one

wow! i cannot believe i have a walking, talking (okay, maybe it's more yelling and noise making than actual talking) one year old! max celebrated his 1st birthday on october 1st. i stayed home from school that day to spend time with him. on saturday we had max's birthday party. my mom, dad, jacquie, and my aunt judy all came from ohio to be here for the big one. max is so lucky (as am i) to have such wonderful, loving family who would travel so far to be here to celebrate his amazing and precious 1st year of life! scott and i had both our families (minus jarrod) in attendance for the party. my mom made her famous carrot cake (with dairy free cream cheese frosting) and sweet potato cupcakes (also with the same frosting). max ate a sweet potato cupcake for his "smash cake" and loved it (he now wants a bite of cake/cupcake/icing after dinner every night). he was given so many gifts. i don't think i have ever seen so many toys for one child. i will just share a few of his favorites with you...mommy and daddy gave him the all terrain radio flyer wooden wagon. he enjoys going for rides around the neighborhood in it while eating his edamame and blueberries; also enjoys pushing it himself. grammy gave him the radio flyer retro rocket which he can sort of push himself around on while riding; he gets so excited when he sees it and pushes all the buttons that say things like "ready for take-off". grandpere gave him his 1st chair; loves to go over to it and lay across it or lounge in it with his bottle or his leaptop (from lily). aunt jac gave him a cozy coupe that he loves getting in and riding around in or pushing it himself. uncle josh and aunt sarah gave him a blow-up ball pit that he thinks is so fun. nana and pop gave him a top that spins with a train that goes around a track inside it. so many more toys, clothes, books, puzzles, balls, trucks, etc. are now a part of our bursting with love home.

max's 12 month stats:
weight: 22.8 lbs (50 %)
height: 30 in (50%)
head 75%
received 4 shots and a finger prick; doctor says he is absolutely perfect; we are still nursing; loves all his fruits and veggies; some new additions are honeydew and macaroni and "cheese" and toddler strawberry mum-mums; words: mama, dada, ra (rex), do (dog), ba (ball, book, banana); becoming a babbling chatterbox in the recent days with many sounds being put together just nothing that makes a whole lot of sense to us; wonderful walker; points and says "oohh"; loves giraffes; very good at making connections to things (if you ask him where his giraffe is he will want to find all three of them throughout the house, same for his monkey halloween costume and his red talking monkey); loves his books millie cow, alien al, charlie monkey, rusty robot, dizzy dragon, and halloween jack (all big books with bright colors and on the last page they have sound and lights). my mom and i have been adding to his collection ever since she first gave him one for christmas and we realized how much he loved it; wants to always be outside walking around and playing; loves to play with any type of ball; loves outings with mommy and daddy to anywhere; getting better now that he is in his britax big carseat in the car (hardly ever cries at all anymore); loves animals; loves all dogs big and small; doesn't mind wearing his first pair of little white stride rite baby shoes (what a precious moment that was watching him get fitted for his shoes and reach down ever so slowly to touch them and then look at scott and i while he was bent down for reassurance all with a grin on his face. when he took his 1st step in them he leaned over to grab onto something stable because he thought he might fall. when he finally walked in them he lifted his leg up to take steps.); dislikes diaper changes/clothing changes; loves music and dancing; gives open mouthed kisses to mommy; gets so excited to see mommy and daddy if they are returning from somewhere; well, i could probably go on for days thinking about this boy but i will leave it at that. i just never want to forget the way he is and the faces and smiles and sounds he makes and maybe some of these posts will help me to always remember him at each age. thanks for hanging in there while i write this book for max and scott and myself. now here are the pictures and videos i know you really came to see.

sorry for the blur on this picture but the setting was off on our camera and the moment of opening his first gift on the morning of his actual birthday had passed by the time we corrected it