Twelfth Month

Has it been a year already? I remember feeling like I would always have the smallest baby around ... he was so tiny, and his hair was dark (before sunshine hit it)! I saw a small red baby (premature?) at the doctor's office ten days ago, and other than the redness, I recognized the newborn fist shaking and the yawn with shut eyes. I know Karston's so much bigger, stronger, and more active now, but I just don't remember how we had ever made it past that stage. But hey, twelve months is one year, and here we are! My resolution is call him a toddler now, and not a baby. Got to let him grow up!

Development

C . R . U . I . S . I . N . G .

Nothing could be better than cruising. Prepare to hand over your fingers and cramp your back, because this child needs to cruise! He babbles more, and he definitely understands a lot of what we're saying.

Karston waves to people now, and sometimes claps his hands. He also learned to turn around with his butt, just like the Bill Cosby routine about butt walking away from the dentist (we saw Bill Cosby on a Mommy-and-Daddy-only date last month, and he was fabulous!).

Layette

He's still 18 pounds, so he still wears the same onesies. However, we did get a set of 12 month onesies for 18-24 pounds for the trip!

Feeding

Last month, he didn't eat much. This month, he started making up for that! All that cruising requires calories! He also started eating baby food meat, which he wouldn't do before. He really likes sweet potatoes and turkey (and sweet potatoes, but why not nudge up the calories and protein?). He's also very serious about nursing, so he's an eating machine in all ways. But with all the cruising, he's not gaining much weight. He has a distinctive cry when he's hungry, and a distinctive laugh when he sees me and he wants to nurse.

Sleeping

What sleep? He likes to cuddle, so on the rough nights, I kick the covers down and wrap both arms around him, and we go to sleep like that. He likes that. In fact, he's been known to send a little hand out looking for the top arm if it's not already wrapped around him.

Furniture

We love the Gerry baby backpack, and we're still using the Graco Comfort Sport convertible (not infant!) car seat. No changes there. We did get a Sit-n-Secure for a travel high chair, and that worked well. Does a piece of fabric with velcro count as furniture? We also picked up an umbrella stroller from CVS in Key West, and it is much nicer than we expected (although the stroller handles are a bit short, and we're short). The best feature was the sun shade to cover his head from the merciless midday Florida sun.

Travel

We went to Key West for a week just before his birthday! Everyone except "I get a darker tan" Daddy got a sunburn, which is not what I wanted for my sweet little almost-one-year-old, but it happens. Karston didn't complain much, and the aloe helped when he did. Now we know that Karston gets his skin tone from his Daddy, because he has a nice dark tan now. I go from burn back to pale fairly quickly, and rarely spend much time in-between at the tan stage.

Mom

I'd like to sleep more and exercise more, but this is a wonderful time! I really enjoyed taking a nap with Karston every day in Key West. Yesterday, for the first time in fifteen months, I felt well rested! Of course that means I had trouble falling asleep last night because I'm not used to being in bed when I'm not exhausted. I think I've forgotten how to fall asleep!

Total weight change: still down 10 pounds.