You, Me & Baby C: One Year Fun

What a beautiful boy. What a beautiful year! Since I treat this blog as your baby book occasionally, I wanted to jot down some thoughts on where you're at in life:

Your favorites: Perro (his stuffed pup), fruit (especially raspberries), balloons of any size/type/kind and bath time.

Not such a big fan of: Getting your diaper changed (this is new!), cow's milk (we're trying to get you there bit-by-bit). When mom & dad leave the room if you're cranky, you get very mad. You are also started to really want things -- if we don't let you have them, you definitely voice your opinion. Overall, though, you're really happy & relaxed baby.

New developments: You've definitely discovered Lilah. You love petting her & feeding her from your high chair. You are soooo close to walking. You are standing by yourself & walking with us or a walker/toy. We all think that you could walk but you're still just a little scared to "let go."

Funny guy: At school you drink out of a sippy cup, use sign language. At home, you sometimes will, but mostly you pretend that you don't know how to do those things. We get a kick out of you being coy but we're trying to get you to show off your skills at home! I get the "more" sign sometimes, which is a good start. You've started dancing, which we know you learned at school during music class. It was a cute thing to see dance at home for the first time on your own. You were standing at your music/computer/piano table and started moving your head and feet while waving your arm in the air. Adorable!

Sleeping: Let's hear it for the boy! You are a sleeper. We put you down every night around 7pm and you wake up between 6:30-7am on week days and sometimes as late as 8am on weekends. Nap-wise, at your little school you usually sleep from 11:30am-2pm. On weekends, you'll take a morning nap from 9-10:30 or 11 and then an afternoon nap from 1:30-3 or 4pm. If we do something exciting int he morning like swim lessons, you can give us a big 4 hour nap in the afternoon.

Eating: You are a VERY good eater. You love most everything, especially things that are sweet like fruit. We try to give you whatever we have for dinner, like pasta, beef stew, turkey burgers, etc. You are low in iron (just like your mama) so we're trying to get iron supplements & iron-rich food into that little tummy. You are also trying to feed yourself with your spoon with is funny.

New routines: We've been taking you to school for almost 2 months now. There was a learning curve for all of us, but I think we've come through with flying colors. You are certainly thriving in development. You learn new things every day & we can tell you love being around all of those childcare. You have really connected with one of your teachers and she with you. That warms my heart, because I feel that you have someone special really looking out for you every day. You've been sick 3 times in the last 2 weeks, which has been tough on all of us. Obviously, we know that comes with taking you to outside care. I'm happy that we were able to keep you at home for 11 months. You're definitely taking it better than a 3-4 month baby could/would. Still, it's so tough to see you sick & even tougher knowing that I'm taking you to a place that can get you sick. The upside, it would happen when you went to preschool/kindergarden anyways, so I try to think of it as the fact that you are building antibodies early.

My favorite moments with you are during weekend mornings. You wake up like the happy little dude that you are & we bring you into our bed. You nurse, cuddle, play with the puppy & try climbing the headboard. It's such a fun family time & something that warms my heart more than words can say.

We had a blast celebrating at the big birthday party but we also had lots of fun private moments. Here they are below.

What a big change a year makes!

Sweet, funny baby during our 1-year photo shoot at home. Those stickers don't stay on your onesie easily anymore. You are a curious guy!

Some of the great presents you received

You're going to be very well-dressed this fall! Matt & Danielle gave you your first Texas rodeo snap-button shirt. I also love that neon yellow green is "in."