ONE YEAR

Jack -

You are one year old!  Since the moment you were born, you have kept us on our toes.  The first year of your life has been a wild ride, but we wouldn't trade it for the world.  You are an amazing little man and you certainly complete our family.

The most exciting part of you turning one is that all of the digestive issues that you had during your first year are better.  You have outgrown your milk/soy protein intolerance which is very exciting!  It means that you (and Mama) have no more food restrictions!  It also means that you were able to have cake and ice cream for your first birthday just like Dr. Repucci promised us way back when you were just 8 weeks old and completely miserable.  You still struggle with reflux and we will continue to work with the doctor on this issue.

At one year old, you are crawling like a maniac.  You pull up and cruise along everything but you aren't walking on your own yet.  You will be walking soon and watch out when that happens - there will be no stopping you then!  You can climb like a wild man - you love to climb the ladder on the swingset and it is a bit too high for our liking.  You do a great job climbing the ladder in the kitchen when your brother is on it too!

You absolutely LOVE to be outside.  You like to play in the sandbox and throw the sand.  You also love to play in the toy house and "drive" around backwards in the Cozy Coupe car we have.  You  have almost sent yourself down the hill a few time in it.  You also really enjoy the water table both with and without water in it.  Your favorite thing to do in that is drop the balls down the center tube and wait for them to spin out.

You are an amazing eater.  You basically will eat anything that is put in front of you.  Most meals you eat more than your big brother does!  You are great at feeding yourself and you often eat 4 meals a day as well as your snacks!  You love to eat pork chops and steak right along side Mom and Mama and we often wonder where you are putting all of the food you eat!

You absolutely adore your big brother Drew and he can make you smile instantly!  You love to play with him and he loves you too!  When you are upset Drew will often make sure you are ok and he is great at singing to you to get you to calm down.  I can't wait to see how your brotherly bond gets stronger and stronger as you get older.

You aren't really saying any words yet, but you jibber jabber and babble all of the time.  We think you say some form of Mama and Kitty, but they aren't really easily understood when you say them.  You have the greatest conversations with your Opa all of the time!  You are great at pointing at what you want and letting us know if we are "understanding" you!

You love to go to Nana and Opa's house and see all of the animals.  You also love swimming in their pool and riding in the little push car that they have.  You also discovered Opa's tractor and whenever we go over you point to it and want your Opa to take you for a ride on it.

Your first year was full of challenges and obstacles.  Your MSPI and reflux made a lot of your early days very miserable.  You spent a lot of your first few months screaming and sleeping very little.  We hated seeing you so miserable and wished there was more we could do to help you.  You ushered in your 7th month with an overnight in the hospital for RSV.  When you were 11 months old you made a trip to Urgent Care for Nursemaid's Elbow. You had a lot of trouble self soothing and entertaining yourself.  With each passing month, we saw small improvements and now that you are a year old, things are much better.

In spite of all of the challenges your first year brought, we had a lot of fun experiences too!  We traveled to MN twice to visit family.  We went to Florida in February for a nice warm weather vacation.   You celebrated your first Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter.  We went to Storyland and Great Wolf Lodge.  You picked your first apples, strawberries and peaches.  You took your first trip to the beach and loved playing in the sand.

You are wearing some 12 but mostly 18 month clothes.  You are in size 4 diapers.  At your 1 year appointment you were 31 inches and 22 pounds.  That put you in the 92% for height and 48% for weight.  You are a big boy!  You still have hardly any hair but what you do have certainly has wisps of red!  You just keep growing and our little baby is turning into a toddler right before our eyes!

Jack, you are an amazing little soul and we are so lucky to have you as a part of our family.  Your curiosity keeps you so busy and you don't miss a thing that goes on!  The way you scrunch up your nose and flash a tooth filled smile brightens anyone's day.  Your big blue eyes  are mesmerizing and you capture everyone's heart with your cuteness!

We love you so very much!

Love,
Mom and Mama and big brother Drew.