Happy 1st Birthday, Carter!!

I really truly cannot believe it's been 1 YEAR already {yesterday}!!  I hardly know what to say.  I'm just SO THANKFUL he's part of our family.  He makes my heart melt every single day.  I love this little boy with every ounce of my being!   

Now for updates...

* Tooth #7 is coming in.  Front bottom, joining the other bottom two.

* Cruises on things all the time.  AND can do about 3 steps on his own!  He's getting to be quite the dare-devil and will probably be walking before his next update! (video coming soon!)

* Climbs the stairs all the time now so we have to gate it off almost all the time.

* First sign! "more"  Doesn't do it consistently, but he's definitely done it!

* Says "mama" quite clearly.
* He gives kisses!  Open mouth, lean in, it's a kiss!  =)

* Loves his blankie.  Loves his particular blankie more than I realized!  We accidentally left it at a friend's house, and the next two naps were rough going down because it wasn't his right blanket! Now we know!

* Loves to play on his blankie-- if we happen to bring it downstairs with him after nap, he likes to crawl over to it and stand on his head on it, with his butt up in the air.  (so need a picture of this!)
* Has learned how to play his gumball machine toy--puts the balls in the top and pushes the lever to make the balls come out.  But mostly he likes to put the ball in the top then grab the top and tip it down to look in there.

* Celebrated his first Christmas.

* Got to meet his niece Claire!

* Was fully weaned at the early part of the month, and now drinks 3-4 bottles of milk a day.  Eats three meals a day with the family, mostly table food.

* Naps two 2-hr naps a day, goes to bed at 7:30pm and sleeps until somewhere between 7 and 8am.

Oh, sweet boy, we love you so much!  Happy birthday!!

P.S.  I have a zillion more pictures coming!  Stay tuned!