Oliver update: 12 months

Oliver survived his birthday party. He would have been just as happy to chase a ball around the house with a few of his baby friends and not have 20 people watch his every move. He nibbled on his cake, but seemed happy we finally gave him some cantaloupe and eventually ditched the cake in favor of the fruit. (That's my boy!) But the first birthday party is kind of a like a right of passage in my parenting book, and besides, I had fun entertaining and baking and decorating a cake. So thanks for humoring me Oliver.

I almost scheduled Oliver's 12-month wellness check for his birthday, but decided I couldn't do that to the little guy since he was due for some shots. The damage was four booster shots, a blood draw, and if he's going to get pricked so many times, why don't we just throw in the flu shot and get it all over with? His test results from the blood draw (to check hemoglobin levels and lead) came back great. Oliver's percentiles for weight (20 lb. 2 oz.) and head match those from his nine-month appointment, (10th and 50th respectively) but his height at 29 3/8 inches is back in the 40-50th percentile range instead of the 10th. After watching the nurse try to mark the height of a squirming baby, I was reminded that the percentiles are only as accurate as the measurements taken.

While a few of Oliver's early-teething baby friends are getting their last teeth, about three weeks ago, I felt what appeared to be on Oliver's lower gum an emerging tooth. With the aid of the pediatrician's flashlight and tongue depressor, I was finally able to catch a glimpse of the slightest bit of tooth poking through the gum line. Chris practically cheered during a dinner of ravioli when he saw a tooth mark in the dough. By next month, he should have at least one, maybe even two, bottom teeth.

Thus, I don't know if it's the teething, another readjustment of his nap schedule, or separation anxiety reappearing, but Oliver is suddenly crying a lot more. If I go outside to set up his stroller, he'll sit in the foyer and weep. If I strap him into his car seat and don't get immediately into the car, I come back to the car to find him bawling. The reappearance of Mom is still the fail-proof remedy, but although he stops crying immediately when he sees me, he does so begrudgingly.

But I'm also afraid he's sleep-deprived. His morning nap is no longer a given, but he's not yet ready to drop it. He's often tired around his normal 8:00 a.m. nap time, but either will talk to himself and play in his crib for an hour, or will finally fall asleep close to when he normally would be getting up from his first nap. He still happily takes his afternoon nap, but I'm trying to figure out how to handle the transition of the afternoon nap turning into his only nap. Do I give him lunch earlier and then a nap earlier, or can I somehow encourage him to sleep longer in the afternoon?

While Oliver is not walking yet, he's proficient at crawling his signature crawl - two hands, his left knee and his right shin, which he propels himself forward with. He can now climb stairs - slowly, but confidently. When we headed out to the car this afternoon, I placed him on the front walk and I dashed back up onto the porch to lock the front door. When I turned around, he was clearing the last step on the stoop. With three more weeks until he's 13 months old, I'm not sure if he'll be walking by then, but he could surprise me. He will walk someday, of course, it's just difficult to imagine it'll really happen. When he was a little, little baby, I couldn't ever imagine him sitting up unassisted, let alone pulling himself up, then crawling. So until I have a better frame of reference for child development, I live in the present with Oliver and celebrate every milestone as if Oliver were the first baby to master a particular skill.