Dear Will,

You are one YEAR old! We’ve spent 365 days with you and it’s been the best time ever. Even though it seems like it’s gone by incredibly fast, I wouldn’t trade this age for my tiny, cuddly newborn for anything. You are so much fun, so exciting, and so unpredictable. And I love every single second of it! You are up, down, in, out, over, and under just about everything in the house. Some days your activeness wears me out, but it fills me up with joy and love that I’ve never known before.

You took your first solo steps at your birthday party on Saturday (showing off like always, of course!) and you love to walk with anything you can push…dining room chairs, rolling chairs in the office, your walkers, your toy cars, books (you slide them and “walk” on your knees), the little red toy tubs, pillows, etc. If it can be moved on the floor, you more than likely will figure out a way to push it! You can say a couple words – “na-na” (banana, but it really means any food that you see that you want), “da da” (you know what this means, though you say it more than just to Daddy), and “ma ma” (same as da da – you say it a lot, but you know what it means). You also know what “shake your booty,” “where’s the doggie?,” “do you want to nurse?,” “milk,” and “let’s eat” mean. You know other words/phrases, but you respond to those 99% of the time. You can sign “all done,” “more,” and “milk.” You give kisses and hugs when you want to (sloppy, open-mouth kisses and your hugs are more like head-butts!) and you love to mimic Daddy and “roar” into his neck after he does it to you. You’re incredibly ticklish and you love to throw things. You’ve started playing with Riley by throwing her ball and she is on Cloud 9 since she has a playmate who never tires of throwing the ball for her :) You love to point at things and have started saying “dah” when you point…Daddy and I think you’re trying to say “that.” You wave bye-bye (though you wave at yourself instead of the person you’re think you’re waving at!). You clap whenever you see someone clapping (even if it’s on TV) or if we say “Yayyy!” You love to push buttons. Your favorite TV show is still Meteor and the Mighty Monster Trucks and you dance your little heart out any time you hear the theme song come on.

You weigh 22 pounds and are 28.5 inches long (25% and 50% percentiles). You still wear size 3 diapers and are into your 12-18 month clothes (though some of your 6-12 month clothes still fit). You wear size 4 shoes comfortably and are moving into size 5. Your favorite foods are any type of fruit (specifically bananas and berries), cheese, cinnamon toast, yogurt, fruit & grain bars (specifically the strawberry flavored Kashi TLC ones), spaghetti, grilled cheese, and macaroni and cheese. You’re not really a fan of veggies most days, though sometimes I can get you to eat a bit of broccoli with cheese before you throw it on the floor. You blow on all your food at lunch because you think it just might be hot! You started drinking whole milk around 11 months and you’re not a big fan. We’ve started mixing in chocolate milk or vanilla milk (with your pediatrician’s blessing) and you like it much better. Hopefully it won’t be too hard to wean you off of that in a few months! At 11 1/2 months you started sleeping through the night and now you usually sleep from 8pm to 5:30am without a peep. At 5:30am you come to bed with Mommy and Daddy and nurse off and on until it’s time for us to get up. I love those snuggle times with you :)

Your intelligence and the way that you understand things amazes me every day. I know every Mommy probably thinks her child is the smartest thing ever, but it’s true! You love to read stories – you point at the pictures, help me turn the pages, and have recently started chuckling if you find something particularly amusing. Your favorite stories are Ten Tiny Tadpoles, Where the Wild Things Are, Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, and the entire Bear series (Bear Snores On, Bear Wants More, Bear’s New Friend, Bear Feels Sick, and Bear Stays up For Christmas). We read a story before your naps and before bed each day and I think it’s one of your favorite times of the day! I turn on your sound machine and you start pointing like crazy at the bookcase, just in case I forgot it was story time! You love bath time with Daddy…I don’t know exactly what you guys do in there for 20 minutes every night, but you laugh and laugh and laugh. It makes my heart smile to see how much you love your Daddy and how much you already want to be like him.

We are so proud of you, Will. So proud of everything you have accomplished in your first year of life and so proud of the little person you are becoming. I love you, Will. I love your character, your personality, your tooth-filled smiles, and your dimpled hands. You are so precious to me and I am so thankful that I am the lucky person that God chose to be your Mommy!

Love,

Dear Will,

Baby boy, you have such a sweet, sweet soul. You woke up shortly after I put you down tonight and I picked you up and sat down in the rocking chair, hoping that you’d go back to sleep quickly so I could watch TV with your Daddy and relax for a little while. I was being impatient, I was frustrated with you for not sleeping, not enjoying the moment. You reached your tiny baby hand up, placed it on my cheek, and rubbed my face with your thumb. I don’t know what provoked it, but it was such a sweet gesture…almost an apology of sorts for waking up so often and definitely a reminder of your love for me.

I’m sorry for not being patient enough with you at times, but thank you, sweet boy, for reminding me of one of the most wonderful things on this Earth…your love.

