OH HAPPY DAY!

Cohen, you are one year old today sweet one!

On this morning at 6:31 am a year ago, Mama prayed. I thanked God for you and for your life. I have no idea what Daddy and I did to merit being parents to such a blessing. I honestly had no clue what was in store for us as we waited in the hospital room on April 24, 2010. What a time I had getting you here, but you were worth every second of that physical trial. I'm having a hard time even writing this because I have so much I want to say! I think this would be a good time for me to do Mama's favorite thing... make a list! 

Here are just a few of my favorite things about you: 
- You have never met a stranger. We literally make friends everywhere we go! You are as people-oriented a child as Mama could have ever hoped for and that suits our lifestyle just fine! 

- You have about the best smile I have ever seen. I'm probably a little bit biased... but just a little. I have seen you smile at complete strangers and their faces instantly light up- it is so sweet to see people respond to you in that way. 

- You laugh a lot!! You started laughing VERY early and haven't slowed down since. This is genetic- you get it from both sides, and though it will probably get you in trouble in class one day, I consider it a blessing.

- You were very active in Mama's tummy and that hasn't changed one bit. Though sometimes I think it would be easier if you didn't hit physical milestones a little early, I'm very thankful that you keep me on my toes. Makes life fun, even if every where we go people comment that I "certainly have my hands full"! 

- You seem very determined. This will prove to be interesting as Daddy and I are attempting to guide and discipline you, but I think this is a wonderful trait to have!

- For the most part, I would say you have been an amazing child to have stick to a routine, and you are a really good sleeper! We are abundantly thankful for both of these things! 

- You love to eat and to try new foods! Some of the best laughs Daddy and I have had, have been feeding you something new for the first time and watching your little face in response. 

- You LOVE to read! Some of the sweetest times I have had with you have been cuddled up in the rocking chair  reading stories to you (sometimes over and over!). Some of your favorites are : Panda Bear Panda Bear, The Belly Button Book, Quack, Jesus Loves Me Book, Elmo,  and ANY touch and feel book that you can get your hands on. There are so many more but those top the charts with you. 

Now for some milestones:
- You now have at least 10 teeth! 
- You weigh about 25 pounds.
- You are walking and sometimes running now! (Gulp) 
- You are eating 90% "grown up" food and only 10% of the Gerber stuff. 
- You only take a bottle at night and use your sippee the rest of the time. 
- You say Mama and Dada all the time- much to our delight! You can also say Oscar now but it sounds more like "Odder"....adorable!

-You can now reach the door knobs and it is only a matter of time before you figure out how to open them!
I could think of about 100 more things, but you are ready for me to come and play! I'll post some pictures of your first birthday party soon...mommy is a little tired from such a busy weekend!

We love you more than all the stars, big guy!!!

Am I allowed to have a million favorites??

I have SO many things that I love about this age (Cohen's age, not mine... I've got a death grip on my 20's). One of my absolute favorites has to be my little guy's "vocabulary". No- he is still not really "talking"...not in my language anyway- but he says things allllll day long and is VERY passionate about some of them. One of these days I am really going to get my act together and video tape him in the midst of one of his speeches. Too priceless for words. 

Probably my favorite thing that he does right now is "uh-oh", which actually sounds a lot more like "uuuuuh-uuuuuuh". He is SO proud of himself every time he says it- its like I can hear him thinking "Mommy says that too... I got it just right!". Luckily, every uuuh-uuuh does not accompany an actual accident of some sort- but I'm sure that is soon to be the pattern. 

He is hitting his stride in terms of walking, and seems to do lots of things with much more ease and coordination. He loves to drag items with him all over the house. Some of these include his little lamb, books (his favorite), his sippee sup (finally) and my cell phone. 

His newest game that he plays with the Hubs is hide and seek. Cutie loves to run in the kitchen and wait for Tyler to peek his head around the corner to look for him. And when he spots his daddy he gets so excited and makes the funniest sounds!  This is a game that I think I will leave him to play with Tyler:) 

I'm trying to give him some options now- I think that is such a wonderful thing to do so that as they start to form opinions and grow they don't feel like they are being told what to do alllll the time. I have to really remind myself though, and fight everything in me that "just wants to get it done, already". But I think its important and I try to remind myself at the start of every day that he is a human with the beginnings of likes and dislikes and I want him to have some chances to makes decisions. 

