OK, cue the waterworks. You are twelve months old tomorrow. It feels like just yesterday we were meeting you for the first time! But before we get too sentimental reflecting on this past year, I’m going to stop myself and clarify that this is your twelve month post, not your one year post. That’s coming later. This is just to catch us up on the goings on since last month so we can focus on being sappy parents reflecting on their baby becoming a toddler in the next post!
My favorite thing you learned this month is to lean in for a kiss. Oh, how it melts my heart. I can make kissy noises and you’ll stop whatever you’re doing and lean your forehead towards my lips. Sometimes I can even say “give me a kiss!” and you’ll lean in! I think you are starting to understand the phrase “give me a hug” too, because sometimes you’ll bury your head into my chest when I request a hug. I had been a little sad for a few months because I thought you were becoming the type of baby that just doesn’t seem to like cuddles. But lately, you’ve been a lot more affectionate, and we all love it. You still like your space (you really are our kid), but we’re glad you’ll come in for a kiss too!
You’ve also learned to really love games this month. I can’t count how many times a day we play peekaboo. I’ll be driving the car and you’ll start making noises to get me to look back. Then, you’ll quickly put something over your head (or nothing – sometimes you just lift your arms up), and smile and smile when I say “Where’s Rosemary?”. You also like to play while I’m sitting on the couch. You’ll stand at the end, duck down, and then pop up over the armrest. It’s so cute! A more recent game for you is Patty Cake. You always liked when I said the rhyme, but now you’ll prompt me to say it by clapping.
We always thought we would have a walking 12 month old, but here we are right before your birthday, and you just aren’t ready yet. And that is just fine. You certainly seem to understand the mechanics of it – you love to walk with your push walker, or really anything that you can push on the floor, but you just don’t seem comfortable letting go yet. You’ve been standing for months now, but don’t want to stand on your own yet. I think you’re more cautious than we often give you credit for, even if you do love to climb on the fireplace!
When I think back to our first monthly post and now, it’s crazy the difference one year makes. Back then, it was big if you could hold your head up for a few seconds, and now you are so close to walking and talking. I didn’t think I could love you more then, but time always proves me wrong there. Happy twelve months!
