One. Year. Old.

We made it. Sam is one year old. I know I say it every month, but I just can't wrap my head around the fact that its been a year. I still feel like we're just figuring this out, like I'm still a new mom, like Sam is still a brand new person. But he's a baby no more, and when I look at what he's done in his first year it does seem like a lot. In his first year of life Sam has:

-Been to 6 states
-Touched both the Atlantic (technically the Gulf of Mexico) and the Pacific oceans
-Met Mickey Mouse at Disney World
-Traveled on 5 round trip flights
-Developed a livable sleep schedule
-Maintained his nic name, Squirmy
-Moved from nursing exclusively to eating a wide variety of table foods
-Earned a reputation for his pathetic sad face and his amazing eyes
-Learned to walk

That's right, baby boy is now officially a toddler. He'd been putting steps together for a few weeks, but was only using them as a mode of transportation when highly motivated by his destination. Then, on his birthday, something clicked. I think it was the trip to the Children's Museum where he realized he was less vulnerable in the standing position. He is now walking by choice, with or without a destination in mind. Is he stable? Not at all. He walks like Frankenstein with his arms straight out in front of him, which is totally adorable. And he still likes to use an object to help him stand up, so if he's in the middle of the room with nothing around he'll still crawl. But, the kid officially started walking on his birthday!

In other developmental news, Sam is still tiny. At his 12-month well visit he weighed in at 17lbs 9oz and was 29 inches long (30%). No percentage for weight because we're still off the chart. The doctor said it'll probably be a few years before we're back on the chart, but that Sam will be thankful for his build as a 40-year-old. I need to also note that this was a particularly traumatic appointment for the boy - three shots and a blood draw (routine). The blood draw was long and he screamed the whole time. Then they wrapped his little finger in a big bandage that he hated and kept shaking at everyone, hoping they would remove it for him. He even tried to bite it off. Thankfully he has a short memory and there was no damage a trip to Olive Garden couldn't fix.

Still not much talking. Don't get me wrong, he makes a lot of noise. He tends to focus on one consonant at a time (da, ba, ge, nge are his favorites), but hasn't put together any words yet.

I almost forgot to mention that he also got his first teeth this month. I've been meaning to post about it, but wanted to wait until I had a good picture of them. Well, I still don't. He has his bottom two center teeth, but they aren't all the way up yet. It took them about 3 weeks to break through the gum, which they finally did on daddy's birthday (April 9).

That brings us to our likes and dislikes for the month.
Likes:
Playing outside
Apple Juice
Walking
Holding onto stick-shaped objects (pens, chapstick, etc)
Putting in/Taking out
Reading interactive books

Dislikes:
Blood draws
Being contained

Sorry this post is a few days late...we had a very busy weekend around here! I will write later about all the birthday festivities, including the party.