Adam is One!

Thank you all for your sweet thoughts about Grandpa. It still doesn't feel real due to distance. But I am thinking of him often, and it's comforting to hear everyone's memories.

From Howard William to Adam Howard - the cycle of life: today our little baby man turns one! I can hardly believe it! He is such a sweet little guy. Easy going, with a smile for everyone. He eats well, he naps well, and thankfully, he's sleeping better at night lately (I was about ready to sell him to the circus.)

At one year old, Adam has eight (Miller horse) teeth. He crawls like crazy and has begun standing by himself from time to time, but to Grizz's chagrin, he won't take those first steps. He's a long, lean little guy. The thing that makes him laugh the hardest is when you pretend to devour his stomach, or blow raspberries on it. He claps, he's started waving, and he LOVES music. Whereas in music class at this age, Ellie would sit stone faced and maaaaybe, shake a toy if I was lucky, Adam is all over the room, on a mission to lick and shake and take every instrument. I follow behind with a wipe and an apology. He adores family dance time, and family in general. I love seeing how excited he gets for someone he knows.

He is also the naughtiest little guy. With Ellie, nothing was baby proofed because she simply refused to be out of my sight. She couldn't get into anything because she was too busy crying to be held. But Adam is a mess. He knows how to pull my diaper bag off the bench in the entry way, dig through it, take out my wallet and open my wallet. If there's a cord available, he wants to chew it. He follows me when I vacuum with the intent to chew on the plug when I'm not looking. He also loves to chew shoes, and play with the Road ID tag on my running shoes. He thinks the oven is a toy, and wants to be in every kitchen cabinet. He eats cat food, and if he's not eating cat food, he's overturning their water (but only if it's full to the brim.) Yesterday he dumped over an entire 12oz of (thankfully iced) coffee all over the end table in the Pretty Room (ie: where I keep all of the coffee table and memory books. The only coffee table with nice things on it.) He's figured out how to stand up in his high chair, so I can't even just stick him there with Cheerios any more. Carpet? Yeah, he wants to pull that out of the floor and eat that. He wants to be in the shower. He wants to be in the toilet. And he is FAST so a lot of this naughtiness happens in the time it takes me to rush to the bathroom and rush back. I could do a whole blog just on the messes that are made in the three minutes I'm using the bathroom in the morning on my way out the door.

But he's also so happy to go along. He still rides in the ergo like a champ (though today I found that he's chewed a hole in it!) He's a good little friend on our daily runs, and fairly good in the car. He adores his big sister, and will "hand hold" with her, though yesterday in the car she said something to him sharply and he responded with a serious of "hey, check yourself!" grunts, which made me laugh. He'll eat basically whatever you put in front of him, and already has some mastery going with a fork!

He is also the biggest snuggle bug. When he's tired, he'll tuck his head into your shoulder and suck his thumb and just relax. He loves to be held and rocked, and has been that way from day one. He's just so easy. I was so worried about having another baby, after the difficult, colicky days that were Ellie's first months, but he has been a welcome change from those moments. Sure it's been hard, and sure I've been tired, but overall, he makes me feel like less of a hack, less of a loser as a mom. I'm sure part of it is being an experienced parent, but it has been a relief to get an "easy" baby this time around. I guess I was meant to be the mom of two!

This morning we went for a walk and then Mimi came over for a special bonus Tuesdays with Mimi. We got all fancied up and went to the mall to meet the Easter bunny. Adam unfortunately skipped his nap, so the combo of tired plus huge rabbit led to this:

NO LIKEY. Ellie (in her obnoxious flower and sequin dress from Sears) was all about the bunny this year. She says they are going to get married, in fact. I hope Adam will recover in time to accept the rabbit as his brother in law. He calmed down pretty fast and sat nicely with us at lunch. We've done the Easter bunny and Nordstrom Cafe for four years now, and it's so fun to see Ellie turn from a baby until a lovely little lunch guest, eating her grilled cheese and tomato soup and chit chatting with us non stop. We walked the mall and played in the little mall play ground, and Mimi got Adam a cute liner for his Easter basket. All in all, a successful morning.

Now the kiddos are napping and I must go to finish cleaning my house before the party. More photos tomorrow!