Speaking of likes and dislikes- all of a sudden he is giving us VERY clear yes and no's. When I ask him a question or if he wants something, if he doesn't want it, he cocks his little head to the side abruptly and wont look at us. If he does want it, or agrees with us he will tilt his head back and grin from ear to ear and show his teeth-it' s hilarious!

I continue to have moments where I think my heart is just going to pop out of my chest because I love him so much. He doesn't even have to be doing anything! It still amazes me! 

Our little family has gone through quite a bit over the course of his lifetime (and maybe even in the months before) and that continues to be the case, but its so nice that I can lay my head down at night and know without a shadow of a doubt that I am where I am supposed to be and our little family looks just like God wants it to look (for now). The decision to continue work after Cohen was born is something that I feel like I run into in some way, shape, or form a whole lot, (even though staying home was really not an option even when I tried my best to work that over on Tyler many many times) and while things haven't been easy, I truly know that we've made the best decision for our family so far. That is such a blessing. Maybe part of that is Peace that surpasses understanding?

Anyway, Cohen- you will officially be 12 months in  twelve days and it blows my mind that things have gone as quickly as they have. You are a complete handful, but also a complete joy. Even when I have moments  when you are screaming and I feel like telling you in my exhausted frustration, to "put a cork in it, please" (ouch mommy, very ouch) I still wouldn't trade a moment. I look forward to every little bitty thing you do every day- maybe that makes me one of those sappy Mama's- but I'll be sappy over you any day, kid. 

Love you more than all the stars!

Who is this big boy??!!!

He is such a ham!!

Nothin' holds his interest better than Elmo on the tube! This is a phase that Tyler has waited for since we found out we were having a boy...he is glad to finally has HIS little buddy:)

Granny and Papaw made it down for a visit on Sunday;) Of course,  Cohen only wanted to be held by his Grammy!

Sweet boy!

Cohen has begun playing the cutest little game with the Hubs and I. Yesterday, he brought me a book to read for him (so cute!) and I would show him the pictures and of course he would try and imitate what I said.  Which sounded more like du du du for duck, ug ug ug for dog, and I'm not sure what sound he was making for pig. Ha there was no correlation between what I wanted him to say and what he actually said!

But, the cutest thing about what he was doing was the fact that he would let me read a page or two, then he would take the book from me and walk over to his daddy for a read! This continued for a good 30 minutes or so. 

Tonight  I was eating supper at the table and again Cohen brought us a book to read again! I love that he shows interest in learning different things! I think he is gonna be one smart fella! 

Cohen is very much enjoying the company of both his parents! I'm sure this won't always be the case so we will enjoy this stage while it lasts! This kid just melts my heart!

On another note- here are some pictures that we took on our trip to Destin for Spring Break. Cohen liked eating the sand of course!

Hmm...What is this white stuff?

Open mouth, insert sand!

Yeah, I would probably make that same face if I had just eaten a mouth full of sand!

If you look closely, you can see the look of shear terror on our son's face....the water was not his favorite.

My two favorite boys! I love our little family!

Of all the stages.....

I have to be honest, I am not one of those Moms who thinks that every stage from newborn on up is her "favorite stage" in her child's development. I'm sure this knocks me out of the running for the Nobel Mommy Prize, but nonetheless... I have fond memories of every stage now- and I have to say that even in the moment, I was able to take stock, in awe, of each new thing my little critter was able to do and that did bring me a lot of joy, but up until now Ive been a little guilty of waiting for a particular stage to pass. Feeling guilty for sort of wanting the time to move a little faster, and also feeling at times unable to cope and be my best version of a Mama because of some of the difficulties.

Until now. That is NOT to say that I handle each moment with the grace I would hope to have. That is NOT to say that my rambunctious child does everything I ask, when I ask him to do it (far from it, some days) but Cutie and I are really getting into our groove and the frustration level for both of us has taken a nose dive as of late. I know enough about kids at this point to know that all too soon that will change and I will be thrust into some new phase of his life (and maybe mine) that will make me think all over again "how am I going to manage this??!", but for now I am really really enjoying my child to the fullest.

