Today was Makili's first birthday. We celebrated his birthday very quietly (the BIG party later to come.) We hung out and did things we though Makili would like to do - nurse a lot, eat a lot, play tag, walk around the house, play in the water table when not raining, play in the play area at the mall when it was, go to the beach, etc.
He is so big and so cute and yeah. I'm totally in love. He is learning so fast these days. Here he is taking his temperature.
And after I asked "Where's mamma's teeth?"
Feverish eyes (he woke up with a fever this morning, but seems to be okay.)
Waiting for mom to stop taking pictures and play
Getting some loving from dad.
Another treat for his birthday was in the introduction of grains into the diet. Cereal to be exact. And I can tell you already there is no turning back. He prefers cereal to any fruit and really now will only eat fruit as a last resort. Raph was giving me a hard time because I wasn't feeding him enough vegetables, and now he won't eat fruit either. Oh well. He still LOVES to nurse and doesn't seem to think his consuming his bodyweight in fruit is a reason not to nurse. He does crazy nursing dances while nursing. It is as though he thinks the proper way to nurse is on his head, because I swear that is the position he is trying to achieve.
At one, Makili is a very good sleeper. He goes to bed easily at 8:00 after Dad reads him a few books. His favorite book at the moment is Mr. Wishy-washy, which I think is kind of dumb, but he loves it and made me read it to him eight times last night! He usually sleeps soundly until about 5:00, when he wakes briefly, goes back to sleep on his own for about 30 more minutes on a usual night. He naps twice a day, though he doesn't tend to go down for naps nearly as easily as he does at night. The car will do the trick or a bear hug against his will. We're working on it though.
He isn't walking much yet on his own - a step here, a step there, occasionally two-in-a-row. Mostly he seems pretty content to crawl and he is lightening fast when he chooses to be. We play tag frequently and when he sees me get down on all fours, he starts giggling and takes off. He also loves to tickle, though today tickling seemed a whole lot like pinching, but whose keeping track.
He is very interested in how things work. He holds the phone up to his ear, the thermometer too, obviously. When he wants me to read him a book he will pick it up and put it into my hand. He is interested in my earrings and so as to avoid having him pull them out, I frequently will take one out and hand it to him. He then will try to put it back on my ear. It really confounds him as to why it doesn't stay. He loves blocks and trying to stack them. He is very good at putting things in holes (we'll see if we can get that video loaded!) He points to objects in books, like kitty-cat, and moon, and fire. He can point to mamma's ears and teeth, though he really likes the teeth thing and sometimes that is the only one I can get him to do. He also knows fan, car, outside, diaper, nite-nite, strawberries, apple-sauce, blue-berries, watermelon, and probably more that aren't coming to mind straight off.
Dancing is a big part of Makili's life. We tried to capture some good dance moves this morning, like the double fist pump, but he got camera shy when the time came. Soon enough. He also wiggles his butt and does the head bob. He LOVES music of all time. When he is crying in the car, he will stop crying if I start singing "Powder Blue" a Renee and Jeremy song I LOVE!
Makili had gotten into mini-tantrums when he is taken away from something he likes (the strawberries in the field this weekend, for example). He is quite vocal and will tell you in his way if he doesn't like something. "Da" means yes. "Dooda" is booba, though usually he just tries to make extended eye-contact with me and pucker his lips to get the boob, which I find hilarious. Really hasn't embraced the signing, though more is the only word I really stressed was "more", but then he started clapping and I might have taken "more" for clapping (they look similar. Oh well. He'll be talking soon enough I figure.
He LOVES dirt and water (very appropriate gift Grammy and Grampy). He thinks it's okay to sneak a wood-chip in his mouth when we're not looking though. He could stand outside soaking wet in 50 degree weather playing in the water and not mind at all.
He loves other kids and watching people in general. He is an observer. He watches everyone's every move especially little people (I mean kids.) Hopefully he isn't picking up bad behaviors. He LOVES to play games and has such an amazing sense of humor. He carefully reads your face to see if you're serious. He laughs at all sorts of things that are out of the ordinary.
I can't believe that he is a whole entire year old. I can't believe it. Like I tell Raph all the time, "We are lucky to have eachother."
