Twelve Months: A One Year Old Boy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well, we made it. Elijah is one year old. One year of kisses. One year of Mama's milk (and counting!). One year of diapers. One year of being a Mama to one spectacular, amazing, adorable and special little boy. Nothing could have prepared me for how much I love and adore my baby and how awesome my life would be.  We thought I was going to have to be a working Mama but God had other plans for us. And now I get to take care of my little boy full time! I never expected the speed at which Elijah developed, progressed and hit his milestones. I had a rolling over kid at two months and a sitter upper at four months and a walker at less than eight months. It has all gone by in a flash.  I remember how he gained a pound a week the first month and continued to grow at lightening speed those first several months. I thought for sure my kiddo would be in 18 month clothes by his first birthday and pushing 25 pounds or son. Well, things slowed down, as I heard they do and he still fits in his nine month wardrobe though it is getting snug and he tips the scales at just 21 pounds. I am grateful I got to keep him little for a little longer. So what has Elijah Parish been up to this last month?

Well Elijah officially has FOUR teeth! That top tooth just took forever (like months!) to push through and cause so much pain and discomfort. I was worried about the second top front tooth but that one just slipped right through the gums a couple of days ago without any teething symptoms. His upper lip tie is more apparent and it looks like he may have a little gap between is front baby teeth but our dentist said he may grow out of it so that is what we are praying for. As I said he is 21 pounds. We will find out how long he is at his doctor's appointment in a week and a half. He is still our little onion head (not much hair) just like his Daddy at this age. We continue to see a lot of Parish in him though his smile and many facial expressions are like mine.

This kid loves books. I plan to do a separate post about this love and his favorite books but let's just say that he never turns down an opportunity to be read to. And not only that, he knows the words "read" and "book" and if I say, "Would you like Mama to read you a book", he immediately goes and picks one out and brings it to me. He will also do this unprompted and loves to help turn the pages. We bought this book "shelf" sling thing
 for the livingroom/play area and it was an awesome investment because he has such easy access to his books and yet it isn't easy for him to just yank them all off the shelf....which he does in his own room.

He loves his cabbage patch doll which used to be his Daddy's. Grandmother gave it to him a couple of weeks ago and we call it his "baby". He says Bay Bay Bay Bay and will go get the doll when we ask him where his baby is. I'm thinking this could be good training for him with future siblings although if we are blessed with another pregnancy, he may think there is a cabbage patch doll in my belly when we tell him it is a baby.

Elijah is a very affectionate child and becoming more so. He is often content to just lay in my lap with his head on my chest.  This has been a pleasant surprise. He is such a "busy" boy that when he started doing this snuggle, cuddle thing even  more frequently, it totally caught me off guard and I love it! He will cuddle with Daddy and other members of the family as well. I think he may even do it with the ladies in the nursery at church.

His language is continuing to develop. He says dog "gog", baby "bay bay bay bay", ball "ba ba ba", Mama "Mama", Daddy "Daddddd" and we think he has started to say Elijah which comes out like "Li ja" . He babbles a lot and it isn't repetitive like it used to be. You can see him trying to put different sounds together. I have seen this development sort of explode in the last few weeks.

Elijah LOVES to be outside and will play contently in the backyard for hours. Although he recently discovered dog poop so I will have to be more diligent about keeping that cleaned up. He loves to swing at the park. Love dogs, especially Wrigley. They are such good friends and he is so gentle with him. I love seeing the love for animals in our little boy.

Elijah is a pretty good eater......he isn't as into veggies as he used to be so I am working on creative ways to make sure he gets them though I will continue to offer them in their whole form. One thing I thought of was mixing some broccoli into mashed potatoes. I'm sure I will come up with some other neat things to try.

I just can't get over how much I love this little boy.  I do hope to give him a brother or a sister some day......but if that doesn't happen, I could be completely fulfilled doting on this little life for the rest of mine. He is such a happy, sweet and caring little guy. I see kindness in his eyes but I also see adventure. What a neat combination. What a neat person he is!  I see him being the kind of man that not only makes girls swoon but their Mama's too. The kind that any woman would be glad to call husband or son in law.  I hope and pray that I am the kind of mother that be able to nurture these things in him and help him learn how to be a loving, believing, intelligent, tolerant and kind man.

"I'm a big boy!"

He found the door more interesting than getting his photo taken.

"Does this diaper make my butt look big?"

"It's my birthday!"

"You are so silly Mama"

"Alright,  I will sit here for just a minute"

I LOVE THIS KIDDO!

"Teeheeheehee"

Such a happy little boy"

Happy Birthday sweet boy. We love you so much and cannot believe how much you have grown and developed in just one year. How time flies.