Randomly Karen: One Year

I wrote this post, and took the pictures around his birthday, but didn't get it put together until now. Oops...

I have to say that this whole Wesley being a year old thing has left me pretty emotional. He is so different than he was as a newborn, and I love him to pieces, this is just flying by way too fast! I barely recognize the baby I see in videos from months ago. He is so much more of a person now, with the ability to express his wants and needs, and having a ton of opinions about things. He understands so much of what we say, and what is going on. He is able to play some games with us, and give affection, and push boundaries, and melt our hearts completely.

Milestones:

-He is standing a lot on his own now. The other day he let go of my hands and just started dancing in place. Cutest thing ever.

-He has figured out dancing, and does it all the time.

-He had his first cake

-He has an even 8 teeth now

-He says a bunch of words: Mama, Dada, Banana, hat, Harper, Outside, Fish, Cheese, Yes, Dog, Laptop, Apple

-He got his first haircut.

-He moved again- into our house!

-He's a climber- likes to climb on everything. Still needs our help for most things, but he has us walk him up his toy box, onto the bathtub rim, over everything.

-He has figured out sorting stuff. He makes piles of stuff, or puts stuff into containers, and takes stuff out. It has helped a ton at mealtimes because he puts food he doesn't want yet on the side of his tray in a pile, instead of throwing it on the ground. Woohoo!

- He is 32 inches, 24 lb 3 oz, and has a huge head. He has shot up like crazy, but thinned out a ton.

Favorite Things:

-Walking. Having us help him, or pushing something around

-Being outside

-Poking Harper

-His silkies

-Cuddling everything

-Music and dancing

-Sorting stuff

-Climbing

-Playing with rocks outside

-Being tickled

-Looking through books

-Getting into stuff he's not supposed to

-Bananas, yogurt, potatoes, noodles, watermelon, apples, cheese

-Baby Einstein

-Playing soccer- He has me help him walk and kicks a ball around the house

What he is like:

-He is constantly on the move. He wants to be out and exploring at all times. And outside preferably.

-He has super strong opinions about stuff. He expresses it when he is not getting what he wants for sure. He whines and cries, but looks at me with this half smile while he is doing it. So funny.

-He is testing the boundaries. He knows some things he is not supposed to do. He tries to do them constantly.

-He is super affectionate. He cuddles me, Brigham, his stuffed animals, his toys, rocks, etc.

-He is flirty and cute with strangers. He smiles big, but ducks his head a little because he is shy. Wins em over every time.

-He loves to torment poor Harper.The other day he invented a game with her. He pulled her chew toy out of her mouth, then offered it back to her. Over and over and over again. Poor dog played along for a bit. Then gave up and walked away.

-He loves sweets. Has always had a sweet tooth. Mainly likes fruits, and any of the sweeter vegetables. He didn't hesitate with his birthday cake either. Loved it from the first taste, even though he hasn't had anything like that before.

-He is understanding so much of what we say. And saying a lot of words too. I didn't realize how advanced his talking was until his doctors visit. Apparently he has the vocabulary of an 18 month old. So much for girls being better with language than boys.

And here are the pictures (don't worry, we fixed his haircut right after this....)