Happy First Birthday, Landon!!!!

Happy Birthday Baby Boy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WOW! Our baby is ONE! We are so blessed to have such a perfect little boy. We have LOVED watching him grow up this past year and boy did it go by fast. He learns something new everyday now. I could not be more thankful for the time I get to spend with him... teaching him, loving him, playing with him. Becoming a mother has honestly been the BEST thing I have EVER done in my life. I can most certainly say Chad feels the same way about becoming a daddy. We both love that boy with all of our heart and we are so blessed to have family and friends that love him just as much. We could not have made it through this year without the help of family and friends. Landon is so blessed. It brings tears to my eyes to think about how lucky he is to get to spend so much time with his family.

One year ago today I would have never known the love I would develop for one human being. It is truly honestly only a love that a mother can define. You put him before everything else. He eats first, sleeps first, gets clothes bought for him before they are bought for mommy or daddy. We change our entire schedule to revolve around his schedule and his nap time...everything we do is focused around this small 20 pound little man.

We thought we loved our dog. Oh and boy we do. But the love for our child is a love that is stronger than any other love. Haley has been great with Landon. She has been there from the day he was brought into our home and welcomed him with open licks. She is still there today when he walks over and starts pulling at her ears or messing with her tail. She loves him too. That makes me so happy :)

Landon can talk, walk, kiss, hug, play, clap, wave, point, smile, and do so many other things already. He makes us so proud. I can't believe his vocabulary. I am amazed at how quickly he learns to say 'words'. He generally will only say the beginning of a word but some words are the whole thing! Shoes for example. Let me see if I can spell this one...Shos. I couldn't believe the first time I heard him say that. Duck is a whole word. Hey. Hayhe is about as whole as I think it's gonna get. That just may be her new name. Ba is Ball...or really anything round. Tuck or Tuk is Truck...or really anything that has wheels. Papi for his paci. Of course, the famous Mama and Dada. He really loves his Dada :) He loves to point to Dada's picture. I'm sure there are a few others that I don't even know about or can't remember at the time. But as some of you know for a mama with a hearing loss...it really warms my heart to hear him talk so much already. Today at his check up the doctor mentioned how impressed she was with his vocabulary too!

He can still wear some 9 month clothes but is mostly in 12 month clothes right now. He does not eat any baby food anymore. He eats only table food. Pretty much whatever we eat, minus a few hot spices, he eats. He's had peanut butter and honey too and did fine with both. He is no longer drinking formula...only whole milk. He seems to like whole milk a lot better than formula and I sure don't blame him. He generally likes what his daddy likes...salts and not sweets. He is pretty good with fruits. Loves apples. Not so great with veggies. Likes peas. Loves any meat you feed him! Really likes turkey bacon.

Landon has 8 teeth, 4 top and 4 bottom. I thought maybe his molars were coming in or something because lately he's been clingy and fussy and wants you to hold him all the time. He's never been that way. I asked the doctor today and she said that they weren't coming in but that he's probably just going through a phase. She said now he knows who strangers are and knows who mommy and daddy are :) I really don't mind it though. He's never been clingy and now that I get more cuddle time I really enjoy it :)

Oh and his favorite love right now... I think we all know this one. Tucks! He wakes up in the morning and the first thing out of his mouth isn't a cry or Mama. It's Tuck!

Like I have been mentioning, he had his 12 month doctor visit today. He weighed 20lbs and his height was 29 and 3/4. He had to have 4 shots and a finger prick. He did fine with the finger prick but the shots tore him to pieces. He cried and cried. Poor fella.

I didn't attempt the crib picture. He really wasn't liking that the last few times we tried it and I felt like since it was his birthday I'd give him a break. I'm hoping to make something like this since I know we will be moving at some point. Chad said he might even try to make it! But here are some pictures of our little one year old. Oh saying that almost makes me want to cry!

french toast for birthday breakfast!

with my sticker on I got from the doctor for my shots - it's elmo in a tuck!

walking!

Another thing that made me sad was my weekly e-mail update I got today. Babycenter.com sends me weekly e-mail updates on my baby. Well today...it was a toddler update...not a baby update! Ahhh! He really is growing up!

His birthday party is tomorrow! Sesame street theme! We are super excited that most everyone we invited will be attending! You know I will post pictures! :)