Happy First Birthday, Parker!

Yep, that pretty much sums it up!

Well, Parker, last Friday, at 9:18pm, you turned one year old. In the months after you were born, I thought I'd be so sad and weepy when you turned one. I truly wasn't! Whether it was excitement, maturity, or the new appreciation I have for each and every day of life, I was not sad. I was happy! It's exciting to see the little boy that you are becoming, toddling around carelessly without any fear. I look forward to seeing what new things you'll learn each day, what new "words" will come out of your mouth. I love being able to teach you new things and show you how things work. I love being your Momma, and I think that's why I wasn't sad.

It's amazing to think about the progress you've made over the last year and the way your personality has developed. Here are the things happening with you right now:

• You are still in 18-24 months shirts and 12-18 months pants. The pants are starting to get a little short, but you just don't fill out the waist of 18-24 months pants!
• At your doctor's appointment on Friday, you were 32 and 1/4 inches long and 26 pounds, five ounces. These stats along with your head size put you in the 97-98th percentile for all measurements. You truly are my "big boy"!
• You are now a walker. You've been doing this for about the last three weeks. You started off slow, but you really seem to have the hang of it now and will walk across entire rooms. If every room in our house had nice, padded, cushy floors and walls, you'd probably be running by now! It's just hard for us to let you go full force because we don't want you to hit your head on the hard floor or the corner of a cabinet.
• You are still waking up at night pretty often. I read somewhere recently that this is normal around the time that children start to walk, which just so happens to be the stage of life you're in. I guess we'll just have to deal with it. It's hard though--there's usually intense screeching involved.
• On Sunday, we gave you your first taste of whole milk. You seemed to like it, although you were letting most of it run out of your mouth. This is a new thing you do every now and then. You'll drink about half of your sippy cup and then start taking sips and letting it all come back out of your mouth all over your shirt. I guess maybe it just means you need to have the drink taken away. It's cute, though, because you get a little smile on your face when you do it. Yeah, I guess that means we should take it away. Darn.
• You are still nursing twice per day. You nurse right when you wake up in the morning and right before you go to bed. We are slowly working toward total weaning. So far, I've just dropped all pumping. It's a step in the right direction!
• You've learned a few words now, and will say, "hello," "bye-bye," "Momma", "Dadda", "nonono", and "all done," in your own Parker-ized version. I love being able to communicate with you just a little. You seem to understand some of the things I tell you or ask you.
• You are doing SO MUCH better at Ms. Donna's. You really went through a rough patch for about a month or so, but she often tells me now that she would give you a gold star if she could because you're having such good days. This is what I like to hear! We still haven't made any progress in the church nursery, though. We tried a new strategy this past week of Daddy dropping you off--it made no difference. There were tears and screaming. All we can do is keep trying!
• You LOVE to dance and shake your booty. It is so funny to watch you. You will swing your hips around, beat on your chest, bend your knees, clap, and even move your head from side to side. I think you got your rhythm from me. You most often do this when you're watching Juno Baby or if music is playing on one of your toys.
• Speaking of Juno Baby...you're kind of in love with it. We don't turn it on all the time. Just a few times a week when we both need to get stuff done. When it comes on, you are glued to the TV. You may take your eyes off of it for just a second and then you're sucked right back in. Daddy and I are learning all the songs and stories. It's actually pretty entertaining and I don't mind the music at all--score for both of us!

Since your actual birthday was on a Friday, it was a pretty normal day. We cleaned and ran errands in the morning with Auntie Nay. Daddy took the second half of the day off so he could come to your doctor's appointment. When we got home, Auntie Nay came back over so you could open your presents from her. We went to mexican that night with Grammie and Granddaddy to celebrate!

Opening my very first birthday present--from Auntie Nay!

Tough work.

I've already figured out how it works!

I drive backwards--it's the newest thing.

We had your birthday party on Saturday at our house. We kept the "guest list" to close friends and family. We both contemplated inviting people from work, but it just seemed like that would be too much. It seemed like we had just the right number of people here. Here's a list of attendees::

-Us

-Grammie, Granddaddy, and Auntie Nay

-Opa (for a very short time). Omi couldn't come because of her recent back surgery :(

-Honey and Granddad

-Aunt Lisa, Haley and Ian

-Uncle Bryan and Aunt Lulu

-Uncle Eric

-Aunt Jean and Uncle Don

-Amy, Jimmy and Wyatt

-Mrs. Storrs

-Nate, Kim and Kaley

-Jamane and Jamisyn

-Kota

We had great party food, you opened lots of presents, and you ate your very own birthday cake. Daddy and I gave you Mega Blocks, some books, and a big bouncy horse that we're thinking about taking back because it's pretty high up off the floor. You received lots of electronic developmental toys, some ride-on toys, some books, clothes, beach accessories, and KOTA the dinosaur. Kota is a gift worth noting because you are so so so scared of her. Terrified would be an acceptable word to use. The Loughrans bought her for you because they thought you'd love her. She is the sweetest and nicest dinosaur you'd ever meet, but you want nothing to do with her! We are working on getting the two of you to know each other better. I hope that one day soon, you'll grow to be friends!

You seemed to be up almost all night long after your party. We're not sure if it was all the cake, the overall excitement from the day's events, or an overwhelming fear that Kota might creep up the stairs into your room, but we think it was one of those three options. Probably the one related to Kota.

Awww.....loving family!

.....aaaaaand there's the "real" familly photo. haha!

I think you were high on cake. And attention.

We were sooooo tired!

To sum it all up........your first birthday was a success! I am already wondering what your next birthday will be like. I am looking forward to venturing into toddlerhood with you and helping you learn and grow both physically and mentally. I cherish every single moment we spend together and love that you are still at an age where I can kiss you all over and you won't get mad or tell me to leave you alone. I think I've said this before but you are our WORLD. Your Daddy and I would do anything for you, and that is one thing that will never change. The love we have for you is a different kind of love than we're used to. I think it was kind of scary to me at first, but now I'm handling it just fine. It's an all-encompassing, life-altering, totally consuming love that I think can only be experienced by a parent. It's unconditional love.

Thanks for showing us what true love is.

We love you, buddy!