BUBBERS!!!!!

My little baby boy turned 1 year old yesterday!!

Here are some highlights from his first year of life:

Note:  this is another very long post!

This was our first picture as a family.  It was about 20 minutes after he was born.  Emma wasn't quite sure what to think about this new little bundle, but I sure was excited that he was here safe and sound.

This was a rare thing for Matthew the first 4 or 5 months.  He did not do very much sleeping at all, so I'm glad we got a picture of this.  The first 2 nights we had him home I got a total of 2 hours of sleep one night and 3 hours the next night.  It did improve a little from there, but not much as he had a pretty bad problem with acid reflux.  Fortunately he sleeps much better during the night now.  Now if only we can get him to nap a little better. :)

This was the only way we could find to ease the pain in Matthew's tummy and get him to fall asleep for the first several months of his life.  We would wrap Grandma Harshberger's blanket around his back and hold him close to us to put pressure on his little tummy.  I remember walking with him like this for up to 45 minutes sometimes to get him to fall asleep.  My back sure hurt after doing that, but it was worth it to help his tummy not to hurt so he could fall asleep.  I sure am glad he grew out of that.

Here he is with aunt Karla feeding him.  Matthew did take a bottle from time to time for about the first 2 months.  Unfortunately, that was all the longer it lasted and from that time on, he has decided that he wants nothing but the best!  He loves to nurse.  It has been an interesting experience.  I have not been away from him for longer than about 5 hours since he was born.  It has really made me feel like I have bonded with him and I just love him so much.

Here he is with Grandma Southern.  I think he has the most darling little cheeks that just beg to be kissed and I guess grandma must have felt the same way.  From the look on his face though, I am not entirely sure that he liked being kissed so much.  He seems to be okay with it now though, because I kiss those cute little cheeks all the time and he doesn't mind one bit.

This picture with me was taken during his first professional picture shoot.  He was a little confused as to why everyone was acting like a fool, but we were able to get some really cute pictures.

This picture with Great-Grandma and Grandpa Sperry was taken at the luncheon held after his blessing.  He did so good during his blessing so fortunately we were able to hear it.  It was a wonderful little blessing.  As you can see in the picture, he was so tired that afternoon and fell asleep shortly after this picture was taken.

Here Bubbers is in his Easter outfit.  I have loved getting to dress him up.  My favorite little outfits are the Sunday ones.  I love the little button up shirts with ties, slacks and cute little vests.  They make him look like a little man.  It is so darling.

Here is one with Grandma Harshberger.  This was taken on the 4th of July.  He really seemed intrigued by the fireworks and fortunately was not scared by them.  I love his great big smile in this picture.

This picture with Grandpa Southern was taken last summer.  This was a momentous occasion just because of the fact that my dad doesn't hold the little babies very much.  I don't know if this was the first time he held Matthew or not, but it was one of the first times.

This picture with aunt Jan was taken last summer while we were at the zoo.  It was Matthew's first trip to the zoo.  He was still a little young though, so he didn't get way excited about anything except the glass of water that Jan was letting him take little drinks from.  It was really cute, he kept trying to grab the cup from her.  I would say that was his favorite part of the zoo.

Here he is with Great-Grandma Spendlove.  We go and visit her in a rest home most every Friday.  This particular Friday happened to be Halloween, so he was all dressed up as a darling little bumble bee.  We got to go trick-or-treating around the rest home.  Matthew was not entirely sure what to think about it, but he did find a little girl about his age there who was also dressed as a bee.  He seemed to like her.

Bubbers has turned in to a fairly laid back little guy.  He is generally happy, as long as he has a full tummy.  However, he does not like hats.  As you can see from the picture above, he is about to pull the hat off, but he is laughing and is not bugged about it.  That is one thing I love about his personality!  He is such a sweet little guy.

As I said earlier, he loves to nurse and that is exactly what he is doing in this picture.  The past few months he has decided to take up yoga while nursing.  It is quite funny to see how far he can move without loosing the milk supply.  He has actually fallen right off my lap into a standing position on the floor in front of me several times because he went a little far with his yoga.  It is so cute!

Here he is with his favorite friend, his sister.  He loves to do everything that she is doing and can frequently be found following her around the house, knocking down her blocks and taking her baby doll.  He LOVES her.  Fortunately, even if she does get frustrated with him at times, she has decided that she loves him as well.  It is so nice to see her sharing with him so often now, and showing him that she loves him.

Here he is with his aunt Jenny at his first birthday party.  What a big boy he is getting to be, but he has obviously not lost those kissable cheeks yet!

Our sweet little Bubbers is one year old now.  He has such a sweet little personality.  He seems to be so gentle and have a wonderful little spirit about him.  I feel blessed every day that I am able to be his mother, to be home with him and to get to see his sweet little personality coming out.  He is such a joy to be around and a wonderful addition to our little family.  We love him so much!