The Sweet Life of the Shutlers: 2013

Kellen Ross,
As I begin to write this, it is 3 minutes until midnight of the day of your birth. One year ago at this time I was in the middle of labor, begging for an epidural I am sure. :) I know, I know, every parent around the world says this, but I truly cannot believe how fast this year has gone. I cannot believe that I am the parent of a ONE YEAR OLD -- not a baby but a toddler. You have changed my life baby boy- completely and entirely. I cannot imagine a life without you in it. We have had an incredible year full of wonderful blessings. You have grown by leaps and bounds, amazed your daddy and I daily, and we have been able to have some amazing experiences. In your first year of life, you - learned to roll, crawl, and walk, got four stamps in your passport (you world traveler you!), improved your love of food, developed your personality, become your own little person, changed the lives of people around you, and so much more. I look around me to photos of you all over the walls, your toys set out on the floor, your books stacked in the corner, your stocking still hanging on the doorknob... you are all around us. You continue to have just an awesome disposition. In fact, I was in Meijer two days ago (and locked the keys in the car-- but that's a whole other story!) -- it was packed because it was New Years Eve day -- I've never been in there with it that busy. We were probably there for almost 2 hours and at least 25 of it was spent just waiting in line. You never fussed. Just sat in the cart, looked around, ate your graham crackers, and talked to the people around us. The lady behind us in line said she couldn't believe how good you are. I said the response that always comes out of my mouth when someone comments on this- "I know. We're so lucky." And that's the truth-- we are so lucky to have you in our lives! You are not a big crier so we know that when you do cry, it's usually because something is really wrong. Your sleep is still very good. Of course you have your moments and we have our rough nights here and there but overall, you are a great sleeper. You are a totally snuggler and I love it. We have a great morning routine where I get you up and feed you and then you and I just sit in the big leather chair under a big blanket snuggled for a little while. You are also a lover. You LOVE giving kisses. In my opinion it's probably the cutest thing you do (not that everything you do isn't cute :)). You will spit out or take out your pacifier and open mouth smooch. The funniest time is when you are playing with your walker toy-- you'll do drive by kisses. If daddy or I are sitting on the floor- you'll cruise down the hall, come back- lean in and smooch us, then keep going. :) You like to kiss on the girls at daycare too. Daycare is something new since I wrote last (5 months ago--oops!). We have been so blessed to have you go to Miss Kim's for daycare. She is amazing and you love it there. It makes mommy and daddy's days go better knowing you're being taken care of so well. You are there usually from 7:15 to 4:30 Monday-Friday. You love to laugh and also scrunch up your nose and breath fast/snort. It's so cute! You also LOVE to talk. You babble and make lots of noise throughout the day. You do say mama but I'm still not sure it's with any real meaning (although you most often say it over and over again when you're upset or need something so maybe...) I also swear I have heard you say "cat" a couple of times but I can't get you to say it in front of daddy so I may just be hearing things. :)

Stats: You don't have your one year appointment until January 22nd so I'm not real sure on your stats. I weighed you at Grandpa Maurer's over Christmas and his scale said you weighed 23 lbs but I'm not sure how accurate that is. I may try to measure your height tomorrow just to have a general idea!

Sizes: You are still in size 3 diapers.They still fit you pretty well. Over break you have had a couple leaks though so I think we will be moving you up to 4s when this box is done. A few people have commented that you are a "big boy" but I actually feel you're pretty average in size. You're wearing almost all 9-12 or 12 month things. I have put you in some 12-18 month things which are big though. You're still wearing your 12 month sleepers but I have noticed they're getting a bit short (especially in the foot area-- you are destined to have big feet between your dad and I! :)).

Food: You LOVE food. You are an awesome eater. You are on pretty much all table food. We do use some of the puree pouches just as supplementary fruits/veggies or food on the go. Otherwise, you eat everything we eat. Sometimes I think you eat more than daddy and I do! Some foods you love are grilled cheese, macaroni and cheese, chicken, pasta, crackers (especially ritz), peas, carrots, apples, pears, pancakes, waffles, eggs, sausage, rice, oranges, toast, beans, frozen blueberries, frozen strawberries/blackberries/raspberries... pretty much everything! You still are not a huge fan of avocado (but will eat guacamole or it mixed in with things). You are usually willing to try anything. I would say that right now your favorite things to eat are yogurt (still), macaroni and cheese, and snacky things. You devour multigrain cheerios all day long (and mommy and daddy find them everywhere :)), get giggly with excitement when I offer you graham crackers, and would eat an entire container of the gerber little cruncher mild cheddar puffs or yogurt bites if we let you. You are funny too because you know right where we keep your food/snacks. You will go into the kitchen, stand and open the cupboard, pull out the shelf and take out what you want. Often you will then crawl to me with it like- feed me this now! It's hilarious :) We have also begun transitioning you to whole milk. You have not been a big fan of it just by itself so I have been mixing it with formula. You are taking three bottles a day (one when you first wake up, one in the afternoon, and one before bed) for a total of anywhere from 15-20oz. Soon you will just be on all whole milk. We may begin dropping the afternoon bottle in the next couple of weeks, then we'll transition away from the morning bottle. Your bedtime one will be the last one we transition from I'm sure.

