Lincoln is One

I feel like this is such a gigantic milestone for Lincoln, and me. Getting to one year. Getting through one year. Believe me, I love my son. I enjoy being home with him. Watching him develop and caring for him. I am thankful that I am able to do that. To do what I feel is best for him. But this year has been the most difficult thing both all three of us has ever faced. First, not knowing whether Lincoln would even survive. Now at one year old, Lincoln has little evidence of CDH or complications. I knew throughout the year, especially during the really tough times I would think, that there would be a time when I would be able to relax. When Lincoln would be well and I wouldn't need to be so anally-retentive. And it is here! This past month, I have felt relief. I have stopped writing in Lincoln's food journal and no longer measure his liquid volume by the mL. I have stopped counting his respirations at every nap. I have stopped counting his night wakings and length. I have put away the hand sanitizer. I even stopped monitoring his SO2 before the monitor was taken back! It has been WONDERFUL to just be with Lincoln. I know he is still struggling with weight gain, but I finally feel like things are either under control, or OUT of my control and I have learned to let them go.

So enough about my feelings and on to the fun stuff!

Here's some facts about Lincoln at about 12 months.

*Favorite toys are BOOKS, mostly for chewing (grrr...) but starting to look at and turn the pages more. Also likes spoons, mostly baby plastic spoons from the dollar store, but will take any!

*Mimicking sounds and expressions. There was a time when Linc started to do this, but then had stopped until recently. He now will stick out his tongue, make a click noise, and say a few choice "words" like mamama or lalala.

*Lincoln will now also shake his head at EVERYTHING. He even has made a game of it. He shakes his head at you with a big grin and laughs if you reciprocate! It's great fun to see him communicating so well!

*Full on pulling up, cruising and starting to stand on his own for a few minutes. He absolutely loves to walk around holding my or daddy's hands.

*Motor skills are also gaining. Lincoln can now clap his hands and thinks it is so fun! He likes to bang toys together, too. He is also waving, and I think he means it as a greeting.

*Lincoln's cognition is developing as well. He is starting to understand some words I say. He will look towards an object I speak of, or sometimes I just see it in his eyes that he recognizes what I am talking about. He also has started to say a line of one of his favorite books as I read it to him, just before we get to the line, he blurts it out. He also laughs when I say, "The End" after each book.

Mommy: A cow says, 'Mooooo.' A sheep says, 'Baaaah.'
Lincoln: -Lalala.
Mommy: That's right, Lincoln. Three singing pigs say, 'Lalala!'
Lincoln: (smiles.)

He's so smart!

*Linc is wearing 12 month tops (due to his head size alone) and 9 month bottoms. Although, some 12 month bottoms fit, depending on the brand.

*I think I can safely say that Lincoln's eyes are now brown. Just like Mommy.

*Lincoln has 6 teeth. Four on top and tow on bottom. His 7th is broken through but taking it's time coming up!

*Lincoln is enjoying all table food now. He pretty much eats what we eat. No more baby food. He gets his DuoCal supplement three times per day added to moist foods, giving him an added 120 calories. Lincoln is now only drinking about 8-10 oz (on a good day) of his formula per day, which is now 100% Kid Essentials 1.5cal (meaning 1.5cal per mL, compared to whole milk that is 0.67cal per mL, so it's packing the punch Linc needs). He is happy to drink his 6 or so ounces of water throughout the day from his cup and only wants his bottle at night when sleepy. I have stopped waking him to feed and now let him ask for his milk. Which brings us into...

*Sleeping. Which is not so good. As soon as I was able to get Linc to sleep through the night it seems, I needed to start waking him for feedings. Well, it only took about three weeks before he started waking on his own about 10 minutes before schedule. He sleeps for stretches up to 4 hours, totaling about 10 hrs per night. Linc has also begun to drop his morning nap and sleeps for 2-3 hours for naps.

Kind of a side note...
Around the time I started the dreamfeeds, I started to read books on Attachment Parenting, which is a resource I stumbled on when Lincoln was "colicky" but hadn't read until recently. One of the many topics is sleeping and the promotion and benefits of co-sleeping and bed sharing. I will not go into the details of Attachment Parenting, which you may research on your own, but the book gave me the willpower to do what I have felt was right in my heart -to sleep with my baby. It was something I longed to do from the day he was taken from my belly. So, now Lincoln starts off in his crib while I am still awake and finished his nights with us, after one of his night wakings. He sleeps the best there, between us, and I don't mind the extra snuggle time. There is no "crying it out." Dan's been a good sport about it, too. It's what works for us.

I don't have measurements right at 12 months for Lincoln. He has his 12 month well visit this Friday, which is more like 12.5 months, and his dietitian doesn't come to the house until next week. So I guess we will go with his measurements taken at his surgery when he was 11.5 months.

16 lbs 12oz (<3rd%)
28 inches long (~3rd%)
HC - not taken

For 12 month pictures, we took Lincoln to a studio for the first time. We actually just did this today. It went really well. Lincoln is such a happy boy, in general, and he did not disappoint! We also got a few family shots in addition to Linc's birthday photos. For now, I just have a few of the pictures I took of Lincoln yesterday in his "birthday suit." I'm starting to really like this photography thing. Enjoy!