G is ONE!

Our little monster man is a year old!

His birthday was yesterday, but I didn't get the chance to write this until today.  I can't believe it.  I'm amazed how quickly time passes when your busy with two little kids and how I wouldn't trade it for anything.

G, you are now reaching your toddler-hood and leaving baby days behind. I'm going to miss your little baby face and gummy smile.  But I'm so excited to see what type of person you become and how your relationship with your brother develops.  I can't wait to see all the amazing things that you will do.

For your birthday, Daddy, E, and I sang you happy birthday. I went to work and so did your Dad.  I wish I could have taken the day off to be with you. Grandma Martha and Papa Lee were with you, so that made me feel better about not being there.  You took one nap in the morning, but you didn't take one in the afternoon.

Once I came home from work, we all headed to Peter Piper Pizza to join our family to celebrate your cousin's birthday.  He also shares a birthday with the two of us.  You really enjoyed looking at all of the games that are there. We tried to get you to ride a few moving rides, but you wanted nothing to do with them.

You did really well letting others hold you, until you would catch a glimpse of me. Even then, you'd only fuss for a moment.  As a bonus, you were able to eat some of the pizza crust before we left to go home.

By seven o'clock, you were in bed and asleep for the rest of the night.  I didn't manage to take your chair photo yesterday, but I took one today.

G's one year milestones:

- Talking.  So you aren't really talking, but you do babble.  You also point to where you want to go or if you want something.  We are working on teaching you signs, but you'd rather yell or bang on something instead.

- Cruising.  As I mentioned before, you really only want us to walk you around everywhere.  Today you took a few steps in a circular pattern rather than moving forwards.  You've taken one of two steps forwards before you fall down.  I'm sure that you will be walking in no time.  Then we will be in big trouble.  You're already really good at crawling away quickly when we are trying to pick you up.  Just within the past 4 days, you have been able to stand up by yourself, without hold on to anything.

- Eating. To say it kindly...you eat everything.  Even things that you aren't supposed to...like crayons.  The only food that I can say you don't really enjoy are bananas.  You like them to be a little spotty and brown in order to eat them.  I would say that everything is your favorite food.  You'd much rather feed yourself.

- Teeth.  You have four top teeth and three bottom teeth exposed, with a few more coming out soon.  We have to be careful with you because when you're tired, you bite.  Hard. Grandma and I have the bruises to prove it.

- Drinking.  We are trying to get you to try and drink out of sippy cups.  You like to play with them and will bring them to your mouth, but nothing comes out just yet.

- Play.  I can honestly say that I can't remember the last time you played with a "baby" toy.  You'd much rather get into my plastic food containers, pots & pans, or any of your brother's toys.  What you are really attracted to are wooden letter magnets that we have.  In particular, you love the letters L, J, T, and Y.  They fit just perfectly into you little hands.  We have several toys that either pop out plastic balls or you drop them in.  Instead of putting balls in there, you like to put whatever you can in there. You also like to play with lids and put them on top of their coordinating container.  In fact, you are pretty good about putting the tops on the baby food & milk storage containers.  You enjoy playing chase with your brother and Layne - it causes you to squeal with excitement.  Of course, you want to do what ever your brother is doing.  One day when he was away, I caught you trying to put a play trash receptacle on a crane, just like he does.  You also LOVE to dance.  When you hear any music, you start bobbing up and down.  When your brother does somersaults, you roll around on the floor and must be thinking you're doing them too.  You really like to roll around for fun.

- Brotherly Love.  You love your brother.  He makes you laugh and he makes you cry and he makes you scream.  But when he's gone, you search for him.  A little sad "huh?" comes out of your mouth and you point to his room.  Sometimes you will even crawl in there and look for him.  It's quite precious to see.

- Nursing.  You still love Mommy milk.  You nurse before naps and bedtimes when I'm home.  We have started giving you whole cow's milk during the day because Mommy can't keep up with your milk demands.

- Sleep.  Most nights you are asleep by 6 or 6:30 and you sleep a solid 12 hours.  Occasionally you will wake up before six.  If it's around 5:30, I will nurse you and put you back in bed, but you don't go back to sleep.  Although sometimes you will and then wake around 7:30.  Other times you will wake around 4:30, I will nurse you, and you will go back to sleep and wake around your usual time.  You've been taking only one nap lately.  Grandma Martha says that you will go down easily and will sleep between 1- 3 hours, depending on the day.  On the other hand, you cry for your afternoon naps and many times will not go to sleep.

It is so great to see how you are developing.  You're so adventurous and independent.  You're shy, yet flirtatious.  You're a beast when it comes to eating.  And rebellious when it comes to changing your diaper.  But, oh, how we love your spirit.

Thank you for being you.  We love you, G-unit.