Amazing ~

I'm still having a hard time believing my baby is 1 already! My, how time flies! :) We had Micah to the doctor on Monday for his 12-month wellness check up, and he's a healthy little guy! (though, I don't know that I would use the word "little" to describe him anymore) He is 29 3/4 inches and weighs 23 pounds, 2 ounces. For those of you who are interested, he's in the 50% for height and 50-75% for weight. His head is 47 1/4 centimeters, which is 75%... I'm still not entirely sure why this measurement is important... I guess to make sure his brain is growing the way it should. :) But the bottom line is that Micah is healthy and right where he should be in all of his measurements.

He really started walking on Christmas eve... exactly one week before his 1st birthday... but had taken several steps prior to that. He just preferred crawling to walking as he was (and still is!) a super fast crawler and hadn't quite mastered the balance thing yet. But, now he seems to have made the transition to preferring walking over crawling. It cracks me up when he falls to the ground and gets back up again... he'll get to his hands and knees and walk his feet up under his hips, leaving his behind sticking straight up in the air. Then he stands up and takes off. :)

It also blows my mind to think of all the changes that have taken place in our little guy this past year. (I hope the amazement doesn't wear off with the next baby or other kids to come down the road! Our God is AWESOME!) He went from being completely dependent on Aaron and me for every little thing... from clean clothes and diapers, food, drink, even rolling over and getting from one place to another... to learning how to do some of these things for himself. Micah can now feed himself, and eats pretty much whatever Aaron and I are eating, and can drink from a sippy cup on his own. Rolling over is a piece of cake now, and it takes him an average of 5 seconds to get from the front door of our house to the back of the kitchen. (granted, we don't have a large house, but he's still really fast!) We're still working on the diaper thing... he's still dependent on us to change those. ;)

It is amazing how fascinated he is by everything... I have to remind myself that he's still fairly new to this earth and a lot of what he's experiencing, he's experiencing for the first time. I love when he sees something he's excited about and his eyes get big and he says, "ooo!" He now points to things and can get frustrated when we don't know exactly what he wants at a given moment. Generally though, he's a very happy and content little boy. Even as I'm writing this post, he's sitting on the floor in front of his toy box, pulling everything out and keeping himself occupied with the toys inside. :)

Micah has been going through a bit of a "mommy" stage, where if I'm around, no one else will do. Part of me loves being the center of his world right now, but there is a part of me that gets tired of having him constantly pulling on my leg or reaching for me from someone else's arms. I know at some point, I'll look back on these days and wish we could go back... most likely when he's in junior high and wants me to drop him off a block from his friend's house, and God forbid I try to give him a hug or a kiss! :) But that's all part of growing up, right? For now, I'll just be thankful that he's healthy, happy, and a part of our world. He is truly a blessing and watching him grow is such a privilege!

I LOVE being a mom! Yes, it's exhausting at times, especially when you combine little or no nap (for either of us) with my crazy work schedule and massive to-do list, but every minute is so completely worth it. I wouldn't trade my life for anything! I love my sweet 1-year old! More than a post on a blog could ever express! Thank you, God, for this amazing blessing!