Officially a toddler....

Birthday party celebrating from a couple weeks ago aside, my little man OFFICIALLY turns one today. The hubs and I took T down to the Children's Museum to "celebrate" the big day - which was fun until he got fixated on eating his Cheerios and we had to leave. No really, he played hard and wore himself out (and ok, the Cheerios fixation probably had a little something to do with it) - and despite his slight cereal-eating obsession, it's still amazing for me to watch him in action these days.

Getting ready to play hard for his birthday!

It's hard to believe how fast the year has flown. He's gone from a little mushy bundle of snuggles to a little guy that only lets me cuddle with him in the morning because he's got too many places to go and things to see any other time of the day. The days of "date nights" with him perched in his Bumbo on the table are long gone. These days, T likes to share his meals with the dog (yes, sometimes even the very same piece of food....gross, I know). He used to jut out his lower lip as a 10-second warning before belting out the loudest screams ever. T doesn't use his amazing set of lungs much anymore (though I'm sure that will change as we get closer to the 2s!) and instead, these days he gets his way by giving me a little smirk that looks just like his daddy's -- or a big crooked grin that somehow shows off all 7 1/2 of his teeth. He went from cooing to babbling to actual words, even if they are in a language that only I can understand at the moment. And even though he says "dada" a zillion times more than he says "mama" (SO unfair), every once and awhile, I'm lucky enough to get a big slobbery open-mouthed kiss from him, and that more than makes up for it.

I can go on and on, and on and on. I have a feeling that this is not an unique feeling - anyone who has kids that might be reading this probably feels the same about theirs. To me, there is nothing better than life with this sweet little boy.

What a year it's been! (And yes, mommy obviously likes stripes)

Happy Birthday to my Mr. Man. I love you, Munchkin.