Levi at 12 months

My sweet Levi is one year old! It has felt like a very long year, yet I still can't believe our baby days are fading away. (Disclaimer: His birthday was almost 2 weeks ago and I had most of this post written then but I just now got around to putting the pictures in. Several things have changed already, but everything written here was true at 12 months.)

Levi weighs 21 lbs 9 oz. He is 28.75 inches tall (although I think probably closer to 29 based on how the nurse measurd him -- regardless, he's short!). He is still wearing 12 month clothes and a few 12-18 month. He wears a size 4 diaper and a size 4.5 shoe. He still only has 2 teeth but I feel like he has some top teeth that will break through very soon (but I have felt like that for weeks).

I'm pretty sure his first (and only) official word is bye bye. When he waves he says rah-rah/rye-rye, but that is also a common phrase/sound for him, so it's hard to tell. A few days ago he started imitating animals sounds. He does his own version of moo, meow, quack, and arf arf when asked about a cow, cat, duck, and dog, or when he sees a picture of one.

He has become a very happy baby, but he can still throw a good tantrum. Some days it feels like it's one tantrum after another, some days he is the happiest baby all day, and most days fall somewhere in between.

Levi is walking! He took his first real steps one week after he turned 11 months. For almost 2 weeks he would take a few steps toward us when we would encourage him, but one day I noticed a switch and he started standing up and taking a few steps on his own, or letting go of whatever he was holding and walking to something else. A few days after I noticed that I called him an official walker. He still splits his time between walking and crawling, but he definitely loves to walk around. He falls a lot, but pops right back up and goes again.

He has changed so much in the past week or so and seems older now. He understands so much more and plays with his toys differently.

He loves cars and trucks, anything with wheels that he can roll. He super loves cats, whether in person or in books or on tv.

He squeals with delight when he sees me for the first time in the morning, when he sees Rodney after work, or when you put more food on his tray.

Favorite foods: spaghetti, macaroni, pears. If he sees pears, he will not eat anything else until the pears are gone. He's not a fan of many veggies, but he will (sometimes) eat carrots, green beans, and peas.

He has found a new love for books and now spends a lot of time sitting and flipping through our board books.

He also loves music and now "dances", also known as bouncing up and down.

He hates crawling on tile and will do a spider crawl on his hands and feet on it. We only have tile in the bathrooms but both grandparents have it in their kitchen and he's not a fan.

Levi's favorite mischievous activities include:
- playing in the toilet / flushing the toilet
- playing in the cat food/water
-climbing stairs

Obviously we have gates at the top and bottom of the stairs, but our master bathroom has one step going up to the bathtub and he is drawn to it like a magnet. Also, Isaac likes to drag a stool around the house to use for various things and if Levi comes across that he is up on it in no time.

Naps are interesting. I can't decide if he's ready to drop a nap or not. He is starting to fight his morning nap most days now and it has definitely shortened, and he sometimes fights his afternoon nap but it is still nice and long. I don't think he's ready to go all morning without any nap, but we seem to be heading toward that transition.

Happy birthday, Levi!