My sweet 1 year old....

We did it! We made it! you are officially 1. A year ago today I was holding the sweetest newborn, head snuggled against my chest, our breathing in sync. Now you are full of energy and refuse to let anyone get in your way. You have 5 teeth, and one more trying to break through. You are getting more adventurous in what you eat and you have ditched bottles and formula all together. You are finally starting to crawl around on your knees (once and a while) and you pull yourself up in the crib, on us, on the couch, anywhere you can get a good enough grip. Just yesterday you started cruising around the ottoman, we know you will be walking soon.

At your Dr.'s visit we found out that you are about 25lbs and over 31 inches long. You will be tall like your father, something I am very happy about. You are starting to makes sounds that sound like words. As much as we want to shout from the rooftop that you are talking, we don't want to jump the gun or make other parents feel bad that their baby isn't as brilliant as you. You are finally saying mama, but sometimes you call daddy mama too. Last night you called daddy, "dada" to his face while interacting with him. You say "mmmmmm" when you like what you eat, you say "dog dog" when feeding the puppies, "ba ba" and "wa wa" have also made it out of your lips. You like to growl, give us the stink eye, giggle, and steal eye glasses from grandma, daddy, and Stefanie.

For your first birthday you had a robot birthday party. Your Grandma and Grandpa O'Keefe flew in to help you celebrate. Our house was filled with people celebrating you, it was awesome to be surrounded by so many people and know they were there to support us in this journey as well. I wish your Grandpa Milks could of been there to see you. He would of gotten a kick out of the robots and seeing how well you play with kids 3 times your age. It would of warmed his heart to see all of your cheesy cake filled smiles but most of all he would of been so proud to see what an amazing little person you are becoming. You are full of so much light and happiness, you have a sense of humor and a sensitive side rolled into one. You do not fuss just to fuss, and you probably have the toughest head of any one year old I have ever met. You are curious and inquisitive. You chose tinker toys and books over most toys- but your favorite thing to do is explore.

I am at a loss of what else to say. Just know that you are amazing and the best thing in our lives. I never knew it would feel this way to be a mom, but I am so glad you have given me this gift. I love you with all of my heart and cannot wait to see what the next year brings.