Levi’s monthly photo (12 months old)

Dear Levi,

You are 12 months old! Actually, you have been 12 months old for over a week and a half already. For some reason, I had a hard time writing this month’s letter to you. I’m not sure if it was because I was feeling extra emotional about this particularly milestone – after all, you are now officially a toddler and no longer a baby – and when I’m dealing with a whirlwind of emotions, I have a very hard time concentrating. Or maybe I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to properly express how I feel about you turning one, and I let my obsessive-compulsive tendencies get the best of me.

Sometimes I wonder if you’ll grow up to become a perfectionist, too. How will you deal with anxiety and stress? Will you end up being shy like I am or outgoing like your daddy? Right now you tend to be a little bit timid in social situations. At music class and Gymboree, you spend a lot of time near me, observing the other children before making your way into the fray (usually right before class ends). You rarely pull or hit like some kids do, but you will attempt to grab your favorite noisemaker out of somebody’s hand. You are very particular about your musical instruments, and it’s encouraging to see that you aren’t putting them straight into your mouth anymore!

It may be time for us to start limiting your pacifier use, especially now that you have teeth! Your two bottom teeth broke through the surface shortly after you turned 11 months old—first the left, then the right one. Because of all the drooling associated with teething, your little chin is wet while you suck on your pacifier, creating tiny red bumps around your mouth. Still, I let you have your “sucky” throughout the day because it does calm you down. Lately, you have been trying to share it with me, and when you reach your arm out towards my face, I pretend to chomp down on your pacifier to make you laugh. Your daddy thinks that your laughter is the best sound in the whole world, and we both will do anything goofy to get a giggle out of you.

Peek-a-boo also makes you hysterical, so we play that often. I invented a game called “Where’s Levi?” and the rules are simple – I step out of sight, say “Where’s Levi?” and you crawl over to me. It also works as a distraction tactic when you are on the other side of the room and heading towards the stairs. Well, sometimes. You have figured out how to climb up the staircase, and just before you make your first move, you will look over at me as if you’re anticipating me telling you to not do it.

When you were 11 months and 6 days old, I found you standing up in your pack-n-play! Although I was disappointed that I didn’t catch you in the act of pulling yourself up, you soon started practicing your newest skill all around the house (and you hardly ever let us put you in your pack-n-play anymore). You don’t use the couch for leverage, instead choosing to pull up on hard, flat surfaces like the coffee table and your Zany Zoo activity cube. Crawling is still how you get around, though, and you haven’t shown any interest in trying to cruise or take any steps.

You are really becoming aware of what things do—doors open and close, switches turn on and off, buttons can be pushed. One of your new favorite toys is your Fisher-Price musical table, which was an early birthday gift. You seem to be much more interested in balls than in previous months and like to drop them into and take them out of buckets and boxes. You still love your books, and we have baskets of them all around the house. Sitting next to one, you’ll pull out a book and flip through it before moving on to the next. You appear to be reading them, even when you’re holding them upside down! Stacking objects continues to be a fun activity, and you surprise us by nearly always placing your little blue melamine bowls and your colorful plastic bath toys in proper size order.

When I’m home with you during the day, I alternate between sitting on the floor with you and letting you engage in independent play. One afternoon I had to take a call from your great-grandma, and, to my surprise, you happily entertained yourself for 15 minutes! It’s also been fun hosting and attending play dates. You and a friend were so adorable sitting at her miniature table and chairs set, and her mommy and I pretended that you were having a serious business meeting.

You babble constantly but we still can’t make out anything except “mamamama” and “dadadada,” which we assume mean “mama” and “dada.” Daddy randomly asked you what sound the ducky makes, if it says “quack quack,” and you repeated, “Quack quack!” Actually, you said, “Caw caw,” but we knew what you meant. Your first animal sound!

This month’s stats: At your 12 month check-up, you tipped the scales at 18 lbs 14 oz, putting you in the 5% percentile for weight. We’re very happy about that, but we still plan to mix butter into your food whenever possible! You are 29.75 inches long and in the 50^th percentile for height. Your sleep/nap schedule is nearly identical to last month’s except that you have been waking up closer to 6:15am most days. Too early! There were even a couple of mornings when I first heard you making noise at 5-something! On average, you sleep about 11 hours a night, but no matter what time you wake up, I won’t come get you out of your crib until 7am. You eat three meals a day (around 7:45am, 11:30am and 5:30pm) plus an occasional snack, and we’ll feed you chunky baby food from a jar or finger food depending on what we have available. I continue to nurse you when you wake up, when you go to bed and one or two other times during the day, although your breastfeeding schedule has definitely become more flexible over time. You’re still wearing size 6-12 month clothing but I had to supplement your summer wardrobe with some size 9 month t-shirts and shorts, and we’ve still got you in size 3 Pampers Swaddlers diapers.

This past year has been an incredible learning experience for me. I’m actually still trying to process everything that has happened these past twelve months. Thank you for teaching me how to be a mommy. I love you sooooo much!

xoxo

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I’ll be photographing Levi on the 12th of every month to document his growth this first year. He’ll be wearing a numbered white onesie corresponding to his age in months, sitting in a chair next to his blabla doll for continuity. See all of Levi’s monthly photos here.

{photo taken on his 12-month birthday, July 12, 2012}

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PS: On Tuesday I’ll be announcing a really, really exciting giveaway that has something to do with Levi’s monthly photos. Can you guess what it is? The giveaway will be open to everybody, so be sure to come back to the blog tomorrow to enter!