Monkey turns ONE!

Though I haven't officially had to tell anyone that I have a one year old the reality has finally set in and I am..... managing. On the other hand, Brooks is loving his "toddler" life and embracing it with flying colors. This week I was officially told "No" by my once sweet baby boy. I was shoved away as I tried to steal a kiss on his chubby cheek. In the very same day I was greeted by a screaming toddler at the church nursery after reading earlier in the morning from my ever-faithful Babycenter.com email that my 12-18 month old will start to show signs of separation anxiety. Why do these emails always have to be so spot on? I could have been fine skipping this little obstacle of separation anxiety. More so, Brooks wants to walk where he wants to walk, feed himself with his own spoon though not a morsel of food has ever come close to staying on the spoon or getting near his mouth, and he wants to put on his own shoes with no help. Little Mr. Independent must know that he is now not a baby {on paper} and the world is his own little oyster of exploration! Oh goodness, this is going to be a crazy year!

As has been noted - I was just a tad emotional leading up to the big day. I couldn't believe all of the stages that had came and went. I never really knew the "hype" that came with the first birthday. It's like this funny feeling of accomplishment. We watched for a year as the baby hit all the milestones right on track, blew out the so-called statistics with his weight and size, and developed just so. Then, you get to one and feel like you should be able to breathe a little only to realize the race has just begun. I seriously have no clue what happens next. I knew at 6 months he may crawl and 10 to 12 months he would start to walk. I knew he could eat real food around 9 months and a tooth might pop through any day. Now I am not sure whether he will be kissing girls this year or riding a tricycle or learning to jump? I guess that will be the beauty of this next year - Brooks will set his own path as he has always done and continue to amaze us as he grows....and wear us out. Cheers to this next year of parenthood with two boys!

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Brooks' party was a blast. I think Brad and I had more fun visiting with family and friends and entertaining in the first time in our house. I loved preparing for the little man's big day and getting our house all colorful for the festivities. Brooks was a little slow to dig into the cake but once he got into the middle there was no turning back. After cake we pulled out the luxurious pool and let the babies enjoy a day at the beach! {This turned out to be a Huggies swim diaper commercial!} The boys weren't as keen on the frigid water as the little girls were but they were all entertained nonetheless. Once all of friends left to go home for a good afternoon nap, Brooks entertained the family by opening his gifts - baby style - in his diaper. It really was a perfect day for the little monkey. He loved the attention and we could tell that he knew the show was just for him. Here are a few pictures from the day.......a little late but worth the wait.

Happy first Birthday Brooks!