Turning One is So Much Fun!

John Michael is Officially 1 year old!!

Ben and I are in awe! Someone asked me if I was sad on his birthday and honestly, I wasn't. I was excited and encouraged that this little bundle of a baby that was handed to us on February 16th, 2010 survived one whole year with us! :)

Here are so fun facts about John Michael at 1 Year Old:

* John Michael is officially a walker! He will occasionally crawl to get something, but most of the time, he is up and about. Just the week of his birthday, he began bending down and picking up items and straightening back up! We have slowly been child-proofing everything. We never knew how many things can get into those little hands so fast!

* 6 Teeth! 2 on Bottom and 4 on Top. When he grins, you can see them!

* John Michael can say: Mama, Dada, Hello, and Hi

* John Michael also does some great hand motions! (Pre-reg: He must be in a good mood to show you these!) If you say "Touchdown"....his two arms shot straight in the air! And if you say "How old are you?", both hands come up with one finger up!
(Picture Below: JM eating Spaghetti while practicing "Touchdown".....felt like I needed to explain the mess!)
* The boy LOVES music! No matter if it is just a commercial or the radio on, as soon as he hears it....he starts clapping and dancing. His favorite songs: the "Veggie Tales" Theme Song and (funny enough!) the "Catfish Cove" television commercial. He also loves to make music. For his birthday, he got a toy piano. It has found its way to the kitchen and he usually plays for us while we are cooking dinner!

* Food: We have mastered the sippy cup! YAY! And in the past week he has been refusing his bottle (except for the last feeding of the day). We did start adding Whole Milk to his diet on Saturday, but we are still doing some formula due to the iron levels (see below). His favorite foods are: Yogurt, Pasta Pickups, Cheerios and Applesauce. Here lately, he REALLY is interested in what his mama is eating...he wants that over whatever he has on his plate!

* He still LOVES Gravy and (recently our house guest) Gritz (the dogs). Gritz is more puppy than Gravy so the two of them (Gritz and JM) have become fast buds. They wrestle, they kiss, JM Feeds him the foods he doesn't want to eat, and they are very rough with each other....but lots and lots of laughter comes from JM.

* Haircut: Right before JM's 1st birthday, he got his first haircut! The man (Steve) who cut his hair, has been cutting Ben's hair since he was 2 Years old! It was definitely a full-circle moment!

* He is ALL boy. Just in the last month, we have received 2 phone calls from his Daycare with "Accident Reports".....none serious, but they just want to let us know (a busted lip and a bonk on the head). The boy wants to go fast, be chased, wrestled with, crawl into the smallest spaces, knock over things, and (most recently) get very very dirty outside.

* John Michael loves being outside! We have some great grass stains on his jeans! We have taken him to the local park a few times in which he loves people watching and climbing up the slide the wrong way! He also loves to go on Wagon Rides around the neighborhood and wave to all our neighbors!

* Sleeping: He goes to bed anywhere between 7:45 - 8:15 PM and sleeps until 5:30 AM. He is still our early riser (every day of the week!). He also still takes 2 naps a day.....one in the morning and one in the afternoon.

* Mama's Favorite Activity: When he gives me kisses (you know those open mouth, full of slobber kisses).
* Dada's Favorite Activity: When John Michael "reads" to us. JM will find a book, open it up and start "reading" it in his own language. Cutest. Thing. Ever. (and smart too!)


* 1 Year Doc Visit:
-- Weight: 23.2 Pounds (50% Percentile)
-- Height: 31 3/4 inches (90% Percentile!)
-- He took 4 shots like a champ!
-- At one year, our doctor does a finger prick to test the iron levels. They had to do this twice because the first prick came back too low. With the second prick, it did confirm that his iron levels where a "border line". The doctor told us not to be concerned but to try to "pump up the iron". So, we are keeping formula around a little longer, started feeding the baby cereals again (i.e., rice) and searching for all fun foods (baby cookies!) that say "iron-fortified". We will go back at 15 Months and they will test it again.

John Michael has had SUCH a big year! We cannot wait to watch him grow and change even more in this upcoming toddler year!

Thanks to everyone who has prayed for our little family throughout this first year and we continue to ask for prayers for a healthy boy and one day for John Michael to understand salvation and ask Jesus to come into his heart!

" I Prayed for this child, and the LORD has granted me

what I asked of him." 1 Samuel 1:27