12 Months

It is slightly less shocking to think that Dax is "12 months" versus "1 year" old. How can it possibly have been a whole year since that long day last January? Looking at Dax, though, it is impossible not to notice his transfer into toddlerhood.

We will go to the doctor next week for his well-check, but took our own unofficial stats. He weighs around 20 pounds and is 29 inches tall.

Thanks for the height chart Grandpa Olson!

He changes daily and we are in love with each new stage. He is generally more expressive and playful,

Ooooh!

Peek-a-boo!

And started walking. Yep, he's walking! He has been pulling himself up on things, walking along furniture, using our hands for support, and taking steps on his own for awhile, but in the past couple of weeks he has come to use it as his preferred way to move. It was a pretty abrupt transition from being very hesitant to walk without support to constantly letting go of his support systems and cruising around on his own. He is still a bit unstable, but it no longer phases him and he will get back up as quickly as he can.

He is also talking. While this development is a much slower transition, it is exciting to note his quick growth in both receptive and expressive language. He understands and responds to many things we say to him now, and continues to learn and use new words and noises daily. Some of our favorite things he says include:

Animal sounds: horse, snake, cow, sheep, monkey, and tiger
'nana - banana
hiya! - turtle (as in the sound his ninja turtle action figure makes!)
Nanana - batman (as in nananananananananananananananana batman!)
ball - everything round is a "ball"
Mama and Dada :)
none - "one" while holding up one finger to show how old he is (see video below - and feel free to stop it 5 seconds in when Mama tries to get a longer performance than Dax was willing to do)

He is also learning body parts and will point to show where his nose, mouth, tongue, and head are. While eating dinner one night he was throwing food on the floor and heard us saying, "No!". He promptly pointed to his nose. Silly boy!

Look at our sweet little guy rounding out his year in pictures:

Happy birthday Dax! You have made our lives infinitely better and we look forward to every moment with you in the coming years.