The Hallmans: August 2011

Dear McKay-

One year ago, (July 6th, 2010) was the best day of your dad's and my life! You entered our life and changed it for the better. You are a very happy baby but have learned to love to be around people. You are a "people watcher." You can sit and be entertained with those around you, whether they are playing with you or paying attention to you.

Your one year stats are: Weight: 23lbs,4 oz- 55%. Height: 32 inches- 95%. Head: 18.25 inches- 50%. You are tall and the doctor said you could even stand to put on a few pounds. Your dad was worried you were a little too chubby but the doctor says otherwise!

You can't walk yet but you are walking along the furniture. We try to stand you up in the middle of the room and you still act a bit scared and sit down immediately. ou are unsure of your balance but that's okay. You used to do the "paraplegic" crawl for a long time and your dad and I were worried you would never crawl normally. But you did and now you are the fastest little guy. So we aren't too worried about you walking.

You are so bored of all of your toys. You would rather discover the cupboards and drawers...all over our house. You are very good at your motor skills and I have found you with my chap sticks, the lids off and some of it in your mouth...more than once. You like screw on lids. The doctor said to watch you when you got to be about 15 months because that's when most kids master twist on lids. Not you. You figured them out weeks ago.

You still love to eat. You are not picky and will try almost everything, although you are in the very INDEPENDENT stage. You want to hold your own spoon and feed yourself. You make quite the mess at meal time and that sort of gives your dad massive anxiety. But we love seeing you figure out how to eat and pick up your food. And we just like that you are such a good eater. I stopped nursing you at about 11 1/2 months...not by choice. I was sad but you love whole milk and love your bottles. You don't drink juice much but only because you don't like it as well. Milk or water is your favorite drink. Pasta, cereal, cheese, potatoes of any kind, and banana's are your favorite foods.

You are a water boy through and through. You love your bath's, the swimming pool, the sprinklers, waterfalls...you name it! If it involves water, you love it, no matter how cold the water is. You just hate getting out. It's a struggle getting you dressed after your bath's. There is too much to discover for you to sit still! You also love to climb. You try to climb on the couch, the bed, foot stools, the mantle. That is your new little naughty trick . You climb on the fireplace mantle and pick out the flowers in our glass vase. It makes me nervous because the glass on the fireplace gets very hot and I don't want you touching it and getting used to it when we turn it on in the winter. So we are trying to teach you but you are very insistent and when you look at me and grin, I can't help it. I smile or laugh back and you think it's a game!

You have conquered climbing but don't know how to go back down the right way. You have face planted it a few times and we have to watch you carefully.

You get so excited around your cousins. We just spent the week in Nevada with daddy's family and you loved playing every minute with Matthew and Tate. They sure love you too. You also love, love, love when cousin Chase comes in the door. You start into really fast babble, as does Chase.

Speaking of talking, you don't say words yet but you do say "dadadada" and you say it around your dad sometimes...so we wonder! You understand what we are saying though and have become pretty good at the basic sign language words. We love when you fold your arms when we say it's time for prayers. Brushing your teeth makes you excited and you are still our book boy. You LOVE to read and to be read to. You found that if you knock all of your books off of the end table, they will be on the ground and you can sit and read to your heart's content. So we often find you sitting on the ground reading your books. It's cute.

You are a pretty good sleeper. One nap a day for about 3 hours. And you go to bed between 7:45pm-8:30pm and always sleep for at least 12 hours. If you don't get your 12 hours or if you are woken up in the morning or from a nap, you are cranky. I don't blame you though. You like your sleep, just like your momma. You still get very cuddly, especially when you are tired. I love putting you to bed. You snuggle right in with your favorite blanket and love to be sung to.

You don't pay attention to TV and I can't get you to sit in front of it to watch Sesame Street or anything else while I get ready. That's good though. I'm glad you aren't a TV boy. You love music though, especially the Mormon Tabernacle choir (we listen to Music and the Spoken Word on Sundays). You have the blondest hair and blue eyes. You have brought unfathomable joy to our lives and we can't remember life without you. Your kisses are to die for! Your dad and I love you SO MUCH and look forward to eternity with you. Happy one year baby boy!