On Monday (1/4) he had his one-year check-up. He weighs 28 pounds which puts him in the 95% percentile and is 31 inches long which puts him in the 75% percentile. Of course, my #1 concern to discuss with the doctor was Jake's weight & eating. This child LOVES to eat. He will eat anything you put in front of him. (Which that works to our advantage, because of that, he doesn't mind eating very healthy! We certainly don't have to give him junk food, just to get him to eat!!) But I have been concerned because he never seems full. He will gobble up everything you put in front of him. We have to give him only 1 piece of food at a time because if you put a whole plate in front of him, he would try stuffing everything on the plate in his mouth at once. (I'm not kidding. He once tried sticking 10 pieces of chicken in his mouth at one time. Of course he choked & had to spit half of it out, but we learned our lesson. Only 3 pieces of food on his plate at once, for the time being!) He scarfs down his food. Once he has eaten all of the food & his plate is clean, he cries. It is so pitiful. I'm torn, because I don't want him to be hungry, but I also don't want to teach him bad eating habits (like over eating) early. I'd done research on the Internet, but was ready to talk to a real doctor! Our doctor assured me that Jake was fine. He is not over-weight. His doctor said that he was just a big growing healthy boy. He said to enjoy the fact he does like to eat healthy, because in another year or so, he will probably be a typical picky eater toddler. He also said to go ahead & stop feeding him baby food, and switch to toddler food and/or table food. Also go ahead & switch him fully to cow's milk. I figured that the last two were going to be his suggestion, so we used December as a transition month. We started a few times giving Jake for dinner, what we were eating. We also started introducing cow's milk & real sippy cups. (Up until that point, we had been using the Born Free Sippy cups which are a combination of the bottle & a sippy cup. At $10 a cup, they are not cheap, but they were great. They were great for transitioning Jake. Some of our friends have used them, and their children didn't care for them, but we loved the Born Free Bottles & Born Free Sippy Cups & highly recommend them!) I am happy to say, that as of January 1, Jake no longer eats pureed baby food, formula or uses a bottle. Yahoo! (Our wallets are smiling as well!) Everything about his checkup was normal, and he has already hit all of the milestones. So it was a successful checkup (even though I will always continue to worry about his weight!).
What else is going on in this one-year-old's life? (And my notes for his baby book which still has not been written in since he has been born:)
Jake has 4 teeth on top with 2 popping through this last week. (Which equals runny nose & lots of drool.) He has 6 teeth on bottom with 2 more coming through. (It is kind of hard to count all of his teeth because he bites.)
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We have a walker!! When we left him the weekend after Christmas, he would take 2 tiny baby steps if you had your arms reached out. By New Year's weekend, he was up to almost 5 steps. Then this past week, he just started walking out of nowhere. We don't have to prompt him, he just goes. It is awesome, but nerve racking! I get really nervous in the kitchen, which is all tile. I walk behind him bent over like an idiot ready to catch him if he falls. He looks at me like "get a life"! Our new mission is to get him comfortable walking in his tennis shoes. The first time we put them on him, he looked like we put 10 pound weights on his feet. He wouldn't even stand. He is getting used to him though. (I know that he should probably be in soft soled shoes, but I couldn't find any wide enough, and was tired of trying to shove his fat feet into them!)
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He loves shutting doors, taking baths & riding in his car seat in daddy's car (it's a SUV & he gets to sit by the window. When we get in my car, of course it is lower & his seat is in the middle of the backseat. He always acts disappointed.) He loves to bang things together and bang on things (the washing machine is his favorite). He also likes to point and touch everything. He especially loves to point to your eye, nose & mouth (not that he knows the name of those body parts, he just likes to point at them!). He likes to act shy, but grins when people talk to him. He loves attention. He also loves music. He loves when you sing to him & commericals that have music. He will stop what he is doing to watch.
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He does not like when you make him get out of the bath tub or try to take something away from him. And of course he doesn't like when you wipe his nose. He is kind of sneaky, so you have to keep your eye on him! But other than that, he is a pretty happy kid!
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Funny Story: He had been walking around, but had not come back through in the last few minutes. I went to find him. He evidently had found his diaper bag & the zip lock bag of puffs in it. He had gotten the bag open & dumped all of the puffs in the floor. He was eating away. As soon as he saw me, he started double timing it, shoving as many as possible in his mouth. He knew they were about to be taken away. I was laughing too hard to get on to him. I just wish I had my camera nearby.
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Getting the hang of walking with shoes on
It is hard walking with these 10 pounds weights on your feet
He loves to shut doors
I guess you can stay
Sleeping in his first pair of "kind of" big boy pajamas
After I wash Jake's hair, I always comb it while he is still in the bath tub. (Not that it helps, his hair still goes wild.) Of course he has to grab anything that you are holding, so he grabs the comb. Then he started trying to comb his own hair. It was so cute! I grabbed the camera from the hallway. I had to turn him with his back to me though, because when he sees the camera he just stops what he is doing & smiles. I had to turn him around so he couldn't see me!
He has been walking for one week now. Yea!!
Jake is very excited about the upcoming week. First, his best bud Grant turns 1 on January 12. He is also getting to spend the weekend with his other best buds, Gabe & Sellers. (Well, I don't know if Sellers will want to be his best bud, since he is an older & mature 4! He might be too cool for Jake & Gabe. He'll be the cool older brother!!) I am soooooooooo excited though. Jake & I are headed down to Gulf Shores to stay with Amanda & her family for the weekend. I can't wait to see those 2 precious boys of hers! Then on Saturday, we'll drive over for our friend Stephanie's little boy Grant's 1st birthday party. Too much fun! I can't wait to see my 2 best friends!!
The boys eating dinner Friday night, waiting for the baby-sitter to arrive.
The big birthday party! BFF's Gabe, Grant & Jake.
Grant & Jake playing with the Leap Frog table
Grant eating his birthday cake
Sweet little Jude feel asleep with his little head still raised
Me, Amanda & Stephanie with our boys
Gabe & Jake holding down the fort at the end of the table at Mellow Mushroom
Sellers drinking out of his VERY long straw he made (Jake thought that Sellers was hilarious)
Playing together Saturday night
By the way, does anyone have a good photographer they want to recommend in either the Chattanooga, Birmingham or Montgomery area? I want to have someone take Jake's 1 year (or 14 month!) photos. If you have a suggestion, either leave me a comment or email me. It would be greatly appreciated!!
Left to Right:Andy & Margaret, Zach & Kimberly, Robbie & me, and Robbie P. & Denise. (Zach, Robbie B. & Robbie P. all went to McCallie together. Andy, Margaret, Zach & Kimberly all went to TN together.) Great circle of friends!!
