12 Months

We had Adam's 12 month check-up yesterday, and the doctor was happy to proclaim him a long, lean, active little boy. Here are his stats:

weight: 19 lbs., 4 oz (10th percentile -- always small but steady growth)
height: 29 1/2" (49th percentile)
head: 18" (45th percentile)

He also received 3 shots and a TB test. The doctor informed us that we should start giving him whole milk and work towards weaning him from the bottle once he adjusts to the milk. Funny enough, we had just enough formula for his morning bottle so we thought we'd try switching him cold-turkey. He, however, wasn't keen on the idea. We are now mixing the formula with milk and will gradually reduce the formula to milk ratio. Giving up the bottle may be harder than I expected, too, as he won't drink but a couple of sips of milk from a cup. He's on to us! One battle at a time. Milk first, then bottle, then pacifier.

Here are some of his most recent milestones and tricks. By 12 months Adam can:

Where's your head?

Where's your belly? He does
the same sign for bath.

Where's your tongue?

• Identify his head, his tongue and his belly
• Walk, stand up on his own and Bend and pick up objects while standing. Excellent balance.
• Can use sign language to sign Fan, Eat, and Bath, Doggy. 
• Knows the meaning of and can identify Mommy, Daddy, Ball, Bus (toy), Fan, Light, Bath, Eat, Milk, Doggy, Swing, Water, Gramma, No, Sit Down, and more
• Can wave hi/bye-bye (when he's in the mood)
• Can blow a kiss (at least he did once!)
• Puts his arms in the air when you say Arms Up! 
• Can put nesting objects into one another, cars on his track, and shapes into the sorter
• Can turn on the TV manually (and leaves it on!) and can control the ceiling fan and light by remote
• Recognizes the playground and wants to swing. If you take him in Mom and Dad's back yard, he makes a beeline for the swing there.
• Can give High-Fives
• Loves to figure out how things operate: doors open/close, wheels spin. We are thrilled that he can now open and close the toilet and flush it too. Last night he realized he could open the drawers of the coffee table, stand in it, and climb up on top of it. Thrilled about that one, too.
• Turns around to go feet-first off the couch, chair, stairs, etc.

We are just fascinated by how much our little man figures out every day!