ONE Year Old!

The second one really does seem to do everything faster, but then again, the time seems to go so much faster too.  


I will admit that there were times when I wasn't sure we'd ever get to the toddler stage.  Most of those moments were at 3AM when I was so tired and Max was wide awake. But today?  Today I feel like it was just yesterday that I was snuggling Jack extra tight on September 8th, 2010 because I knew I was headed to the hospital to deliver Max in just a few short hours.  

I cannot believe Max is ONE!  

He's loving it too!  He just giggles and smiles pretty much all the time.  He's very happy and so very adventurous and brave.  He is into pretty much everything these days - you really can't take your eye off him for a second, but he's also learning so much, so fast.  I had forgotten this stage, where they literally soak in everything that happens and figure things out at lightning speed.  It's so much fun to watch!  

The 12th month wasn't an easy one, though we definitely came out on top.  I think it was mostly an issue with teething, as he got 4 new teeth on top over the course of about 6 weeks, but he was a bit fussier than usual.  He did perfect his walking though, which gave him a little reprieve from the reflux since he's upright more often than not. 

He was still taking 2 good naps every day but still not sleeping all night.  We continued to nurse at bedtime and anytime he got up during the night but he got bottles or formula during the day.  Eating was hit or miss, unless you were talking about fruit and then, he was all about it!  I even asked the pediatrician at his 12 month checkup if it was a problem!  She insisted that nothing bad ever happened to anyone from eating too much fruit and as long as he was getting protein and fat too, to let him have all he wanted!

Speaking of checkups, the stats were:
21 lbs 10 oz (25th percentile)
30.5 inches long (60th percentile)
19" head circumference (90th percentile)
He was deemed slightly anemic so we're on a little iron supplement but apparently that's pretty common for babies who are nursed so long.  He seems to really like the supplement (!) so that's good news!  Other than that, he got a great report.  We're still on the Prevacid once a day and going to stay on it as we try and add milk into his diet.  She did suggest dropping to one nap, so we'll see how that goes.  We're hopeful it'll help him sleep all night! 

He really is super sweet though and very patient.  I'm sure some of that has to do with the fact that we can't as often drop everything and get what he needs, like we did with Jack, but I think part of it is just him as well.  Don't get me wrong, when he wants something, you'll know, but he's pretty easy to please.  In this next picture, he's watching Jack...he loves his big brother so much and so closely watches his every move.  We can only hope that they stay so in love with one another.  

This picture cracks me up!  He is starting to make some of the same expressions Jack does...

He's still only saying Mama and Dada at the moment but seems to use them correctly.  We've let him become a bit too dependent on the paci again since it seems to help with the teething pain, so I imagine that's delaying his speech a tiny bit.  Hard to talk when your mouth is plugged up!

He had a little family birthday party when we got back from the beach that was a lot of fun!

He got lots of great gifts, but he fell in love with this hat...

And check out his dance moves!  This never got old by the way - I think we've sung Happy Birthday more in the last month than we have in our lives!  He still stops whatever he's doing and dances!

We tried cake again...

 and got the same result...almost exactly!  Oh well!

Isn't his shirt super cute?  Our friend Brooke, who sold Kenny my engagement ring, made this little shirt for him. And a cool shark one for Jack! It meant a lot to us Brooke, thank you!  

It was a fantastic way to celebrate an amazing year!  Thank you Max, for all the love you've given us, and for all the fun.  I wasn't sure how I could possibly love another child as much, but you've shown me how easy it is and made me wonder how we lived so long without you. My heart is so thankful for you.  I love you my sweetness, I love you to pieces and just can't wait for all the seconds and minutes and years to come.  I know there will be more smiles than we could ever imagine.  Happy birthday Max!