The One Year (and a week) Post

I know, I know . . . there is no excuse for depriving you of pictures of the world's cutest kid (in my humble opinion) for a whole week.  I would tell you all about the illnesses, broken cars stuck in Nashville, hung juries, 30th birthday parties (yes, plural . . . we went to two this week), and just general craziness of the week, but I have a feeling you really don't care.  So I'll just get on with the one year report.

The Official Report: We went to the doctor on Tuesday for his one year check-up, but also to investigate the hacking cough and faucet-like nose that had plagued Walt for the past several days.  He did, in fact, have french fries in both ears.  (For those of you who were never a patient of my father, that means they were infected.)  So, antibiotics all around.  Which he loves.  It actually makes me a little nervous how much he loves taking medicine of any kind -- the antibiotics, Tylenol, decongestant drops, vitamins -- he sucks them all down and then looks at me pleadingly for more.   Just say no, Walty. 

Anyway, other than the ear infections (and, for the record, Dr. S was quite impressed that this was only his second ear infection of his young life), all was well.  Walt weighed in at 20.5 lbs. (25th percentile) and measured 29 inches (10th percentile).  For those of you who actually remember that we reported him as being in the 75th weight percentile at his nine-month appointment (short and fat, ring a bell?), do not fret -- that was apparently an error on Dr. S's part, as she put the dot in the wrong place on the growth chart.  He was really somewhere between the 25th and 50th then, so he's growing just fine.  Just a little on the petite side for now.

As for the rest . . .

Mobility:  He is cruising around anywhere he can while holding on to either a piece of furniture, our hands, or one of his push toys.  He hasn't quite summoned the courage to venture out on his own, but I'm certainly not encouraging him too much.  I know that once he takes that first step away from me, there will be no turning back.  And I'm just not quite ready for that yet.   Sniff.

Communication:  We have a breakthrough . . . Walt is finally saying "mama"!  Just not to me.  He just kind of says it in general.  Dr. S says that's pretty normal, but still, would it kill the kid to look at me and say it?  Just once?  Cut a mommy some slack.  Other than that, his only recognizable word (and I'm not sure it really counts as a word . . . more like an exclamation) is "Uh-oh!"  Of course, I don't think he's quite grasped the subtle nuances of the word.  You know, how you're only supposed to say it when you do something accidentally.  Because I can assure you, there is nothing accidental about taking a fistful of peas, holding them out over the side of your highchair, looking your mother in the eye, smiling, and then letting them go.  But "Uh-oh!" is his proclamation every time.  Uh-oh, indeed.   

Eating: For those of you who were concerned that we were trying to turn poor Walt into some kind of earth child by feeding him hummus on pita bread (which he loves, mind you!), you'll be reassured to know that tonight he polished off a Hungry Man-size plate of meatloaf, mashed potatoes and peas.  Of course, he did start off with an olive appetizer and finish up with a dessert of oh, about a dozen cherries (each cut into very tiny pieces by a devoted mother who still has red-stained fingers, thank you very much).  He loved the cherries (see picture) -- the only time he looked up from eating them was when he ran out  and I hadn't finished cutting up more yet.  Despite being on the bottom end of the weight chart, the kid can put away some food.

Miscellaneous: Walt is thoroughly enjoying all his new toys from
Christmas and his birthday (so if you haven't gotten your thank you
note yet, just know that it's on the way and that he is very appreciative).
He's very democratic about it too -- all of his toys are in the
rotation.  And I don't know if you all conspired on this or not, but
most of his new toys seem to have a farm theme.  So, if you weren't
aware, apparently a cow says, "moo", and a duck says, "quack", and
(according to Harriet and Richard's gift), a cow-duck says "moo-quack", but (and I
quote), "That's silly!".  If I've heard it once, I've heard it 732
times.  No kidding.  My friend, Kate, and I were discussing the
prevalence of the farm theme in kid's toys and found it a bit ironic
considering how few kids will actually go on to become farmers, what
with all the corporate agriculture nowadays.  But we decided that toys
with a business consultant or network engineer theme just wouldn't be
as much fun.

Walt playing "Where's Daddy?"

In summary . . . not that we're biased, or anything, but Walt is just an all-around great kid.  His teachers at church and day care are always telling us what a sweet, easy baby he is, and we must agree.  Being his parents has enriched our lives immeasurably this year and we can't wait to see what the coming years have in store.  (Probably about a zillion more pictures.)

P.S.  The official one-year picture is now in the Birthday album!