Dear Nathan

Dear Nathan,

 You turned one over a week ago and I still have not accepted it. I cannot believe how fast this year has flown by! You are my happy, laid back but sometimes crazy little man and you have brought so many smiles and much laughter to our home. You hate getting your diaper changed, but you love the grab the dirty one and fling it as Mommy puts on the clean one. You love your paci and blanket, although you don't have a specific one. When you see your blanket you crawl frantically for it and lay down, clenching it with happiness. You are a good sleeper, sleeping about 12 hours a night and 2 naps a day. And food? You love it. You have 2 bottom teeth, and two top teeth are almost popping through, but your gums act really well as chewing devices. You eat everything we eat, just mashed or chopped small. You are not crazy about raw veggies yet, but Mommy is working on that. You'll get it soon! About a month ago, you weaned yourself to when you woke up in the morning. You did it all the way until a few days after your turned 1, when you were just not interested in it anymore. You were my first baby to nurse until age 1, which makes Mommy very happy!

Chocolate Chip Pancakes for birthday breakfast

 You cannot handle dairy. While you love to eat it, your tummy rejects it and sends it everywhere for the next few hours which is no fun for anyone. The Doctor has suggested coconut milk which we'll be starting as soon as I get to the store and buy some. I'm hoping you'll like it! Thankfully you can eat (and love) cheddar cheese, as well as dairy in other foods. It's just the plain yogurt and cottage cheese you can't do, and to be honest I have not even tried milk because it's not worth it! We'll try you again with dairy in 6 months.

I love when you kneel like this. You just started it within the last few weeks and it makes you seem so old!

 You are 20 pounds even, which is only the 12th percentile for weight. You are 29.5 inches (40th) and get this, your head is in the 69th percentile. You have always had a huge head. Hopefully that means you'll be smart! It seems you are following in your sister's footsteps for being lean, which Dr. says is fine! You don't say words, but you do copy words that we say sometimes. And you babble all the time!

Your birthday cupcake. Our schedule has been crazy, but I'm hoping to pull off a small party next week!

You love music. You dance, bopping up and down if you're standing, or bopping your shoulders and head around if you are sitting. You open your mouth with the biggest smiles ever, (you have a huge mouth!) and you've recently started fake laughing which makes Mommy real-laugh. You crawl like a little ninja, but sometimes you still scoot. You've been pulling yourself up and walking along furniture for a few months now, and you are pretty fast. And the stairs? You can climb all 16 in a matter of seconds. It's quite scary, and Mommy is working very hard to train you to stay away from them. Maybe if Mommy started crawling all over and climbed the stairs like that she would be as skinny as you!

 I will never forget the day I saw 2 lines on the pregnancy test and started hyperventilating with excitement. Your sister was the first person I told! At that moment I could have never imagined how you find your way into another corner of my heart I didn't know I had and squeeze out as much love as you could. Kissing you, singing to you, dancing with you and squeezing you with hugs are only the tiniest of ways I try to portray my love for you.

 I am scared to have boys, because they are stubborn and tend to become rebellious more than the girls, but me and daddy are doing our very best and God will have to take care of the rest of it. I hope that you never stray from God's path and that you become a man of God just like your daddy is, always sensitive to the Holy Spirit and always striving to "perfect holiness".

I love you with every breath.

 Love,
 Mommy