Almost to 1

I'm in shock at the apparent rushing of time. Why the rush? But here we are, almost at Grant's first birthday. Wasn't I just pregnant a little while ago? Didn't Grant fit into a sling, like, yesterday?

But no. My big fast baby has turned into a big fast miniature toddler. He walks! He runs (poorly)! He uses Cooper's high chair to climb ONTO THE KITCHEN COUNTERS! He waves Bye-Bye to his adoring fans at daycare, every afternoon! He says Doggie, Dada, and does the "motor" sound for any sort of vehicle (boat, car, truck, helicopter) toy that he can find.

In some ways, he is still very little. He still really needs three naps a day. He still only has legitimately slept all night about three or four times. He still likes to nurse at least 4 times in a 24 hour period. And his habits of sucking his thumb when he's nervous, and collapsing in a heap on top of his favorite blanket, are so dang cute.

And Cooper, oh man, he's getting funnier, and more fun, by the day. His latest favorite phrases are "I LOVE IT!" and "That makes me so happy" and "This is how we do it." He applies all of these quite liberally to his day, usually all at once, so you might catch him saying something like, "Cheese with lunch? I LOVE IT! I want to cut it, with a knife, like this, this is how we do it... Momma, cut it like this, in big pieces. I LOVE cheese in big pieces. That makes me so happy."

We spent a week in Utah recently, and poor Cooper was an utter mess without his regular routine, schedule, day care staff, etc. He had a near nervous breakdown during the one day of fancy ski-area daycare, but in the end he survived and the staff was kind to him. We did have fun as a family, and Grant was adorably unflappable as always (you could see it in his eyes at the ski-area daycare, "Oh! New people! And new babies! I like these new toys, this is going to be fun. Bye Mom!"), so it was just a small glitch in the big picture.