1.

Anderson is one year old. Twelve whole months. I think I am in denial that I am now a mother of a toddler, but the signs are loud and clear: for the first time he is picky about food (as of this morning the only things he would eat are frozen blueberries and yogurt) and his tantrums are packing a little more punch. However, he is also more fun than ever.

Anderson...

Gives sloppy kisses when he feels like it.

Points at everything.

Jabbers away throughout the day.

Identifies Maggie (the dog), balls and monkeys (or at least the stuffed one he got for his birthday).

Sleeps well (sometimes 12 hours)

Got some great play time in with his cousins in San Diego last month.

Continues to be a good traveler.

Crawls like an all-star, but no walking yet.

He has also had a cold for the better part of winter/spring, which is a bummer, but he keeps smiling and playing as if the snail trails of snot don't bother him one bit. We also found out this month that little Anderson is going to have surgery for his undescended testicles (can't wait to tell him about that one when he is 15) on April 25th. Apparently it is a completely routine surgery, but we aren't wild about him going under general anesthesia.

Here are some photos of the last month and his birthday shin-dig.

A's love of baths is one of the few constants in his life.

One of his signature moves is the wide-open mouth. It seems to signify both fascination and joy.

Anderson and cousin Niko at the San Diego Air and Space Museum

Ready to take-off

Cousin Erin literally could not get enough of Anderson, she was so sweet with him

Cousins!

One of my former students is going to be a Duck next year! Molly came to see her future school and we got to hang out with her for a couple of days; Anderson was quite smitten with her.

Big Birthday Boy

Mimi and Anderson

Birthday cupcake: banana with "yummy yam" frosting. . .I'm an admittedly weird mom, but he doesn't even know what he's missing!

Anderson got lots of fun toys for his big day.

Eleven

Anderson is now 11 months old. It's pretty surreal that in one month we will be celebrating his first birthday. Every now and again I look into his face and I get this flash-forward visions of a little boy and young man. It makes me want to put the brakes on a little bit, but every stage is so fun that I know there is lots to look forward to (until he gets a girlfriend).

Here are the big updates for Anderson's eleventh month of life:

He loves crawling into small spaces. Here is on the bottom shelf that we leave clear for his amusement:

We got more snow! Court now gets to experience the sheer joy of the Snow Day. Having lived in Sacramento and Santa Barbara, he never got to have that giddy feeling of looking out the window and just praying that the radio would say "School is Cancelled." It's like a quasi-surprise Christmas. I am glad Oregon can give that to him now. Here are some photos of our walk in the snow:

Why am I wearing this?

Our very kind neighbor gave Anderson this little bear snowsuit. I can't help but think of Ralphy in A Christmas Story when I stuff him in there.

Covered with snow

It was an exhausting walk

Anderson also celebrated his first Valentine's day:

Here is Grandma finding another excuse to buy something for the boy.

My messy Valentine

Other updates:

He is still napping better (very nice for mom)

Sleeping well at night (around 11 hrs / night. Can't complain)

Almost walking, but crawling is still his fastest mode of movement. I am hoping in a month he will be ready to walk--he needs to burn his energy on something.

Spent a full day away from me while I went skiing with my dad. Court and Anderson had a great time together, and I loved getting up to the mountain!

Gives big sloppy kisses on request--very cute.

Likes to cuddle a bit these days.

He has picked favorite pages in some of his books, so he will race through to certain pages and then joyfully beat on them.

10

Anderson is now into the double digits. Big stuff.

Here are some not-so-exciting firsts:

• Illness. He got his first and second cold this month. Illness has been a bummer in the new year for our family of three. Someone in our family has been sick since Christmas. I think we are on the mend. . .
• Temper Tantrums. Anderson has started doing mild temper tantrums. He will flop backwards, usually hitting his head on the ground and crying hysterically when something doesn't go his way. We are usually taking away something he can't have. I hate object permanence.

Exciting Advancements:

