12+ months and so much to talk about!

I can't believe I missed my little man's 12 mos post!  Well, let's just say it's been a busy, busy month!

Things he likes to do now:
- Throw food EVERYWHERE (he finds this hilarious)
- He's getting over his fear of showers and now likes 'em enough to favor them over bath tubs!
- Surprise us by doing things like turning some of his books... RIGHT SIDE UP (he normally likes to read them upside down and backwards)
- Make his UGLY face when he tries out something new to eat
- He now has an extreme fear of eating fish.  I don't know how this happened.
- Sleep through the night if his achey gums don't bother him - unfortunately, those three budding teeth have only JUST now broken the surface.  He's by far the worst teether in the world!

Things he recently learned:
- Today, he looked at me and said, "HI, DAD!" OMG!! I was floored!!  I kept asking him to say it again and he'd do it over and over, but the second I tried to video him, he stopped and started wailing!
- Use his toys as a step stool so he can climb on to other furniture
- How to feed himself (but he will ONLY feed himself french fries - nothing else!)
- How to hold a fork semi-successfully
- How to stand on his own and clap his hands without falling over


At his 12 mos visit, BT was labeled with "failure to thrive".  How devastating for a new parent to hear that!  Since then, I've made it my life mission to make him eat more.  I'm consulting many OTHER parents who've had children with the same label (it's such a terrible label - they need a new name for it, or perhaps it's purposely harsh so people will take it seriously?).  Here's our new regimen for our Little Monster:

1) Only 1 bottle a day (supposed to be no bottle, but a bottle to bed really helps him - and us - out!) of milk.
2) Limit his milk (and by milk, I mean WHOLE MILK!  No more breastmilk and no more formula!) to no more than 16oz. per day.
3) Make him drink from a cup, or sippy cup, or cup with a straw.
4) All bottles of milk are mixed with a bit of chocolate milk or Carnation Instant Breakfast (usually CIB) so he increases his caloric intake.
5) He gets McDonald's or Chick Fil A three times a week - he needs FULL FAT food (this is only temporary as we try to increase his appetite and get his weight up by 3 lbs. 5oz.).  I've been eating lean, resulting in him eating lean and that is NOT GOOD!  My baby needs fat and I'll give him anything he needs to grow and thrive and be a happy, healthy baby!
6) He gets peanut butter every day!  We even tried incorporating avocados, but BT does NOT like that.  We're trying out the egg a day thing now.  He usually spits it all out, but I'll find a way to make him eat those eggs!
7) We pretty much run around with food all day, trying to get him to eat more.
8) Grapes!  Little Man will eat grapes whenever and wherever.  We don't want him to subsist off of grapes, but he gets about 10 of them a day which is way more than necessary, but hey, if it makes him eat...

We're doing everything we can to keep him healthy, happy, and whole!  He has another appointment with the pediatrician when we get back from San Diego and again two weeks after that.  Let's PRAY he keeps growing and gaining weight!!