Jayden had a Birthday

My little Jayden had his first birthday this weekend. I can't believe it has been a whole year. It's almost like he has always been here. The life I had before is like some distant memory. I can't imagine life without him now.

Sometimes I think that I had some "mom switch" that was turned on when he was born. Still to this day when I see a commercial or movie or whatever that depicts a mother with a child having some sentimental moment it makes me emotional. It's like now I understand more fully the love you can have for a child. It's indescribable.

It's phenomenal to think of how much he has grown in this first year. From being a helpless infant to being able to entertain himself. For the most part he has developed just as any typical baby would and his little personality and way of doing things is really starting to show.

On his birthday I weighed and measured him and he came in at 18lbs and 28 inches. Meaning he has gained 12 1/2 lbs and grown 9 inches. He's always been a bit smaller than most babies his age but I must admit in the last month or so since he has been eating table food a lot more he has definitely been filling out.

He got his first teeth at 8 months and he now has 6 teeth. Four on top and two on bottom. Well more like 3 1/2 on top. One just broke through the skin and then hasn't come any further. With all these teeth coming nursing him was becoming a bit of a trial but I met my goal of nursing him for a whole year!! Now I just nurse him a couple times a day because it's good for him. It doesn't fill him up anymore.

Jayden has grown into a huge appetite. I've started making all my own babyfood. I cook and blend all my food and grind my own rice and oatmeal. He would eat me out of house and home if I didn't. I hardly use baby bowls either because they don't hold enough food. He also LOVES his cheerios. You can only give him a couple at a time though because how every many you give him he just keeps putting them in his mouth. He will just fill his cheeks until he chokes or gags on them. He is a real "act before you think" not "think before you act" kindof a guy.

He learned to sit on his own at about 7 months and was very content with that for months. Even though his little cousins were crawling and now walking in circles around him, he just continued to sit there. He will now try and scoot a little but still doesn't mind that he just sits there. He LOVES to walk though. He constantly grabs for your hands and stands himself up and gets you to walk him all over the house. Levi barely crawled, just went from sitting to walking. Therefore, I decided long ago that Jayden will most likely do that same thing. Fine with me. I haven't had to worry at all about "baby-proofing" my house.

Jayden is definitely a people person. He knows who his mommy is but he is definitely not a momma's boy. He smiles and giggles at just about anyone he meets. At about 9 months the stranger anxiety kicked in a little bit but it didn't seem to last that long. He loves people. He loves to interact with people.

He also loves books. Probably one of his most favorite things to do. Look at a book and flip the pages. This, of course, is awesome for church, except when he wants the hymn book. We are slowly learning that the hymn book is not a toy. Otherwise I know he would just rip it apart.

He used to love taking baths but for the last several weeks he no longer likes it. He loves to sit and watch the water fill up his bath tub but once I put him in he wants out. Bath time lasts about 3 minutes. I put him in, wash him down, rinse him off and then he is out. No playtime, he just wants out. I figure he will grow out of this someday. Silly boy.

Overall I think I have been blessed with a very sweet and even-tempered little boy. He sleeps great, 8-10 hours a night. Plus a good nap, sometimes up to 3 hours, during the day. He doesn't cry very often. He doesn't fight me persistently. He seems to know that I am in charge and he accepts that. He's a good eater, he's not picky. He does pretty well either entertaining himself or watching me fold laundry or do dishes. He's not demanding or possessive of me. He doesn't mind going to the grocery store or shopping with me. Except, JoAnn's. I don't know why but he cries literally every time I go in that store. Haven't figure that one out yet.

He's a good boy. Guess I'm just lucky.