the big 1

happy 1st birthday, t.j.!  

i cannot believe how grown this wild man is.  the past year has come & gone in truly a bling of my eye.  we have loved & cherished every moment with t.j. in our company.  he brings so much joy into our home.  the Lord truly knew what he was doing when he decided to plant this little seed in our family.  we could not be more grateful for him.  here are a few interesting facts about this big beautiful birthday boy.

1.  he is a handful.  he has no regard for anything; he roams the house causing distruction every where he crawls.  he loves making messes & getting into anything & everything.

2.  he growls...& roars.  when you ask him what a lion says he makes the most adorable rumble.  he loves playing with cooper & his animals.  he makes the various figurines fight against each other growling & roaring the whole time.  

3.  he says words.  mama, dada, baba, nana (food), uh-oh, ow, wow, nun-nun (all done), bye-bye & hi.

4.  he has the most beautiful snaggle-tooth smile the world has ever seen.  t.j. now sports 7 crazy teeth that are a variety of lengths & to top it off he has a full underbite.  it is pure awesomeness.

5.   he obeys commands.  it is pretty hilarious.  i can say, "go get the ball", "go find cooper", "lay down", and my personal favorite "smack daddy in the head" & he does just as he is asked.  i crack up everytime.

6.  he is scared to walk.  he has amazing balances but unless he has a parent's hand firmly in grasp he is much too hesitant to venture on his legs alone.  he has been seen walking 9 steps alone.  but only when he's feeling brave.  

7.  he loves animals.  stuffed, alive, or wooden it doesn't matter.  he is obsessed.

8.  he is as stubborn as they come.  he wants things done just his way (unfortunately for him, his mommy has an even stronger will).  and he recently learned how to throw full-blown fits.  they are not fun.  he tosses himself on the floor & hollars.  (this is probably not the best tactic when the majority of our floors are hard wood & tile.  he bust his lip during a break down, yesterday.)
9.  he loves his family & lights up whenever they are around.  then he melts down whenever they leave.  he is a total mama's boy but he has a bit of an addiction to his dada & bruh-bruh, too.
10. he has a healthy appetite.  he loves eating real food & has no interest in anything baby-ish.  his favorites are steak, pasta, hamburgers, french fries, & every type of fruit.  he isn't enjoying the transition to whole milk.