Brianna and Kenneth: Xavier at 12 months

It's been a long year, but a wonderful one. Xavier is such a sweet kid, and a wonderful addition to our lives.

Stats: He's still a wee boy, at only 18lbs. He's in the 26% percentile for height at 29 inches. He has 15 teeth at last count, and he seems to be getting ready to work on #16. He has been walking exclusively for several weeks now, though today he crawled a bit and I'm not sure what to make of that. He has been sleeping through the night most of the time for a while now. Lately, he has also been sleeping in until 8 or so (with a wake up for a diaper change around 6, but usually he wants to go back to sleep after). Along with the later wake up, he's been dropping to one nap... we still have some 2 nap days, but we're on the one nap train and I like it.

Other things... He's persistent, and already quite opinionated and independent. He wants to do things on his own, and I do my best to encourage it, hard as that sometimes is because usually it's messy or time consuming. He wants to eat with a fork and spoon, but can't do it on his own yet. He tries to put on his shoes, socks, and pants, but can't yet. He can put at least an arm into or out of his shirts and coats. He imitates us and wants to help with whatever we're doing-- whether it's a diaper change or sweeping the floors. He helps open and close doors, turn off lights, hold the dogs leash... he just wants to be part of whatever it is we're doing.

He's starting to really communicate with us, which has been so exciting. He claps his hands once (that's his way of doing the "more" sign), and points at things he wants. And he'll push it away if we grab the wrong thing. He has signed mama and dad once each, and he says "RAWR!" (when he sees pictures of dinosaurs/alligators/dragons [he doesn't know the difference]). He also says "dog" and "dad". I show him pictures of us, and he can point to "mama" and "dad" in the pictures. He bends his elbows and holds up his hands palms up when you ask a question, especially "Where is it?" He waves bye-bye. He claps his hands when you say "Good job!" or "Yay!" He bends his knees and "dances" when he wants to hear music. He sings/babbles along when people sing (like at church). He reaches up and grabs my legs when he wants held. He understands "no," but is only just starting to listen when told. And by that, I mean he did it, once. He understands "switch"-- when he has something in one hand that he needs to move to the other in order to put the other arm into his jacket.

He's cautious with strangers. He'll smile at them, but does not want to be held, thankyouverymuch. But maybe, sometimes, if he's in a good mood, he'll be ok with being held by someone new. Sometimes. Definitely not if Mama is an option instead though. But, with people he knows, he'll give them hugs and reach to be held by them. He's a sweet boy.

He likes things with wheels, and musical instruments. He LOVES animals. He laughs and gets so giddy around animals, or even when seeing pictures of them in his books. He likes books and turning the pages. I've caught him alone in his room a few times, turning pages in his books. He sits there laughing at the horse in The Very Busy Spider, or at pictures of pigs or dogs. Who knew pigs, dogs and horses were so silly?

He's not perfect, and I do try to maintain perspective-- I'm quite aware that my son is not the second coming of the Messiah, and he has his difficult moments just like every kid. Case in point: After throwing a temper tantrum in the pediatrician's office, and while also demonstrating that he's smart and independent (and thus, developmentally ready), the pediatrician said "usually I don't talk to parents about starting to discipline their kids and using time-outs until 15-18 months, but with your kid, I think you need to and I think he's ready."

But, overall, he is pretty wondeful. Love him.