Happy Birthday Amos!

I woke Amos up this morning with, what else, "Happy Birthday!" He sat up with a huge smile on his face.  It's like he knew it was his birthday.  We then went and "woke" Daddy up.  More smiles ensued. We both can't believe how much we love this little guy and his big personality.  Every day he does stuff that amazes us.

Last night, on the way to our 4th of July party, we filled Amos in on the details of this time last year.  I happened to be wearing the same shirt as I wore last year, because I only have one maternity shirt that's red.  As a side note, if you had told me last year that I would be this pregnant this year, I would have laughed at you.  Look who's laughing now!  I had spent the entire day walking - on the treadmill, around the mall, at Wal-mart, then to the park for fireworks and back home.  We totaled up that it was probably around 7 miles.  I guess it shouldn't have been too much of a surprise that my water broke around 2:30 am the next morning.  19 hours later, Amos Jack Vance arrived!  I'm sure he'll never get tired of hearing that one every 4th of July! Ha ha!

This month has been so much fun!  A big reason…Dad’s home!  A whole new side of Amos comes out when he’s playing with his Daddy. 

I feel like there are so many new things.  One of the big ones is his ability to understand and communicate.  I’m pretty sure he gets about 85% of what I say.  He’s using the pointing grunt system to get what he wants right now and boy does he love to point.  He’s a great mimic-er.  He normally gets inflection and syllables correct, but not always sounds.  My mom was hear and noticed how he talks almost musically.  He will repeat the same little tune over and over again. 

He’s a full time walker, and at times runner.  He loves to climb on things and hide behind stuff.  Occasionally he’ll point to things on request, like his nose, tummy, hair and teeth, but its rare.  He’s got 6 teeth total and using them for all they’re worth in things like corn on the cob, apples, and pretzels.  He has developed a bit of a picky side, but still likes most things, so I can’t complain too much.

He’s a well-rested boy, sleeping12 hours at night napping two times a day.   He loves nap-time.  All I need to do is put him in his crib and he grabs a blanket and lays down smiling!  Sleep training definitely paid off!

His favorite things this month have been playing with Daddy, watching the train go by, exploring the house, swimming, eating popsicles, and reading books.  From time to time, I’ll find him sitting on the floor by himself with a book opened in his lap.  Gotta love that!

The first year has been a great one, but I know the best is yet to come!