Jamison at 1 year!!

Happy birthday, little monker!  It’s amazing how fast this past year has gone by, and you are still charging full steam ahead.

We had a pretty low key celebration for your birthday.  Just the 5 of us, 8 if you count the dogs.  We gave you your first cupcake and you weren’t too sure about it.  And then you gagged a whole lot, which made Abbie go in to hysterics.  I think it was the frosting that was making you gag.  You didn’t like the texture of it too much.  But you did like the cake part of it.  Once you found that, you liked it a bit more.

You are such a good natured little dude.  If you are crabby, I can usually just hold you and snuggle with you and your are content to sit in my lap for a while.  You LOVE playing with the big kids and if they are laying on the floor, you crawl all over them.  You love it when your daddy chases you or plays “sneak around the island and surprise you”.  You get a real kick out of that.  If I smile at you from across the room, you get a big cheesy grin on your face that just melts my heart.  Daddy and I always talk about what a good little monker you are.

You are still a great little eater.  You eat pretty much anything and you’re getting good at pointing at what you want.  (You started pointing a few days after you turned a year old.)  Sometimes you point to your mouth if you want a drink, but you definitely scream and point to our food if you want some of it (which is usually).  You’re still sleeping from around 8pm to 7:30am and you usually take one nap for 2-3 hours around noon.  That would probably be different if we didn’t have to work around picking the other kids up from school, but you seem to do pretty well with it.

 

You are cruising everywhere now.  You wave bye-bye.  You usually point with both of your pointer fingers, although typically only one is pointing in the right direction.  You still love the dogs.  You love to be outside.  You will hold things in your mouth if you want to take them somewhere so you can crawl with both arms.  We got you two shots at your 12 month appointment, instead of the 5 they wanted you to get.. I’ll take you back around 15 months to get the other ones.  Your head circumference was 47cm (69%), you were 24lbs 3.5oz (71%) and you’re 31 1/4” tall (90%).  You are our biggest baby so far and your fat hammies are adorable.  Daddy and I squeeze them constantly.

You have the absolute best belly laugh and it is so easy to make you laugh.  You are a very joyful baby and I love it when you get your big cheesy grins and I can see all 8 of your front toofers.  You are like a little monkey that hangs on when we get you out of your car seat or high chair.

 

I love watching you with your curiosity of everything.  When you feel something new, it intrigues you and you are typically not afraid of it at all.  Sometimes some things gross you out a little bit and you get a funny look on your face, but more often than not, you really grab on to things and inspect them carefully.  Below you got ahold of the Cheerios and you threw them ALL over the kitchen, but you were having the best time.  You were absolutely squealing with delight when they were flying all over the place and it made me laugh.  I love seeing you have such a good time.  You pound on things and beat things together and some times you study things from a distance and then you crawl right up and get in the middle of whatever it is.  You are pretty bold and brave, and we love that about you too.

You definitely love anything that rolls.  Cars, trucks, wagons, balls.  They keep you busy for hours.  You’ve made the car noises for a good few months now, which is adorable and I have no idea who taught you that.  You’re still in 12-18 month clothes, although I could probably already move you up, and you’re in size 4 diaper.  You drink about 4 bottles a day and you don’t use your paci all that much anymore.  We could easily get rid of it, I think, but I’ll let you have it a while longer.  You’re still pretty little.

So this month, my worst parenting moment ever happened with you.  I was in Hobby Lobby’s parking lot and it was raining and I was trying to put you on my back in the Ergo.  I still don’t know exactly what happened, but I dropped you.  Right there in the parking lot in a big puddle.  I still feel terrible and I had nightmares about it for weeks.  You didn’t hit your head because I kind of caught you with my foot behind me and broke your fall.  No bumps or bruises everywhere.  You screamed and hung on to me so tightly when I picked you up that I could have let go of you and you would have hung there.  By the time I got in the store, you were done crying and back to your smiling self, but I was shaking so badly I couldn’t even get my phone out to call Mark.  I checked your pupils many times to make sure they were reactive and you didn’t have a concussion of any sort, and I shook and felt like I was going to throw up the entire hour we were in the store, but you were happy and smiling and your normal self.  I didn’t sleep well for at least 3 nights after it happened and you didn’t sleep well one of the nights, but I think that was due to teething and not to being dropped.  I felt/feel so bad.  You love being worn and I’ve put you and the other babies on my back 100 times before with no issues, but this time was different.  Thank God you’re okay and you won’t remember it.  I, however, will never forget it.

Happy first birthday, little monker.  We love you so much and you are the perfect addition to our family with your sweet personality and your big brown eyes.  I just can’t get enough of you most days!