A Year.

Happy Birthday Zane, you amaze me. I was able to spend every second analyzing every move your older brother made from newborn to a year, but you, you I’ve had to sneak peaks at out of the corner of my eye. You, my little man, are a game changer. Every time I got to snatch some uninterrupted time with you, every ten minutes of play, every book we’ve read, every late night nursing session we had, you’ve struck me anew with the force of who you are. A second child, yes, but a first and only of you.

You wave bye bye now. Sometimes you just stick a hand up in front of you like the standard “man wave” of greeting, other times you get the full hand and wrist action wiggling around. You recognize words like “outside” and “eat”, “bottle”, “more”, “all done”, “playground”, “swings”, “mom mom’s house” and “diaper” (which has you hightailing it in the opposite direction) to name a few. You are a complete ham. The way you grip the edge of your highchair and pull yourself so your belly slams into the tray and your butt lifts up an inch out of the chair so you can fart cracks me up every time.

You love snuggly things. You are SO GREAT at hugs-wrapping your arms around my neck and squeeeeeezing-and you’re trying to figure out kisses. You hug the stuffing out of your plushie toys and enthusiastically belly flop every time I put pillows on the floor.

You are also my practical application baby. While your brother throws himself at the world repeatedly to see if he can bounce off of it, you meticulously examine everything you come across. I can see the wheels turn in your brain as you touch, poke, pinch, stomp, smear, taste (oh how I wish you wouldn’t taste so much), chew, lick, throw, smack…and then repeat.  You even repeatedly put your head on the ground to peer at the world upside down through your legs. You like to make wheels spin and will turn toys over to do so. You aren’t so much into digging in the dirt, but you appreciate eating the flowers. You love playing with anything that rolls. You love your brother and are a cranky butt until I get him out of the bed in the morning to join us, but you aren’t intimidated by him. You hold your own, maybe even a little too well at times (I forsee several fistfights in my future, sigh).

You say “Mommomomom” and mean me and it makes all the warm fuzzies glow-even though you’re more apt to do it when you’re upset. You lift your arms for “up”. You sign “more” and “all done”. You LOVE highfives and playing pattycake, and you’re an enthusiastic hand clapper. You mimic everything your brother does, you even put yourself in time out.

I love you. I am floored by how fast this year has passed by and how much you can do. You’ve been walking since before 9 months, but now that your a year old I guess I have to officially retire your “baby” moniker. You aren’t a baby, you’re a toddler. You’re rapidly becoming a little boy. You’re my Zanebug.