That seems to be the theme of many first birthdays. We didn't kill the baby and the baby didn't kill us. YAY! We opted not to do a party for this birthday partly because we were already spending time with out-of-town family, and partly because I'm a brazenly self-proclaimed introvert. Through some sick twist of fate Moriarty is the most social baby ever. He blows kisses at strangers, he talks to people on the bus, he smiles at everyone, he just LOVES people. Which is great, it's just certainly not something he inherited from me. But, that said, we skipped a formal party. We did commemorate his birthday with a family photo shoot. My father, sister, and brother were in town, and we all went to the Arboretum and did an amazing playful shoot that felt very natural. Lots of throwing the baby in the air and giving snugly kisses. The full album is in the main Images gallery.
In terms of biggest milestones, I think we've hit a language explosion. He's very confidently using several words now. He'll pick up a ball and say "ba", or put something on my head and say "ha[t]". He's been signing food for a while but yesterday he whipped out "foo" while he signed it. OMG. He's trying to repeat the sounds we're making and it's getting clearer every week. I love the improved communication and it's fun to realize that we can teach him anything we want. That's a lot of power...
We built him an activity wall with things to sproing, latch/unlatch, touch, and it has a ball tube that he can put his ping pong balls down. It's fun to watch him play and it took about a week for him to figure out how the deadbolt blocking the exit of the ball tube could be opened to release all the balls. Now he does it often.
As his mother I pin all my self-worth and hopes and dreams on how well he learns and out does the other children, so I'm sad to say he's not quite walking yet. He is, however, standing unassisted for long periods of time where he seems perfectly stable. He just doesn't seem to have the confidence to walk on his own yet. He'll use the chairs or ottoman to function as a walker and slide them all over the place, but those first steps aren't here yet. He's crawling like a maniac though and utilizes his mouth to hold things. Rather utilitarian, I think. He has gotten far too tall and I have to keep re-baby proofing all the time. I'd really like a break!
To ensure he is prepared for his life of baby competition, we've begun increasing the diversity of his world cuisine. This month he had sushi and Ethiopian food for the first time. He was a pro at Ethiopian because you're supposed to eat with your hands. He also at the sushi with his hands, but no surprise there. He excels at eating.
My last exciting milestone is that he is no longer Moriarty, Destroyer of Worlds, he is now Moriarty, Stacker of Very Small Towers. He has successfully stacked cups on top of each other several times now. It's not easy, cups are very complicated, but he's making real progress and it's exciting to watch. I love him more than I can possibly convey in a blog post. My heart just explodes when he smiles and babbles up to me when he comes home or when he wakes me up talking to himself and looking at the birds through his window. He's incredible. He's my baby!