12 months

well, it seems that the past few months have gotten the best of me. guess that's what happens when your kid becomes more mobile! 10 months is pretty much a blur...most of our weekends were spent house hunting and visiting my sick grandfather (he's doing much better now, though). 11 months marked The First Steps. and now here we are at 1 year old already!

we celebrated theo's birthday by having 2 parties, one in virginia, one in central pa; neither planned by me because i was too frazzled with house stuff. they were both nice and small, which is exactly what i wanted. party #1 will forever be remembered by theo belly-flopping into the dirt (uneven ground is hard for new walkers!), mouth full of dirt and all. party #2 brought me to the awkward situation of having to explain to my entire family why i didn't think it was necessary to dip theo's pacifier in vanilla frosting to get him to like his birthday cake. but both parties yielded a nice stash of thoughtful presents and much-needed visiting with long distance family members.

not only is theo now walking (more like running!) everywhere and saying "words" that sound more and more like Real English every day, but he's also mastering the absolutely adorable skills of signing "more", climbing on boxes, catching the cat's tail, and doing the motions to "if you're happy and you know it" (clap your hands, stomp your feet, and spin around). he's become such a busy little toddler, i can hardly remember how tiny and uninteractive he used to be!

oh yeah, and about that weaning thing...
well, this week marks my first week of not pumping during the work day. he's still cleaning out our freezer stash by drinking one 3 oz bottle of milk per day, but in a week or two we'll also be done with that. i'm still nursing in the morning and night and i don't mind if this continues for the next year if he chooses (i think i draw the line at 2, but get back to me in about a year to see how i feel about it then). in the non-nursing hours, he seems to enjoy a sippy cup of soy milk to hold him over till i get home. it doesn't really offer enough fat or nutrition to consider it "necessary" (according to our pediatrician), but i think it's making the transition to less breastmilk a little easier on him.

also, still dairy free and still on the reflux meds. and still not sleeping through the night. but you know what? at this point, i've decided to stop spending so much of my energy worrying and scheming up ways to change this and instead i'm just learning to relax and follow his lead. he's growing up so fast as it is, and i know he'll let me know when he's ready for a change. i sound like a Real Parent now, don't i? no longer an anxious rookie!