Jace Alexander - 12 months

The day has come! Jace is now a year old! I am simply in awe at how fast the time went. He is still my baby and really does not feel (or look) like he is 12 months old. He is just getting bigger and more active every day. There is definitely no containing him now. He is walking everywhere he can and if he falls a few times, the crawling keeps him on his path. Jace is always a mile a minute in his own direction. He is still momma's little boy, but when he is playing, he is quite independent. He doesn't need mommy or anyone to play with. He is holding his own with Rylen a lot more too. A few bumps here and there doesn't seem to phase him anymore as long as we aren't getting ready for a nap. Jace still takes 2 naps a day and that seems to be a good schedule for him.

I am finding out how hard it is to work with a schedule for your second child. Rylen was easy. I didn't have anyone else to worry about. Jace seems to have to adjust. His naps are pretty consistent, but his eating is another story. He is still nursing at least twice a day and takes milk, oatmeal, fruit, turkey, veggies, etc the rest of the time. We still do a little bit of pureed food, but he will eat chunks of apples, turkey, green beans, black beans, pasta too. Everything is a new experience for him and if you are eating it, he wants to try it. Jace is also working on some molars and his 7th tooth in the front, so chewing is not an issue at all for him.

Verbally, Jace is really babbling a lot. He easily says "momma" and "dadda", but he is also trying to say other words like "apple", "diaper", "bubble", "thank you" and just about anything else that you say to him. He loves to mimick you. He is also very excited about signing. When we do the ABC's with Rylen, Jace twirls his hand in the air like he is signing too. He also loves to blow kisses or say thank you. They look the same so it is hard to tell.

What else can I say about my 1-year-old? crawls up and down the stairs, walks, climbs, drinks his milk from a sippy, eats table food, babbles, still needs mommy and daddy once during the night, has 7 teeth, drinks from a straw, and finally: makes our WHOLE FAMILY smile!