• Friends. Anderson and I spent a weekend in Sacramento with a group of 13 women, Joey and Bear. He was an awesome traveller, even driving up to Portland to fly down to Sacramento. Anderson's Great Auntie Jo got to snuggle him before she took us to the airport. And, to my joy, Anderson slept the entire drive up and did very well on the flight. Here is the most recent photo of Anderson, Joey and Bear. Anderson could not help but attack Joey. Not sure why. . . but it was pretty funny. Bear awkwardly looked away so as not to choose sides. Good move, Bear.
• 
• "Cruising." Anderson is shuffling along the coffee table, couch and ottomans. We just bought a little walker for him, so he can walk around the house. He is definitely interested in walking now, and it's a bit scary. . .
• "Blah." He is talking a lot these days. It mostly sounds like "blah, blah, blah," which also sometimes sounds like he is making fun of us talking. . . Every now and again it sounds like "Mama."
• Food. Although nothing brings him as much joy as the crackle of the Cheerios bag, Anderson is also enjoying feeding himself ultra-steamed carrots, peas, and tofu.
• Two more teeth. Our little teething freak has been holding steady with six teeth for a while, but now he has two more bottom teeth coming in to make it eight.
• Playing. He loves his toys these days. Some of his favorite games are "Destruction"--this is when I put a bunch of toys on our coffee table or ottoman and he mechanically (but not methodically) knocks them all off. Eugene has had a delightfully dry winter, and Anderson has taken to swinging at our local park. We joined an indoor playground co-op that has been a lot of fun for Anderson to crawl around in (and fun for me to take him to a completely baby-proofed environment), and Anderson loves the cars and trains there.
• Signing. We have been showing him how to sign and just this week Anderson started signing "more" with his cute little hands.

Mixed Advancements

• The Arm Reach. He does this mostly cute thing wear he stretches out his hand as far as he can to demonstrate he wants (to him needs) something. So it's pretty cute when he reaching for us or the swing at the park. It is less cute when he reaches for things likes knives. . .then he gets pretty upset that his tense arms won't magically bring him the desired item.
• Mom-a-holic. The "attached" stage has arrived. He watches my every move and gets upset when he is not with me. Leaving him is getting harder and harder. However, when I come home there is nothing like his speedy crawl right to my feet and cuddle once he's in my arms.

Ready for a walk in his "Rocky Balboa" outfit.

Niner

At nine months, Anderson is everywhere. There used to be a day when I felt like all I did was sit on the couch and nurse all day long, but now I get so excited to sit still for 15 minutes, because most of the day, I am chasing after his little busy body

Anderson is. . .

• Crawling faster than ever, and doesn't seem to be showing a huge interest in walking at this point, which is just fine.
• Able to lower himself without getting hurt from standing at the coffee table, chair or whatever he can reach.
• Worships the dishwasher.
• Chases the dog--she tolerates him.
• "Playing" with other kids.
• Enjoying toys.
• Liking being in the stroller for longer walks.
• Babbling all day long.
• Eating lots of solids (whole avocados and pears in one sitting--he adores Cheerios)
• Sleeping pretty well and night, but his naps are regressing a bit. . . just when they were getting better!
• Loving to read books.
• Reaching the light switch in his room from his crib when he supposed to be napping (see photo below). There is nowhere else for the crib to go, so we're stuck.
• Whining more when things don't go his way.
• Not hating the car like he used (this is definitely the highlight of this list for his parents)

First Christmas

We spent a great Christmas in Woodland with our family. It was so fun to have almost everyone in the same place, and Anderson got to meet some uncles and cousins for the first time. As expected he was particularly fond of the ribbons, paper and boxes, but he is having a lot of fun with

Opening presents with Dad

Tasting presents

Sitting with Grandpa, who does bear a seasonally appropriate resemblance to Santa Claus.

Cousins!

With Auntie Rhody

Cousin Catalina--they loved each other, but there were some bites here and there. . .mostly from Anderson.

Clark Griswold Meets Charlie Brown

I am partnering with many Americans when I say that this is going (read: needs) to be a lean year for the Wirth family, so when my boss (who is also my parent's neighbor) offered for us to go onto her property and cut down a Christmas tree, we jumped on that train. We dropped Anderson off for some quality time with his grandparents and we headed into the woods. Oddly enough, I have never done this. We always went to a tree lot to buy one. Court has only done this as a kid, so it was a married first for us. The days are short up here, so we were fighting daylight, as you can see from this picture of my big, strong man chopping down our tree:

As we learned from Clark Griswold, trees look small in the woods, ours was 13 feet tall, and we had to cut it down to 8, which wasn't too tough to do. Once we got it to the right height, we schlepped it home:

Here she is in the nude. It is the greenest tree we've ever had! The "V" shape the branches have works nicely, because with ornaments the branches are almost normal. She isn't the most robust tree, but we love her.

All dressed up for the season (she has an angel on now, but you can imagine):

We hope you are all enjoying this beautiful season.

Eight is a lot of Months

Eight Months Old

Anderson

Crawls everywhere

Pulls himself up on anything shorter than 30 inches

Sleeps more at night (hallelujah)

Naps poorly (still)

Loves eating

Shys away from strangers

Laughs a lot

Plays with toys, but wires, dust, and outlets are his favorites