "where is the ____") from me and John. It’s clear that he understands tone of voice (danger, happy, positive, and negative) in many instances.
— Fuzz and other non-edible items on the floor/ground/grass: Sam loves fuzz. And our rug in the playroom is a great source. I call it Sam’s chewing gum as he just moves it around in his mouth for awhile and then either puts it back on the rug or brings it to me or John. He also has learned to pick up grass or other plant matter that has been tracked into the playroom and bring it to one of us.