Jack is 1!

My baby boy Jack turns 1 year old today. I am so thankful for the beautiful baby boy that God gave us one year ago! I am so thankful for what he has brought to our family over the past year. I am so thankful for the ways he has made me grow as a mother over this past year. Our hearts have grown so much since he came into our lives. Our little bundle of joy is turning more and more into the neat little person God intended him to be, and it brings me so much joy to watch it unfold!

Jack's personality has started blossoming this month.
*He has a more serious, studying, observant personality but is also loud, squeally, smiley, happy, and sweet.
*His smile is so sweet and lights up his entire face.
*He is very active now and always on the go.
*If I'm holding him, though, he gets very still and gives the sweetest hugs. He will just sit there face to face with me.
*He is an explorer and loves to crawl off to see what's around the corner.
*As long as he's fed and not tired, he plays pretty well independently.
*He loves doors and will yell at them like there's someone yelling on the other side.
*He has a loud voice!
*He hit a big language growth spurt this past week. He speaks in the most adorable way. His voice fluctuates upward in a lot of these words. Here are the words he is saying.
uh-oh
Mae-Mae (James)
baby (his favorite word and so adorable the way he says it)
nana (banana)
no-no, no, and no-no-no
nigh-nigh (when we turn the lamp on before bed)
Baba (Papa-Josh's dad)
Jo-Jo (Aunt Jo Anna)
ti-tah (tick tock)
Mama
Dada
Nana (for both Nanas)
booh (book)
bye-bye
haaa (hi)
baw (ball)
arrr for lion
moo for cow
de-doo (bless you) after sneezing
ba-poe (apple)
ba-boe (Bible)
bu-boe (bubble)
*He also repeats words in an adorable way, like "tee" (cheese) when taking a picture, "cackah" (cracker), etc. We were laughing in Atlanta, because every time someone would try to get him to say a word, they would say it, count to 10, he'd study them, and then he'd say it.
*When I ask him if he wants more food, whether he does or not, he'll shake his head which shakes his whole body, and say, "no-no-no". It is so cute!
*He just now started going from squatting to standing and I think is so close to taking his first steps.
*He protests loudly and consistently now when someone takes a toy away from him, especially at school.
*He continues to adore his brother. Today at MDO, James (being across the hall from me) yelled from his room to ours, "Jack, I got the Lego's today.", and Jack just got the biggest scrunchy nose smile and got so excited. He loves it when James get down and plays chasing games with him.
*He is very social at school and is interested in petting, pulling hair (while looking at me because I always tell him no), kissing, and just going up and making small interactions with the other babies. I am so happy to be in there watching him in that environment.
*He is very into table time that we do there, where we sing, teach words while holding objects, etc. He jumps for joy and kicks his legs, aggressively tries to hold onto the object if I'm passing it around, and is just with me from beginning to end. I love that time with him!
*He has always been the biggest mama's boy around, but he's now starting to love being with his daddy.
*He is a pretty good eater. He has his favorites (cereal, yobaby, green beans with rice, sweet potatoes, bananas, cheese, and crackers), but he will eat a little bit of everything else.

That's all I can think of for now! We are just enjoying our morning celebrating our 1 year old! Although he has no idea, it feels so special to us. James is also so excited (especially that we're going to go get donuts in a little bit).

Happy Birthday, sweet boy! You are very loved!

A wonderful year of memories..