And then he was one.
I never realized how insane my mom’s life had to be with my sisters’ birthdays being January 9th and 10th (aka 5 minutes after Christmas) until this year. I was planning Boogsie’s birthday at the same time as Halloween and realized she was doing the same thing except replace Halloween with Christmas. The woman is a saint. Someone get her a sticker.
Speaking of Halloween, it went shockingly well. I don’t know why I was so surprised – this kid’s a pretty big fan of people watching and said people telling him how cute he is.
In other touch and go activities, we met my sister and her subordinates at the Children’s Museum. This kid refused to nap before we left and didn’t nap the entire time we were there, but instead of meltdown city, he was a champ hanging out in the Ergo with Dad while staring at people and throwing Cheerios around whenever possible. He then passed out before we even got out of the parking garage. It was the stuff parents’ dreams are made of.
We had Boogsers’s birthday “party” on the 5th, and he played the part of birthday boy perfectly. There were naps and a trip to the neighborhood playground where we discovered this kid loves the swing and the slide. He also enjoyed tasting the monkey bars and is quite serious when it comes to his rock climbing.
When it came time for the cake, his favorite part was when everyone sang Happy Birthday to him (he’s still a fan when I sing it in the car). We also confirmed he’s my child when he did nothing but look at the blue frosting on his fingers in disgust. He was more on board with the brownie we gave him on his actual birthday so again, my child.
Other firsts that weren’t drenched in sugar include his first pair of shoes. I got them not so much because he’s walking but because have you ever tried to keep socks on a baby? These actually ended up being one of my favorite things about this month. Let me explain. When I was trying to find 12/18 month clothes, I realized we had pretty much graduated out of the hilarious onesies. But then I realized all the 12/18 month clothes make him look like a little kid, the shoes take it up a notch, and then I’m dying from the cuteness.
On the progress front, he’s starting to lose interest in bottles and eat real food. He does a lot better with this at school (at home he mostly likes to throw it on the floor – unless it’s a Cheezit), but I’ll take what I can get. He’s now pulling himself up to his knees and is a big fan of standing. He’s not pulling all the way up to standing yet, but if you prop him up to stand against something, he’s one happy camper. . .until he’s ready to be done standing but can’t figure out how to stop.
Other favorite activities include taking over the TV with Bubble Guppies. He’ll either turn it on himself (he legit knows which remote it is) or hand us the remote and grunt which is code for, “Bubble Guppies please.” And when he inevitably pauses it while chewing on the remote, he’ll again hand it to you and grunt which is code for, “Fix it please.” He’s a very advanced child. Or a cave baby. We’re still trying to sort it out.