month twelve

I love that you turned one today. You're happy, healthy and the cutest little guy I know! And although it's hard for me to think that my baby is growing up, at the same time it continues to be more and more fun as you get older and can play and try to do things on your own.

You have added so much to our family in the year you've been with us and I must say it is very much as I imagined it would be. And, you've confirmed that our family is complete - there is nothing else we are looking for or hope to find by adding another family member. We're perfect!

I was so excited when I found out you were a boy - I instantly thought of how cool it was going to be to raise brothers. You have a built-in best friend and I'm already seeing the start of that relationship. You love Andrew and he definitely takes care of you and is looking forward to the days you can really play with him.

I love how happy you are. People comment all the time about how much you smile. However, there is another side to you... The side that doesn't like to be away from me. If you can see me, you want me to be close by. If I'm not around you do fine without me. I love that you love me, but I sure wish you'd also love other people - namely your dad and grandparents at least! I'm sure it's just a phase. And when you're over it, I'm sure I'll miss it. That's just how it works.

You had a big hypothyroidism checkup a couple weeks ago and I think I'm finally hearing and processing what the doctors have been telling me since you were born. And that is that you're healthy! The medicine you take is a complete replacement for your thyroid so really your body doesn't even know you don't have one. I think it helps that your first year went so smoothly - you hit milestones, you weren't sick, you didn't have any rashes and your growth rate was right on track. In fact, I think I had less to worry about with you than I did with Andrew (thankfully!).

I hope you grow up knowing the importance of family and loving God. I hope you understand that confidence and humor will get you farther than you might think. I hope to raise you knowing you're loved and that we're always here for you, but also giving you the freedom to do things for yourself. Most of all I hope you're happy in life, whatever you chose to do. I will do what I can to help you get there!

I love you with all my heart! Love, your mom.

month eleven

How can someone so cute be so feisty?! You have learned that crying loudly makes people respond faster. You also know what you want and it's not that easy to get you to change your mind. If I try to give you something to replace something you shouldn't have (which you have a crazy knack for finding things you shouldn't have...) you take what I gave you and you throw it. At this age, you shouldn't be throwing things when you're mad!! It makes me wonder what the toddler years will be like - and I must admit, I'm a little nervous! :)

I guess you know that you can get away with things because you have such a charming little smile. And so far you seem to be right. In fact, most people have no idea that you pack such a powerful punch when you're upset. Maybe it's because you really don't get upset too often. Thankfully.

One thing we need to work on is getting you to sleep through the night. You're not going to like it. And I don't like having my boys feel sad, so this will be tough on me too. However, if I want you to be able to ever know how to sleep at night, I think we need to work on it. So, here we go...

I'm having fun watching you and Andrew play together these days. You love it when he plays with you, and since you're starting to play more (you like to play with balls, you like to be chased, you like to play with instruments) you're getting a lot more attention from him. I hope you guys always remember to take care of each other like you do now.

Thanks for being my sweetie pie. And thanks for having your own cute personality. I love it!

month ten

You're saying mama! You win. Anything you want - you got it! :)

This was a fun month. You're starting to feel less like a fragile baby, which is (for the most part) nice. It means Andrew can play with you a little more. This is hit or miss since you, I'm pretty sure intentionally, like to play with specifically the item he is playing with, and he likes to push you over. But you have fun together too.

It also means we can do more stuff. You went to your first Mariner game - you did a little people watching then slept. You went on your first bike ride - you seemed to enjoy it but you were also tired, so you got a little upset when we had to stop and fell asleep on the way home.

You also got sick for the first time. It was a bummer for you, and it was a bummer for me. You might think from this update that you're a great sleeper, but really, you're a great sleeper during the day and then you suck at it at night! Being sick has made it so you wake up even more often, and since you're sick (and adorable) I can't help but cuddle with you (aka, not sleep well - ever). Oh well. It's something I secretly love. All I can think about is how you'll soon be 12 or 8 or 5 ... I don't know... and you won't want me snuggling you. So, I'll take it now, and love every minute, minus the puke.

(Your cute little feet)

Love ya. Your mama.

month nine

I have to admit that I don't know where the last couple months went. It's like all of a sudden you're 9 months old and I am not keeping up. I still need to buy you a toothbrush! Luckily, it doesn't seem like you care if I keep up or not - you fully intend to keep growing up. You can pull yourself up to stand, you're starting to eat real food (I think you prefer it), and you are learning to explore the house now that you have perfected your crawl. AND! For the first time in your life, both numbers came back in the normal range for your hypothyroidism check!

One thing I am happy to report is that we finally made it to the dedication service at church! This is something I've wanted to do since Andrew was a baby, but we just finally found a church we love and wanted to become members of. The dedication was a nice service. It is a time for us to commit to going to church regularly and praying for you every day. At the same time, our church 'family' commits to setting a good example and supporting us in the journey. It's pretty cool!

