Max at 12 Months
When Max was born we were so focused on making it through the first couple weeks, that, as silly as this sounds, we barely thought about what he would be like as a fully functional human being. But we made it, and at one year old, he is walking, babbling up a storm and has developed a personality all of his own. The most exciting update is that Max is walking! Last month he started taking a few unsteady steps but now he stands easily and walks across the room from one piece of furniture to another, a giant grin on his face the entire time. Of course he still falls occasionally but it happens less every day as his confidence grows. Aaron and I are so proud of him and, when he completes a particularly long walk, his facial expression tells us that he’s proud of himself too.
Max loves playing peekaboo. The funny thing is he’ll hide behind anything: a blanket, a towel, his pants, even a clear plastic bag—I don’t think he’s quite grasped transparency. He loves when you ask “where’s Max?” so he can peek his head out, smile and quickly cover it again. Max also loves being chased. We can always tell when he wants you to play because he will crawl away for a couple feet, then quickly turn around and smile. These days Aaron spends so much time crawling after Max that several pairs of his jeans have worn through the knees. Max is also big into waving, mainly at cars and ceiling fans, but occasionally at people too.
Aaron’s Mom used to play a game with him when he was a baby where she would ask, “How big is Aaron?” then raise up her arms and exclaim “so big!” After a while, when she would ask “How big is Aaron?”, Aaron would raise up his arms. They captured it in one of their home videos and it’s one of the cutest things I’ve ever seen.
We started playing the same game with Max and a few weeks ago Aaron and I went nuts when we asked “How big is Max?” and he stopped what he was doing to lift up his arms. It was pretty special.
In Max’s 10 month update, we gave him a C- when it comes to eating solid foods. Unfortunately, that grade hasn’t improved. Most days we rely on a trick where we put a few cheerios in front of him because, for whatever he reason, he’s much more willing to accept spoonfuls of food while he’s distracted by the cheerios. It’s not a perfect or a long-term solution but it gets the job done.
Overall, one of our favorite things about this age is how fun it is to interact with Max and how excited he is about everything around him. He’s so receptive to new places and things and is thrilled to wake up every morning. It’s hard to believe our little baby is 1 year old (I’ll be writing about his birthday next week)! We love him so much and can’t wait to see what he learns next!
Max stats
- Weight: 21 lbs
- Height: 30.5″
- Head circumference: 19.25″
Memorable moments:
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Max loves taking baths. When he hears the bath filling up, he immediately starts bouncing up and down with excitement and turbo crawls towards the bathroom.
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He also loves pulling off our glasses. The first time Max grabbed Aaron’s glasses he started cartoonishly squinting and yelling “Where are my glasses!?” Max would then quickly try to replace the glasses on Aaron’s face. Of course, Max loved immediately loved this game, and, of course, wanted it to do it over and over again. We quickly realized the mistake Aaron had made and started making a concerted effort not to react when Max reaches for our glasses. And it’s worked, for the most part…
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We love watching Max figure things out. For a while, we used chairs as a barricade to keep Max out of our morning room and away from the sliding glass door blinds he loves to pull on. It worked for a day or two, until he figured out that he can just push the chairs out of the way. After that, he seemed almost excited when we would try to use the same trick to keep him.
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Max loves to make ba sounds. Whenever we play the Beach Boys’ “Barbara Ann” Max always starts “ba-ing” along with it. Brian Wilson would be proud.
Things we think Max likes:
- Sophie la giraffe: Peekaboo Sophie!
- Pointing at ceiling fans
- Y bike
- Baths
- Mother Goose Club
- Cheerios
- Climbing in and out of baskets
Things we are pretty sure Max doesn’t like:
- Solid foods
- Having his face wiped
- Wearing a bib
- Being strapped into his car seat
Milestones:
- Walking!