Holy cow! Where has the time gone? Seriously. Where did it go?
Today, Paxton is one year old. And A LOT has changed just in the last month. Here are the highlights:
Moving
Probably the most noticeable change is that our little Pax is walking! He has been cruising on furniture for a while now, but about 2 weeks ago, he started letting go and taking a few steps. Now he takes between 6 and 9 steps pretty consistently and without coaching. It's only a matter of time before he's chasing the twins around. In addition to his walking skills improving daily, Paxton has also begun perfecting his dance skills. It's adorable. And yes, I'll post a video soon.
Pax refuses to eat baby food anymore. Actually, the only thing that he'll let you spoon feed him is his beloved Greek yogurt. Other than that, you're better off just letting him feed himself (he'll refuse to open his mouth and then scream and hollar until you give him his own food). He loves a lot of food, but his all-time favorites are Greek yogurt (clearly), carrots, peas, noodles, apples, cantaloupe, watermelon, and pizza (who doesn't love pizza?). At this point, we pretty much give him whatever we're eating at dinner each night. He eats three meals a day with all of us and enjoys snack time a few times a day with the twins. His favorite snacks are graham crackers, peanut butter-Greek yogurt dip, and fruit. In terms of formula, breast milk, and regular milk, we've slowly started taking away the formula and replacing it with a bottle of soy milk or dairy milk (he likes both, but definitely prefers soy milk). He usually has 2-3 bottles a day and in the last month, 1-2 of those bottles has been formula. He still night nurses whenever he wants. We hope to completely eliminate formula in the next couple of days (i.e. we have one more container of it and I don't want to buy another). Oh yeah, and he drinks from a sippy cup. (He can even drink from a straw and out of a water bottle.)
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In this pic, Paxton fell asleep in my arms
while I was making dinner. So presh. |
Sleeping
His sleeping is basically the same as it has been for the last few months. Except for the napping. He was taking two naps a day, but now every so often (it's not consistent yet), he skips his second nap of the day. Other than that, it's the same. He sleeps in his crib for naps and the first stretch of the night. Then he co-sleeps with us from some point in the middle of the night until the morning. I absolutely love co-sleeping with that little one. Not planning to stop that anytime soon.
Communicating
Paxton has been nodding (for "yes") and shaking (for "no") his head for a while now and he usually waves hello and goodbye when prompted by someone else saying "hello" or "goodbye" to him. He also calls me "Mama" and calls Wes "Dada" on a very consistent basis. The babbling is still very frequent, but now he's started making certain sounds for certain things. Let me explain. When Paxton wants to let us know that he would like his pacifier, he rubs his hand on his mouth back and forth while making a sound. Also, he "barks" in a very specific way that is different from many of his other sounds when he wants something that someone else has. He's very good at letting us know what he wants. He'll point, bark, and grunt until he gets it.
Paxton is happy, funny, easy-going, very curious, and adventurous. We also think that he's shaping up to be like his brother in that he seems to have a mechanically-oriented brain. He likes to make things work and watch how other people make things work. He watches and learns and then does. For instance, he totally figured out how Gavin's toy trains fit on the tracks and move. He can pick up a train, place it on a track, and move it smoothly down the track. He also understands which part of the baby gate needs to be pressed to open it. He's not at all strong enough to actually do it, but he hits and pushes and pulls it in the correct spots trying to open it. Paxton is a very mobile child. He doesn't want to be carried around as much as he used to and he definitely doesn't like staying in one room for very long. He has places to go and people to see. He likes to crawl (or walk) from one room to another, picking things up along the way and either holding them tight until he reaches his destination or throwing it violently. He very good at climbing things and seems to have no fear. Typical things that he climbs include the kitchen step stool, the bathroom step stool, the couch, the stairs, the train table, the blue car bed we use as a ball pit, and anything else that can make him higher than he is. He laughs a lot and will giggle at Gavin or Vivian at the drop of a hat. He copies us when we laugh, even if we're "faking it." It's like he just wants to be part of it, so he just does what we do to fit in. Lastly, Pax really wants to be like and play with his brother and sister all day long. He's so enamored by them. In fact, he usually refuses to take a nap for a couple extra hours on mornings when they are home. Four days a week (when the twins go to school), Paxton goes down for his first nap around 8-8:30. But on the weekends (Sat, Sun, & Mon), Paxton has been known to stay up until 10, 11, or even noon. He loves them.
Paxton got his FIRST tooth about a week after his 11 month birthday and his second one is about to cut through any day now.
We couldn't have asked for a better person to join our crazy little family! Love you, Paxton Marshall!
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