Elmer at One

Elmer is almost a year old, and is doing so well!  Most, if not all, of his developmental milestones are ahead of average. 

• He started standing ten or more seconds on his own and taking a few steps at a time by himself about a month ago.  Now he can stand pretty much as long as he wants, and is walking more and more around the house but still falls a lot.  I have seen him walk 15-20 feet at a time, but sometimes he falls after 4-5 steps. 
• He wants to feed himself with a spoon, and a couple of weeks ago did pretty well with feeding himself yogurt, although it was messy. 
• He can say the word "baby," but usually only does it in imitation of me saying it to him first.  He consistently signs "more" (by himself or in response to me asking him if he wants more) to get more food. 
• Even though he doesn't say much, he understands A LOT.  He knows where his shoes go (will pick one up and put it to his foot) and what a brush is for (puts it up to his head).  He can do motions just by me saying the words "splash", "jump", "boom" (bang onto stuff), and "dance."  And he will hand me his pacifier when I ask for it (without me motioning for it). 

My little monster is having a monster-themed birthday party tomorrow, and we have done it up big!  I can't wait!