Gummy Bear: 1 Year!

Gummy Bear is a year old! He weighs 23 lbs 5 oz, and is 31 inches tall. (They forgot to give me percentiles, which is a bummer. Why do I find those so interesting?)

I had this questionnaire thing that I saved to do with my kids as they got older, but as I'm looking over the questions I see they're more for kids who can actually answer the questions... but I'll try it anyways.
Age: 1
Favorite food(s): Grapes, spaghettios, greek yogurt, and hot dogs, especially if that hot dog comes with ketchup. And did I mention he loves grapes?
Favorite dessert: Marshmallows. Hands down. And popsicles.
Favorite color: Yellow? He's always seemed to have a slight preference to yellow.
Favorite book: Any book he can chew on. So, nothing. Punk.
Favorite tv show: Commercials. Without fail. If I'm watching a show and go into another room, I can always tell when the commercials end because that's when he comes running in to bug me. And when the commercials come back on, he disappears and stands in front of the tv. If you block his view, he moves to see it or tries to shove you away. I may or may not abuse this occasionally during mealtimes... 
Favorite game: Probably playing with Daddy. He gets such big smiles!
Favorite song: ???
Favorite animal: I'd go with puppy. He has two stuffed dogs and he loves to carry them around. When you show him the stuffed puppy, he imitates my "woof woof" noise, sort of by making an adorable "ooh ooh" noise... it's hard to explain. But it's adorable.
Favorite toy: It changes. Often. In general, he loves little stuff that he can carry around in his hand.

 He is still just as opinionated as ever. Lately he has entered the meltdown stage, where if something happens that he doesn't like he just melts into a puddle. I try to hold his hand and lead him towards the car or something, and if he doesn't want to then he pulls and collapses... I also don't sit on the floor anymore, because he often forces his way into my lap. That's tough for me, because half the time he's just being annoying but sometimes he insists on giving me a two-second hug... His loving is sweet but vicious! I still don't get to snuggle him to sleep; instead we're often fighting to get him to take naps. Especially at church. Church naps are still the same: he gets cranky during the end of sacrament meeting, Husband Man takes him out during the last talk, and after sacrament I come out to find him sacked out sideways...

Going outside is the BEST to him. He runs to the rock beds around our apartment building and grabs a rock to carry around, and then he's off. Every time we come inside our apartment building he cries and throws a tantrum, even if we just drove to the grocery store and back. Running up and down sidewalks, eating the bark at playgrounds, carrying rocks around... sometimes he'll even play on park equipment, and ride in the swings; there's a bouncy horse at one park that he thinks is pretty cool. But he loves it all. Especially the running. This kid loves to GO.

He's also ridiculously smart... but sort of in his own way. He could care less about silverware, except when he wants to chew on it. He FINALLY learned to tip the bottle or sippy cup up so he can get FINALLY water or milk out unassisted... but at the same time he also knows how to pour milk all over the carpet. Climbing on the couch? Check. Climbing up my leg? Check. I have five-gallon buckets for flour and sugar, and if I don't keep them stacked then he climbs up on the bucket and grabs everything he can reach on the kitchen counters. He knows how to put the wooden rings on the dowel, and gets the idea of the shape sorter but doesn't understand that there are different shapes. He knows how doors open and close, but either doesn't care (and opts to cry every time they close) or is still too short to try again. And the dishwasher was randomly paused the other day, so I suspect he knows about the buttons on the dishwasher. The tv remote is another favorite--buttons!

Talking? Depends on your definition. He's always loved to babble, but I still don't know if he understands what "dadada" and "mamama" can mean. He says "dada" when he's happily yelling and throwing his toys, and "mama" when he's sad or upset... He still signs his version of "all done", which is great when we're feeding him, and a few times he's tried to say it, "ah dah". Sometimes his babbling isn't repeated syllables, and it sounds like he's trying to say things. Maybe he's one of those kids who won't say it unless he can say it correctly? I dunno. He can also sign "please", or his variation of it, but unless he really wants it and isn't throwing a tantrum... "Uh oh" is another one, he'll throw a toy on the floor while saying "Uh-uh ohh".

If you compare this post with the 9 month one,  you'll notice that he's only a pound and 2 inches bigger... but someone decided to cut six teeth in the last three months, and that brought puking and diarrhea like you wouldn't believe. Five of those teeth came in May, the sixth at the beginning of July, putting the grand total at eight. Husband Man and I are more than willing to have a break! (Since I'm late writing this, he's actually 13 months now. I took him to the doctor to diagnose a rash--dermatitis, just needs lotion--and they said he's now 25 pounds and 32 inches.... he grew a lot in a month!)

I also love this stage. It's so funny to watch him learn about his face and make the goofiest expressions. I love watching him show his personality, play silly games with me, babble and squeal while we're in the store or while he's playing with his toys, grin as he shoves his favorite camo blankie in his mouth every time he sees it... And I still think he's so. stinking. cute!