Spencer is ONE!

Today my baby turns one!  I absolutely cannot believe how fast this year has gone.  I wonder how it's possible that we've gone from a sweet little newborn that fits cross cradle in a sling to a one year old that is taking his first steps! 

First day of life

First day home

1 month

2 months

3 months

4 months

5 months

6 months

7 months

8 months

9 months

10 months

11 months

1 year

Being Spencer's mom has changed my life completely.  Making him smile is the highlight of my day.  Watching him learn new skills every week amazes me.  It makes me wonder how the brain works and how it is possible for such a little person to learn so much so fast.  His little brain is fast at work all the time, and you can see the concentration in his face as he tries to solve problems and get himself into and out of different situations. 

He is standing on his own and has taken two steps from a standing position before falling.  He can go from crawling to a bear crawl position to standing without much effort now.  It really won't be long before he is walking confidently (though I think it will be awhile before walking is faster than crawling).  He is busy- crawling into drawers, taking everything out of cabinets, pushing kitchen chairs around the house, crawling down the step to get outside, crawling up and down the steps, etc.  His absolute favorite thing to do is play with balls- throw them, catch them, crawl after them, and watch them bounce.  It's all a delight to Spencer!

His verbal skills aren't quite up to par with other babies his age.  He says "dada" and "mama", but not strictly for us.  He had moderate hearing loss because of all his ear infections, so on the 6th of May he got bilateral ear tubes to help with both his hearing and for prevention of further infections.  I am praying it helps!  In the past week I have noticed that he has "talked" a lot more and made more consanant sounds than prior to the surgery.  I am hoping that his verbal skills will come along nicely from here.  We're definitely working on it and will watch him closely.

He will eat all kinds of foods.  The only foods he's had so far that he doesn't seem to like are cucumbers and pineapple.  He loves chicken, cheese, toast, sweet potatoes, squash, spinach and pears, yogurt, spaghetti, cantelope, peas, etc.  He is no longer drinking out of bottles (his choice) but also refuses breastmilk and regular milk from a sippy cup, so right now his only daytime liquid is water.  He likes it okay but is not having nearly the wet diapers he used to.  It's a transition time this week, so we'll see how it goes over the next few weeks.  I know he would LOVE juice, but because I know he'd never drink anything else, we're choosing not to give it to him at this time.

We have his one year apt on Tues, so we'll find out then how much he weighs and how long he is.  He has grown a lot in the past few weeks that we've noticed and right now we're struggling to find clothes that fit.  All his 12-18 months sizes are summer clothes and we've had a very cold, very wet spring, so he can't wear those without freezing but his warmer clothes are all 6-12 months and much too short.  We're praying for better weather here for so many reasons, one of those is to see my little guy in his cute summer stuff!!

Happy Birthday, my buddy!!  Daddy and I adore you and feel blessed every day for the chance to watch you grow and be your parents.  We love you, SYT!!