Paul: One Year Old!

I can't believe my baby boy is already a one-year-old, but he definitely is in every way. He is growing up way too fast!

Paul took his first steps at 10 1/2 months old, and really took off walking at 11 months. He's really steady on his feet now, and I think he will be taking off running before we know it! He loves walking and being able to keep up with Anna. His favorite game is running away from us. If it's time to change his diaper or get his jammies on, he runs away and then looks back with this little mischievous grin and then giggles his head off when you start to chase him. I finally found him a pair of shoes that fit (he has the chubbiest little feet), and he loves wearing them. Now that it's getting nice outside, he loves to play and explore outside.

Video of him first learning to walk

 Paul loves climbing. He escapes up the stairs almost any chance he gets. He finally figured out how to go down them, so I don't worry so much about him getting stuck or falling. He also loves climbing on Anna's step stools and her little Mickey Mouse chair. He was trying really, really hard to climb on the coffee table, and was getting super frustrated and start crying when he couldn't, until the other day, he finally made it. He was so proud of himself! He's taken quite a few tumbles off of chairs, steps, and once off Anna's bed. It seems like he always has some new bump or bruise.

He's becoming quite vocal. He is always babbling and loves to put his hand over his mouth to make an "ah-ah-ah" sound, kind-of like Tarzan. He also loves to scream, especially when he wants food. He says "Mama" and sometimes "Dada" and he just started saying Anna, but it sounds like "Na-na-na-na." He also says "Yeah" whenever you ask him a question. :) He also just learned the sign for "more."

Some of Paul's favorite toys right now are toy cars, the lego train, toy phones (or anything that looks like a phone), Anna's doll stroller, toothbrushes, and glasses (especially Anna's). He is also really starting to love books, which makes me really happy. I think his favorite right now is Five Little Monkeys or maybe The Hungry Caterpillar. He will find a book and bring it to me or Derek and then immediately climb onto our laps to read.

Paul loves his binkies. He usually goes to sleep with, not just the one in his mouth, but one in each hand as well. When you go to give him a pacifier, he always opens his mouth wide and says "Ahhhh!" haha.

Anna likes to steal his binkie

Paul gives the best hugs. If you are sitting on the ground at his level, he will just come up to you and wrap his arms around your neck and lay his head on your shoulder for several seconds before going off to play again. He loves to be cuddled. He also gives kisses...open-mouthed slobbery ones on your cheek or lips haha. And he still lets me rock him to sleep most of the time. He is a little snuggle-bug.

Hug!

Eskimo kisses (or, as Anna calls them, "nose snuggles") Melt my heart!

Paul is the messiest eater. Every time we put him in his high chair for a meal, food ends up all over the floor, in the seat, stuck to his pants and socks, and sometimes in his hair. That is usually because he likes to put the bowl on top of his head. He insists on feeding himself all the time now, and is getting pretty good with a spoon. He also likes to share bites with whoever is sitting closest to him.

Eating his birthday cake

Chocolate beard!

Here's a video of him putting the bowl on his head. And another one of him putting Anna's underwear on his head. He really loves to be silly and make us laugh!

Have you noticed the gap in his front teeth? I was trying to find a good picture of it, but you can really only see it if he's laughing. Here's a video where you can see it. He has six teeth now, two on bottom and four on top. The gap between his top front teeth is so big that the bottom two teeth can almost fit inside it! Hopefully it will go away when he gets his permanent teeth, but for now it's pretty cute.

Paul is almost always happy, but when he's upset, he gets REALLY upset. Sometimes he's very inconsolable. And it's happened three times now where he gets crying so hard that he doesn't breathe, and then passes out! It's the scariest thing. The first time it happened, it was so scary! He had been playing with a little flashlight and fell and cut the inside of his mouth on it, but we didn't see what happened, we just heard him fall. And then he was bleeding out of his mouth and wasn't breathing and then passed out, and we freaked out and called 9-1-1! But seconds later he was alert and crying and we could see the cut and figured out what happened. I was still on the phone with the dispatcher and told them he was fine, but they still had to send someone to check him out. The EMTs told us that sometimes kids just do that...they get hurt or really upset and cry so hard they don't get enough oxygen and pass out, but then they are fine because they start breathing normally and are calm again. So now we know he will be fine when it happens, but it is still scary!

Paul's HATES getting his diaper changed. It is pretty much a two-person job, one to change the diaper and one to pin him down. When Derek isn't home, I can usually hold him down with one arm (or sometimes a foot) long enough to get the dirty diaper off and wipe him clean before he twists over and runs away half naked. I keep telling Derek he will be a good wrestler because it's impossible to pin him down!

He also hates his car seat. He cries and fights almost every time you go to put him in the car. Again, it's a wrestling match that I sometimes only win by giving him a treat or a binkie to distract him while I buckle him in. We finally switched him out of his infant car seat into a bigger one, and he doesn't seem to hate it as much so that's good!

Paul still loves baths. It might be his favorite thing. He loves to splash and play with cups and also to drink the water out of the cups. He doesn't really love when Anna helps to wash his hair.

Paul loves going to the park. He's always loved the swing, but the slides might be his favorite now. He likes to go down head first!

Lately, he's been helping to clean up, which is really cute. He will put toys into the toy box or help put socks into the drawer. We always clap for him and he gives us the biggest smile. He also likes to help sweep the floor with the broom.

We sure love our always-moving, full-of-energy, giggly, snuggly, happy boy!