You still prefer to be with me. You like other people, but if you see me, you choose me (thank you!). You also prefer to be with me, rather than alone. I've done a bad job of getting you use to sleeping in your room. Basically, we both sleep better if we're snuggled in our bed, so that's what happens most of the time. That has to end soon. Seriously - you're NINE months old!

I've overheard a couple people talking about how cute you are recently. Both times they didn't know I was there to hear. It makes me smile because I know how cute you are and it's fun to hear others agree. :) I love you to the moon and back. Love your mom.

month eight

Another month cruised right on by! You keep learning new things and you keep growing up. So much has changed this month for you. You crawled today, on your eight-month birthday! A real, legs and arms moving together, crawl! (Thanks again for saving the cool stuff to do at home - dad and I both got to watch as you took your first crawl steps!).

You moved out of our room, your carrier car seat and your baby stroller. You seem to like the new freedom and better views!

You're still pretty easy going. However, if I try to take paper (your favorite thing in the world!) or a cord/string (your second favorite) out of your hand, you instantly cry harder than you cry for anything else. I first found this out when you were grocery shopping with me and grabbed for my shopping list. You dropped it a while later and cried so hard that I thought you had hurt yourself. But nope - you just really wanted that list back!

They say babies don't really notice other babies around them. I don't think that's the case for you. At daycare they've told me a few times that you love it when your friend Vera gets there. And I have a couple pictures of you grabbing a friend's hand! I guess that goes along with being charming. You charmed the nurses at your last checkup and they all fell in love with you. And the way you reach over and touch my cheek when you want my attention is done in such a charming way that I can't resist but to stop what I'm doing and play. You're going to charm yourself out of trouble - I have a feeling...

I'm loving all the changes and continue to look forward to what the next month brings!

Love mom.

month seven

What a fun month! You're doing something new every couple days - it's hard to keep up with all your new stuff. To list the technical stuff... you have sitting and rolling mastered (and just yesterday when I sat you down, you wanted to be on your hands and knees! - it only lasted a few seconds but it's a sign you're interested in crawling). You're taking a bath with Andrew now - sitting up in the bath chair. You have 2 bottom teeth and I think the top 2 are going to be showing up any day now. You're sitting up in the stroller and you ride in the cart - you love both of these! You are enjoying food, but I think you want more. You're losing interest in bottles already and since you're a big boy (already in 12 month clothes!) you need to eat. I asked daycare to start feeding you twice a day and I was told they started doing that earlier this week. I guess they could tell you like food too!

You continue to be a cutie. You've started to do a little squeal/giggle thing that is so fun to listen to. It's funny though because you do it at random times - I guess you're good at entertaining yourself! You also like to snuggle. Sometimes you'll be standing up on my lap and you grab some of my hair in each of your hands and pull yourself close to me and snuggle into my face. It might not sound cute, but it's adorable.

You're always happy and smiling. I love how easy it is to make you smile! And you continue to love Andrew. He can make you smile and laugh too. Maybe even easier than me or your dad can.

The next big step in your life will be moving out of our room. And even though you're a good sleeper, if you're anything like Andrew, you'll sleep even better in your own room. It's hard for me though. I love, love having you in our room. And if you're not sleeping well I love to pull you into bed and snuggle. You like it too. When I pick you up you instantly get into cuddle position and rest your head on my shoulder.

Thanks for being such a wonderful, easy going, fun little guy who likes to eat, sleep, smile and snuggle. And even though I am trying to remind myself that babies learn new things at different paces, thanks for being on track with your milestones so far...

Love, your mom.

month six

Merry Christmas my little six month old baby boy! You are so much fun these days. You love to be held, you love playing with toys, you love food (you had your first veggie today - squash) and you love tags. You have been doing a lot of talking lately. I swear you say 'hi' and we've heard 'dada' and 'mama' a few times, although we both realize it's not being said to us, just at us. And just lately you have started to talk using a lot of little 'words' instead of just cooing. Then you'll stop using sound but still move your mouth like you're talking. I've decided it looks like a movie with subtitles. :) It's adorable.

I'm going to try not to compare you to your brother, but there is one thing I'm excited about and it is that you seem to like food, just like he did. It was such a relief to not have to worry about making sure Andrew had enough to eat and I'm hoping you continue along that path and continue loving all the food we start introducing you to. It only gets better!

You're starting to drool quite a bit and you put EVERYTHING in your mouth so I wonder if you'll be showing us your first tooth before long! I guess I'll just have to wait and see what kind of good stuff comes this month!

Love you more every day. Your mom.