Brody is one!

I can't believe how fast the last year has gone by. My baby boy is ONE! The last year has been one of the greatest of my life. I was so scared when I was pregnant with Brody that I wasn't going to love him the way I love Kalyn. How could I ever love someone as much as I do her? She was my first born and I love her more than anything in the world! Everyone kept telling me it would be okay, it just happens. They were right. Dear Brody boy, Today on your first birthday I wanted to take a couple minutes to tell you what the past year has been like. As an infant you loved to nurse and hated your paci. I tried and tried to get you to take one, but you wanted nothing to do with it. A year later, you still love to nurse and never took a paci. You took a bottle up until about 10 months old. One day you just decided you wouldn't take one anymore, so you were done. You learned to drink from a regular cup before you mastered a sippy cup. Now you can drink from both. As an infant you loved to be held while you slept and I happily obliged. You still sleep with us and have never spent more than hour in your crib. I love having you next to me at night, daddy, not so much. He says he always wakes up with feet in his back. You never really cared for your swing or bouncy seat. You spent some time in your jumperoo, but never learned to jump in it. You just played with the toys. Tummy time was okay, but you quickly learned to roll to your back so you could get off your tummy. I thought you were never going to crawl, you showed no interest at all. At 8 1/2 months you proved me wrong and started crawling. As soon as you figured out how to move, you started pulling up and standing. At 9 1/2 months you started walking. By 10 months you were running. And now... at 1 year, you're climbing EVERYTHING! You mastered the step stool weeks ago and use it to look out the window. You love watching the trucks (snow plows) go by. The cat tree is your jungle gym. Just a couple days ago you figured out how to use the foot stool to climb into the chair, the next day you figured how to do it without the stool. You love to climb under Kalyn's draw board and often get stuck. I have found you in kitchen cupboards more than once. You're all boy! We skipped baby food and went right for the real stuff. Your first food was avocado. It took some time, but by one you can eat pretty much anything we eat (even though you only have 4 teeth) You're kind of a picky eater. You LOVE all fruit. Strawberries, grapes, kiwi, oranges, blueberries, mango, melon, bananas, I haven't found a fruit that you won't eat. You like some veggies. Green beans, carrots, peas, avocado, sometimes broccoli. I've been trying to introduce you to more veggies in hopes that you'll like them, but most of them get spit out. You have a little bit of a temper if you dont get your way. Pointing and "yelling" if Kalyn has a toy and you want it. Pointing and "yelling" if you want food and someone isn't moving fast enough. Crying for me to pick you up as soon as I walk in the door. Or if you're tired. Or hurt. Or hungry. Or just want a tata. Were trying to work on getting you to use your words. You've mastered: Mama, dada, ball, kitty, a version of sissy and grandpa and bye bye. Of course you do lots of babbling too. You are so smart. Pushing cars around the floor and making an engine noise, using pens and markers to draw. Putting hats on your head, putting objects into holes and putting the phone to your ear. If I tell you bring me something you do, if I tell you to take it to daddy/sissy/grandpa, you do. You can clap, wave bye by and point to what you want. Every single day is an absolute joy with you. You are so loving and give the best slobbery kisses and big hugs. Your little personality is coming out more each day. You are head strong, funny, smart, sweet, loud, messy and oh so cute! You are loved more than you will ever know! Happy birthday boy boy... I look forward to watching you grow and learn for years to come. I love you more than all the flowers, trees and grass in the world! -Mom