6-12 Months

Wow you're fast. 

By the New Year you'd taken your first steps, which we miraculously caught on film, and as soon as you'd done that you decided that you could crawl, and crawl you did. You crawled everywhere - and quickly. You figured out how to use the stairs and we had to watch your every move or else you were go-go-go sometimes at your own peril. 

You've got a full on personality at this point, you know what you like, what you don't. You're saying "no" by shaking your head (we're still not sure if you've QUITE got that concept down though - because sometimes you say no to things that we know you want) You learn so quickly, and it's like one day you just decide you're going to do something new - and there's no transition, you're just doing it. Walking was like that. You really only crawled and sometimes wanted to walk with us holding both of your hands, but then in late April when we went to visit your cousin, Noah in California, you just decided to walk on your own - and you've been doing that ever since. Not only that, but you're almost running now!

You say "mommom" and "dadda", "Dog", "Cat", and I think sometimes you say "duck" You're mischievous and love pushing the boundaries of everything. You're the most independent little thing and you insist on doing everything yourself. God help us if we try to pull the spoon out of your hand to try and help you eat soup or oatmeal. For that matter, you're insistent upon helping us unload the dishwasher, but Bud - please don't grab the Cutco knives while we aren't looking. It's not safe. (true story...) 

Your favorite things lately have been farm animals and trucks, musical instruments, your Grogu Relaxer Chair, any pillows or blankets you manage to faceplant on, "Little Blue Truck" and his farm friends, the dog's water bowl (please stop...) and your interactive DOG book that lets you wag their tail and shake their heads. You really like touching the "scruffy dog" (carpet in the book) 

It's funny to watch you experience food - especially sugary snacks. You love to eat baby ice cream cones - and you'll kind of grit your face in a smile, shake your arms and look super excited. We're not huge on the sugar in general, but it's funny to see that reaction from you. You love fruit, especially berries and watermelon. You also apparently like to roll whole watermelons around the house while Mom is putting away groceries. Maybe you think it's a Futbol. 

You love watching sports with Daddy. You love the openings to kids TV shows, but you're bored once they start dancing. You could watch hours of Baby Einstein if we let you, though. You're a HUGE fan of bathtime, but so far swimming pools hold little to no interest for you beyond the splashing effect. You'd much rather play with the cold water without being submerged. We just bought an inflatable hot tub, so I guess we'll see how you enjoy that. 

You're very big on routine and order, but you're a big ball of chaos, so that's kind of interesting. You need your bedtime and you need to be in your room at your house. It's almost palpable to see your relaxation and relief when we come home after being away for a day or so - and you're having trouble sleeping anywhere but in your own room. We will have to work on that, especially since we're planning on taking a beach vacation later in the summer. I hope that we can all figure out a good way for you to get naps in the car and at other people's houses. You love your bedtime routine though - dinner, then bath, pajamas, bottle, book (Daddy HAS to read or else the world ends), prayer, and rocking/singing with mama. You need the order of the songs to be very specific or you have a hard time getting settled in, so Mom will sing you some variety at first, but then we always do a hummed "German Lullabye" (joanie bartels) and then "Baby Mine" followed up with what Mommy made up, "I love my little boy, my precious baby boy" and then a mommy rendition of "you are my sunshine" "You are my sunshine, my little sunshine. I love you dearly, I hope you know. You are so precious, and so amazing. Oh my sunshine, look how you glow!" then we do "snug tucks" with 2-3 blankets, "snug as a bug in a rug" and then mommy strokes your face "I love you, my little bug. Have a good Nigh nigh and I'll see you when you wake" I love our precious bedtimes. I love snuggling you and rocking with you, and I know it's finite and we're so limited on the time we have to do that, so I try to cherish every second. Thank you for it. 

Love Mommy.