Back when Maddox was about three months old, I was talking with another dad who has two children, one four and one who is just a few months older than Mads. He said that babies’ development seems to come in spurts, usually every few months.

Well, we’ve certainly had one of those spurts recently – coincidentally enough, right around his first birthday. It’s getting harder and harder to refer to him as a baby because of how much he’s changing.

The biggest change has been walking. A month or so ago, Maddox took his first steps in (of all places) the bath tub. He took another few the next day, and then that was it. I think of him saying, alright, I know how to do this now, I just need to wait for my body to get the balance down.

Then near the end of last week he decided, ok, I think I’m good! And he started walking everywhere. He still stumbles and falls a lot of course, and he hasn’t learned how to stand up without the support of a couch, wall, etc, but I’m sure that is coming soon. It was really surreal last week when I was in the kitchen making breakfast, and all of the sudden I just see him turn the corner and walk into the kitchen. I’m so proud of him, but even better, he’s so proud of himself – you can just see it in his face when he walks towards you.

At the same time he’s also begun making new sounds, like “ga ga”. He’s said maybe about a dozen words since he first said “da da” six months ago, but recently it’s just been a constant stream of new sounds. He’s also started using emphasis as well. For example, when he finds a crayon he’ll beeline over to his drawing pad saying “dot dot, dot dot” (which is what Jeanne, his daycare provider, has taught him to call it) in what can best be described as an excited whisper. It’s pretty cute.

He’s started imitating more sounds too. The other night, Leanne and I were watching a cartoon where a hawk was swooping down and making a screeching cawing sound. Out of nowhere, Maddox does a dead-on impression of it.

He’s also growing in other ways, such as having stranger anxiety, which is odd to get used to since it was so non-existant until now.

Right after his birthday, we moved his crib into the bedroom that was eventually going to be his when he was old enough for a bed.

So, there’s been quite a lot of change for The Duke recently! The Duke has been Mad’s nickname ever since he started crawling. He reminded me of Marmaduke, the cartoon dog, because of the way he crawled around. Except I thought the dog’s name was Marduke. Which, of course, can be shortened to Duke. And hence Maddox became Duke, The Duke, or Baby Duke.