Emerson: First Birthday!

My dear little Emers,

   I don't really know where this past year went. I feel like you skipped infancy. You were crawling at   6 months and pulling yourself up at 7. Before I knew it, you were trying to take steps! You started walking at 9 1/2 months. For quite awhile there you had a hard time not running into things or falling into things and you ALWAYS had a few big bruises on your head. You have quite the pain tolerance and amaze people with it. You are a very loud little guy. You're always making noises and yelling just because you can. It used to really bug Coleman and he would tell you to stop yelling. I think he must be used to it now. I'm amazed at all the different sounds that you can make. You're very good at clicking your tongue. You've been able to tell me what a snake says for a few months now. You've been learning more animal noises and are much better with them than you are with words. You do say "hi" very well though and often catch people off guard as they walk by. You can also say "cheese, da (dog), du (duck), boo (book), Jesus (sounds like cheese)", and our favorite "oh ya!" You used to sign for milk but now you refuse to use any signs and yell instead. You also stomp your foot when you do this. You can eat and eat ALL day! We're not sure how. You're very independent and hard to feed at times. I'm learning to deal with this better. You love watching Coleman and doing everything that he does. He can make you laugh more than anyone else and it's been like this since you were about 4 months old. I hope you two will be close in spirit all your lives. Even though you are younger, at times you have a leadership quality to you and Coleman is doing everything that YOU do...like getting into the toilet and making a big mess of things. You are definitely a busy body and sometimes it's hard to keep up with you. You love love books especially if it's just me and you and Dr. Seuss. You have to be the one to turn the pages. You have an interesting relationship with dogs. You love them and are terrified of them at the same time. It just depends on the moment. Your dad always says that you have no fear though. You really like to snuggle...for about 3 seconds. Often you are found hugging my legs wanting me to hold you and as soon as I pick you up, you have decided you want down. You have been giving kisses for a long time now and are very good at puckering up and giving them. You love cars and trucks and little teeny objects. You have great fine motor skills and like to put little objects into another object and then take it out again. You do this over and over and over. That's about the only thing that gets you to sit still for very long. You take great naps and sleep well. Your have deep blue eyes with long, handsome eyelashes. You're my little toe head. You have the cutest little teeth and you crinkle your nose when you smile. I love you very much and I look forward to this next year but I hope it goes by much slower than the last. I love you Emerson.