Happy 12 Months!

Oh, my little one year old! You are cute, cute, cute! We love you so much! I still think of you as a little baby - but maybe you are officially a toddler now? Is that what happens when you turn one?

Another wonderful month has gone by and you are as fantastic as ever. We had your 12 month well-baby appointment on January 11th. You are now 21 pounds 7 ounces (more than triple your birth weight), 31" long and your head circumference is in the 90th percentile! I guess that means you have a big brain! I wouldn't be surprised if that were the case, because you seem to be a pretty smart little kid. You received all sorts of games and toys for Christmas and your birthday...it seems like we only need to demonstrate how to do something once - and then you can do it yourself like it's old news.

You took another cross-country trip last month. Your dad and I took you to Washington DC to visit your mom's aunt Eileen and her cousins. Meghan, Jimmy and Shannon all met you for the first time and they loved you to pieces. They had picked out a bunch of toys before our arrival and you loved playing with them all - especially Goki the Stackable Clown and Toby le Chien - a wooden puppy on a red leash. You also demonstrated your innate ability to - and innate OBSESSION - with climbing stairs. Lucky for you, Eileen's house has 3 stories, so you could climb...and climb...and climb...until we'd bring you back downstairs and you'd start all over again. You got to see your first mega-snow storm in DC - though we spent most of our time indoors, as we didn't have the right type of clothes for such snowy weather.

After staying with Eileen, Shaun drove us down to your grandparents' house in Spottswood. Everyone was so happy to see you...though, I wonder how happy they were when they ALL caught the cold you developed on the trip. Oh, what a cold, what a cough, what an endlessly-runny nose. You were feeling pretty darn miserable for the first week at your grandparents' house. But we made it through to Christmas morning. And despite that runny, runny nose needing to be wiped every 2 minutes, you loved opening presents and being buried in piles of wrapping paper and tissue paper.

Mommy had to leave you in Virginia with your dad for 6 whole days and 5 whole nights. While I had to go back to work, your dad got to stay back home in Virginia with you. It was the first time that I had been away from you overnight. And it wasn't just ONE night away, but FIVE nights away. As much as I adore you and feared that it would be awful, the time went by very quickly and I was thrilled to pick you up at the airport. As I drove from Tacoma to SeaTac, I just felt like I couldn't get there fast enough. Your dad said you were an amazing boy and that the flight home with just the two of you went much more smoothly than he would have ever imagined. See how polite you are at such a young age! I bet your Omi, Granddaddy, Uncle Philip and Uncle Stephen will one day forgive you for bringing The Great Holiday Sickness of 2009 to the Grove household!

Your Uncle Mike decided to move from Flagstaff to Ashland, OR the first week of January. Your grandpa helped him with the drive north to Ashland...they dropped off all of his belongings, and then trekked another 7 hours north to Tacoma to come celebrate your FIRST birthday. Laurie joined a few days later and we all got to spend time together here in Tacoma. Believe it or not, your grandpa came down with a cold, and spent 2 days in bed, trying to recover and prevent you from getting sick...yet...the runny nose has returned, but luckily only in a minuscule way compared to your previous cold. (Are we seeing a trend here.......PLEASE let the warm weather return.......alternatively, someone please send me some $$$ to invest in Kleenex! We're currently keeping them in business!)

Lots of adventures for such a young boy. Your personality continues to develop and everyone tells us what a HAPPY, SMILEY child we have. We are so lucky that you're such a good-natured kid. You love to just go-with-the-flow. You still nap nicely. Getting you to go to sleep is sometimes a challenge, but once you're asleep, your dad and I get to sleep straight through the night. We are still nursing...but just a little...once or twice a day, and I'm not pumping at work anymore. (Hallelujah!)

12 months. 1 year. Amazing! Thank you for a full year of joy. I've enjoyed (nearly) every moment. (I could do without some of the nose-wiping!) I love you so so so much little Si!