Walking, Talking, ONE!

Nathaniel turned ONE year old two weeks ago! How fast this year went...and also how sllooooooooly the year seemed to drag at times. I think actually the first 9 months were the longest of my life. Then one day I seemed to realize that he hadn't been crying very much recently, and then it became less and less frequent and finally he seemed to have outgrown that fussiness entirely. Well, maybe not entirely, but certainly an improvement. :) I can't remember his exact numbers from his one year checkup, but I know he's in the 75th percentile for weight and 96th percentile for height. So it looks like he'll be a tall one!

He started walking 2 days before his birthday and WOW he picked it up so fast! That first day it was 4-5 steps consecutively. Then by his birthday he was walking well and now he's all over the place. I love when they finally walk. Its such a cute waddle and I love the way he yells while he's walking as though that's helping him find his balance. He also leans forward a bit so it looks like he's just on the verge of falling but just keeps going. By the weekend he had learned to squat down and OMG it is the cutest. I absolutely love when they start doing this.

He's got 10 teeth now, as his two top molars have come in. He's babbling and likes to use his voice, although usually its to yell. Its funny how deep his voice is. I wonder what it will sound like when he really starts talking because it isn't that squeaky little voice like JJ and Audrey's. His favorite activity right now is playing in the cabinets - pots and pans and tupperware. He wants desperately to be allowed to play in Audrey's room but she won't let him in. Understandable..since so many of her toys have small pieces and he just likes to wreck stuff. But sometimes he sits outside her door while she and JJ are in there playing and I feel bad for him!! He'll be big soon enough. He also is a climber. He learned to climb the stairs when we moved in here because I didn't feel like putting up gates and he got the hang of it really quickly. Now he likes to climb on and off the couch over and over again, same with JJs bed and really anything else he can get on. We've determined that we think his personality is going to be along the lines of Audrey's - a mover and climber! JJ on the other hand, while he does enjoy those things, is a lot more subdued. He's happy to just sit on the couch and do nothing..Audrey and Nathaniel are not physically able to do that. haha.

For his birthday, we took the kids to Kid Junction. Its fun for the older kids but they also have a pretty big area for little ones like Nate to play. He was so brave, he even climbed into the big kids's climbing tunnels! I couldn't believe how eager he was to play in there, but really it shouldn't be surprising considering he's ALWAYS trying to do what the big kids do. He even tries to climb over the back of the couch...something I really shouldn't let any of them do. They're such monkeys!

After the play place, we went home and had cake that Audrey helped me make. He liked it! Or at least, he liked the icing. He didn't eat much else. He got a new water table for his birthday, so we spent some time outside playing in that. All three of the kids love it and I'm sure we'll get lots of great use out of it this summer. His birthday party was this weekend and it was a baseball theme. Kind of. The invitations were baseball. I forgot to order a birthday cake so I ended up doing that the night before at Target, and they had a Yankees one so I ordered that. LOL. So ME to forget that. The decorations were sad. A blue banner and a happy birthday banner. Oh and a blue table cloth. haha aww poor third child. Remember Audrey's first?? I don't have the energy for that anymore. :(

We did have lots of fun at the party, despite the lack of decorations. Tons of friends, family, and kids to celebrate with us. It was nice to have everyone here (THANK YOU!) - I definitely am more comfortable hosting here at the new house than when we were at the old place. Nathaniel got lots of fun gifts and we enjoyed some delicious food as well! Thank you all for celebrating with us and for bing a part of Nathaniel's first year!