A's First Year

Each month, we documented A's growth. I love seeing each of the photos side-by-side and seeing how he's changed over these twelve months!

Happy 1st Birthday A!!!

I can't believe this munchkin is ONE! Time has flown by way too quickly. It seems crazy that it was already a year ago that we were holding our new little boy for the first time!

And this weekend, we partied like crazy to celebrate his first birthday!

We started celebrating a day early by having a friend party here at our house yesterday. We invited every little friend he has, but not all of them could make it {I didn't realize what insanity I was asking for when I sent out invitations to over twenty babies! Haha!} so it was a perfect sized party with the seven friends who were able to come. I'm so grateful for my sweet friends and their cute babies for coming to support A and help make his birthday extra fun!

The party theme was Henry Hugglemonster, a Disney Junior TV show that A really enjoys. I made some decorations and served A's favorite treats: graham crackers, Ritz crackers, and baby cheeses, along with baby-sized cupcakes!

And then the kids played and played and played. We got a few good pictures of some of the kids together, but most of the shots were blurry—typical of the fast-paced action of babies moving non-stop!

And, of course, I needed to document all of the cute moms and babies that came! So we took a group photo, which all the babies were well-behaved for... except for the birthday boy!

Then today, on his actual birthday, we had a family party with his grandparents, aunts and uncles. He was, once again, extremely spoiled by all of his adoring family members!! His cousin, Oliver, loved helping him try out all of his new toys!

A also got his very own birthday cake! It was so cute to watch him play with the frosting and explore the possibilities that exist from having a whole plate of sugar at his fingertips.

Even though he could have devoured the entire cake, he loved loved picking off the decorative pieces of blue frosting and only ate little pieces at a time. And he gladly shared with anyone who requested a bite! He's the cutest little sweetheart!

I love this little boy so much and hope he had the greatest birthday a one-year-old could ever ask for!

Baby A at 12 Months

It's official. This cutie is an entire year old! And I promise he's adorable, even if he wouldn't hold still for his traditional picture without pouting or throwing a little tantrum.

His current stats: 

• Weight: 20.6 lbs.
• Height: 30 inches
• Diaper Size: Still wearing the Size 3's.
• Clothing Size: Still wearing 6-9 Months outfits.
• Likes: Eating, dancing with his hips shaking like crazy, music, using his voice to talk/sing/yell/whatever.
• Dislikes: When mom tells him no, when dad leaves anywhere or tries to give him to mom.

He sings/chants "Dad-Dad" and "Mom-Mom" all the time. I love it. He has also learned the word "No," but doesn't know what it means. I can ask him if he wants something and he'll tell me "no" and shake his head, but then reach for it because he actually does want it. Silly boy!

He loves organizing his toys. He finds things of similar shapes or matching colors and collects them in containers. He loves his pack of Crayola markers more than almost anything else in this entire world.

He also loves music. I think I've mentioned it before but he has a fantastic sense of rhythm. When a song is on the radio and he is tapping along, nine times out of ten he is accurately on the beat! As he has gotten even more vocal lately, he now sings along with the songs too. I think it is one of the most adorable things ever!

It is so fun to take him places because he has such a curiosity and sense of amazement at everything. When something is really fascinating, he says "ooooh" and his face lights up. I love how expressive he is at things.

Lately, he has started to be more cuddly as he gets tired. There is still no chance in the world he'll fall asleep in our arms, but he loves his Blankey and will cuddle on the floor with it or sometimes even brings Blankey to us and wants to curl up together.

 

One of Blankey's specialties is caressing A's nose when he's tired. No wonder Blankey has become one of his very bestest friends!

With the Christmas season in full swing this past month, A was in heaven with all of the lights and decorated trees everywhere we went. Each morning, I could ask him to go find our Christmas tree and he would crawl as fast as he could down the hallway from his bedroom to the stairs in pure excitement so that he could get to the living room to see the tree.

He was really good not to destroy the tree or take off the ornaments, but would just stare at it in amazement or delicately touch the lights. He made the holiday season so much fun!

He loves when his dad throws him in the air or helps him fly around in the sky. Although he is very cautious while he is playing on his own, he transforms into a total adrenaline junky when he's safe in dad's hands!

Speaking of his dad, he loves when we make dad run errands with us because M is apparently way more exciting than I am. Pretty much everywhere we go, these two silly boys find adventures that have them both giggling. Who knew that even Home Depot could be so wonderful?!

Maybe I'm just an overly proud mom but I feel like A has advanced motor skills. For example, I discovered my grocery list decorated with scribbles! So I put a pen and some paper on the ottoman to see what he could do. And he picked up the pen all on his own and started drawing more!

He walks along all of our furniture, does a great job walking while holding our hand, and even runs around the room when he's using his walker... but he doesn't seem to have any interest in walking on his own!

Yet, I'm pretty sure he's going to be saying complete sentences by the time he finally decides he wants to walk. He loves to mimic sounds that M and I make, and does a pretty good job! I feel like he's already saying so many words {even if other people can't fully understand him yet!} and understands a lot of what he's trying to tell us.

He has become very independent and loves to be like the grownups. This has been very advantageous for diaper changes and getting him dressed because he helps rather than fights. He loves to hold his feet out to put his pants on; sets his socks on top of his feet in the attempt to put them on; and willingly puts his arms in the sleeves of shirts and jackets. He also likes to comb his own hair and brush his own teeth.

He is such a happy kid! Although it seems so crazy that he is already a year old, it has been such a fun year to watch him grow and see his personality blossom. I know I've said it a million times before, but I feel so lucky to be his mom!

Merry Christmas!

This was A's first Christmas and it was so magical to see how much he loved the lights, the tree, the presents—everything!

He was so cute when he met Santa. He doesn't like being held by other people but did surprisingly well on Santa's lap at first... but after about thirty seconds, decided he'd had enough of this man with the big fluffy beard and tried to break free!

We have a tree at our local park that we loved playing under all summer; and now it's decorated festively for Christmas! I just love where we live!

Our little family's tradition is to visit Temple Square in downtown Salt Lake every year on Christmas Eve. It's been an enjoyable reminder each year about the true meaning of Christmas as we watch the nativity display celebrating the birth of our Savior. This year was extra special because A loved all the lights and the people, leaving him totally enthralled with the whole experience.

And, of course, he loved the Starbucks hot chocolate afterward.

Then we came home, and took the mandatory family picture by the tree.

After that, we opened our Christmas Eve game {a shape sorter for ages 12M+—see what life becomes once it's ruled by a kid?!} and matching pajama pants.

By then, A had reached his maximum capacity for excitement and was ready to crash for the night. While he slept and sugarplums danced in his head {I'm not sure what that even means...}, Santa came and left him lots of surprises!

We decided he was completely spoiled by Santa, Mom and Dad, and the grandparents. But he loved all the new toys! Watching his excitement and gratitude for everything he received definitely made this our most fun Christmas yet!