Adventures at 1628: Avery {12 months)

{12 months}

My little man is officially one year old! I can not believe how fast the year flew by. What a year it has been though. Every day with Avery is an adventure and I am honoured to get to share in it as his mother.

Of course I am way late on this post... having a one year old is busy! Especially when combined with Avery starting at day home, me returning to work, Dave starting a new job, trying to build a new house...

Plus getting his monthly photos are become nearly impossible. He thinks sitting still is torture! It took me three days and a lot of tears to get this month's photos and they still are not the greatest.

Growth:

Avery went through quite the growth spurt over the last month! Since his last doctor's appointment he has packed on 2.5 lbs and grown 1.5". He is now 29" and 20.5 lbs.

His 12 month jeans are *just* the right length but still fall off his waist if he does not have his bulky cloth diapers on.

Eating:

Avery continues to be an eating machine! Especially during the last growth spurt - he ate continuously. We now plan our meals assuming he will eat a portion equivalent to Dave or I. And if it is one of his favourites, he will easily out eat us. We can never serve him a big enough portion of salmon or enough of his favourite scrambled eggs with spinach and soy cheese.

He is now only breastfeeding twice a day - once in the morning and once before bed. Once he started at the day home, he quickly swore off his midday bottle. He continues to be sensitive to dairy so we are unable to introduce cows milk just yet.

Favourite Foods: peanut butter, salmon, eggs, meat on the bone, apple sauce, smoothies, rice cakes with soy cheese melted on top

Firsts:

This past month Avery got his first real hair cut at a salon, went on his first ski trip - both cross-country and downhill, celebrated his first Christmas, attended his first funeral (his namesake Dave's Opa Alex) and attended his first days at day home.

His transition into the day home was a lot rougher then we expected. He is so social and outgoing we figured he would just wave good bye and start playing. But he wanted nothing to do with the kids at the day home and it took him almost three weeks to warm up to them. Now he loves it there. She is fantastic with the kids and takes them on daily outings. Walks to the park, trips to the library and field trips to the Science Centre.

And of course he had his first birthday party!

Milestones:

Although he took his first steps at 10 months, he really did not start walking until 12 months. Now he walks laps around the house. He has started to try to climb everything and anything. He also has quite the dance moves!

His vocabulary is growing constantly. He now says "mama", "dada", "wawa" for water, "baba" for bottle and ball, "ow" for Scout, and "ehsey" for Jersey. He signs "all done", "food", "more", "bye-bye" and "water".

Sleeping:

Unless he is sick or teething, he pretty consistently sleeps through the night. We have only just recently been able to push his bed time back to 7 PM. Although some days he is still just too tired to make it much past 6 PM. He awakes some time between 6:30 AM and 8 AM.

He has stopped taking an afternoon nap while he is at the day home but still occasionally takes one at home.

Personality:

Avery continues to be a happy, confident, energetic little man.

He is constantly crawling, walking, dancing or climbing. He does not stop moving until the second you lay him down in his crib at night.

Other than the slow start at day home, he is very outgoing and social. On a field trip to the Science Centre, his day home provider noticed him studying all the other kids. He eventually singled out a five year old boy, walked over, made friends and spent the rest of the time holding the boy's hand.

He has finally started to show affection! Thanks to a 15 month old friend at his day home, he has learnt how to hug. He is starting to give kisses and will even sit still to cuddle on the rare occasion.