Superman

Roman is almost 13 months old (in 4 days he'll be 13 months) and WOW the difference in what he's suddenly learning and coming up with is absolutely amazing to watch!  It's like overnight he's learned to say words other than "momma" "dada" and "bye-bye", I almost dropped something on my foot and I said "whoa buck" and my little Pete the Repeater said, "whoa buck" almost instantly after I said it.  Good thing I chose to say that and not something bad! :)  He'll randomly repeat what we say when he wants.  It's actually pretty cute and forces us to watch what we say.  Crap, stupid and shut-up are quickly being eliminated from our vocabulary.  To clarify, we tell our barking boston terrier to shut up, not each other or Roman!
He's not walking but he's pulling up on EVERYTHING!  I actually like it.  I'm ready for him to not be frustrated about not getting someplace fast enough, I'm kinda ready for walking.  Even though I know I'll be sad because he's getting so BIG :(
Recently, on July 28th he ditched the bottle.  He was only getting 4 oz a day in one bottle and it was right before bedtime.  I had decreased and phased out the daytime bottles, he didn't even miss those at all.  But I actually was the one holding on to the nighttime bottle.  I mean, don't get me wrong, he liked it and it was familiar and routine for him but I was the one who offered it to him each night.  We went out to eat with friends the night he ditched it and didn't home until 10pm which is 2 hours past bedtime.  I changed him into his nighttime diaper and pj's and he went right to sleep.  I was a little bit hoping it was just that he was tired and didn't care enough about the bottle that night.  The next night after his bath he crawled out of his bathroom and bedroom into the living room and started playing, which he never does at bedtime!  I let him play and Todd and I sat down to eat dinner because we hadn't eaten yet.  Roman decided he needed a 2nd dinner so he ate AGAIN and I gave him some whole (organic) milk in his sippy cup.  He ate and drank and ate and drank and afterwards, I told him it was bedtime and I took him into his room and rocked him and put him down and never heard a peep.  I knew deep down that two nights without a bottle meant, it was more than likely gone for good.  I was SUPER sad.  I loved that time with him but now our routine is still rocking and listening to worship music (because he LOVES to do that) without a bottle.  It's still my time, our time.  And occasionally daddy asks if he can put him to bed because he adores that time with him too, and I of course share that time and allow it :)  I'm no longer sad about the bottle, it's a big milestone and I'm proud that we did it within the 12th month.  Life is actually easier not centered around bottles!!
Roman is starting to sign A LOT!  He does more, yes, all done/finished, eat and thank you.  I need to work on please now.  He also does the motions and sings to Itsy Bitsy Spider, it's the cutest thing ever!!
This week he's pulling up on everything and using his push toys to walk around the living room, he walked around the entire living room today without a single fall!!  He can also park his push toy next to a piece of furniture and transfer to it.  The average time babies walk is 14 months, I'm thinking we'll be there before that mark hits!  And this baby has some super awesome shoes to wear for when he walks, I LOVE buying baby boy shoes.  He's actually in a size 5 to 5.5 so there are tons of cool shoes to wear, not the silly little shoes.  :)
That's all for now!  Still praying daily about adoption number 2 :) add us to your prayer list, please!