Calton Corner: Dear Brennan,

You are one year old! It is so hard for me to believe! The past twelve months have flown by so incredibly fast, but at the same time it seems like you have always been a part of this family. It's hard to remember what life was like without you. You might be one, but you are still my little baby. So much has been going on, so let's check out what you've been up to.

You are wearing 12-18 month clothes. Somedays you just get to stay in your jammies though! Mommy is so thankful for hand-me-downs that help keep your closet and dresser full of cute clothes! You still wear size 3 diapers during the day, but are wearing size 4 overnight diapers at night to try to prevent leaks. Mommy now tries to give you something to play with during diaper changes so you don't fuss. The best distraction is your toothbrush. You'll chew on that and usually lay still.

Here is what your day looks like most of the time.

7:45 - Wake

8:00 - Eat breakfast

8:45-9:30 - Play in your room with Mommy

9:30-11:30 - Nap

11:30 - Eat lunch

12:30 - Independent playtime in your pack-n-play

1:00 - Play with Mommy

1:30-3:30 - Nap

3:30 - Maybe eat a snack

4:00-5:00 - Play (hopefully with Daddy if he's home)

5:00/5:30 - Eat dinner

6:00/6:30 - Bath

6:45 - Bed

Usually your morning waketime and bedtime are pretty consistent. You don't always nap at the same time each day, but you always take two naps. I am really excited because I am going to start Tot School with you! I have been following 1+1+1=1 for a long time! She just sorted her activities into categories based on age, which helps a ton. At your age, Tot School will mainly just be playing with you like I've always done. It is just make sure I am talking to you and teaching you things during that playtime. I started here to get some ideas.

You still aren't crawling, pulling up, or cruising. You are just one laid back dude. You will roll to get to something you want. You still LOVE books right now. Your current favorite is Little Boy Blue. Mommy gets to read that one to you about 100 times each day. Reading to you is fun because you have started to pointing to more things. You have a counting book that is Baby Einstein and there is a ladybug somewhere on each page. You can find and point to the bug on every single page. You can also pick out the dog, cat, and duck in your First 100 Words book. You are a great page turner too!

You are now completely weaned. It was a very easy transition, just as I thought it would be. You were definitely ready. You weaned straight to a sippy cup and easily switched to whole milk. You are a good eater. You feed yourself at every meal now. Mommy still feeds you oatmeal at breakfast and sometimes yogurt for a meal, but everything else you do by yourself. Your favorites are: mandarin oranges, peaches, pears, hotdogs, and pasta with sauce. You have practiced with a spoon some, but it is still early for you to know how to use it. You still only have four teeth, but I can see another one just starting to poke through on top.

You are doing really well with signing. You haven't added any new spoken words to your vocabulary, but I am hoping that comes soon. You can sign the following words:

all done

please

water

food/eat

bed/sleepy

milk (you don't do that one much though)

You have picked up new signs very quickly, so I'm sure you'll be adding more very soon. You also use grunts, pointing, and your eyes to communicate what you want. Just the other night you kept looking at your swing and then at the TV. I asked if you wanted to watch your movie and you pointed to the remote control. We got your Praise Baby movie set up, put you in the swing, and you were happy. It's so fun being able to communicate with you!

You have learned a few new "tricks" during the past month. You will show us your hair and your tummy. You will blow raspberries when I ask, "Where's your motor?" You will usually blow kisses if asked too.

You also still LOVE bath time! You kick and splash. You have several strainer toys and you love for me to fill them with water and then let the water run all down your face. You also get excited when the water is draining from the tub and want to sit right by the drain and touch it.

You do have a pretty serious case of separation anxiety right now. You do great during your independent playtime in your room, but you do not like it when I leave you in the church nursery on Sunday. This past week, there were already two boys in there playing, so you happily went in and started playing. However, once you realized Mommy wasn't there anymore, you weren't too happy. Food helps you calm you down though. I told the nursery workers that and it seemed to work because I didn't get paged to come get you this week!

Tomorrow is your big party! Your Auntie Lala and Uncle C-Dub are here to help celebrate and tomorrow more friends and family will be here! We all love you so very much and are excited about your big day. This past year has been amazing and it is so exciting to think about what the next year is going to bring! I love you so much!

Love,

Mommy

Here is a recap of all his pictures for those of you not on Facebook.

Brennan today - one year old!