Birthday Boy

I received the best birthday present on Trey's birthday...he gave me a hug! His first real hug! He was standing in my lap and he just wrapped his little arms around my neck and squeezed. I said thank you for the hug and he squealed and did it again...and again! It was priceless. Something I will never forget. He is such a precious baby and an enormous blessing in our lives. What a year it has been! We have been through so much as a family already. We've moved into a new house, Bruce has deployed and we've temporarily relocated. Things change so quickly. I feel like it was only a moment ago that we were driving to the hospital in the middle of the night, with me crying and praying this was the real deal, because I couldn't imagine going through this kind of pain again. Bypass a year and here we are - we have a toddler! He's walking everywhere and into everything. He can literally run! That little booger is fast. He loves to play with Maggie. He sneaks her food and shares his snacks. They get along so well. He can entertain himself forever with only a hanger, or a bag of buns. He always seems to be smiling and in a good mood. I have been asked on several occasions if he ever cries or gets fussy. And honestly he is only fussy when he's tired or sick. He's such a good baby! I'd like to be able to take credit for it - to be able to say it's due to my splendid parenting, but honestly it's just the way the Lord made him. It's the way he is. And I am so grateful.

We had his party on Saturday Feb 5 at my mom's house. It was mainly just close family. We had a great time and everything turned out perfectly. Trey wasn't in the least bit interested in opening his presents and didn't want to have anything to do with his cake. He poked at it with his finger and then got upset because he was dirty. He looked so handsome in his birthday tshirt and flannel shirt with blue jeans. Such a handsome little guy. Takes after his daddy. Bruce wasn't able to be there, but we were able to video chat with him on Sunday morning. It was great to see him. He seems to be doing well in Afghanistan. He feels like he has a purpose, which is essential. I think he would excel in just about anything - he never ceases to amaze me with his ambition and drive. He wants to do well at whatever he does, no matter how small. I love him for that.

Some Special Tidbits about our 1 year old...

• He seems to have found his voice. He loves to squeal. I'll squeal at him and he'll squeal back. It's our new game and he loves it.
• His new favorite - Orange Juice. Thanks to his Aunt Kimberly, he drinks more orange juice than breast milk. He carries his sippy cup around and can finish off a whole cup of it.
• He is still nursing and is still mainly eating baby food. I give him table food and he likes most of it, but it's usually not enough. I'm trying to feed him more and more of what we eat. Baby food is easy and its convenient, but it's getting expensive.
• He still only has his two bottom front teeth. He's a little behind in the tooth department.
  
• He loves to play with his older cousins, Alissa and Lucas. He follows them everywhere and wants to do everything they're doing. I'm so happy they all get to spend so much time together while we're here in Alabama.
  
• He LOVES Daddy Mac and I think he can say his name. He says dada ba. It's adorable. When he sees Daddy Mac he'll run to him and loves to hang out with him. I feel like he looks more like Daddy Mac than Bruce.
  
• He's starting to be a bit more interested in books. I can read him one book and then he's wiggling to get down. But I will occasionally see him pick up a book on his own and flip through the pages and jabber about what he sees.
  
• He's still not interested in the tv or movies. He's too busy to sit still for anything like that. However, due to the recent discovery of how much he hates to ride in the car for long periods of time, I got him a portable dvd player for his birthday. Yesterday, on our first attempt to watch it, he fell asleep within 10 minutes. But he was quiet so it served its purpose. We will see how it goes.
  
• He's still sleeping around 12 hours at night, and usually takes two 2 hour naps. It's wonderful.
  
• He is now sitting facing the front in the car. Maybe this is why he's so fussy...hmm. Interesting.
• He stood on the scale this morning on his own...he is 21.6 lbs.
  
• He wears mostly 12 months clothes but is quickly outgrowing them as well as his size 3 diapers.