Today you are a whole year old.

Last night as I checked on you before I went to bed, your little butt all up in the air as you slept, I got a little weepy. Sad eh? I just can't believe that a whole year of our lives has passed so quickly. I know I say this, or have said this, the EVERY 5th of the month, but it seems like yesterday that you just came to us. Like we just found out we were even having you.

Whew- OK I am done crying.

This past month - You got 3 new teeth! The top ones should be so cute when they finally all come in. You, again, handled it with ease, a little grumpiness for a few days, and boom there they were. This makes 5 total teeth now at one year.

You also got your first haircut. Courtesy of me. I just intended to cut your bangs and I couldn't stop. You had a lot of hair that really needed trimmed. You handled it well, at first. But, soon it became a contest of wills, and you won. I finished it over the course of a couple of days. But, I can honestly say, that I didn't do all that terrible of a job. And if you can believe it, you look even more handsome than you already are.

You love to read books. Any and all. I catch you sometimes when you are playing by yourself, just sitting and reading, looking at a book. Your favorite book right now, is Boomer's Magic Tail. It's an Easter book, but it makes you so happy to read it. You also love Brown Bear, Brown Bear, and The Hungry Caterpillar.

You still love Go, Diego, Go. And Yo Gabba Gabba. It is not a show, that I would pick for you to watch, but I guess that's the thing about kids, you pick what you like.

We just transitioned to regular milk. It wasn't all that hard. You love your bottle. We will work on getting rid of the bottle, but it's not at the top of my list at the moment.

We celebrated your birthday at the San Francisco Zoo. We saw all sorts of animals, and you really enjoyed yourself I think. It was kind of hard to point out everything to you, but you were good, and seemed to love it. When we got to the bears, there was one bear right up next to the glass, and you looked at him, pointed and said OOOHH! You were so entranced by that bear. When I told you it was a bear, you look confused, almost, like, 'Wait, I'm a Bear!" It was cute. We had lunch, came home and had a cake with your Grandma, and Uncle Keith. You really enjoyed the cake.

Bear, Tommy, Son, I am so proud of you. So proud of everything you have learned, so proud of everything you have done, said, and become. I am so proud of everything you will be. I am so proud that you are my son. I love you more than words can every express, and I don't know that I will ever be able to tell you, show you how much you mean to me.

Happy Birthday Tommy Bear!!!

Love,
Mommy

ps- pictures later, Mommy is tired lately.

Dear Bear,

Today you are 11 months old. I can't believe it. Where did the time go?

This past month has been filled with pretty much of the same old stuff. You are walking more and more. You can walk the whole length of the bedroom and will walk anywhere when YOU want to. Not when I want you to, but only when you want to. You still think crawling is much faster and that is OK with me. I went to look for shoes for your fat little feet, alas, none would fit. What are we going to do about that?

You absolutely refuse to eat baby food. You only want to feed yourself. You love fruit, you love green beans, you love chicken, and pasta, you love gummy bears! You still hate peas. But I won't hold that one against you.

You desperately need a hair cut. But I can't bring myself to do it. A friend of mine told me to start stroking it in the ways I want it to lay, and I started doing that in hopes of taming it. But I think your hair has a mind of its own. Kind of like your dad.

You love Go Diego Go. We bought you a DVD of it, and you dance and sing and jump around when it is on. It keeps you entertained for about 5 minutes. And then when the Rescue Pack song comes on you are entranced. I never seen a little one so love something so silly. I bought you your own Rescue Pack, but since the batteries don't work on it, you just cart it around putting stuff in it. It is really cute.

I think you may be ready to be potty trained, even though it really is too soon. I mean, who heard of an 11 month old potty trained. But when you are wet or dirty you try to take off your diaper, and will grab a new one right away to us. It's cute, but the couple of times that you have taken it off in your crib, are not cute. I think I am going to buy a little potty and see what happens. Who knows. Maybe by the time your brother or sister come you'll be all potty trained. How awesome would that be?

Soon, your friend Isabella will be old enough to play with at the park. And I know you can't wait for that. I think you like our Wednesday breakfast out just because of Isabella. You like to touch her face and hug her. She is still a little afraid of you, but I think because she is so little. Both of her feet together don't measure up to one of yours. Which is funny. Your little cream puff feet.



I love you Tommy Bear. I think you are the most handsomest, kindest, cutest, wonderfullest kid I have ever met. I love you to pieces.

Love, Mommy.


ps-pictures later.

Dear Tommy-
Today you are 9 months old. I honestly can't believe so much time has passed. It seems like yesterday we just brought you home!

This month has been an exciting one for you. You got your first tooth. It wasn't even all that bad. Like I thought it was going to be. One night of restless sleep, a little whining, and poof there it was. It is so cute. I don't want you to get any more. Just that one little Toof!

You are also pulling up on the furniture, attempting to walk, although I don't think you are quite ready to venture that first step alone. You like to stand up alone, without holding on to anything, and you will do so for long periods of time, until something grabs your attention.

You love waffles in the morning. You love ANY kind of food that you can pick yourself and eat. I have started taking you to my restaurant on Wednesday's to see other people and get used to places. You love all the attention.

You finally learned to clap too! You clap with your fists though, instead of open hands, and with that you HAVE to say "Yay" as you clap.

The last 9 months have been an absolute joy and I am so proud of you. I can't believe the love I have for you, and how much it grows daily. I am so proud to be your Mommy.

Here's to hoping for another wonderful 9 months.

I love you Bear, forever and ever.

Love Mommy.

I know this is late, but I did write it on the 5th.