Leander Roxas // Twelve Month Update

Well, today is a BIG day – today is Leander’s FIRST birthday!! Our little man is ONE YEAR OLD today!!

I literally cannot believe it. I can’t believe that he’s so big – I can’t believe how fast this past year has flown by – I can’t believe that I have a 1-year-old!! It literally seems like just a few weeks ago that we were driving to the Midwife Center in Pittsburgh to meet this little dude! I am simply in denial that it’s been a full year since that glorious day when we met our sweet baby boy for the very first time.

I can’t say this past year has been easy – it’s brought about some massive learning curves (I know everyone says it, but it’s so true: going from one kid to two is HARD). But, I literally cannot imagine our lives without Leander – he fits just perfectly into our family. He’s a little ray of sunshine we didn’t even realize we were missing until he arrived & blessed our lives with his presence. His silly personality & infectious giggles make any mundane task extraordinary. And don’t even get me started on his relationship with his big sister – they adore one another & at times, it makes my heart feel as if it is going to simply burst with love & happiness!

We are celebrating this weekend with a BIG party, but until then, here are the latest updates on our sweet baby boy!

• For starting off his first year of life crashing thru clothes like Godzilla (it seemed like he would grow a whole size every single month!) that crazy growth rate has (thankfully) slowed down. The little dude is still bigger than his sister was at this age, but he’s been wearing 18-month size clothes for a while now. He’s definitely still growing! The pace is just a little more “manageable”.
• He might not be growing quite as fast, but he definitely loves to eat! He eats just about everything we eat now (Thanksgiving was SO much fun! He loved eating turkey & stuffing & sweet potatoes & rolls!) His favorite things to eat are bananas, pancakes, and “Lil Crunchies” – they’re kind of like Cheetos for babies (so of course he loves those!)
• Speaking of eating, I’ve been trying to teach him sign language for “all done” and “more” for weeks now & he might be getting it? He kind-of-sort-of signs “all done” when he’s done eating – accompanied by enthusiastic screaming of course. He’s such a silly little dude.
• He has learned how to shake his head “Yes” and “No” – so he does have a small avenue of communicating with us now! It’s so silly to ask him a question & have him give a little nod for “Yes” or to tell him “No” and have him repeat back a little shake of his head. It’s not enthusiastic by any means, but it’s there & I love it!
• Speaking of which, we’ve been working at teaching Leander that the dog food & water are off limits. He seems to think that munching on dog food is delicious & splashing in the dog water is more fun than any toy (as do most babies, right?) In fact, he then took it up to a whole new level by not just splashing in the water, but picking the entire bowl up & flooding the kitchen floor with it – so-not-cool. So, we’ve been working at it. And yesterday, I watched him crawl into the kitchen, stop by the dog food & water, look over at it, give a little shake of his head, and move on. He’s learning!!
• Leander went to all sorts of new places this month! He took his first trip to the Pittsburgh Zoo (with Grandma, Auntie Ruby, Alethea, Mommy, & Braelynn), his first trip to the Carnegie Science Center (with Aunt Naomi, Uncle Paul, PJ, Cameron, Alex, Mommy, Daddy, & Braelynn), his first trip to Kennywood for Holiday Lights (with Mommy & Daddy & Braelynn), and his first Light Up Night Parade in downtown Irwin (with, everyone). He is a fantastic little traveler & has no problem going-going-going! He is super content to ride in the stroller & look around at all the new things!
• Leander got “upgraded” to a new bedroom this month!! He now has the largest bedroom in our house – we call him “the king”. It’s a long story, but with our 3rd floor finally complete, the only access we had to get up there was thru Leander’s (old) bedroom. That space is now Derrick’s office/studio and our guest room – both of which we need access to at times when Leander is sleeping. So, instead of going crazy, tip-toeing thru his bedroom, we simply swapped. Derrick & I moved into Leander’s room & he moved into ours. The transition has been seamless! I need to “re-decorate” both rooms now, but so far, it has worked out really well (especially since we’ve used our 3rd floor as a guest room on two separate occasions already!)
• He seems to have a growing affinity for Thomas the Tank Engine – after seeing him at Kennywood a few weeks ago during Holiday Lights – he now points at any of the Thomas books we have & yells. He definitely recognizes the little blue engine – we might have a little train-lover on our hands (just like his Daddy!)
