The Wolfe's Lair: One Year Check-Up

Eamon Wolfe, vital stats:

Head: 18 inches (75th percentile)

Weight: 22 pounds, 9 oz (50th percentile)

Height: 31 1/2 inches (90th percentile)

Ie, pretty much where's he's been...

Basic milestones checklist:

Pulling himself to a stand unassisted: YES

Walking with or without assistance: YES (with assistance)

Says "mama" or "dada" for correct parent: 1/2 YES ("mama" only)

Eats solid foods: YES (though lately, attempting to regress to mostly formula diet; more on the whole feeding issue later)

Points to identify objects he wants: YES (just this week, whew!)

Waves "hi" and "bye": YES (last week--good job, there)

Says at least three words: NO

That last one was the only one I had to check NO on, and it was a little heartbreaking. I felt I had to give the little guy some credit, however, so I wrote in (I don't think write-ins were technically allowed, but whatever) that he does sign all the time now. And by now, I mean in the last three days. He's been signing "more" for a couple of weeks, but just recently started signing "eat," "drink," and even learned "milk" at the doctor's office.

In fact, as I was talking to the doctor about how to wean Eamon off the bottle, we kept saying the word "milk." We weren't talking to Eamon, but nevertheless, he perked up because he knew the word and started signing it. I told him that no, he wasn't getting milk right then, so he started signing for drink, and after getting a negative answer for that, he signed for eat. So maybe he was trying to prove something to the doctor just like his mother.

But it proves that Eamon is becoming more and more aware of what is going on around him. His communication center has definitely turned on, whether he's actually forming words or not (he can make all the sounds...he just doesn't put them reliably together into words). We have always played some baby sign language videos for him because he liked them and would sit still for them, but recently, he's actually been watching them. Like, learning from them.

For instance, yesterday he grabbed his turtle night-light and started opening and closing his mouth like a fish. I was terribly confused until Aaron pointed out that the "turtle" and the "fish" segment are right after one another on his My Pet Signs video.

Okay, so he's still got some ironing out to do.

But in the meantime, we all need to start being careful what we're saying around Eamon Wolfe, because suddenly...he's listening.

Meanwhile, the obligatory PHOTO YEAR-in-REVIEW: