Happy Birthday Jack!

Hello my handsome boy.  Today is your birthday and you are 1 whole year old.

You can walk, yell, and blabber on.  You are so fast we can hardly keep up with you to catch you every time you crash and burn.  You've had many run-ins with stairs, walls, gravity, etc. and I think every part of your forehead has been covered with a goose-egg at some point, usually with your parents less than 2 feet away from you. 

You love your sister and want to do everything she is doing.  You've even learned to be a little bit of a pest lately and have found some good ways to bug her (which is good because she's always bugging you).  The two of you love to roll around on the floor and squish each other.  It makes me a little nervous, but usually you are both laughing and giggling.

You know what "No" means, but unfortunately some of your favorite things to empty the dirt from the plants in the house, pull trash out of the recyling can in the kitchen, and just make messes.  I think you intentionally make messes just so you can watch the vacuum clean them up.  

We are working on your animal sounds.  You can do elephant, monkey, and lion.  You can say "da-da," "ma-ma (though not as often as dad)", "hi," "done," and "bye-bye."  You don't seem to talk as much as my sister did at this age, but you definitely move around a lot.  You refuse to hold still . . . ever . . . and the last few weeks at church have been particularly difficult.  If you don't have room to move about the cabin, you scream, and you are not easily entertained by books or quiet toys.  You simply just want to move!

 

You can go upstairs, but haven't quite figured out going down.  You can get down on a landing (like one step), but more than one baffles you.  You love to sit on your sister's bike, play in the sandbox, and love water of all kinds.  You are sad every night when it's time to get out of the bathtub.

Your most favorite thing is to go outside.  At school, they let you go outside with the big kids whenever there is an extra person to watch you.  You refuse to stay in the baby area and are only happy when you are outside or wandering around inside with them.  At home, you love to stand at the front door or the back door and just watch what is going on.  If someone goes outside and doesn't take you with them, you are always heartbroken. 

 

Overall, my boy, you are still pretty happy most of the time.  You smile and those off-centered dimples make me smile.  You love everyone who takes care of you and just about everyone else you come in contact with.  I'm so glad it is almost summer and we can play outside all day every day!

 

Happy Birthday!