12 Months

Our BABY is turning into a TODDLER right before our eyes! He's standing and taking steps all of the time now. He's getting better and better, but still only taking a few steps before falling over. It's just so cool to see him let go of whatever he's holding onto and try to walk all on his own. And now he'll just stand up in the middle of the room without using anything to pull himself up. Before long, he's going to be toddling all over the place!

Jack's also starting to understand so much. Just the other day, he pointed to some steam and said "hot." Other than "Mama" or "Dada," we're considering that his first official word. He can also recognize so many different things and follow simple directions (when he wants to!) He can find his walrus or penguin among all of his bath toys, or he'll point to a monkey and make the monkey sound. It's the only animal sound he'll do at this point. We get big open mouth kisses when we ask for them and sometimes when we don't. Jack's also figured out the correct timing of both waving and clapping. He likes to clap for himself in particular.

One of his favorite things to do right now (besides throwing) is playing with his cars and trucks. He actually prefers the way they roll on the hard floor, so he crawls straight to the tile entryway and pushes them all around the kitchen and back into the living room in a full circle.

We usually spend a good 30 minutes every evening in the bathtub. Jack loves to put his face under the water running from the faucet and will do it repeatedly, like he's trying to get a drink. He will dump water over his own head if you ask him to, although he usually misses. He's known for awhile how to close the drain, but he is now figuring out how to open it. He also just recently started "swimming" by lying on his tummy and sliding back and forth, making waves and dipping his face in the water. I'm so proud of my little water baby. Jack's not particular about his water either. He'll play in the tub, the sink, the toilet, my drinking glass, with or without clothes. It's all the same to him! I doubt we will be able to keep him out of the pool this summer!