Matthew turns ONE!!

Huh? What?

We have a ONE year old?!? This is just crazy. I really can't explain (but a lot of you mommy's out there will know what I'm talking about), how weird it is to realize my baby has been here with us for a whole year. He is a completely different little person than he was a year ago (although to clarify, 7:25 pm is when he was born....last year at THIS time he was just making mommy really, really uncomfortable).

I feel like there are way too many things to say about this child. He is amazing in each and every way and wow have we been blessed to have him!

• He's a walking fool! It's so amazing how he went from one or two steps, to walking a little, to walking ALL the time. He does not crawl at all, ever, anymore. If he falls, he picks himself back up and walks on. It is so fun.
• He has 5 teeth. Well, 5 whole teeth. He has another that is a sharp sliver that appeared yesterday, and at least 2 obvious bumps where a few more are on their way.
• doy doy doy isn't all he can say. In the last few days he's started a whole new rambling. I'm not sure how to spell any of it, but it's awful cute to listen to. We're still waiting on some actual words with meaning.
• Yesterday and today he impressed me- 2 days in a row can't be coincidence, but actual skill. When I say "do you want lunch?" or "is it time to eat?", but does the sign for eat. Completely unprompted and with me not doing the sign. He also tries to do "all done", but isn't quite there yet. (I have been using simple "baby signs" with him for months...had NO idea I was actually getting through to him!)
• Suddenly he seems to understand a whole lot more. "throw the ball Matthew" actually produces a ball being thrown, not a blank stare.
• Matthew is completely weaned of breastfeeding. Sure, sure, we could have continued, many do. I was over it, and honestly, I think he was over it too. Not once has he tried to nurse, asked to nurse, even seemed to NEED to nurse. A perfect transition was made (well, I paid the price for a week or so, but I feel great now!)
• He has too many "favorite" foods to name. If I had to pick two, I'd say bananas and cheese. But really, he likes a lot of stuff.
• 9 month clothes are finally getting snug (well, not snug, but more difficult to snap in the crotch), so he's mostly in 12 months now. (as a side, we're also starting using different, cloth, diapers, which are a bit bulkier than disposables, so the extra room in the 12 months isn't so bad right now. The cloth diapers are another story for another day, but so far, I think I love them.).
• Matthew gives the best, most amazing, kisses. They are sloppy wet kisses. The best kind. :-)

I'm sure I'm missing some little details of how awesome this child is, but we'll leave some mystery. Pictures to come....

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MY DEAR SWEET SON, MATTHEW!!! MOMMY AND DADDY LOVE YOU SO, SO MUCH!