elliot at (almost) 12 months

My baby boy will be one in exactly a week. *insert crying face emoiji* How did this happen! With Eve, I didn't really mind her getting older because every day she learned something new, and it was so fun to watch her develop. (It still is.) But with Elliot, I feel like I know what's coming. First was walking, then running, and pretty soon he will be saying 'no more hugs, mama!', and, 'leave me alone!' Then he is going to start choosing to hang out with his friends over me.... then what, he wont let me dress him how I want to dress him!? The nerve...

I'm kidding, a little. I mean, it's awesome to see little glimpses of what I think is Elliot's future personality, but it is a little hard to let him go, as I'm sure it is for all parents. He is a precious little boy. I thought I would write down exactly how he is now, and what he does, so I will never forget.


At 12 months, Elliot...

Says mama, dada, baba, and as of Monday, he says nigh-nigh when I put him in his crib. SO CUTE. I think he knows it's cute, and knows it keeps him out of that crib longer because I just have to keep squeezing him. He also says ma which could mean more...? Still trying to figure that one out. He is babbling constantly, and has little "conversations" with the kids that come over. Darling.

As of this week, he sleeps through the night. I feed him once between 9-11pm, then he will not wake up again until about 6. This is huge for us! My kids are sort of on the Da Vinci sleep schedule... i.e. they never want to sleep, and their minds are always absorbing absolutely everything. I guess they got it from me, I truly am fine with 5-6 hours of sleep per day, and at this point I'm pretty used to getting up at least once during that time having had two kids in the past three years... Yeah. Elliot never cries in his crib though. If he isn't ready to sleep, he just sings to himself and snuggles with his stuffed monkey, which leads into this...

His favorite toy is a stuffed monkey. My sister gave this to him and it is his absolute favorite. He knows the word monkey, so when I ask him where the monkey is, he will go and find it.

He takes two really good naps a day, one in the morning, and one in the afternoon. He is good at sleeping through loud noises, i.e. his sister and friends screaming at the top of their lungs, or belting out the Frozen soundtrack on the regular. That movie........

He is walking, running, and doing his best to keep up with the other kids. He loves to play at the playground, and go down the slides. At home, I think his favorite game is taking toys from other kids, flashing his cheeky grin, and then running away with the toys. Ha! He figured out really quickly that the big kids take everything from him, so I guess this is his response.

He is getting into reading books. I love reading to him. He is at that stage where he is noticing the pictures in the books, and he will smile at animals, etc. So cute.

He is always smiling. I have heard from many, many people that he is the happiest baby, and he really is! It's a blessing! Eve was a happy baby too, but he makes her seem like a grump. This kid loves people. Especially cute girls. Must take after dad... hah.

He has seven teeth, four on top, three on the bottom. I'm sure that eighth one will show up any day now.

He will eat almost anything. Except avocado. Both my kids never liked avocado! I'm guessing it's a texture thing. Elliot didn't used to like bananas either. Like all kids I have met, he destroys a bowl of my mac n cheese. But its really, really tasty, so I don't blame him. He loves veggie soup, scrambled eggs, blueberries... I had kept him on a vegan diet for quite awhile, but at this point, he eats how we eat. (We try and stick to a 95% plant based, whole foods diet. The animal products that I do buy regularly are yogurt, cheese, and sometimes butter. We tend not to purchase meat, and call ourselves 'freegans' because we will eat meat (or dairy stuff) if it's given to us, or served at someone's house, etc.)

He gives kisses! Open mouth kisses with tongue.. Gotta work on that. Not that I mind, but there can be a lot of drool involved.. hah.

He is still using Eve's hand-me-down cloth diapers, and wears size 12 month pants, 12-18 month tops. Size 5 shoes. He is a big boy. He is almost the same size as our friend Penny who turns 2 in August. Giant baby! I love it.

Dislikes wearing socks.

Dislikes wearing hats.

Dislikes long car rides. (hasn't been on many)

Loves instruments! All of them. He was born into a very musical family, and I'm so excited that he is so interested in all things music. He will also dance on command. YES. As of now, guitar seems to be his instrument of choice.


I'm sure there are a lot more things to add to this list, but I will leave it at that. :) What a year it has been with this special guy! We are so looking forward to the upcoming years.