one year old

A little late, but our James is one year old! The next few sentences will be completely cliche but sincere. I cannot believe that a year has passed by already! Time goes way too fast! This past year has been the best year of our lives, no doubt about it. James at one year old is the most charming, sweet little guy. It's been so fun to watch his personality develop over the last twelve months and I think we have a bit of an idea of who he will become later on in his life. Most nights Steve and I lay in bed talking about the cute, silly, and sometimes naughty things that James does during the day and praying to be able to be the parents he deserves. It is such a privilege to be his mother and I so look forward to seeing who he becomes. Mr. James at one year old:

• still only has two teeth
• is 36% for height, 23% for weight, and 90% for head circumference
• has about 15% more hair than he was born with but is still rather bald
• has the bluest eyes

• is so close to walking. He can go for maybe six or seven steps but he is always too excited to be walking and to get where he wants to go that he inevitable falls. But I've never seen someone fall  and get back up so much. He is very determined.
• walks enough to get from one piece of furniture to the next so he doesn't have to crawl too much anymore.
• gets up to standing without using anything for support and just kind of hangs out there. I don't know how he doesn't topple right over with his huge head and rotund belly, but maybe they balance each other out?

• eating like a champ as long as it is grown up food and mom and dad are eating the same thing.
• sippy cup king.  but still prefers the sippy cups of all friends and acquaintances above his own and does his best to steal them.
• loves to eat chicken nuggets, cheese, spaghetti, tomatoes, artichoke hearts, guacamole, raisins, and yogurt
• only semi cooperated for this photo shoot because i bribed him with goldfish crackers

•  mostly sleeps through the night. Sometimes he wakes up once or twice, but goes back to sleep pretty quickly if I nurse him.
• takes two naps a day. Awhile back I thought he was making the switch to one, but it was just a weird couple of days. He definitely still needs his two naps which are usually one and a half to two hours long.
• is currently disliking his bath time. I don't know what happened but he gets mad every time I put him in the bath. He calms down usually and I am able to get him clean but it is not his favorite part of the day like it used to be.

• loves to be around other people, especially other kids. He is kind of a bully though and for some reason likes to hit. We are working on that. He also likes to steal toys. We are working on that too. He gets sooo mad when I tell him to stop or give the toy back. 
• thinks its hilarious when I tell him no. He just does whatever he is doing wrong faster and with more enthusiasm
• loves to be the center of attention and to entertain people
• babbles like no other. he usually lays in bed for an hour and talks to himself before he falls asleep. It is truly bizarre. I really want to watch him and see exactly what he is doing in there sometime.
• points at everything. He points at the food he wants, the pictures on the walls, his mobile, people at the grocery store. He is probably pointing at something half of the time he is awake.

• is a momma's boy when he is tired, but a daddy's boy at all other times. He adores Steve and watches him so closely. He does everything Steve does and I think his favorite part of the day is when Steve comes home from school.
• has the attention span of a one year old. He moves from thing to thing so quickly. I get one or two pages into a book and then he is grabbing a different book for me to read. I can barely keep up with him.
• loves books. He always pulls all his books off his shelf and then will bring them to me to read to him. Even though he gets tired of a book quickly, he still wants me to keep reading to him for a long time--just from many different books.
• loves to climb and explore. He is not one to sit still. He is always going somewhere and doing something. It is so fun to watch him discover new things and figure out new tricks.
• is my favorite one year old. I love him with all my heart.