ONE YEAR!

Happy Birthday Anderson! We made it a year : ) As everyone says, it's amazing how time flies. One year ago, we had a newborn in the hospital. I get teary eyed thinking about my reaction when I first heard Andy's cry when Dr. Rogers removed him from my belly. I couldn't have prepared myself for the overwhelming emotion that I experienced hearing my baby, alive, outside of me, and healthy. I also couldn't have prepared myself for the amount of deep love I feel for Andy today as a one-year-old. Kyle and I just returned from a week in Orlando. While I was working, Kyle took Andy to Animal Kingdom, Downtown Disney...and just played in the pool. As a family we went to Epcot. I never have seem Andy so excited and it was Kyle's and my first "family" experience at Disney. Andy was giggling non-stop, something I wouldn't have expected from an almost one-year-old. As our trip makes me excited for what we have to look forward to, I also hold onto today, and what we get to experience with him each day. I am truly blessed.

Here are some factoids about Andy as a one-year-old:

Andy LOVES to scoot around (baby gates are in full-force). He will climb on anything, grab anything, chew on anything...definitely an active little guy. When given some help, he loves to walk and stand, but I still think we are a ways from walking on his own. He has 6 teeth and a couple on their way (3 on top, 3 on bottom). Since Andy is our first, we don't have others to compare to...but we have been told he is a mellow guy. We are lucky to be able to take him on the airplane, to weddings, to parties, to dinners out...and he pretty much just hangs out. We also are lucky to have a full army of friends and family always willing to help out when we need it. Like I have said MANY times - it takes a village! My favorite times of days are still walking in to wake him up from a nap and having his face light up when he sees me. I also love when Kyle walks in the room (and Henry) and Andy's face just beams. His vocabulary is his own...lots of ga, ba, uh (for uh-oh), ugga (for dog), kha (for lots of things...golf, Ka, ball, or just to make mom happy in response to a noise), da (for daddy)...but still no mommy. Oh well, my time will come : ) Andy's favorite food is avocado, bananas, crackers...but he still isn't crazy about finger food. He likes to store his food in his cheeks and eventually pull it back out. Oh, our little chipmunk! I would say his favorite activity is anything in the water - baths, pool time, or anything that involves splashing. I take that back, his favorite activity is bumping his head...on anything. He will crawl to a wall, a door, and bump, bump, bump. So, we call him "Bumpy". Andy sleeps well in his own crib, but does not enjoy the pack-n-play. He sleeps from about 9pm - 9am, which I can't complain about! Life with Andy is pretty darn good - and we look forward to many birthdays to come! Hooray for this big milestone in Andy's life and in ours!