My baby is a year old...

It truly is amazing that Joshua is a year old. He is becoming such a fun and hilarious little person. He is starting to get the biggest kick out of trying to repeat stuff. He is good at saying mama, dada, baby, maybe, and nonononononono. I'm sure there are other things I'm forgetting. Lately he's been starting to say things consistently, though we can't quite figure out what he's saying. He says bird, ball, blankie (I think), and book making a very similar "bye" sound. He's great at making a noise like an elephant, a lion, a snake (he's a REALLY scary snake), and lately he's been doing well and saying quack...though he will only say it very quietly. I think that is because when I give him his ducky in his crib at night, ducky tickles his nose and whispers quack quack quack, so I think Joshua thinks duckies make quiet noises.

Joshua also LOVES watching movies of himself. When he's eating in his high chair, he'll point to the computer and clap (meaning more) and shake his left hand in the air (meaning yes) as he points at the computer screen, to tell us that he wants to watch his movies. He especially loves the music his dada wrote. He likes the ones without music, too, but he waves his arm to lead the music in the ones that have his signature song.

I think Joshua will be very musical. I'm fairly sure he's left handed, and he just adores music. Whenever he hears it, whether it is on the cd player, the radio, the tv, one of his musical toys, a movie on the computer, or occasionally a cell phone, he starts moving his hand leading the music. And when the tempo is faster, he moves his hand faster...it's pretty impressive, I think! Not that I'm biased.

He does well with his signs - he's good at yes (waving his hand up and down), more (clapping), milk (making a grasping motion with his hand like he's milking a cow...he actually does that one correctly!), and sometimes he'll try to sign berries, banana, finished, and other signs I'm probably forgetting. He understands so much - it amazes me.

His dada started a new tradition of Joshua crawling from his room to the bath tub (quite naked, I might add) after he gets changed, and though he often gets sidetracked on the way there (the floor is an exciting place, after all), he is very good at eventually getting his cute little bottom parked right next to the bathtub for dada or mama to put him in!

He is so close to walking! When we hold his arms and have him walk, he doesn't need us to carry any of his weight, just for a bit of balance, and even then, I think he could take a few steps on his own and do just fine...but I know there is going to be a lot of falling flat on his face in the next few weeks! I think he'll walk soon, though. Now that we've gotten sort of adjusted to him pulling up on everything everywhere, I feel much more ready for him to be walking. We still haven't baby-proofed all the cabinets, though. We're still following him around most of the time that he is wandering, so if we want to do that forever, there's no need to baby-proof the cabinet doors, but I'm thinking maybe I don't want to do that forever.

For Joshua's perspective on his birthday, make sure to check out his blog. He's quite the technological baby - it amazes me sometimes. His dada helps him write emails, post pictures and videos, and even post on his blog. He has his own email address, blog site, youtube channel, and who knows what else he hasn't told me!! I find it very impressive. Sometimes he writes me emails. I don't think he writes his dada emails, but maybe he does.

Anyway, he's a wonderful one-year-old. He was disappointed to not go up to Washington for his birthday, but is rather happy that he gets THREE birthday parties now (two down, one to go!). We're going up the third week of April and he'll be splitting the birthday glory and festivities with his mama. I'm turning 25! But that's another post...

This has been quite a year - I'm so glad we have so many pictures and videos to remember it, as well as all the memories that are quite unforgettable! I love my baby boy Joshua.