Anlon is 12 months old today!!!!!!!

I've had a mixture of emotions leading up to today. I love everything about this age and get excited when I imagine what it will be like when Anlon is walking and talking. But there's a part of me that's a little sad too. I want to freeze time. I want to let go of all of the daily tasks and just soak up my little boy - every breath he takes, every little face he makes, every sound he makes, every time he wraps his arms around me and nuzzles into my neck (I am so thankful I have a cuddler). On July 26, 2010 at 10:06 am, Anlon Vipul Shah arrived and I felt a peace, strength and purpose that I've never experienced before. One year later, I am challenged to be a better mother than I was yesterday - to care for this little boy that God has entrusted us with in the way that would please Him most.

These days Anlon is active!!!!!! He crawls everywhere and is FAST! He now uses his hands to crawl, but still goes back to army crawling at times. Today he especially enjoyed maneuvering around tight corners and found his way between our legs more than once. His absolutely favorite thing to do it toss his colored rings, wooden blocks, puzzle pieces or his favorite tupperware lid in front of him and watch how they hit the floor and then crawl after them. It amazes me with how intrigued he is by this. I love to see how much joy Anlon gets from the most simple things. He also loves spending time in the kitchen with me, playing with his small pot, wooden salad tongs and plastic cups.

He's now pulling himself up pretty effortlessly and this weekend started sitting back down from a standing position. He's also loves crawling up our stairs, especially when he sees our cat Sebo sitting at the top. He loves to crawl after her and smiles every time she passes him. She's been so sweet with him and we can tell they're going to be best buds. 

He also loves books more than ever and now he often wants the same book read multiple times in a row. Today I read Goodnight Moon at least 8 times. He got six new books for his birthday and I'm sure these will become old favorites soon.

Anlon now has 4 teeth, although 1 is still a little bud. His eating continues to improve and we were thrilled when he weighed in at a whopping 16 lbs last week! We get so excited when he opens his mouth really big for food he really likes and then eagerly takes another bite without encouragement. Of course, this doesn't always happen, but it's happening more and more. The foods he enjoys most right now are yogurt (particularly blueberry), ground beef, bananas, and sweet potatoes. Vipul took this picture the other night as he was enjoying some ground beef - I wish he always looked this happy while eating!

Today Anlon made it very clear that he completely understands when I tell him "no". We were playing in his room and he knows we don't want him to touch the diaper trash can. He started playing near it, but not trying to touch it. Then he began touching the foot pedal on it and when I said "no sir" he giggled and then moved away! He did this several times - I must admit it was pretty adorable :) Oh, and it begins......

We're working more consistently to teach him to sign. It was challenging during the months when he was eating so poorly and not gaining sufficient weight. But we feel this is important and will hopefully begin to see him communicate in this way until he is able to verbalize his needs. His only words at this time are "Dada" and "Mama". He loves to make this growling sound and then we growl back, and he growls again and thinks it's so funny.

Today Anlon had some of his birthday cake - and enjoyed it much more than he did at his party a couple of days ago. He had napped very little and was very, very tired - so enjoying cake for the first time was not something he was too excited about. But he sure did on his birthday!

I'll be sharing some of the pictures from his party soon, as well as writing more. For now, this tired mama's turning in :) Happy Birthday my dear baby boy. God gave us far more than we could ever deserve.