His pride in his ability to walk on his own and somewhat begin to communicate with me is almost tangible. His vocabulary is still very limited- with Mama, Dada, and Baba still topping the charts, but he is starting to mimic sounds now even if they don't yet turn into words and he understands about 90% of what we say to him when we are talking on his level and being clear. He LOVES to walk (or be carried) all around the house and outside and just point to things and make a grunting sound that means "please tell me what that is mother"- ok, it actually sounds more like "Daaaas? Doooos? Ablegabledooododle?" but I know what he means. Sometimes I will have only told him what something is one time, and several days prior, and when I ask him to go get it- he does!! I guess this is nothing new to veteran Mama's but it is so exciting for me and Hubs!

 He has a new love.... his blankie- which is the blanket that our whole house uses- and  I have been watching it for a few weeks now, the content, sleepy look he gets on his face whenever you hand it to him around nap or bed time just melts my heart a little bit.

He will still take a paci- and usually if he is tired or sick he really wants it- otherwise it stays in the crib. He is NOT  a picky eater right now, he is just happy to be eating in general.  I  buy bananas and strawberrries each week  because he eats them so well and its to easy to add one of those to a meal or snack and feel good that he has gotten a somewhat balanced meal!!!

He is pretty "Mama focused" right now, and I have to say it does my heart good. I think anytime you give so much of yourself to something, its nice to have a little recognition now and then, but he continues to be super friendly and loves to be around other kids and grownups so that makes play-dates really fun for both of us... and definitely makes us lots of friends when we are out!

He LOVES LOVES LOVES to read. It totally makes my day. I don't know if I can claim any part of it, or if it is just a part of his little personality, but I did start reading to him really early on and it is literally the only activity that will hold his attention and keep him still for more than a minute. Some current favorites are: Where is Baby's belly button? (he loves a good lift the flap book), Where is ELmo?  and any type of touch and feel book. Apparently they all taste good as well, because most all of his books have teeth marks all over the spine.

He really loves his grandparents, and seems to know who my friends are too and takes right to them. I love that even though we don't have grandparents in town, he really connects with them and knows they  love him.

I have to confess that diaper changing is still a bit of a struggle on most days- I have tried all kinds of things to make it more pleasant- sometimes animal sounds will do the trick, but not always.

Now that he is really walking I can take him outside and let him do his thing in the yard and he LOVES it. I knew he would! I think our challenging time lasted a little longer than some other folks because he is always so active and so mobile but he started crawling really early and walking at about the right time so we had FOREVER for him to crawl and not really be able to move around in the way he wanted to. Frustrating for him and back breaking for a Mama!

He is totally doing the thing that I heard he would do- walking away from me to explore something or other, but then always coming back to me (home base) for a hug and then heading back out again. Over and over he does this- he never seems to tire of it, and I love the fact that he wants to explore, but he still needs his Mama. :)

He thinks balloons are cool but a little scary and most of the time he just wants to be held while inspecting them. The same thing is starting to go for this larger inflatable rubber duck that I bought for him to take a bath in. Usually if he disappears from sight and then I hear lots of loud talking, if I peak my head around the corner he has found this blow up duckie tub and is standing a few feet away from it pointing at it and talking up a storm, but not touching it. Funny the things that are intimidating to a 10 month old.

I have learned so much already about the way our Heavenly Father feels about us through having a baby of my own, but this stage is teaching me even more. I literally delight in Cohen. I delight in being his mother and in interacting with him every day. I look forward to the time that we spend together during his waking hours (most of them anyway :) ) and I watch his growth with so much pride. What a blessing!

Cutie has had a haircut since this picture and now has a mullet. He thought the lady with the scissors was actually trying to attack him rather than just trying to fix those chops of his.

It's all fun and games!!!

Walkin' and Talkin'

Spa-sketti

Cutie has a new culinary favorite, spaghetti! Or as I used to call it, spa-sketti! By the end of the meal, there were noodles on top of his head...literally!

The picture below was just too cute not to post!