Happy 1st Birthday!!

**Warning, picture overload**

Sweet Munch,

You survived a WHOLE YEAR with us!!!  That should be celebrated first and foremost.
In all seriousness, this has been the best year of our life.  It certainly  has not been all roses and rainbows, but we have spent the last year seeing the world through your eyes, growing as a family and learning so much about ourselves.  I am still more impatient and selfish than I would like, but you are helping mommy shape up.  I look at you each day and can't believe the Lord entrusted US to care for you.

You were very busy this past month.  Right when you turned 11 months, you took off walking.  It took you 1-2 days and then you were running everywhere!  Thankfully you started walking before we went to the beach and you really perfected it while we were there.  You just wanted to keep up with Nate and Abby and would chase them all over the place.

You got to experience your first Gibbs Family Beach Trip and did such a great job.  We went to our family's beach house, the same place I have been going every summer since I was a little girl.  I LOVE that you get to experience the same house and you get to make your own memories there.  You were fearless on the beach, ate more sand than I ever thought possible, walked right into the ocean, enjoyed your new beach pool, LOVED watching Nate and Abby play, tried lots of new food (including your Great Grandma Deedee's famous pound cake), slept in the bathroom a few nights and got to meet your Berly/Ervin relatives.

You tried a lot more food this month: chicken tenders, fries, grits, pineapple, pound cake, burger, baked beans, pasta salad, potato salad, donuts, ice cream, fruit loops (thanks cousin Abby), PB&J, pork, Greek yogurt.

We also began mixing whole milk with your formula so we can begin weening you off formula.  We also dropped a bottle this month so you are down to 3 a day.  You don't seem to mind at all!  This month we are going to ATTEMPT to drop your day bottle...we'll see how that goes.  I am not looking forward to taking away your morning or night bottles because you love them so much (and so do I).

You have mastered your sippy cup and we have started to introduce more whole milk to you that way.  So far, I would say you are a "C" student.  Lots of room for improvement little man!

Your love for books amazes me every day and I wonder sometimes if you are really my child.  You L.O.V.E books with every ounce of your being and we have to read the same books over and over and over again.  Books are the first things you pick up in the morning and the last things you put down before bed.  You have a lot of favorite books and can pick them out from a huge pile.  We will tell you to go get your "Dragon book" and you will pull it out of the huge pile.  Thankfully you got your daddy's smart genes and your Aunt L and Aunt Em's love for books.  You are starting to recognize words and objects.  We ask you to go find the "ball" and you will go look in your toy basket and bring it back to us.  Smart boy...or just great memorization skills!

Your vocabulary has vastly improved this month as well.  You have learned several new words this past month: Nana, daisy, water, did it, duck, no, yum.

 You had your 1st birthday party the week before your actual birthday.  There were about 40 people in our house so I'm sure it was a bit overwhelming for you.  You loved your smash cake, but just mainly played with it.  You really only took a few bites...you were happy just digging your hands in it.

Our world is so different with you walking, and I personally think it is more fun (and exhausting).  You can now run around the park with the other kids instead of just watching from the swings.  I said I would never buy a baby gate, but you better believe I sent your dad to Target the week you started walking.  You are a fast little booger and you seem to find the front or back staircases within seconds.  Your old mom isn't that quick!

What a year it has been.  We are excited and expectant during this next season of your life.  Thank you for blessing our family and teaching us more about love, joy, laughter and patience.

 12 Months Stats

Weight- 20.7 lbs (35% percentile)

Length-31.75 inches (90% percentile)

Head- 65% percentile

Clothes- 12-18 months

Eating- dropped a bottle so we're down to 3 bottles a day and 3 meals plus snacks

Naps-2 naps (usually 1-2.5 hours each)

Night time-trying to stretch bedtime until 7pm and sleeping until 7am

"Promise me you'll always remember...you're BRAVER than you believe, STRONGER than you seem, SMARTER than you think and LOVED more than you know!"
 
We love you, Anderson Robert, more than you could ever imagine.  

xoxo,
Mom and Dad