He's ONE!!

LITTLE GEORGE IS ONE YEAR OLD.
SO MUCH FUN TO KISS AND HOLD.
MONTH BY MONTH HE'S GROWN AND GROWN.
OH HOW FAST THIS YEAR HAS FLOWN!!

I knew there was a reason I would need all those pictures I took every month of George.  I sent out the above card to our family and friends.  I love looking at how he has changed over the coarse of the year.  I also love how he smiles behind the fingers in his mouth.

Oh George!!!  I just love him so much.  He is such a smart, outgoing, energetic, and brave little guy.  It's takes a lot to keep up with him but I'm glad he has such great coordination and autonomy. 

He stands on his own at this point and loves to empty any drawer that's left open.  We've had to put rubber bands around all the kitchen cabinets to keep him from breaking the fragile things.    He also loves to fish through the garbage so that's usually stowed away whenever he's roaming around.  I often notice it's quiet for a moment and find he's upstairs playing in Jack's room or with the train tracks.  He loves it when I chase him up the stairs and gives me the biggest grins when I ask him where he's going.  He also thinks it's really funny to look at me with a marble, rock, or something he SHOULDN'T have in his mouth centimeters away clutched in his fingers with the most devious look on his face.  The more I tell him "no....don't put that in your mouth George" the funnier and more appealing the rock, marble or even a wrapped tampon seems.  I've had to fish WAY too many miniature objects from this little guy's mouth. 

We also have to keep the bathroom doors closed because G is absolutely fascinated with water. He's always roaming into my bathroom to turn on the bath water.  I've caught him trying to climb in before so this door is always shut unless I'm in there with him.   I've never had a baby so interested in sticking his hands in the toilet before.  I've caught him on numerous occasions playing with Jack's or Sadie's toilet upstairs.  This is usually after Sadie begs me from upstairs to take G out of his crib and then once granted, she takes him out, and totally forgets about him.  I know I shouldn't depend on my 6 year old to watch G but I know there's no way she would allow Jack to play in the toilets.  She watches his every move just in case an opportunity arises to "tattle tell" on him.  These toilet escapades usually involve un-flushed toilets with George splashing around in his sibling's yellow urine.  He loves to bathe and knows how to get a fast bath whenever he wants one;-). 

Mostly pretty wild when he's awake, but on a good day....this happens and I have a snuggly, warm, little blobby G next to my heart.  Heaven!!
These cold months we've been wrapping him in a Texas blanket the Longs gave us way before we knew we would eventually be Texans.  He's our Texas baby and because it's an awesome blanket he can't get out of....we wrap him in it every night.  He can be having a huge fit and crying like crazy and whenever I start wrapping him up and give him his "bah" blanket, his fingers immediately find his mouth, the eyes droop and he becomes a lifeless blob in my arms.

He has all four teeth coming in on top so there's been a lot of crying, ear pulling and snot from this little guy lately.  My favorite it how he uses whoever is holding him as a human tissue by rubbing his nose all over their left shoulder.  It's awesome!!  With the crankiness comes the many times he'll stand up at my legs and moan "ma ma...ma ma" until I pick him up.  He gets very jealous of Jack when we're snuggling and will always crawl over to us and demand a snuggle too.  He is hilarious when he wants more food and will slam his hand on his highchair demanding more.  He's definitely more into finger foods than being fed.  He will also fling food across the room if he's not interested. He still has "jazz hands" while he eats which totally cracks us all up.  He never stops moving in that highchair and his hands are always waving in the air. 
He likes eating on his own but we still have to try and get him to eat which is always a HUGE struggle because we have to make sure he's entertained by a book, puzzle, or blocks while we sneak bites of food into his mouth.  I've decided that feeding children is by far the worst part of parenting.  If we didn't have to feed them, it would be a breeze!! 

I took him in for a well check and realized he wasn't "well" at all!  He had a double ear infection and what looked like pink eye too.  I guess he was crying and pulling on his ears for a reason:-( Poor little guy. 

Got down to our last bag of "liquid gold" and he is officially drinking formula, coconut and/or rice milk with a squirt of flax seed oil to keep him plump:-)

 Still loves to be outside and will kick his legs with excitement when we walk toward the door. 

Same reaction occurs anytime he sees a doggy.  He'll laugh when they jump up and lick his toes.

He's started doing a lot of fun tricks for us like slam dunking balls into Jack's basketball hoop, dancing in the shopping cart by shaking his head and wiggling his little body, waving, clapping rolling a ball and stacking blocks.  He loves to feed me his finger foods and eagerly awaits my mouth to open wide.  He's also started using a fork with his strawberries.  This kid could eat a whole crate of strawberries and blueberries in one sitting.  He also loves to play with marbles as he watches them roll through tubes and plastic slides but usually ends up with a marble in his mouth so the game is cut short.  I love his willingness to seek out adventures and although cautious, is such an amazing little explorer.  We are enjoying little  George so much in this family.  SO glad we've had this wonderful year to get to know such a heavenly little being.  I look forward to many more!  Love my little Georgie!!!