Our BABY is ONE!

I cannot believe our baby is ONE! Happiest Happy Birthday to our sweet boy! We love you more than you will ever know!

This year has gone by so incredibly fast and I can't find the words to express myself in the way that can do Kaiser justice. He is our world. He is our life. We love him more than we ever imagined. In this year, Kaiser has learned so much it's amazing how his mind works. He is a very smart active little man.

His actual birthday wasn't the most eventful day. I worked and then we watched USA play in the World Cup. Grandma Parsons brought Kaiser over a cupcake earlier in the day so we gave him the cupcake after the soccer match. He was unsure initially but ended up loving it.

We then took him to do a few of his favorite things. We went to Grandma and Grandpa Lehman's house where Kaiser could ride in his car that he loves. We then took him to The Red Balloon toy store, where he picked out a cool red mustang car, and we found him a book and some airplanes for his party present. We then took him to see some horses and swing at a park before heading home for bed. He seemed to rather enjoy it. I wish I would have snapped more photos.

A few days after he turned one on July 8th, we had his 12-month doctor's appointment. It's fun to go see how much he's growing, but it's sad when he has to get his shots. This was the first visit that he was apprehensive about being in the actual office. It took him a while to be less clingy and want to play with the toys. But he eventually warmed up. Until his shots of course...

Here are his stats:

Height: 30 1/2 inches -- 75th percentile

Weight: 21 pounds 2 ounces -- 25th percentile

Head: 47 1/2 cm -- 75th percentile

He got 4 shots this time and was very sad! This is the most shots he's ever had. Mommy was super sad to have to watch him. But he ended up getting a sucker from the deal and loved that, so all was well for in Kaiser land once again.

Here are some fun things about Kaiser:

* Says SO many words! Some of his newer words are: moon, tractor, hi, what, water (wadee), bubble, birdie (bih-dee), doggie, bye bye, Toni (no-nee), tree (chee), go (do), throw (trow), sippy (pitty), and so many more. He learned new words every single day

* He barks like a doggie. He barks at most animals.

* He makes the sound of an elephant, fishie, doggie, horsey, and monkey

* Still isn't walking, but can if he is distracted and doesn't realize that he is walking/standing on his own. He will walk with his pointer holding onto my pinky

* Still in 9-12 month clothes

* Goes to bed at 10, and wakes up at about 8:30

* Takes 2 naps every day. One 2-3 hour nap, and one 1-1.5 hour nap

* Loves to play with cars and trucks and tractors. He pushes them around on the floor while he crawls and makes a high pitch sound while buzzing his lips. It's adorable!

* Loves to dance--He will still bounce up and down but has now started shaking his head along with

* Throws things and says "uh-oh"

* Still snorts and acts playful

* Plays with everything he isn't supposed to. He loves to open drawers and cabinet doors. I.e. toilet bowl water--he's even learned how to open the lid

* He throws fits! If he doesn't get what he wants he will fall down and throw his hands on the floor and cry, and hit his head/face

* He still hits people, but doesn't bite as much

* When he hits people and we say "be soft," he will pet people's faces

* He fake laughs

* We got rid of his bottles shortly after he turned one and he now drinks whole milk out of sippies

* He is still super social. He loves kids, other people, animals, etc. He really isn't afraid of much, mostly just of walking

* 2 new bottom teeth popped through on July 30th. He now has 4 on top and 4 on bottom

* Has recently began to be more picky, but will still eat mostly anything once or twice. He doesn't eat very much though

* He loves to make and knock over towers

* He loves to feed himself. But he is so busy that right after he puts food in his mouth, he either plays with what's left or hits his other food, making it crumbly or squishy.

* He is so busy and is always moving around. He hates being restricted or constrained

* He still loves books

* He loves his doggie that he sleeps with. When we lay him in his crib, he instantly rolls onto his tummy on top of his doggie and sticks his knees under him with his bum in the air

* He loves being sung to. He dances to "itsy bitsy spider" and still plays "patty cake"

* Pinches

* He plays with mommy's hair, and daddy's beard and arm hair. Sometimes it hurts

* He likes to comb his own hair and brush his own teeth

* He loves the water more than life itself. He loves it every time we head to the lake or a pool to swim

* Can go up and down stairs

* Waves

* Still gives high fives, but also gives "knuckles" now

* He will scream or fake laugh in a very high pitched, shrill tone, mostly when he is in his car seat

* Loves being outside! He could be outside all day

* He points our birdies everywhere we go and will show them to us

* He also points out flags

* We took him to the podiatrist earlier this month to see if we should be worried about his left foot turning in a little more than normal. He has metatarsus adductus, but the doctor isn't worried about it as it often times corrects. We will see if it starts bothering him when he walks.

We got his 1-year photos done by Chelsea again this year and I am absolutely thrilled with how they turned out. I couldn't pick just a few, so here are a bunch:

We made a video for him with our favorite pictures from his first year of life. I'll try to upload it soon!

He is still the sweetest, happiest baby in the world! We couldn't have asked for a better little dude. I know that I've loved every state up to this point, but I feel like this might be my favorite stage. He is so excited about things and always wanting to figure stuff out. He's such a smartie!

We love you sweet Kaiser babe. We are so blessed to have you in our lives!