Development Update

Well, hmm....Where did the time go?. Our son Andrew is just over 13 months. It doesn't seem that we have been parents for over a year already. I have documented and video taped every milestone. Some nights, we watch our son sleeping and I look to my partner and say, "Look how big he is already", and "Can you believe we are Daddies?" and "Can you believe we could potentially be grandparents?"
The experience is way more than we have anticipated. To be able to love someone so unconditionally and that love is immeasurable, so strong that it's impossible to explain in words. I feel honored, grateful, humbled and sooo blessed to have this experience in our life.

I am hopeful that our family (me, my partner, andrew and his birth mom) continue to develop into a strong family unit. You can see in the birth mom's eyes how happy she is to see him. When I see them together, I can't help but feel so happy and take so many pictures. I want Andrew to know his family, his whole family. It will be little (or a lot) harder for him in school as he begins to compare his life to others in his age group. I want him to have a story, a true story that helps define who he is and where he came from to help him to understand and be able explain his unique family to his peers. Of course I would love to protect him from all adversity, but I also want him to learn to deal with this on his own...."That which does not kill you.." you all know the rest. This is why the best I can do is supply him with his truth. I take pictures and videos so he can refer to them privately, when he needs to. My dream is to have his mom so actively involved that she will be a phone call away at all times, she attends his school functions, birthdays, holidays. However; I can't promise that will happen so I'm trying to capture these experiences (as much of them as possible) with pictures, photos, letters. I don't mean to sound selfish or rude when I say what comes next, but I am doing this strictly for our son. No one else, not the birth mom, not my partner nor myself

Development:
Andrew has come such a long way. He is saying "Dada" as he reaches for either me or my partner (the best feeling in the world). The rest of the words he chooses to use have a meaning but they are not a word you would recognize in English. An example would be, he puts things to his hear and says "wow-wow". This means hello and he makes believe to use a telephone. There are so many like this but if you did not know him, you would not know what he was trying to say. I like to call it our secret family codes.
He loves to jump, climb, run and loves being tickled. He has the most infectious laugh . My partner and I are puzzled, although we love music and I actually like to dance, I can not remember ever dancing in front of him. But this kid can move to music. Look for some great video clips of that to be posted soon.
Although he does not use all the vocabulary correctly, he certainly can understand. He knows where his nose, ear and mouth is. He can throw his ball and he will happily get you a book to read with him. His attention span has been growing more and more. He can sit for about 15 minutes with me and watch a cartoon before he begins to get a little bored. I am playing with him each day that exercises his focus. With me, I can play with him with a toy for about 20 minutes. Last month, we would have had to move on to something else after 10 minutes.

Socializing:
There is something wonderful about seeing Andrew with other children. He is drawn to other kids and loves to play with them. We go to the park when I get home from work (weather permitting) and he will walk right up to children (any age) with a big smile on his face. I've caught him many times holding little hands of little girls and trying to give them a hug.
He is a bit more selective when it comes to the bigger person (sometimes they can be called adults). He has a "let me get comfortable with you" time period. If the bigger person is insistent, they could break through in about 15 minutes...but he always watches to see where one of his daddies are. I discovered a play group through our neighborhood's GLTB center, that has supervised play groups. We hope to go there this weekend and check it out.

Our pediatrician told us he can move off the formula and drink regular milk and what ever food we are eating..but Andrew only has one tooth so far and it is in the front on the bottom. He can't really chew solid foods yet. My partner and I decided to continue the formula (one in the morning and one at night) just to make sure he is getting all his vitamins. Then during breakfast, he will eat pancakes or soft cereal. He also likes fruit (oranges, bananas, grapes) for lunch we will give him some veggies that are easy to chew once cooked and some rice. He loves crackers. His favorite are the Pepperidge Farm cheddar goldfish crackers. For dinner, we feed him baby food. His favorite is the Turkey and Veggies but he also likes the Butternut Squash just as much.
He is not very picky eater. He is very interested in the food that me and my partner and I eat. We always share with him and just make sure they are not very big pieces. It's cute to watch him chew....with just one tooth.
We are waiting for the teeth to cut through, but they are stubborn to come out, we are hoping they will pop through soon. He is constantly touching his gums and chewing on his toys and can get a little irritated, so we know he is teething and it's just a matter of time.

Thanks for reading, commenting on our story and sharing yours with us.