Happy birthday, kiddo! We are in complete disbelief that we have spent 12 full months as a family of 5. It really feels like you've always lived here, like you were always meant to be here. You are adorable, hilarious, cuddly, mega-smart, and just a little bit mischievous. You are certainly our calm child; you go with the flow and are quiet & observant. You are such a big boy now! You never crawl anymore, so it helps that you are much less wobbly on your feet. You're running - yes, running - all over the place. You love to shake your hips and dance, bouncing up & down to a fast tune. You babble all the time (you still only say "Dada" with intention) and love to make silly noises with your mouth. You learned to sign "ball" and "please" this month, the latter of which is often done feverishly when you're begging for a snack :) Here are a few of your favorite and not-so-favorite things these days:
Favorites
Spoons - You have a strange fascination with spoons. You can often be found walking around the house holding a play spoon. And if Mommy gives you your spoon to hold after feeding you yogurt, it keeps you entertained for a solid 10 minutes. Pretty soon you'll be ready to learn how to use one to feed yourself!
Snack Time - This is still your favorite time of day! You are always trying to steal snacks from the big kids. While Cheerios and puffs are still pretty common snacks for you, you also like to eat Baby Goldfish and chew on pretzel rods.
Crayons - Your brother & sister don't always remember to pick up their crayons, & you are like a moth to a flame when it comes to finding them. They must taste good, because you are constantly eating them (yuck!) It's only a matter of time before you start leaving your very colorful mark all over our walls/furniture!
Being outside - You love love love being outdoors! Your favorite thing to do is swing on our playground, but you're slowly starting to enjoy just running in the grass. We can't let the big kids go outside to play unless we're prepared to take you out as well or else you get so mad!
Balloons - You are a big fan of balloons! Like most kids, your eyes get huge when you look up at a balloon floating in the sky. And you love banging them. You even try to say the word, which comes out "boo!"
Mommy - You are such a Mama's boy! You are very comfortable with Daddy and think your siblings are the bees' knees and you're even pretty comfortable with our extended family and friends. But nobody has your heart quite like Mommy. You are intensely shy, burying your face in Mommy's shoulder when we're in public as if you're looking to me for protection. We're still working through some separation anxiety, too. Mommy often has to hide from you when you're in the arms of someone else or you instantly start reaching/crying for me. While we know you'll get over that part of it, Mommy sincerely hopes you are a Mama's boy your whole life!
Not-so-favorites
Preschool drop-off - Your love for your siblings runs deep (to be honest, it's mostly Brooke.) It is most evident in the drop-off circle at preschool. You hate it when the kids leave you to go to school! The moment you hear their seat belts unclick, you go into hysterics. We now wait until the last possible second in the drop-off line to unbuckle to avoid some of your drama, but you are in tears every single day when we drive away.
Riding in the car - The beginning of this month was tough in the car with you. Out of nowhere, you suddenly hated being in the car, screaming whenever we strapped you in until we took you out. No amount of bribes (we even tried your first lollipop!) or friends sitting in the back with you worked. When you finally got quiet, Mommy would immediately stop talking because the second you heard my voice you'd start screaming again. The most bizarre part was that you'd scream the loudest when we stopped the car and opened the doors to get out, like you thought we were going to leave you in the car while we did something fun without you. We're happy to report that you're quickly getting out of that very loud phase; you still whine on occasion and always cry at preschool drop-off, but otherwise you're a pretty mild boy in the car.
Raw tomatoes - This is seriously the only food you have turned down. Tomatoes are not your thing, but apparently everything else is (including asparagus, couscous, pulled pork, & cauliflower - some things your Mommy didn't eat until adulthood.)
You've ended your first year a whole lot bigger than you started. You went from 10 lbs 4 oz up to 27 lbs 4 oz and from 21.5 inches to 32.5 inches. You're off the charts for height & head size and right at the top of the weight chart. You're wearing size 4 diapers, size 18M clothes, and size 5 shoes. You sleep like a champ, sleeping 11-12 hours at night with 2 naps during the day. And you go right to bed without a single fuss, sometimes even playing in your bed before finally drifting off. You will eat anything and everything, and you have pretty good table manners for a 1-year-old (we haven't entered the drop-everything-on-the-floor and smush-bananas-in-my-hair phases yet.) Between the amazing eating and sleeping habits, you're making our job very easy, buddy!
This has been the greatest year of our lives, Jack! Being your Mom & Dad has brought us immense joy. We are so excited to see where this next year takes you, as well as the many, many years after that. Thank you for being the sweet, lovable boy that you are. Thank you for choosing us to be your parents! We love you to the moon & back!
Love,
Mommy & Daddy
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