One Year Old!!!

I can't believe I'm so behind in getting these ridiculously important posts up, but life's been crazy.

Ruston seems like such a little boy now.  The baby seems to feel further and further away each day.  I say it every month, but the changes in personality are just happening so quickly! This kid is hilarious...and he knows it! He loves to make us laugh and laugh at/with us.

We had his 1 year checkup last Friday.  He didn't gain as much weight as I thought he had.  My arms beg to differ with the Doctor's scales! haha

Stats:

Weight - 20 lbs. 8 oz. - 20%

Height - 30 inches - 60%

Head circumference - 47 cm - 75% (gotta have room for that big brain he's got!! :))

Eating: Still loves food! There isn't much he won't eat.  Favorites right now are any kind of fresh fruit, but especially bananas.  Isn't that weird that he hated it as baby food, but loves them now?  Speaking of baby food, he's really not interested in it anymore.  He likes feeding himself.  He's the messiest little eater around, but he's getting better at it.  He's really good at mashing up and "chewing" all the big people food that we give him.

He's got 2 teeth now! Both on the bottom, and cute as ever when he makes his funny face. He's really funny about showing them though.  If you try to look at them, he shuts his mouth tight and won't budge. So you've got to catch a glimpse when he forgets and smiles. :)

Moving: Still a super duper crawler and expert cruiser, but he is starting to walk a little now! He's been taking a step or two from the couch to the coffee table for a while now, but I didn't really count that as walking.  He finally did about 4 steps on the 23rd.  He did it twice that day and then hadn't done it again until today.  When I went to pick him up from Amy's, he randomly did 4 or 5 steps a few times and one time he walked like 12 steps!! It was so weird to see him standing up, walking by himself!  He also still loves pushing and moving furniture, toys, and anything else he can get his hands on.

Talking: This kid is a screamer.  He's a squealer.  He's an all kinds of funny sounds man.  But he keeps his words to himself. ha! He still does the babbling and every once in a while he'll say dada and mama to the right person.  Most everything is called "da".  He understands a lot of words though.  He definitely knows the word no! And he does not like hearing it. :)  He knows bottle, bird, dada, mama, and Diesel for sure.

Playing: Such a fun guy to play with! He got so many new toys for his birthday and he is having a blast playing with them all! Tractors are his number 1 love, and he scoots them all over the place.  He still loves his books and is now enjoying "doing" puzzles.  He likes to play with his blocks and is starting to play with some of his little stuffed animals.  He loves playing with us.  He likes to climb, smooch, and wrestle with us. And we really enjoy it too! :)

Sleeping: Still doing well! I'm still jealous of those mommies that have 10 hour sleepers, but we're making due and happy with our 7-8 hours a night.  It's much better than it was before! He still normally wakes up a few times each night, but we can usually just give him his pappy and he'll fall right back asleep.  He usually takes 2 - hour/hour and a half - naps each day.  Every once in a while, he'll take a 3rd, but only if he's gotten up really early that day.

And for those of you who refuse to believe the kid is ever unhappy or in trouble.....

...this is the face of a very upset child whos mean ole Mommy won't let him play with the cleaning supplies. :)