At one year...

At one year, Sal....

-weighs 10.4 kilos (just shy of 23 lbs) and is 78.5cm tall.

- takes 5-6 staggering steps on his own.

-is a chatter box. He  says "dada", "ma'am aaa" (he only says my name when he is upset), " bah" for ball, "tuh" for truck, "ftbftbftb" for vroom, and lots of slithering "s" sounds.

-sleeps from 7:00p to 7:00a

- takes two naps. First one at 8:15 after dad leaves for work, and another after lunch, around 1:00. Naps usually last 1-2 hours, or until our ayi arrives. I swear he has a 6th sense for her arrival.

- busts some serious dance moves.  "Whistle" by FloRida is still his favorite, although he made his mama proud breaking it down to Nelly's " Where The Party At" which took me back in time to Friday nights at the Grad.

-claps his hands together.

-nods his head "yes". We call it the "head bop". It's super cute.

- can climb up onto the couch, and back down. Over and over and over again.

- loves "Go Dog, Go!" and " The Little Blue Truck". He will sit and turn the pages by himself.

- wears 12 month clothing and a size 5 shoe.

- loves filet mignon. Pricey taste, that kid of ours. Thankfully, he also loves IKEA Swedish meatballs which are easier on the pocket book. His favorite veggie is green beans. Haaaaates peas. Haaates them. But loves all fruit, grilled cheese sandwiches, scrambled eggs and yogurt. Loves jiaozi, refried beans and frozen blueberries. He's a pretty good eater.

- his favorite place to hide is in our closet. Preferably in dad's pile of shoes.

- favorite toys and pastimes--- pulling toilet paper off the rolls, finding every cord and light socket in the house, rolling suitcases across the pantry, and sucking on stroller wheels. I wish I was kidding, but I'm not. I spend 75% of my waking hours trying to police the above formentioned "toys" and re-direct to something more appropriate. His favorite appropriate toys include stacking cups, cardboard books, demolishing wooden block towers, rolling a ball back and forth with mama or dad, pushing cars around the house and most recently, climbing on the couch and playing peek-a-boo under a blanket.

-speaking of blankets, Sal has a favorite. He sleeps with it every night, grasping it tightly.

- loves being around other kids. He has a buddy here that we do things with on an almost daily basis, and he loves to follow his big buddy around and tries to imitate him. I love watching him interact with other kids and learn from them. It's quite a special little relationship these two boys have built. They even have their own screeching language with one another.

I could go on and on about all the little things he does that just continue to amaze us, but the list above is the Cliffs notes version of just how wonderful it has been to watch him come into his own. I've felt a mix of emotions about him turning one this past week. For so long I waited for a child...and now it's hard for me to believe he has already been in our arms a year.