Dear Will,

Nine whole months (and a few days) have gone by with you on the outside. You’ve spent longer on the outside now than on the inside. You’ve been a part of our lives for over a year and a half. It’s truly amazing how much life can change in 18 short months…how your Daddy and I can go from a young married couple who had no clue about raising a baby to veteran parents who can change diapers, soothe cries, and tickle like pros. It’s amazing how much you’ve changed in 18 months, sweet boy. How you went from a cluster of cells to YOU. I am blown away by our Creator – he is magnificent and awe-inspiring. That He chose you, formed you, and allowed us to raise you is just amazing to me. I’m so lucky to be your Mom, Will. So, so, so lucky!

You are quite the little boy. You’re up and down and all around the house these days. You crawl anywhere and everywhere, stopping to examine things that I’d never take the time to notice. You give special attention to the leaf that has blown in the front door, the crumb on the edge of your high chair tray, the strand of hair that’s escaped from my ponytail, and the pine needle that’s fallen off our Christmas tree. You love to inspect the (covered and safe!) outlets and my running shoes that have failed to make their way to my closet. You’re really starting to learn how to interact with your environment, whether it’s a loud grunt/yell to get my attention (a new favorite of yours) or “playing” with Riley and taking her ball out of her mouth. Gran and CP got you a walker for Christmas and you love it. You will push it everywhere and you will not let go of the handle until you’re good and ready! Last night, Daddy and I watched you learn how to push it to the toys you wanted to play with. You’d push it over to your toy, sit down and play for awhile, then stand back up and push it to the next toy. Watching you make these little discoveries is fascinating!

You’re a total ham and one of the happiest babies I’ve met. And I’m not just saying that because I’m your Mommy! It doesn’t take much to get a smile out of you. Some of your favorite things are Riley jumping in the air for her ball, me or Daddy imitating your grunts/squeals/yells, smushing your face up against the shower door while I’m in the shower, getting your fingers “bitten” by me or Daddy, and walking around naked before your bath. Your favorite toys are your lion walker, your Fisher Price musical table, your Tonka toy trucks, and your Melissa and Dough puzzles (all of which were Christmas presents). Your first Christmas was so much fun! We didn’t do anything incredibly special – we stayed home in the morning and opened presents as a new family of 3 and then went to see Gran, CP, and Uncle Matt. But it was so nice to spend time with you, to watch you discover bows and wrapping paper and Christmas trees and gifts. You weren’t all that into the actual opening of the presents – you enjoyed playing with the toys wrapped in the paper! Once we got you started playing with a toy it was pretty hard to tear you away to open another. Always so focused :)

You weigh 19 pounds 10 ounces (25th percentile) and are 28 1/2 inches tall (50th percentile). You’re wearing size 3 diapers, 6-12 month clothing, and 12-18 month footed sleepers. You’re still not anywhere close to sleeping through the night – you usually wake around 11pm when Daddy rocks you back to sleep and anywhere from 1am – 5am when you come into bed with us. Many, many, many people have told me that you should be sleeping through the night and that we should just let you cry…but that’s not for us. I don’t mind the snuggle time in bed all that much either :) You’re taking 2 solid naps a day with one catnap in the late afternoon or early evening. As pathetic as your nighttime sleeping is, you actually nap pretty well! You love your “doggie” from Gran. I didn’t realize how attached to it you were until you cried and cried one nap time when I tried to rock you to sleep without it (it was in the washing machine). You’re still a paci fanatic, though you’ve learned how to take it out if you just want to cry! You’re now completely off of purees and only eating table food. Some of your favorites are yogurt, kiwi, bananas, sweet potato bites, peas, scrambled eggs with cheese, fish, blueberries, raspberries, nectarines, and mangoes. You do not like refried beans and if I try to give them to you spread on a tortilla, you will promptly throw them off your tray to the dogs. I’m not sure where you learned that nasty little trick, but Mommy does NOT like it! You’re very big on feeding yourself and aren’t too keen to have Mommy or Daddy feed you anymore. We still feed you messy things, like yogurt, or foods that are hard to pick up, like bananas and kiwi, but for the most part, you feed yourself. You adore your bathtime and you frequently will lounge on the side of your duck tub with your feet propped on the sides. You’ve also become quite the Momma’s boy, which I don’t mind a bit. I figure that when you’re 17, you’re not going to want to cuddle with your Mommy anymore, so there’s no harm in cuddling you and hugging you as much as I want.

I really wish there was a way for me to capture all those little every day things with you, sweet baby boy. You make my heart swell with love and there is so much joy in our house. It is so wonderful to watch you learn…to watch you make connections, to pick up on things we do (like waving), or to learn things all on your own. You started dancing a few weeks ago and it is absolutely adorable. You sway your head back and forth (a little bit reminiscent of A Night at the Roxbury) and grin. In the past few days, you’ve even added a little bit of a hip wiggle to your dance! It’s the little things like that which make living with you such a blessing.
I am so, so thankful to be your Mommy and I’m so proud of you!

Love,
Mommy