One Year!

It's hard to believe that one year has passed by so quickly. So many changes have happened this year that it is exciting to think about where we were one year ago to where we are today. God has blessed us with two healthy and amazing kids and a life full of fun, love, and support.
It has been such a blessing to be able to be home with Liam and Callie full time. I have been able to witness each 'first' for Liam and the love grow between the 2 of them. I could not imagine a better situation.

Here's are crazy goofball one year old!

I try really hard each month to get a picture of the 2 of them together but I have yet to actually get one.....since this is his one year post, I feel like I should at least post the best one....ha. O well, I tried!

Here's what is new with our big boy:

He now weighs 23 lbs and 14 oz (75-90th percentile) and is 31 1/4 inches tall (90-95th percentile)
He is walking everywhere! It is so much easier for me although he is a bit fearless which can be frightening. Yesterday I caught him trying to climb up the baby gate!
He favorite room continues to be the kitchen. Toys are kind of obsolete to him, as he prefers the kitchen tools and gadgets. Everyday he will walk around with a spatula, whisk, or something else that he finds in the cupboards or drawers. The nice thing is that he is very clean and organized about it - any cupboard or drawer that he opens, he pulls out the object and won't leave the room until he closes whatever he opened....so I guess that is helpful!
He is understanding so much now. It's so amazing to say something to him and have him understand. I can ask him where his shoes are and he will walk over to our shoe basket and grab his out. His favorite thing is to take things to Callie that she needs....socks, markers, whatever. I will ask him to take that to Callie and he will come grab it from me and walk it over to her. Other words that he understands include nose, sock, eye, mouth, no, cat, dog, horse, outside, swing, please, thank you, daddy, mommy, book, Callie/sister, slide, eat, water, ball (there's more but those are the key words he has down).
He has started to "talk" - making appropriate noises with the right sound - he says ma ma ma, da da da, he can make the sound of a dog, cat, and horse. His thank yous are kisses - which I love so I have yet to correct him. He can make the no sound now - in fact if he does something he knows he's not supposed to, you will hear him say no then continue doing it....helpful, huh?
He is off all bottles except a small morning bottle. That has resulted in him completely giving up milk. He drinks a lot of water but will not touch milk in a cup. This has caused him to eat more food, which I guess is a good thing.
He is so easy to put down to sleep - his routine includes a couple books, a song, and then he is finished with us and wants to be put into his crib....as long as he has his blanket. He's a bit like that kid from Snoopy that carries around a blanket everywhere.
He loves his sister. My favorite thing is when she laughs about something, he will just burst out giggling....super cute!
He still has 6 teeth (4 on top and 2 on the bottom) but is currently working on 4 teeth (at the same time) on the bottom. They have popped out but you can only see the very top of them.
He has become a big shy and clingy towards Preston and I but it tends not to last very long. It's a bit more of a show than real shyness.
He is an amazing snuggler!! I love it!
He has finally embraced books but definitely prefers nonfiction books with animals in it.