Cameron: twelve months old

Dear Cameron,

Today you are one year old. Exactly 365 days ago your daddy and I were thrilled to meet you. And in those past twelve months you have grown and learned and filled our hearts more than we ever thought possible.

Lately we are struggling with eliminating bottles, keeping you from throwing food all over the floor and giving you kisses and cuddles when you inevitably fall and bang your head. It's a good thing you got your daddy's thick head!

We thought you might be walking by your birthday but you aren't quite ready to let go of our hands. Or the couch. Or the table. Or the wall. But we know you'll get there soon which is why mommy spent far too much money on your first pair of real shoes this past weekend.

You still love your bath time just as much as you did during your first month of life. Now you can stand up and squirm around. But you love the water and would stay there until your fingers and toes wrinkled.

In month two you spent a lot of time staring at the light. Now you are far too busy to zone out and would much rather prefer climbing all over mommy and daddy.
You discovered your tongue in month 3, forgot about it for a while and are now really into it again. You love to poke it out and wiggle it at Daddy when he is being silly.
Month 4 saw lots of smiles and laughter. Your eyes started to lighten and you became much more of a little person. Mommy returned to work and you started daycare. Aside from Mommy's concerns about your napping (still have that today) you have flourished there.

Month 5 saw the introduction of solid foods. Yum, rice cereal! Now you are mostly eating finger foods and we've started eliminating bottles. You still make this face when I try to get you to eat something other than fruit or Cheerios or gold fish crackers.

In your 6th month we visited your whole family in Massachusetts and Maine. Mommy and Daddy had their first weekend away from you but you and Grammy had a great time.

You really started moving around in your seventh month. And Mommy knew that we would be chasing you for the rest of our lives.

In month 8 we took you to Hilton Head where you loved nothing more than hanging out in the kiddie pool and bit hot tub. Mommy signed you up for swim lessons as soon as we got home! In November you started to realize that rolling was slow and commando crawling was the way to go. It was only this past month that you figured out how much faster crawling on your hands and knees is. Sometimes you go back to commando crawling but overall you'd prefer to walk anyway. We had a small quiet Christmas this past year. While Grammy and Bumpa grumbled you have plenty of time to experience the craziness that is usually our family Christmas. We decided to only get you 2 presents but you got a lot more from friends and family.
In your eleventh month your sauciness really got going. Your Daddy and I experienced the start of a very wide and deep stubborn streak. But how can we resist a face this cute? If this picture is any indication you are thrilled that it's finally Spring and we can get out of the house. It's probably the reason you are working so hard to walk on your own. Don't worry, my little munchkin, you will get there!It has been a wonderful year and we can't wait to see what you do next!

Love,
Mommy and Daddy