99th: A Moment to Brag, Please

At Little Man's 12 month doctor visit, we confirmed what we already know: he's huge.

At nearly 27 pounds and 31 inches tall, our little bulldozer is in the 99th percentile for weight and height. Some of his 2T size clothes are starting to get a little tight.

He did all his tricks for his doctor--he walked, he shared, he clapped, he talked. He stole her pen when she wasn't looking.

Some of the words we're hearing:
--Ball: this is the one we hear most clearly, all though he says it with a distinctly southern accent. "Baaawwwwlllll...."
--Da-Da: His favorite person in the whole world.
--Ba-da: Bottle.
--Beeb: He doesn't call me Mama, he repeats what he hears his father call me. And that's Babe.

We're also starting to hear him imitate syllables and intonations of longer sentences. He reponds verbally to certain situations, and even though the words aren't clear, we know what he's "saying". When the dogs bark, we hear "big dogs bark". When Daddy turns on the PS3, we hear "play foot ball". He understands simple directions like "bring that to Nana" and knows to follow when we sing "following the leader, the leader, the leader..." And when I sing "where oh where oh where is baby...?" he comes running towards me. He points to family members in photos and will show you where your nose is--the squeeze it and laugh hysterically.

He is curious and takes time to figure things out. I love watching him encounter something new. And I know that nobody is perfect, but he sure is pretty perfect to me.

Splashing, Smoothies, and Songs: All the Things a 1-Year-Old Could Want for a Birthday

Birthdays are a big deal in our family, so of course, we had to do it up right for our Little Man's very first one.

His birthday fell on a Thursday and his party on a Saturday, so we had a whole long weekend of celebration. On his real birthday, we had a family portrait and a special birthday lunch. Well, Mommy and Daddy had a special lunch--Little Man stuck with his yougurt and applesauce, his favorite foods at the moment. Our little walker trekked all over the mall, holding tightly to his Daddy's finger. He's really getting the hang of being on his feet and prefers it to crawling in almost every situation. We visited the Disney Store, where he picked out his very own Rabbit from the Winnie The Pooh stories, who now resides in his crib.

At dinner we presented him with a chocolate cupcake with a big blue "1" candle stuck in it and waited anxiously with the camera on to see what he would do. The candle was tossed aside and he stared critically at the cupcake, then gave me a look that clearly said, what, you want me to touch this thing? Little Man is not a big fan of getting his hands dirty, and we've never been able to get him to eat cake. So we gave him a spoon and let him smush the cupcake to pieces with that, which he happily did for almost 20 minutes. He did not eat a bit of it, although he mimed eating it off his spoon.

Friday's festivities included time with his Nana and Great Grandma while Mommy and Daddy snuck out to see the final Harry Potter movie--I am a hardcore fan of the books and the movies, so it was a really big treat for me. And...it was the first movie I had seen in a theater since I was 6 months pregnant. It was a well-earned three hours.

We had a visit to the "splash ground", where Little Man explored the fountains and we both got soaking wet. When we came home, we turned on music and laughed ourselves silly watching Little Man dance--he stands in the center of the room and waves him arms and wiggles his little tushie.

Saturday was the big party day, hosted by his Godparents. Since he's obviously not a fan of cake, the theme of the party was "smoothies and snacks". His whole family and some special friends gathered to help us celebrate. He had so much fun he passed out sitting up halfway through the party and we had to wake him up to open his gifts. All the people in his life spoiled him rotten, and our living room now resembles a Toys-R-Us. He loves his new fire engine with real fire-engine noises--he hasn't quite mastered climbing on it and riding it himself, but he loves to push it and goes careening around the room with it as fast as his legs will go. He has new music DVDs that we groove to almost every day, and a fancy new wagon that we explore the outdoors in.

He won't remember his first birthday, but Husband and I sure will. And so will the rest of our family. And that's what birthdays are all about, right? Not the gifts (although they are pretty cool), but remembering and celebrating the past year and all that has hapened. Little Man will see it through pictures and stories, and know that he is the most loved Little Man in all the land.

A Year Ago, Right This Second...

I was tired, and it hurt, and I was ready for it to be over.

And just when I thought I couldn't take it anymore, I heard the doctor say: "Look down! Look at your son."

And there he was, so familiar, and I collapsed back onto the pillows and thought to myself, of course he looks like that. What else would he look like? It was so obviously our son that I couldn't fathom ever wondering what he would look like. He was himself, all 8 pounds of him. And he was getting cleaned up, and I was getting cleaned up, and there he was wrapped tighly in a little blanket, in Husband's arms. I watched as the man I married became a father, felt my heart get a little bigger as I became a mother, as we became a family of three.

Happy Birthday Little Man. May you always feel the love we had for you then and have for you now.

Kissy Face

Some babies get weirded out when their parents are affectionate with each other. Not Little Man.

When he spots Husband and I giving each other a kiss, he rushes forwad, climbs in our lap and pushes our faces together for more kisses. Then he joins in, offering open-mouthed, drooly, baby kisses.

I've had a lot of good kisses in my life time, but nothing beats that kind.

One Small Step For (Little) Man...

What do you do when you're a little man, and you're in Mommy's lap all cozy and hanging out...but then Daddy comes into the living room and sits on the couch?

And then Daddy picks up his video game controller, and you think you'd really like to go sit with Daddy, so you hold your hands out to him, but he doesn't come and pick you up?

And so you stand up, and you do a little bounce to distract him, but he still doesn't come and pick you up?

So you stand for a moment longer, then you move one chubby little foot forward, then another, then again...

And soon you're so close that you can let out a giggle and lunge at Daddy, who catches you--because that's what daddies do, after all. And then you decide to head back to Mommy...then back to Daddy, and back to Mommy...and everyone is laughing and clapping.

The whole world looks different when you're walking. Its a whole new way to explore.

And life is good.