1 Year Old!

Our little boy is 1 year old. 1 year ago today we had been home with our new bundle of joy for 24 hours. I can hardly believe it. Mostly I cannot believe the amount of freedom I have with a 1 year old vs the amount of time and attention a newborn child requires. It is truly amazing. And I love my Big Boy! :)

• Emmett is quite mobile these days but still not truly "crawling". We actually had a specialist come to review his development and since he is delayed we will be working with a physical therapist to try to help him along. She gave us several exercises to work on. We are helping Emmett get on his knees and then rocking him forward and back; putting him on his knees to play near a stool or table to encourage him to pull up, and continuing to walk while holding his hands (which is his favorite thing!). She is confident he'll get moving at some point and be just fine. What a relief!
• Emmett now points at things. Tonight we asked him - Where's Mommy? and he pointed at me! It is so exciting to see that he is starting to express his understanding of things.
• While reading stories (one of his favorite things) Emmett likes to turn the pages on the books.
• At our one year appointment Emmett weighed in at 22 pounds 13oz (52nd percentile) and was 33 3/4" long (79th percentile).
• Emmett had a small and fun birthday party last weekend. All of the excitement really tired him out!
• I am extremely happy to report that the ENT has cleared our little guy. Rustin and I could not believe it when he said that the fluid behind his eardrums was going away and that he could tell a significant improvement from his prior visit. We do not have a follow-up even scheduled! I'd like to think it is because we removed him from daycare..
• He has been loving his new in-home daycare. Becky treats him really well and he enjoys playing with the kids and having outside time just about every day. It is great and we are lucky to have found this opportunity.
• We have some new teeth! Emmett has his 4 top teeth. They all appeared within the last month. Teething seems to be a little easier now than it was when he was a wee thing. A little tylenol and some loving is all he needs! :)
• Emmett's favorite game is peek-a-boo! He loves to play it with his hands, a towel, clothes, toys.. you name it! It's a lot of fun. He also likes to throw things. Anything he gets his hands on he typically throws it.. over and over.
• He also knows how to drink from his sippy cup now. However, I still hold it for him quite a bit because he tends to hit it on his tray and throw it a lot.. but overall he is doing a great job learning to use his sippy cup. He can also drink from his sippy cup with the straw and drink from a regular cup with help.

It is safe to say our first year with Emmett has been a success (he's still alive)! There have been many things we have learned. Most of all we have loved the heck out of this little creature we created. :) It has truly been amazing and it leaves me wondering what all lies ahead for us. The journey of parenthood is so fun and I wouldn't change it for the world. Makes me want to have another one.... someday. :)