Now You Are 1

      You are becoming such a BIG boy!! This morning I dropped you off at Grandma's house without your carrier and driving away almost made me cry. God has blessed us SO much and it's wonderful to see everyday how much you grow.

     I love watching you as you figure things out. It makes me realize how much I take for granted. For example, I know that by crawling behind the couch, I will get stuck. You however, have not quite figured this out yet and continue to try and do so, even though you got stuck and it made you scream!! Watching you play with things to see how they work is not only entertaining for us, but it makes me smile to see how smart you are. (Especially, when you look up and smile as if to say, "Look, Mommy! I figured it out!" I love how it seems like you do the same old thing for a long time and then all of a sudden, you start doing lots of different things all at once. Here are some new tricks of yours:

* Well, you have a tooth!! It only came in about 2 1/2 weeks ago but now it really shows when you yawn. You're aren't too keen on letting us dig in your mouth to have a look-see, but that's okay, we know it's there! (Like when you try to chew on our fingers! Ouch!)

* You have mastered how to pull up. It seems so long ago that you needed our help! Now you're as independent as the day is long.  You don't even like to sit on Mommy's lap anymore, which you used to LOVE. You're now content to stand on the floor holding on to Mommy's lap.

* Your army crawl is FAST!! From watching you, we both think you could crawl in the conventional way if you really wanted to. (You've been caught doing it a couple times.) You're too much of a go-getter to waste such valuable time, however. You crawl from place to place pulling up on virtually everything. You've even managed to "pull" up on the wall, using the molding for support. Ah! It's so hard to keep up with you and you always seem to be in things. "No, Riley! Don't pull the cat's tail." "Stop slamming that cabinet door." etc, etc.

*You put EVERYTHING in your mouth! Another part of constantly chasing after you is taking things out of your mouth. Plastic, carpet padding, and dog food just to name a few. (The dog food really grossed me out as you smiled big and had a greyish-brown drool coming out of both sides of your mouth.)

HERE'S HOW WE CELEBRATED!!

First, Daddy installed your new car seat and we went for a drive. You really enjoyed being up higher and getting to look out as the world went by. This is new since you've only been able to see the tops of trees. I can just imagine how everything must have seemed backwards! We were headed to the store to buy you your very first doughnut (Grandpa will be proud) and then on to a friend's house for some play time. The enjoyment was short-lived however. You fell asleep on the way there! You were playing with your phone and both of us laughed at you as you continued to push the buttons, even in your sleep. Hahahahaha!

When we pulled out that doughnut from the bag, you perked right up. It took you a little bit to get going but I think you got the hang of it quite quickly. (Don't worry, everyone. We only let him eat about 1/4 of it. We just thought him holding it made a great picture!)

Here are some more pictures from the night!!

If you look closely, you can see the bits of doughnut EVERYWHERE

!!!