Happy Birthday and Happy Hormones

I shared about Ezie's first birthday last month, but it was all about the party. I definitely need to get caught up on his latest milestones before he takes off into toddler hood.

I can't believe how much Ezie has changed in the past month (maybe I should just copy paste that sentence into all of the one month updates at this age).



At 11 months he said his first word. It's hard to say which one came first because sometimes he is imitating, and sometimes it's an approximation, or you think he may be babbling. Or maybe I am over analyzing because I do speech therapy everyday.

Anyway, here is a list of the words he can say

bye bye
uh oh
ma ma
da da
bubbles
ball
stop
beep



He has also taken his first steps and is on the verge of walking. We started doing the step counting. I don't know if anyone else does this, but first you count how many seconds they stand without falling. Then when they even lift a foot and move it an inch that counts as the first step. Every time they attempt walking from then on you see if they can break their previous record. Z and I have counted up to 17 steps, but crawling is still his forte for now.



Last month I reported Ezie's love for straws, but he is really into more complex play now. He likes to put on other peoples shoes, or take my keys and try to put them in the door, or act like everything is a phone and talk on it. It is absolutely one of my hearts greatest joys to see him explore and discover the world around him. And that is where the hormones come in.



Admittedly, if you would have talked to me right after he turned one you would have caught me at an emotional time. I NEVER lamented my other two kids growing up and doing new things, but this baby has been different. I have been through so much change already that I really felt like having him as a baby, like he had been for the past year, was the best thing for me. I knew it was not realistic, but baby Ezie was so easy to handle. He didn't resist direction, he didn't have an opinion, he mostly just sat there and looked cute, and I was okay with that. Of course I wanted him to grow and develop in a healthy way! I was just struggling with the idea of chasing a toddler around while already being exhausted as it is.  I just have had to trust God to believe that it was even doable at all. That's how I felt, and granted I may feel that way again on certain days, but the Lord has a way of molding a mother's heart and I feel completely different about it now.



The other day Ezie put a box on his head and would crawl around like that until he bumped into something (or the box fell off) then he would say "uh oh" and repeat the whole process all over again. This month as I watch Ezie try to join in during playtime with his siblings, or I heard him sing, or saw him stand up on his own, or dance, I remembered that this is actually one of my favorite ages and I am so looking forward to this next year! I can't wait for him to be a full blown walking talking toddler.



Then I think about him being two, but I stop, because right now I have a whole year before I have to worry about enjoying that stage.