How I keep in touch: Happy Birthday Nicholas!

Today was Nicholas' first birthday! So crazy it's been a year! It went so fast, much faster than Hannah's first year seemed to go. Perhaps it had to do with sleepless nights or that he was a bigger baby or an early walker. I don't know, but it was a terrific year getting to know this little guy and I'm so very glad he's part of our family!

As you know from my last post, we celebrated Nicholas' birthday a couple weeks ago at the joint party. But today was our family's private celebration. We woke up singing Happy Birthday to the happy little boy (who woke up with a VERY stinky diaper today!!!) I took the kids to daycare and headed to work. I watched the clock this morning and smiled fondly around 10:20 remember when Nicholas arrived a year ago!

I picked the kids up early to take them for their well-child doctor visits today. Tony met us up there. They're both doing terrific and I was proud of Hannah who didn't cry as she got her last shot for a few years!!!

Nicholas weighed in at 23.5 pounds today and measured 30-3/4 inches long. He's at 75 percentile for weight and 90th for height. He grew almost 2 pounds and 2-1/4 inches from his 9 month visit - again, more up than out!!!

At 12 months, Nicholas is now running, but still falls down alot. I asked the doctor if we should worry about all the head bumps he gets (he said no). He is on 100% table food and now drinking whole milk from a cup. We only give him a bottle at bedtime, which is purely part of the routine. He still hasn't cut any new teeth, but his gums look super swollen, so I'm guessing they're coming. He is wearing 18 month clothes and a size 4 shoe.

He's starting to say real words - hi, dad, mama, hannah, cracker (his favorite word). He knows what a duck says and also a cow! He waves bye bye and signs more and will raise his hands up when you say "touchdown"!

He likes to suck his binky, enjoys splashing in the bathtub, plays rough and likes to dance to music. He's funny.....and knows he's funny and likes to do silly things. He can throw a serious fit, like a throw yourself on the ground, scream and kick and act like a fool fit! And he can be so sweet and cuddly too, like he grabs my arm to hug on it as I change him in the mornings. He likes to give kisses - the open mouth ones! Sleeping at night is better, but he still wakes several times fussing, but usually falls back to sleep quickly.

He's awesome!!!!

Here are a few pictures from tonight.