Hunter turned one on Sunday, March 27th, the day after we got back from Florida.
I can't believe this cute little munchkin is already a year old!
Since we had already celebrated with our Chuck E. Cheese party before our trip, we just had the grandparents over for cake and ice cream. Holden helped Daddy pick out the cake that morning, and couldn't wait to help Hunter eat it. ;) 
"Look what I got!" (Might I add that Jay's reaction to this messy 1st bday tradition was hilarious. He could NOT believe that I let him mess up the cake. I don't know if he just forgot about Holden's 1st bday?? When he had blue frosting up past his elbows??? Crack me up.)
Hunter wasn't as messy as I thought he might be, given his normal enthusiasm for anything he can get into. But he is just not a big fan of sweets. He had more fun playing with it than actually eating it. Give the kid a jar of diced baby carrots and he is thrilled.
Holden, on the other hand, would eat sweets 24-7 if allowed. He gave his brother a hand with that part. 
Family picture with our one year old and our four year old. Man, time fies!
After cake and ice cream, Jay took a nap on the couch. Or tried. These pics are so typical Hunter. He discovered the strings to Daddy's hood, and the fact that Daddy was sleeping didn't really bother him.
My favorite 1 year old. These pics make me smile.
Hunter, in some ways it seems like just yesterday that I brought you home from the hospital in your little puppy dog outfit with the matching hat. And yet in other ways, it seems so much longer. I can't imagine our lives without you. You bring so much laughter to our home with your goofy personality and the crazy things that you do. Holden loves being a big brother, and you adore him. You have taught Daddy and me that parents don't have to divide love between children; their love simply multiplies.
At one year old, you are a busy little boy. You are "on the go" from the time you wake up. You are still not walking yet, but I know it will be any day now. You could be, but you have a stubborn streak that I'm afraid you come by naturally from both Daddy and me. :) You can crawl at lightning speed, climb stairs, playground equipment, and furniture, like to pull yourself up on people or other objects, and can free stand but have not ventured to take steps unassisted yet. You love the "great outdoors," just like your brother, and it does not bother you one iota if your little knees are scraping across asphalt, wood chips, or rocks. On warmer days when you have had shorts on, your poor knees are scratched and bruised and filthy, and it doesn't slow you down one bit.
You LOVE any type of ball. You even turned the Easter eggs we dyed the other day into balls. Good thing they were hard-boiled. ;) You understand the concept of shooting hoops with your little basketball set, and the other day at the neighbors' house, you were eyeing their full-sized hoop and attempting to throw the ball from a sitting position up into the hoop. At Holden's soccer practices, we have to get you your own soccer ball to play with or else you try to go steal the balls from the kids practicing. You love to throw a ball and then say, "YEAH!" and clap your hands. You can also play "catch" to some extent; you will throw the ball to someone and then get it when it is rolled or tossed back to you.
You are very determined when you set your mind on something. We have already had some little temper tantrums when you don't get what you want. You are extremely persistent, and don't give up easily. I love to watch your serious little face, lips pursed, often with drool down your chin, when you are concentrating on something. You like to stack cups and blocks, put items inside of other items, and stack your rings on the ring stacker. Yesterday you played with a plastic toy cup and a bouncy ball for 30 minutes, putting the ball in the cup, dumping it, putting it back in, and trying to put another cup on top, and you love putting the mail in and out of your little toy mailbox. Recently I needed to get ready for church and you were wanting some attention. I handed you an empty medicine container and lid, and you would have thought I gave you the best present ever! Crack me up.
You continue to love the bath, and are a wild little maniac in there. You and your brother often take baths together now, and the two of you act like you are in a swimming pool. You leap and dive, splash like dolphins, and laugh and laugh. You often end up swallowing what seems like half the water in the tub to me, and come up sputtering and laughing with your long eyelashes dripping wet. You have had many injuries during tub time, even with your daddy or me sitting right there, because you are so WILD and have absolutely no fear. I have begun setting towels by the side of the tub before you start your bath because of the flood on the floor when you are done. If you are in a crabby mood, I know I can always improve it with a bath.
You are my great little eater. There is not much that you won't eat. You love veggies, like green beans, cooked carrots, and peas. You will eat grapes, strawberries, bananas, mandarin oranges, blueberries, and watermelon. You enjoy the Gerber graduate meals, but will also eat whatever we are eating for the most part. Mac n' cheese and any type of chicken are favorites. You are on whole milk now and would drink it all day if I let you. You will drink water and also juice, but aren't a juice lover like Holden was. (It's that sweet tooth of his.) You are starting to drink out of a sippy, and know how to do it, but your bottle is your security item, and you aren't ready to completely give it up yet. You never took to a paci, but you have to have your bedtime bottle, and when you are sleepy before nap time, I don't even bother trying the sippy. You are finally holding the bottle on your own, though. I guess I really spoiled you with that, because I always rocked you and gave it to you. I have no doubt that by 18 mos. or so you will be weaned completely off of it. You are my baby, and I'm not in a big hurry for it to be done. Holden took a little while with this, as well.
You aren't talking yet, but you sure are noisy! You do say "Ma ma" and "Da da," and have been doing that for awhile, although I don't think you necessarily correlate those sounds with meaning yet. You say "Yeah!" when you are excited, and clap your hands. You also sometimes say, "Diddy or Dee-Dee," which I am pretty sure is your version of "Kitty." You love our kitties! I can't wait to hear what you will call Holden. You are starting to understand a lot of what we say, though. If I say, "Hi," or "Bye Bye," you will often wave. If I say, "Who's here?" you will crawl to the door. If I ask, "Where's Holden?" you will look all around. Sometimes you will retrieve something if I say, "Go get it!" You love music and being sung to. If you hear a catchy beat you will start bobbing your little body and head, which is hilarious. During our Florida trip you introduced us to The Scream. A piercing, LOUD scream that you grace us with when you are happy, sad, mad, excited, scared, bored, you name it. So pretty much every day, multiple times a day. :)
Just recently you have started to get really clingy with me at times. You don't do this for Daddy, just me. We went to a bday party this weekend, and you had to be touching me or have me in your sight at all times. I was trying to cook dinner last night, and you were grabbing my pants legs and following me around crying if I wasn't holding you. You can also get very possessive of me if I am giving attention to your brother. You suddenly have to crawl up and sit in my lap, bumping him out of the way if he happens to be there. The funny thing is that if we are in a situation where I WANT to hold you, such as when we are at your brother's gymnastics or soccer, or outside at a muddy park, you absolutely want nothing to do with me and want to be Mr. Independent. Some days you drive me batty, but I try to remember that these days are short and that pretty soon you won't be a baby anymore.
It is so fun to watch you growing and changing and becoming a little person. You are smart, spunky, energetic, ornery, and for the most part a really happy little boy. Your grin melts my heart. I can't wait to see what this year of toddler-hood has in store for you. Just don't grow up too quickly, okay?
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