12 Mos (Belatedly)

People keep saying, "Oh, once Russell starts walking, he'll thin right out."  I keep quiet and say to myself, "Well, he is walking..."

 I love this bird's eye picture of him walking...you really see that tummy protruding. Between that big head and that Buddha belly, it is amazing he is as balanced as he is! I keep meaning to do a photo shoot of him in a diaper or something to really document that tummy, but I know it will just end up looking like this:

Adorable, yes (incredibly so) but still? No way Jose. It is next to impossible to keep that baby in one place.  Photos these days just end up with him either running the other way or with him running to grab the camera.

He turned a year almost a month ago. Time flies so quickly it freaks me out.
Some 12 mos stats:

• 21.9 lbs--56%
• 29.5 inches long--19% (although we are wondering if that is accurate as we recently measured him shorter)
• Fave Foods: Grapes, Sweet Potatoes, Bread. He can practically stuff an entire banana in his mouth at once, too. It is amazing. We have learned to give him only 3-4 bites at a time because he'll put it all in there. He's not into self-regulating yet. But then again, neither am I.
• Fave Book: Peek-a-Who? (We had to take this one away because he has almost eaten the entire cover). As Brandon said this morning, "That book is literally a part of him" 
• Fave Pastime: Walking, Getting into the dishwasher, trying to sneak into the laundry room, playing with a cell phone (preferably a working one), pulling dishtowels off the oven handle, seeing other kids, pointing at stuff, searching underneath his high chair for crumbs.
• Fave Words: None. He jabbers baby gibberish all day...but nothing close to a word yet.   
• Dislikes: Getting his diaper changed before bed (torture for everyone involved!), watching Dad leave for work, the hairdryer, and the vacuum...Russell actually made up his own sign for hairdryer and uses it when he sees me getting ready in the morning as if to say, "Are you going to do that scary thing, Mom?" and when I nod and then assure him that it is OK, he starts to pace back and forth, his eyes welling with tears.  It is really sad, actually. I get tempted to not do it, but don't because I think it will reinforce that the hairdryer is a scary and bad thing. He'll grow out of it, right?  
• Teeth: Top 4, Bottom 4, and a molar is currently pushing through on the top left side...yikes!

Happy Belated Birthday Son. We are so glad you are ours. Thank you for coming to join us.