At one, Robbie loves life. He loves his sisters, his Mommy and Daddy, other children larger than himself, small animals, things that roll across the floor, and, yes, the television. The "small animals" and "things that roll" categories have been cleverly combined in his sisters' Zhu Zhu pets. He chases those little hamsters around until the batteries die. And fortunately, he has yet to put it on his head. That will be a sad day...
New Skills! Robbie has figured out a thing or two about physics in the last couple weeks. Things roll...and bounce...and you can throw them...and put them in other things. All are new favorite games. He has also figured out that sometimes knobs turn and other things go up and down.Can you see it? He just threw the ball in this photo.
Here he is demonstrating how to turn the knob on his gumball machine, a favorite toy. He also knows to put the balls in the top of it and hit the blue lever on the side to make the balls roll out and the machine sing.
This photo was taken right before he bounced the socks off the floor. Then, he proceeded to pick them up and do it again. And again. And again. When he finally got bored, he stuck the socks in his mouth.
Another very recent skill is screeching at the top of his lungs. It's a horrible, ear piercing noise, but apparently it gets him what he wants. Interestingly, it has multiple meanings. In this photo, he is screaming at me because he's so pleased to be climbing on my stomach. Tonight at dinner he was constantly doing it because he was tired and hungry and pissed that I wouldn't give him more blueberries. Sometimes it's because he likes something on the TV or he sees himself in the mirror. Whatever the reason, it's generally not a pleasant sound.
And yes, that is drool.
Favorite toys...while the gumball machine pictured above has been a favorite of Robbie's for the last couple months, just recently a new toy that I pulled out has taken the top spot. It's the Fridge Farm from LeapFrog. He LOVES it. He races over to the fridge, pulls it down, and repeatedly presses the button to hear it sing. He even dances. Ok, it's really just bopping up and down to the music, but for a one year old, it's a pretty slick dance move.
He also loves pulling the toy magnets off the fridge. Unfortunately, he hasn't figured out how to put them back on yet, so I'm constantly tripping on them as I walk in and out of the kitchen.
He also loves pulling the toy magnets off the fridge. Unfortunately, he hasn't figured out how to put them back on yet, so I'm constantly tripping on them as I walk in and out of the kitchen.His new freedom found in his ability to crawl has finally sunk in for him. I swear, just this week, the light bulb went on and he realized, "I can go WHEREVER I WANT!" He's exploring new places everyday, and I am quickly remembering what it's like to have a crawler in the house and why we had those locks on the cabinets before. He still prefers the butt-scoot to the standard crawl position, but I think that's because on our hard floors, the butt-scoot is fast and he doesn't slip around as much. He does know how to crawl properly, he just chooses not to.
While he may still shy away from vegetables, Robbie's appetite is back in full swing. He hardly ever has "baby food" anymore, except when I'm trying to hide said veggies in applesauce. This boy is all about finger food, and the meatier, cheesier or starchier, the better. He has loved every type of meat I've put in front of him, including fish. He's picky about the type of pasta you give him, but macaroni is definitely a fave. Any type of berry...well, you just can't pile it on his tray fast enough. He also loves oranges, kiwi, grapefruit, peach and pear puree (won't eat it in chunks), cheese, bread, dried fruit, pancakes, scrambled eggs, graham crackers and those sugary baby snacks that you think are healthy because they have the words "Baby" and "Gerber" on them, but are really full of sugar. He loves those. (So do Padyn and Kate!). For whatever reason, I can't get him excited about bananas and apples in their true form. Or avocado. And he hasn't wanted much yogurt lately. I'm sure next week it will be a whole new list. Quesadillas will be out and turkey sandwiches will be in. Or something.
But he does love his milky! Mommy's done nursing and this boy has moved onto cow's milk. As soon as he sees me pull the bottle out of the cupboard, he starts screaming. He keeps screaming until the bottle is in his mouth. Again, that horrible screaming noise. Kate was like this, too. Just something about that milk that they love. I can't say I understand it, not really being a milk drinker myself.
While he may still shy away from vegetables, Robbie's appetite is back in full swing. He hardly ever has "baby food" anymore, except when I'm trying to hide said veggies in applesauce. This boy is all about finger food, and the meatier, cheesier or starchier, the better. He has loved every type of meat I've put in front of him, including fish. He's picky about the type of pasta you give him, but macaroni is definitely a fave. Any type of berry...well, you just can't pile it on his tray fast enough. He also loves oranges, kiwi, grapefruit, peach and pear puree (won't eat it in chunks), cheese, bread, dried fruit, pancakes, scrambled eggs, graham crackers and those sugary baby snacks that you think are healthy because they have the words "Baby" and "Gerber" on them, but are really full of sugar. He loves those. (So do Padyn and Kate!). For whatever reason, I can't get him excited about bananas and apples in their true form. Or avocado. And he hasn't wanted much yogurt lately. I'm sure next week it will be a whole new list. Quesadillas will be out and turkey sandwiches will be in. Or something.
But he does love his milky! Mommy's done nursing and this boy has moved onto cow's milk. As soon as he sees me pull the bottle out of the cupboard, he starts screaming. He keeps screaming until the bottle is in his mouth. Again, that horrible screaming noise. Kate was like this, too. Just something about that milk that they love. I can't say I understand it, not really being a milk drinker myself.
Other new stuff...he now sits facing forward in his carseat, he is back to (mostly) sleeping 11 hours at night, he poops ALL THE TIME, he loves loves LOVES taking a bath, he has to have his feet somewhere on your body when he's lying next to you, and the first thing he does when I pick him up is stick his hand down my shirt. All the boys think that's awesome.
Next week we hit the pediatrician's office for his one year appointment. At that time I will know all his other stats-weight, length, etc. I really have no idea if he's big or small or average for his age. I really don't care. Except for that screeching thing, he's really as close to perfect as you can come with a one year old. At least, compared to my other two one years old he is. I think we'll keep him around for a while.
Happy Friday.
On Monday when I found him trying to sit up under the bar stool, I decided to rescue him instead of taking a picture. I know! So stupid of me! Why didn't I capture that moment of torment for my child?
But he usually doesn't get too upset about where he ends up. He's just so happy to finally be MOVING!
We had no less than 58 people (adults and kids) show up at some point during the afternoon to help Robbie celebrate. Twenty five kids running around can get pretty crazy, especially when most of them are under the age of 6. 
The other kids all loved their cupcakes, but like his sisters before him, Robbie wasn't too sure of this cake stuff I slapped on his highchair tray. I had to help him at first, and he liked the whipped cream, but he never got to the shoving-the-cake-as-fast-as-you-can-into-mouth stage. Maybe it's because I never make them chocolate cake.
Mommy helped blow out the candles...
And Kate was the perfect hostess...
Then there was Kate's actual birthday on Saturday. She spent most of the day in the car driving down to the desert. She wore that crown all day in the car.
Then on Sunday, she got a little more birthday fun when her cousins came over to visit. I think that today her birthday is finally over. Now we can get back to our normal existence...no more cupcakes on a daily basis. Well, until Robbie's birthday in two weeks that is.
