ALMOST 1
How has this much time passed already? Bodey will turn 1 years old in only two short weeks! It has been the most incredible year, having been blessed with the most easy-going, happy, fun baby!
Bodey still loves to smile and interact with just about everyone he meets. Now he will wave hi or bye to everyone too, sometimes 1 hand but often times 2 hands waving at once with a huge grin across his face that light up his adorable dimples.
He is an explorer. Now I know all babies are explorers because that is the essence of how they learn right now but Bodey doesn't just check out his environment--he explores it, tests it, challenges himself to learn concepts. When he encounters something he doesn't understand he doesn't just give up and cry out of frustration, he gets to work moving around the object or obstacle until he finds a solution that satisfies him. He particularly enjoys threading objects, placing objects inside of other objects including really small challenging tasks and opening everything. He loves to climb the stairs and is quite skilled at going up. He knows to turn around to go backwards but doesn't like to take the time to go that way so usually prefers to be carried. There is no place Bodey won't climb in order to explore his environment or simply to test how his body functions. He loves to climb all over mom and dad. As I write this he is climbing through and over the kitchen chair rungs which are 12-16" off the ground. He will figure out how to navigate over the edge of a high piece of furniture and safely land on the ground (with only minor help from an adult since the distance is like twice his body length). He will navigate over gaps between furniture and onto/off just about anything. He literally has no fear when it comes to exploring his environment and is very confident in the way his body moves in space. There is no doubt he has inherited this from his father and I love watching him develop these skills!
He has been pulling up on objects for at least 3 or 4 months now, cruises everywhere and stands easily without support. He transitions to/from standing without using objects to pull up on and recently started taking steps. He has taken anywhere from 2-10 steps at a time. He will get shaky and start to lose his balance so he will crouch down, stand back up and try it some more. He is not technically walking though because again he gets impatient and would rather crawl there faster than it takes to walk.
He has recently discovered an interest in books, particularly books with flaps, moving parts or animals where the reader makes super funny noises (bonus if it has all 3)! He is even starting to recognize upcoming parts of the books and helps turn the pages/pull the flaps. He understands quite a few commands like "all done" (in terms of nursing), "are you hungry" (in terms of eating table food), "want to eat" (in terms of nursing), "come here", "where's coalie", "where's daddy/momma", "where's millie" (he smiles and waves at her picture and then reaches for her picture to give it kisses), "can I have a kiss" (open mouth plant follows), "bye bye", "wave hi", "diapie change", "night night", "peekaboo", "where is bodey", "good job baby". He loves to "talk" and "sing" and dances to music. He loves to holler out loud and have you match his tone and duration with him! He makes tons of crazy noises including grunts and growls and pats his hand against his mouth and runs his finger over his lips to oscillate the sound! He makes super silly faces and loves to thump on his parents like a WWE wrestler!
He absolutely adores his puppy, Coalie. Whenever he sees her he opens his mouth super wide waiting to receive Coalie kisses which always make him shake his head and laugh. He will search out Coalie's antler and bring it to her on the couch to play with. He will go to her on the couch or climb into her cozy cave to see her, give her kisses or pet her. Coalie is sweet to Bodey but she won't lay down and cuddle with him yet. Coalie is super fond of Bodey sharing his food with her, whether it's crumbs on the floor or the food he hands directly to her.
Now let's talk food--Bodey is still nursing 3-5x per day. I still get to go nurse him at lunch every day which I absolutely love for that 1 on 1 time with him briefly in the middle of the work day. He has 5 teeth total, the 2 front top and bottom teeth and the top left tooth also. He eats about 4-5 meals per day and they are quickly becoming the portions of a 5 year old kid. For example, for breakfast today he had 1/2 banana (that he feeds himself without cutting up), 2 scrambled eggs, 8 sliced strawberries and then he still wanted some of my toast after all that. He is a fantastic eater and has almost no dislikes. Despite eating everything in site, he still is not chunky by any means.
This child loves to be outside whenever possible. It always calms him and he is always busy checking out every leaf, stick, woodchip, stone and especially every bug--dead or alive. He enjoys handing me things he finds now so I get a lot of dried worms, bird poop, ants and beetles amongst all of the inanimate objects. Everything still goes in his mouth too so I have also fished all of those items out of his mouth before.
Bodey's daycare built a brand new building that they moved into about 1 month ago and he absolutely LOVES it. I mean he literally looks forward to going to daycare and recently doesn't even want to come home with us when we go to pick him up (a good problem to have)! Bodey continues to be the little prince of the daycare with literally all of the staff knowing who he is and seeking him out for attention on the regular. He's just such a chill, smiley kid that he easily attracts admirers. Unfortunately, at the same time that he started in the new building his adored teacher went out on maternity leave. He has had a new teacher who we like but who stopped giving the babies their morning nap. I requested continued morning naps which she complied with but since the other babies weren't going down Bodey was crying to play with his friends instead of napping. This (along with teething) was turning our baby into an overtired fussfart every evening. He stopped sleeping through the night and often woke 2 or 3 times per evening. Luckily another mom from his classroom contacted us and had the same nap concerns. So I met with the daycare director who was super receptive to our concerns and has moved the whole class in with a senior teacher who Bodey just adores. He is getting his morning nap now and is starting to do much better at night (although still waking at least 1x per night).
Bodey has been spoiled with many fun activities lately including our trip to Louisville with Auntie Laura and (soon-to-be) Uncle Woody. He enjoys spending tons of time with Pawpaw Jerry who is his favorite buddy, with Mawmaw Rita and just recently got to spend 10 days with Nana Jean and Papa Mark. He has been swimming at mawmaw & pawpaw's pool, swimming and boating at Lake Allatoona, swimming in his little baby wading pool. He had his first Easter, Memorial Day and 4th of July. For the 4th he slept through the Marietta Freedom parade and slept through fireworks that our next door neighbor shot off in front of our house. He has started attending the church daycare so Mommy & Daddy can enjoy service uninterrupted. This last Sunday though he fell asleep on the way to church so I carried him into service and was nervous he would be very loud and disruptive once he woke up but he wasn't. He just waved to all the people around us and played quietly with Nana's silver bracelets.
We seriously could not be blessed with a more awesome baby. He is chill, adventurous and smart. He brightens every single day, challenges the hell out of us and makes life super fun. I love you sweet Bodey Boo
We seriously could not be blessed with a more awesome baby. He is chill, adventurous and smart. He brightens every single day, challenges the hell out of us and makes life super fun. I love you sweet Bodey Boo
