Happy Birthday!

Sweet boy, you are ONE YEAR OLD! I just cannot believe it, and yet, I can. This has been the most difficult, most rewarding year of my life. Thank you for showing me so much about God, creation, and myself. Daddy and I love you so very much, and we can't wait to see what this next year has in store for you. 

The following pictures are just your weekly pictures, but they truly characterize your budding personality. 

STATS: You weigh 25 pounds and are 32 inches tall. Woah. You've always measured big, so I'm not surprised. My arms thank you for their new muscles.

 SLEEPING: You are pretty consistent, praise the Lord! You sleep between 11 and 12 hours a night, from 7:30pm to 7ish am. You take two great naps. I wake you up after 1.5 hours in the morning (starting at 9am). In the afternoon, I let you sleep as long as you need, which is many days 2 hours (starting around 1pm). I have been "training" you to sleep in your Pack N Play for your naps. Hopefully this means that we can go hang out at a friend's house for a day and you will sleep. At least, I hope you will be more flexible with where you sleep. You have done very well with this.

 EATING: You eat three meals a day. You don't usually eat much for breakfast. For lunch and dinner, though, you eat almost as much as Mommy! You prefer vegetables, and asparagus is probably your favorite. You like meat, too, but you are not a huge fan of pasta. You do enjoy quesadillas and guacamole (um, mashed avocado) with Mommy almost every week. You still love bananas and blueberries!

^post-haircut... pre-haircut v

 Your birthday party theme is "Curious George." Mommy has been preparing for this party for several weeks so she doesn't get stressed out! Mommy's side of the family will all be there, along with a few friends with kids your age. Daddy's brother, your Uncle Ryan, came to visit you last weekend, and your Grandma Lois and Grandpa Stan look forward to coming down in October.

 NEW STUFF:
- You absolutely love music. You will turn on your battery-powered toys just to dance (sway) and clap. You are so cute when you do this!
- You still love books, but you like Daddy's Star Wars books to flip through the pages. Daddy is proud.
- You babble and "talk" all the time, but we have no idea what you are saying!
- You have absolutely no interest in walking yet. I take that back...ONE day a couple weeks ago, you wanted to hold one of my hands and give it a shot. I think you just know you can crawl super-fast that there is no reason for you to get around any other way.
- You love magnets, and I hope to get you some more for your birthday. I think your buddy down the street has some for ya.
- You are very intentional about your pointing. You point at the things you want and really try to communicate with us.