Routine/Sleep: Since I wrote last, the big change has been that you are sleeping in your own crib in your own room. We did this at about 9 months and you have done great with it. You are usually ready for bed between 8 and 830.Often we will read a couple of books (you LOVE LOVE LOVE books) and then we snuggle in the rocking chair with your blanket and lovey. I give you your bottle and then sing you to sleep (Sweet Baby James or Godspeed usually). I then end up just holding you for awhile before putting you in your crib. :) Like I said above, you do pretty well with sleep. If you do wake up, it's usually when we're still awake (for example you woke at 11 tonight) and it does not take much to get you back to sleep (you usually just need a little snuggle/rocking). You have been getting up like clockwork at 7 over Christmas break but this will have to change once I go back to work. You take a nap around 10 until 11-1130 and then will take another nap around 2:30-4.

Milestones: You have four teeth-- your middle bottom two and middle top two (which came in over break :)). You are two more coming in on the top which I think will be popping through in the next two weeks or so. You crawl like a pro, pull to stand on everything you can, cruise around anything and everything, climb underneath things, open cupboards, pull out shelves, practically run behind your push walker toy, and love to push your toys around (you'll go on your knees and push things like your laundry basket around). Over Christmas break, you took your first steps! You are doing so well with walking already and are so proud of yourself when you do it. You can take 6-7 steps before falling down (or sitting down). You can stand on your own for a good length of time too. You love it when I just take one of your hands and we walk side by side (you laugh and laugh). It will not be long until you are walking independently all the time. You are cautious which is totally okay with me! :)

Loves: You love life. Seriously- you are such a happy baby (I can still call you that, right? :)). You are curious and interested in all things around you. You love talking-- you will talk and make noises for quite awhile-- I think once you get a grasp of language we'll have a little chatter box on our hands! You LOVE walking with your push toys and dancing (bouncing your knees). You love Chauncey and always want to touch him/look at him. You love opening the cupboards/drawers in the kitchen and bathroom and taking out everything you can. You've also started pulling open mommy's drawers and pulling out all her clothes. You also have discovered the garbage can and love playing with lid (gross!). You love laughing and do it often. You LOVE the bath. I swear you would stay in there forever if I let you. We usually do about 30 minutes but you have been known to stay in as long as an hour. You love being in the water, splashing (just learning how to do this!) playing with all your toys, dropping your toys out of the tub, standing up in the tub (and leaning over for a kiss), looking at yourself in the faucet handle, etc. You love my iphone and can play games on it. You have two games I let you do on there and you know how to swipe to get to the next item (Peekaboo Barn and Peekaboo Presents). You will pick my phone and bring it to me to turn it on sometimes. You love balls and toys that you can bang together. You love toys with buttons you can push over and over again that make noise/light up. You love brushing your teeth. You love being outside.You love taking things out of a container or off of a table and then putting them back (this will keep you occupied for some time!), you love your momma-- you are a momma's boy for sure. You love pacifiers and will often walk/crawl around with one in your mouth and one (or two) in your hand. In terms of "toys" I would say your favorite is books right now. You will pick one out and crawl to me with it in your hands and give it to me to read to you. However, you only have certain books you like right now. These books include Cats, the Sesame Street Beginnings books (Nighty-Night & At the Zoo), the Llama, Llama books, Curious George and the Snowy Day, the Sesame Street foam board books (especially the Cookie Monster one) and books with flaps you can lift up. Your absolute favorite book right now though is Little Blue Truck. I have it memorized we have read it so many times. I read it to you at least two times a day (and some days it's like 6). We bought you the second Little Blue Truck book (I think it's Into the City?) for Christmas but so far you're not very interested in it. Oh yea, you also love pickles :)

Dislikes: Still pretty much nothing here. You dislike getting your diaper changed and this is often a battle. You dislike having to get clothes on or changed. You're happiest just hanging in your diaper I swear. You still do not really like avocado and sometimes going to sleep at night is a bit of a battle because you just want to stay up and play! You have learned the word no and dislike being told it. You can be shy in busy environments but warm up to people pretty quickly. This is all I can think of right now! You really have the sweetest, kindest, easy-going personality and overall disposition.

Kellen Ross, I simply cannot put into words how much I love you. I just can't. It's unlike any other kind of love-- the love a mother has for her child-- and a love I don't think can be explained in words-- it just has to be felt. You have brought so much joy and inspiration to my life, and have taught me even more so to be grateful and count my blessings each day. I feel as though my life is complete with you in it. I am sad to see the "baby" stage pass-- it is certainly bittersweet-- but I am excited for toddlerhood and I truly believe that life has some incredible plans for you-- and I cannot wait to see what those plans are. Happy first birthday my blue eyed, sweet, beautiful baby boy. I love you so much.

Some pictures from January 1, 2012