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,