12 Month Check-up

Will had his 12 month check-up on Thursday (June 26). It went really well. Will weighs 25.0 pounds and is 31 1/4 inches tall. The doctor said that he looked great. He was cleared to start drinking whole milk. He also got four shots. He did incredibly well with his shots. Burt helped hold him while the nurse gave him the shots. As soon as the nurse finished, Burt picked him up and Will stopped crying in less than a minute. A friend had suggested taking a sucker to give to him, which we did. After he stopped crying, I gave him a sucker. He had only had a sucker two times before that (he gets one when he gets his hair cut), so he was very excited to get the sucker. He was as happy as could be by the time we left the doctor. Thankfully, he hasn't had any trouble from the shots. He doesn't have to have any more immunizations until he is ready for kindergarten! YAY! Also, the doctor said that he doesn't have to have another check-up until he is two years old.
We let Will try the whole milk for the first time on Friday (June 27). He didn't like it very much. So, we have started mixing it with his formula. We started out with about 3/4 formula and 1/4 milk, then half and half and now are about 1/4 formula and 3/4 milk. He is doing really well drinking it now. After we get him drinking all milk, we need to work on getting him away from the bottle. The doctor said to try to have him away from the bottle in a month or two. I started giving him his breakfast milk in a cup this morning, instead of a bottle. I think that bottle will be fairly easy to get rid of. However, I know it will be hard to give up the bottles before naps and bedtime!
Will is talking up a storm now. He says more recognizable words and jabbers all the time. Some of the new words that he says are "eat, what's that?, bye." He is also getting really good at waving hi and bye. We have started working on teaching him body parts. The other day at lunch he learned to stick out his tongue when we ask where his tongue is. It is so cute!
Will loves to play outside. We try to play out at least once a day. Since it is so hot here, we have to go out early in the morning or late at night. We did go out and play in pool some last week during the afternoon. He has a very small blow up pool that he got for Easter. He had fun playing in the pool and with his new sprinkler ( a birthday gift from friends from church). When playing inside, Will loves to play with a ball or his blocks. He also likes any toy that makes a noise. He is starting to share his toys with us a lot (and also shares food). Sometimes, he will sit and "read" his books. He will sit looking at a book and jabber while looking at the pictures. I would love to know what he is saying!
Last night after church, we went to hang out with some other families. Most of the people had small kids, so there was a small pool and sprinkler set up for the kids to play with. Will seemed to have fun playing with the other kids and didn't hesitate to play with the bigger kids. He really liked playing with the balls that they had in the water.
Here are some recent pictures of our little man. The first picture is Will and Burt waiting to see the doctor.

Will playing ball before bedtime.

The next four pictures are Will playing outside in his pool and with his sprinkler.




Will opening his birthday gift from Ms. Heidi.

Drinking whole milk for the first time.

Will playing outside with Gammy and Papa.