1 Year Old

I swore I wouldn't be one of "those moms" who constantly gawked at how quickly their baby's first year flew by, and welled up with tears as they looked back on pictures of their wee little one...

But you guys, how the heck did this year fly by so fast? And how is my baby already so big?! Where is my little snuggly munchkin? He has been replaced by this 1 year old who thinks he is going on 13!

Baby Kay isn't so much baby anymore. He is as expressive as they come, and will flash you the cheesiest smile you have ever seen as soon as the camera comes out. He capped out his first year with a whopping 3 teeth; the third having only made its debut 2 days before his birthday. Kaymond loves to walk, with some help still, but this week he has started letting go of the couch or chair supporting him and toddling across the living room to us. I still can't get over the sight of him *walking* towards me all on his own!

Kaymond's favorite thing in the world right now is tangerines. It's a little difficult to get him to eat anything else. He knows where the fruit bowl is on the counter, so whenever he decides he needs a tangerine, he'll crawl over to the counter, stand up and point at exactly where the bowl is. Today we were at the grocery store looking at some bagged salads, when he started squirming out of my arms like crazy. I followed his gaze and lo and behold: boxes full of tangerines. He wasn't too happy with me when I told him those weren't for us and we had to leave.

Kaymond also loves his cornpopper toy (those little push toys that make a loud popping sound  and bounce plastic balls everywhere inside a clear bubble), his dump truck, and blocks that he is starting to learn how to throw. He also still loves looking at his reflection and gets a kick out of seeing us out the side of whatever window or blank screen he is checking himself out in.

He's still saying "dada" a lot, "mama" a bit, and "nana" anytime food is around that he wants to eat. He's added pointing and saying "dat" to anything he wants to take a closer look at.

For Kaymond's birthday we had a Golden Birthday Party since he turned one on the 1st of the month. I had a lot of fun putting it together, but can already tell that the end of every year is going to be one heck of a marathon through Christmas, New Years and his birthday. Yikes! Thank you to all the friends and family who came to his birthday celebration though. It was lots of fun!

We took the above two pictures at my SIL's with a lot of help from her! I just love his little smile in this picture.

Kaymond got a big bag of ball pit balls for Christmas. We put them to good use on his birthday!

His favorite part of the night: playing with an empty Solo cup. Go figure...

Don't let the frosting on his nose fool you, this kid wanted nothing to do with smashing his cake!

Cheeser! He eventually ate one tiny piece of cake and then was done! 

In other news... Ray and I do actually try to have a life beyond baby. Ray with more success than me probably. :) Ray is traveling to Boston soon to give a presentation at an independent game designers convention. He submitted an abstract a while back on his idea, and was recently informed that his topic was chosen! I'm so excited for him and so proud of him for doing this. It's a huge nod that Ray has talent in *good* game design and ability to share that knowledge with others. Way to go Ray!

Here's to another fantastic year! Cheers!