Wells is TWELVE months!

You'll have to excuse the week or so of blog absence. To say we have been busy is is understatement! Obviously, one of the HUGE happenings around here is that a certain someone is now TWELVE MONTHS! Where in the world did those months go? I can't believe I am a mama to a one year old. We had a great fiesta-themed 1st birthday party with friends and family. And here is Wellsie Man's last monthly update (can you hear me sobbing?). 

Weighs: Wells weighs a hearty 23.5 pounds.

Sleeps: Big strides have been made this month, people! I started laying Wells down in his crib awake at night (up until now, he would fall asleep nursing every night). This allowed Wells to learn to put himself to sleep, so that way when he would wake at night, he would know how to soothe himself back to sleep. We read two books in his rocking chair before bed, then I turn on his projector & sound machine and turn the light off. Then I pray while puts his head on my shoulder, and then I give him a kiss, tell him I love him, and lay him down, making sure he has his paci and blanket by his face. He is used to our routine now (it only took him about a day or two to not cry right after being laid down). And I am happy to report that the night wakings have drastically reduced! He has slept through the night a number of times since we started, and when he does wake, it's usually only once. Hallelujah!!!!  

Eats: We officially weaned from breastfeeding this month, and Well is on whole milk. He wasn't super excited about whole milk at first so I cut it with a splash of vanilla soy milk (to make it a litter thinner and a little sweeter - both of which make it a little more like breastmilk). I don't have to add anything to it now, and he now LOVES his milk bottles! Wells went through about a week or two phase this month of not eating that much. It was SO not like him (it might have been because he was cutting molars), but he is past that phase now! Ha! He is back to his usual hungry self. 

Wears: He is currently wearing anything from 12 to 18 month size clothing. And he bumped up to a size 4 diaper this month.

Plays: With every month, he gets better and better at independent play. He crawls all over the living room & dining room playing with toys and entertaining himself. And we love playing with him too. He likes playing catch (well, really more throwing than catching). This month he has been obsessed with books. He will sit and flip through the pages and point to the pictures in his books. At night we read two books, and he'll flip the pages for me...it is too adorable (his favorite book to read right now is 10 Twinkly Stars). He loves basketball. Anytime we see a basketball goal, he can't stop pointing. We got a little basketball/soccer combo goal for him for his birthday, and he loves putting the ball in the basket. He is still a huge Mickey Mouse Clubhouse fan. He now calls it by name, sort of. He actually calls it "hot dog," you know because of the hot dog song at the end :)  

Milestones: 

• He has cut 4 more teeth this month - all molars. Not very fun, let me tell you. It is hard to believe that two months ago he only had two teeth!
• Now that he is a year, he can have honey! Haha! So far he has had honey nut cheerios, and a couple of small chicken nugget dips into some Chick-fil-A sauce.
• He is saying so many new words. In the last month or so he has added these words to his vocabulary: 
• "mama" & "dada" - he has been saying them but is finally using them correctly
• "get up" - when we wake Eric on the mornings after he worked late
• "duck" - mostly when referring to his rubber duckies in the tub
• "more" - when he likes a food/drink, he is sure to let you know that he would like some more!
• "hot dog" - this is how he refers to Mickey Mouse Clubhouse (because of the hot dog song). 
• "Ash" - my sister's name.