Happy 1st Birthday Stanley

Yesterday Stanley turned 1 years old. It is amazing to think back that just 1 year ago we did not even know this little guy and he did not even have a name. How quickly a year has passed! It is unbelievable to realize how quickly kids develop and it is hard to realize that my little baby is not really a baby anymore.

Over the last few months, he has developed such a fun personality. He just loves to talk with us. He also enjoys telling jokes. Unfortunately, we don't know what he says, but we laugh at the jokes just because it is so wonderful and funny to watch him talk and then break into a ball of laughter.

 

Stanley loves to move! He is also very careful with his movements. I've only twice seen him fall in all of the times he has been crawling/cruising and he goes up and down the stairs all the time without any help. He is very careful to make sure that his feet are well placed before he moves a hand. As you can see in the picture, he is also working on climbing up different items. Stanley believes slides are meant to climb up. He dislikes them for going down because he does not like being out of control. (He will cling to the slide and lower himself down one inch at a time if he has to go down them.)

Stanley also loves to move while nursing.  I always thought nursing would be a wonderful gentile thing with a baby laying in my arms. Not so for Stanley. He loves to stand while nursing, flip over while nursing, read a book while nursing, walk from one side to the other of his mom's lap while nursing. This is all very skilled, but definitely not like the cute nursing baby image I had in my mind.

Three days ago, we saw Stanley take a step and now he will take a step to move form a table to a chair, but he has not started walking. I was sure he was going to wait for his birthday, but he fooled me. He enjoys standing and loves to cruise, but crawling is way more efficient for him than walking.













Stanley has also been very interested putting items in and out or on top/underneath. He enjoys cleaning up his toys into bits or boxes and then taking all of the toys back out. And, if there is a tower or a set of blocks together, Stanley feels that it is his job to instantly knock it down or pull the blocks apart.

Stanley is not a great eater, but does enjoy sitting at the table for dinner talking with us  while he nibbles. Here is a list of his favorite foods:
- Hummus
- Cheerios
- did I mention hummus!!
- Cauliflower
- Broccoli
- Carrots
- A whole piece of french bread that he can gnaw on for a while
- Puff cake
- Nursing

 

Likes
- Carbohydrates--any and all type.
- Puff cakes from Rochester
- Following people around
- Nursing (anytime day or night, he loves to nurse)
- Doing arobics while nursing.
- Standing
-Walking holding on to people's hands
- His mom and dad.
- Halima and Peter
- Driving
- Spending time with his uncle and grandparents
- Exploring new places and things
- Boxes
- Pushing around things on the floor when they make crazy high pitch noises
- Naps when he is tired.
- Going to bed with Ben Solee
- His sleep sack (love hate relationship, he always wimpers, but it makes him rub his eyes and go to sleep)
- Biking!
- Things with wheels--cars, fire trucks, and being pushing around in carts
- Banging and pulling on things to make sure they are strong--he really puts his body into it to make sure things are well build. Turns out our guest bed wood frame is just fine, but he enjoys testing it daily.


Dislikes
- His bib: he has learned to pull them off
- Getting his feet dirty/sandy/wet: Stanley is a city boy, if he is wearing shorts or has bare feet, he will walk very carefully using his hands to avoid putting his knees down on the grass. We think a better solution would just be to walk, but that will come with time
- Being alone--when I say' alone', it is somewhat of an understatement since we can be a few feet away, but technically in another room and Stanley will start to cry.
- Sleeping more than 6 hours in a row
-His helmet and hats


Stanley can:
- Crawl really quickly
- Easily crawl up and down stairs
- Eat french bread with his lonely 2 bottom teeth
- Talk to people
- Pick up little peas/cheerios etc with his forefinger and thumb and put them in his mouth
- Know when he doesn't like an item and toss it off the table or out of the stroller
- Push items around
- Put things in and out of things
- Get people's attention
- Knows the Russian word for 'no'
- Go to bed and take naps quickly easily
- Be cute so his mom spoils him
- Turn on and off light switches