Dear Daniel,
Hi buddy! Today you are 1 year and 1 week old! In some ways I can hardly believe it, but then in others it seems like you've always been here with your daddy and me! I love thinking back to a year and a week ago when I had you at 4:28 in the morning at St. Mary's Hospital in Grand Junction! I hope I never ever forget the thoughts and feelings I had when I saw you for the very first time! To be a part of that miracle of life that God gives us is AMAZING and I just pray that one day you can experience part of it when you see your future wife have your little ones! :o) I don't think I'll ever forget hearing the nurses and our midwife say how big you were when you first came out and then hearing Daddy tell me that we had a boy! Even though I was tired and exhausted, it couldn't get in the way of the excitement I had when I heard that and then when they gave you to me and I was able to hold you for the first time! I didn't want to let you go! Dear little Daniel, even though those first few weeks were rough overall, I still think back to those nights when you would sleep on me because you just cried and cried when we tried putting you down. :o( Sometimes I miss those times, now, because you are definitely not as cuddly as you once were... :o) But that's okay because you are such an amazing little boy! Your daddy and I were just talking about that tonight while we were getting your birthday party decorations put up. Already at one year old you are turning into such a happy, loving little boy and we are SO thankful for you! We love you more than you will ever know and I thank God every day for the blessing he gave us in you!
As for what you have been up to lately, especially since 11 months old, let's see... :o) You LOVE to cruise ALL over the place now! You will walk around a room, holding on to the furniture and various other things as you cruise around. You seem SO close to walking, especially since you will now hold on to just one of our hands and just walk and walk. I don't know when it'll be but once you do I know you'll think it is the greatest thing ever! :o)
I have been trying to really listen to words you might be saying or trying to say lately, and have noticed that you often will say "read" whenever you are bringing me a book or looking at one yourself, which is super cute. Other than that we have heard you say "yummy, or yubby" and "yumm" a lot while you eat or if you are looking at food. I think that is because I have always said your food is yummy to get you to want to eat it. :o) Other than those, it's just been "mama", "dada", and "baba", which you have been saying for awhile now. It is so much fun seeing you learn more and more, though! I've been working on teaching you nose, mouth, ears, and eyes, and I think you are figuring it out a little at a time. :o) You are definitely a smart little boy!
For your 1 year checkup, we found out that you are still 22 lbs. 8 oz. which is pretty close to where you've been since at least 9 months and it might have been closer to 6 months! But, although you have dropped from 90th percentile with weight to the 50th percentile, you are still super tall at 32 in. I guess you are just a super active little guy so you aren't gaining weight too fast! :o) You are definitely going to be tall like daddy and I can totally see you being a tall, thin boy.
We are getting your birthday party ready for tomorrow! All of our family and most of our close friends and your little playmates are coming, so it will be a lot of fun! Mommy, Daddy, and some friends made snacks for it and we are making more tomorrow. We did a jungle theme for it, because you LOVE animals, so we have animals hanging on the wall, tiger-striped balloons and leopard print streamers everywhere, and today Mommy and two of my friends made two cakes for it - a tiger and a monkey! So far you LOVE all the balloons, especially all the ones on the floor that we are letting you play with. :o) You also really enjoyed watching us make the cakes... and I am pretty sure you will LOVE smashing and eating one of the cakes tomorrow! You also think the streamers everywhere is super cool... Let's just say you haven't been drinking much from your bottle lately because you are so distracted from looking at all the cool decorations! I hope you have a great time tomorrow. I know you won't remember it for long, but that's okay. I'm going to take lots of pictures and just know that we love you SO much and that's why we are throwing it for you!
Oh, you are also getting like four teeth in right now! Two on the top and two on the bottom, which will mean a total of 10 teeth once these are in! Goodness gracious! You are so cute with your little teeth!
Some other of your favorite things to do are swinging at the park, climbing up slides, playing outside whenever any of us will take you out back or to a park, going on walks in the stroller, anyone reading you a book, going to the library, playing "chase" with daddy or any of your little friends who will crawl after you, and playing with any kids older than you! You definitely LOVE other kids which is very nice and I just know you will be an amazing older brother to your little sister who will be here in just four months!
Happy happy birthday Daniel! I'm very excited to celebrate many, many more years with you! I love you SO much!
Love,
Mommy
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