Gone fishin' at 52 weeks

I'm not sure how this happened, but it's been a year since we first met Big Fish.   And while it seemed like it happened just last week, it also feels like a small lifetime has occurred in the past 12 months.  The past 365 days have seen lots of sky's-the-limit highs as well as it's fair share of lows.  One thing is for certain though, this kid is so amazing and I'm so glad that he is mine.

• Unscientifically, Fish is weighing in at 25.2 pounds and is 29.5 inches tall (weird to say tall  instead of long, but we are now measuring him standing up).  I will tell you that this kid is H-E-A-V-Y to carry around all day.
• At one-year, he is in size 4 diapers and is wearing 12-18 month tops and 18-24 month pants (due to length issues).
• We are still partially breastfeeding.   In the past four weeks, we have switched to whole milk during the day entirely.  He still nurses at nap time, bedtime and occasionally first thing in the morning.  And in the last couple of weeks, he has really picked up his nursing in the middle of the night (more on that later).  We are going to be cutting out the middle of the night feedings and winging the rest of the feedings.  I'm not in a rush to completely eliminate breastfeeding as I was with Finn (which I think had a lot to do with not wanting to pump during work).  Maybe in a month or so, we may start weaning out of the nap time nursing and then the bedtime.

• Fish is a great eater!  He eats anything and everything, almost.  There are some things that he refuses to eat, such as sliced cheese and sandwich meat.  And he is coming around to some foods that he used to refuse, like chicken and pasta.  Some of his absolute favorites are carrots (he can almost finish an entire 8oz can of carrots for dinner if he is really hungry), applesauce, yogurt, and Mac & Cheese.  I try to feed him a lot of variety, but with no teeth and a sister who doesn't like to eat anything anymore besides chicken nuggets (she will get her own update post in two weeks on her birthday), it's difficult to think about healthy options.
• As seen in the previous post, he is walking!  And even though he has only been walking for a week now, he is WALKING all over the place!  The comment was made last night at his birthday/Superbowl party that he "walks like Frankenstein".  So yes, his walking isn't graceful yet, but it definitely gets him to where he needs to be.  And he is walking long distances -- I think his longest one-time distance was from our kitchen to our living room -- probably 30-35 feet!
• He has become a master at getting down from furniture (like our bed and the couch).  Over the past couple of weeks, we have been showing him how to safely get down and last week, he finally got in on his own!  I'm still pretty nervous when he gets close to the edge of the bed as he is very indecisive at times and will get right on the edge and then decide to turn around and sit down with his bum teetering near the brink.   I've had him "fall" a couple of times (i.e. I've held him and slowly dropped him to the ground) in hopes that he will learn to fear sitting on the edge of the bed.  No such luck yet.

• He is also now into climbing.  He tries to get up on the couch, though his legs are too stumpy to reach to the top of the couch.  But with a little help from a toe under the bum, he is up on the couch in seconds flat.  He also likes to climb on the small kitchen set that my dad built for Finn (and now for him to use).  He will climb onto the chairs, stand on the chairs and one time, I even caught him standing on the table!!!!!!  But he doesn't seem to get the word "NO!" just yet.
• We have six teeth!  And four of them came last week!  There are still two that are on the way out (but not fully out yet).  With all four popping out last week, I think that is what led to a lot of our middle of the night feedings.  I'm going to miss that toothy grin that has been his smile for the last 12 months.
• Fish is really starting to talk in his own language.  He will read books out loud and loves to squeal a high pitch squeal at the top of his lungs.  And he is definitely understanding what we are talking about when we talk to him.  I was amazed the other day when I said that I had to go to the bathroom and he started walking towards the bathroom.  He understands a lot, but still no words or the beginning of words yet.  Although I think that when I tell him "NO!", he shouts back "YEAH!".  He is a big rebel when it comes to listening to the word "NO!"

• He loves to dance -- like seriously...  Like it was his job...  If you are dancing with him and stop even though he wants to continue, he will rock violently back and forth in your arms until you begin to dance again.  And now that he has balance, he will bounce on his knees during songs.  CUTEST!
• His sleeping zip code will be changing soon (much to my chagrin).  He is THE best snuggler -- like Oscar Award winning snuggling.  Last week, I started exercising in the morning and E even mentioned to me that he liked that I was getting up early because he loved snuggling with Fish when I left.  But now that we are slowing up on the breastfeeding, he will be moving into his room (or his and his sister's room).  I haven't begun to think about it yet, but I know that it's on the horizon...  (insert sad mama face here)
• And this kid definitely has pipes.  I can tell instantly when Finn takes something away from him (which happens at least 5-6 times a day).  The shriek and scream that is emitted from those tiny vocal chords is shocking.  And he also has begun to get a jealous streak -- recently he has been fine across the room until he sees Finn on my lap and then comes at a dead-crawl, whining because he wants to be on my lap, not her.