My Little One Year Old

Our littlest buddy is one year old!  

Growth Stats
Weight - 19.5 lbs. (18th Percentile)
Height - 29.75 in. (46th Percentile)
Head Circumference - 18 in. (38th Percentile)

It's hard to believe a year ago we were in the hospital meeting him for the first time.  It
seems like such a long time ago, yet at the same time this past year has flown by.  To be
honest, I was nervous leading up to having Miles.  Nervous about how crazy our life would
be having three boys.  Wondering what type of baby Miles would be and how I would deal
with the addition of another little one.  

What I couldn't have known back then is that Miles is the absolute perfect addition to our
family.  He made the transition to three a piece of cake for me.  I'm not discounting the fact
that there are still crazy times, but overall he's made things so easy.  He goes along with the
flow and barely ever gets fussy.  He'll sleep whenever and wherever he needs to.  If I need
to run errands while the boys are in school and it's his nap time, it's no big deal.  He'll fall
asleep in his car seat and sleep through it all.  He'll sleep in the stroller while I go for my
runs with no complaints.  He is such a calm, cute, fun, silly, happy baby.

Over the past month, he's perfected cruising.  He pulls up and stands next to anything he
can.  He's even started letting go and standing on his own for a few seconds which is really
exciting and fun to see. He balances on his knees quite a bit too. He gets excited and he
bounces up and down on them.  It's really cute.  He'll walk holding onto our hands, but
hasn't gotten the hang of taking solo steps quite yet.  He's so close though.  You can tell
he's ready and wants to do it on his own, but he's still a little wobbly.
Once he gets his balance, he'll be off and running.

   
I'm sure Owen and Joe can hardly wait for Miles to start walking.  They already wrestle and
play with him like he's a full grown toddler.  Thankfully Miles loves it and I'd like to think it's
making him tough.  If one of them are laying on the ground, he'll crawl right up to them and
belly flop on top of them.  He laughs and gets super excited, which is so funny to see.  The
face he makes when he's excited is hilarious.  It's kind of hard to capture in pictures,
but his arms and legs will flail around wildly and his face looks like this...

We also see this face when we walk up to his high chair holding graham crackers or any
other snack he's overly excited about.  The kid loves his carbs and sweets!  A little trait he
picked up from his mom. And actually, he's a great eater in general.  He tries almost
anything we put on his plate.  He doesn't necessarily eat it all, but he'll try it,
which is huge.  Now if only I could get the older boys to do the same thing.

Favorite Foods - pancakes, cinnamon waffles, eggs, mac n cheese, goldfish, graham
crackers, veggie straws, french fries (no I don't give him them often, but yes he loves them),
strawberries, mandarin oranges, banana, grilled cheese, chicken nuggets

Miles has become a lot more vocal over this past month.  He added ma-ma to his
vocabulary which is music to my ears.  I love hearing it!  I'm not sure he says it with
meaning quite yet, but the sound is there, which is a start.  He knows who both Ryan
and I are though, and will look at us if you ask where mommy and daddy are.
He's also started repeating the "ba" syllable too.  I love hearing him talk.

We are finally on somewhat of a normal schedule with his sleep.  He goes to bed around

7:00PM, wakes up around 4:50AM to eat, then goes back to sleep for another hour or so.

Occasionally he'll wake up in the middle of the night, but we can go snuggle him for a

minute and he goes right back to sleep.  He takes two naps, one around 9:00AM, and one

around 1:00PM with his older brothers.  It is like I win the lottery when I get all three boys to

nap at the same time.  I like to call it the nap trifecta.  That hour or two of downtime is huge!

When else would I watch the Bachelorette, Grey's Anatomy or any of my other shows? ;)

It's also when I get things done without having to watch over my shoulder to make sure

Miles isn't crawling up the stairs or playing in the toilet (yep, another one of his favorite

things to do while I'm not looking).

When I sit back and think of Miles right now, I envision his sweet face.  I think of his big

smile that shows all eight of his tiny teeth.  I picture getting him out of his crib when he

wakes up and getting big hugs and snuggles.  And the big sloppy kisses he gives me.  He

pretty much just opens his mouth wide and sucks on my face, but it's amazing.  I have to

remind him to be gentle or his kisses can quickly become bites.  Even with the risk of biting,

I'll take kisses whenever I can get them.  I imagine myself walking up to him and having him

bounce up and down or kick his arms and legs because he's so excited.  I think of all the

people that commented what a good baby he is because he was always so calm.  Miles you are such an amazing little person.  We all love you so much and look forward

to everything this next year has to bring us.