• Speaking of books – Leander has been obsessed with pulling books off of the bookshelf for a long time now, but just a few weeks ago, I found him sitting in a pile of books (freshly pulled off of the shelf) reading them. Like, actually flipping thru the pages & looking at all of the pictures! It wasn’t just a one-time thing either, I’ve found him looking at books multiple times now & I LOVE it. Braelynn loved to read (she still does) and I am so excited to foster the same love in Leander!
• Along with that – Leander is venturing more and more into independent play. He can entertain himself for little stretches of time – he pulls toys out, beats on them, eats them, puts them back, throws them around – it’s so much fun to watch! Plus, it allows me to actually accomplish little things without feeling like I need to either be holding him or sitting right next to him.
• Of course, that led to a small incident a few weeks ago: I was sitting at the dining room table with Braelynn & we were doing a Thanksgiving craft. Leander was in the living room – I could see him – he was fine! He was playing & being good, so his big sister & I were doing a fun activity. I kept peeking at him to make sure he wasn’t getting into anything he shouldn’t and it was during one of those “peeks” that I watched, in literal slow motion, as he grabbed the end table next to our couch in order to pull himself up to stand – he’s done it a thousand times in that exact spot – but at this particular moment, his hands slipped, and he went face-first into the corner of the table. I was instantly up & grabbing him – he was wailing with big crocodile tears! I looked his forehead, his nose, his cheeks all over & couldn’t find a bump anywhere – and that’s when I saw his poor little lip was bleeding. His tiny teeth had bit right thru his bottom lip & it swelled all up. He’s a tough cookie though & after some snuggles (and some nursing) he was all better. The swelling went down overnight & he was good as new again.
• Speaking of snuggles – he has started giving out hugs! He’s a bit stingy with them, but if he’s feeling super snuggly, he’ll hug you & it’s the best.
• So yes, Leander pulls himself up to stand like a pro now. He walks around the furniture like it’s his job. He even will stand without holding onto anything for a few moments! No independent walking yet, but it’s not far off! I give him another month (by Christmas?) and he’ll officially be a walker!
• He tries to talk to us all the time – and we’re starting to recognize little sounds as actual words. My favorite is when he looks at or touches the dog, he say “AAAAAAAAAA” (for Abby).
• He still loves to stick his tongue out – especially if you stick yours out at him! He loves to blow raspberries – he’s known how to do that for a while, but he learned a new enthusiasm for the trick from his cousin when we went to the Zoo. He loves to wave (usually with both hands) and he usually says something that sounds like, “Hiiiiiiiiiiii” along with his waving! He smiles at everyone & everyone stops to coo at him & comment on his fuzzy hair!
• Most of all, Leander loves us. He adores his big sister – he tries to follow her everywhere & play with whatever she’s playing with (it’s led to a few new statements like, “I want to play by myself!” and “Leander is touching my toys!”) But, for the most part, they play really well together. Braelynn knows how to make Leander laugh like no one else & it’s the most glorious sound in the whole world to hear them giggling together over something silly! Leander loves his Daddy (his most commonly used words are “Dada” & he lights up like a Christmas Tree when Derrick comes home from work. And, Leander loves me. I am his number one person. If I run to the grocery store & leave the kids at home with Derrick, you’d think that I left for a week when I come home. It melts my heart. I love both Braelynn & Leander more than I ever thought possible & I am so blessed to be their Mommy.

So, without further ado, here are his Twelve Month photos! If you’d like to take a stroll down memory lane & the past year, you can go back & see all of the monthly photos I took of our little man here – One Month photos & Two Month photos & Three Month photos & Four Month photos & Five Month photos & Six Month photos & Seven Month photos & Eight Month photos & Nine Month photos & Ten Month photos & Eleven Month photos.
If you’d like to compare & contrast our two sweet baby’s first year of their lives – you can go back & see Braelynn’s 1st birthday photos here!
Time can slow down anytime now!

And, that’s a wrap! 12 months of sweet Leander! Like I said, we have a big birthday party planned at the end of this week – so stay tuned for photos of that!