Our dear's a year!

And, like that, a year has passed.

Well, first things first.  We got the grin!

It's actually been pretty easy catching our little guy's cheesy grins.  He flashes them at us all the time.  And these smiles aren't just for people!- All of his favorite inanimate objects get the smile, as well: the blinds, the computer, the vacuum, the stairs, wind, and just about any phone...

Early on this month he started trilling with his tongue.  I have yet to catch it on film, but you can rest assured that he'll be able to speak Spanish.  Well, he'll be able to roll his R's, anyway.

Holy smokes!  This boy sure keeps us on our toes.  This kid gets around!  He's constantly moving around the house, checking things out, and pulling things down.  No steps or standing, as of yet, but we're in no hurry.

Now that it's Christmas time, Atticus has a whole host of decor to dismantle.  The miniature reindeers' eyes were gone within the first hour!  Ha ha, we definitely have to be selective in what we display, but it's worth it to see how much enjoyment he gets.  

He, by far, gets the biggest kick out of pulling down our stockings along the stairway.  I love our epic, ongoing battle as he pulls them down and we put them back up.  The little imp gives us the most adorable smile whenever we catch him going for the stockings!

Let's see...  A first this month was snow!  He was thrilled to see the flakes fluttering down.

 This snowfall didn't last long, but it was only a couple weeks before we were able to genuinely play in the snow!

He even got a taste of sledding-

What with the colder weather, we're starting to get cabin fever over here (and winter's just beginning!  Oh my!)  Thank goodness we have Thanksgiving Point's Museum of Curiosity just down the road.
It's funny though.  Atticus was absolutely frozen the first few times we went- overwhelmed by the numbers of people.  This is what he mostly did...

 Our last time, however, he really started going to town.  He even tried the slide! (with some help, of course...)

 And then he found some screens that light up.  The boy was hooked.  Um, yes, thank you.  Screens do happen to be my son's all-time obsession...  Oh, boy are we in trouble as he gets older!

 We've had more quality time with both Grandma Toni (Look!  Their coats happen to match!  This was not planned, people...)

and Grandma Marti

Atticus actually had his first guys' day out with Grandpa Bob and his dad.  You'll neeever guess what kind of restaurant they went to or what food he ate (beans and tortillas- it's a Maes thing).

Yep.  Never a dull moment with this kid.

We love his baby jokes (he's been playing hide and seek and peek-a-boo for a while and now he's been trying to "feed" and "soothe" us with his food and binkie.  He thinks it's hilarious.)

And we're pleasantly surprised by that palate of his (the kid LOVES curry and has a penchant for pickles!)  While it can be frustrating to have him deny almost any baby food (or spoons, for that matter!) it is fun to see him eagerly try anything and everything that's on our plates.

 Unfortunately, we won't be able to celebrate his birthday today, but we'll party it up in a couple of days.  In the meantime, let's hear it for the boy!  (I may or may not have that song stuck in my head for the next week...)

Atticus in his old man hat, courtesy of his Aunt Laurel and the Laney Crew.

Happy Day!

So Atticus turned 2 this weekend.  What a fun month it has been!

Earlier in November (the 14th, to be exact), our little man got his first professional haircut.  Wow, did he look older.   Bye bye, curls!  Hello Handsome!

And yes, for the record, he was completely quiet and straight-faced the entire time.  It was awesome (and very surprising!)

We also celebrated Thanksgiving.  It was pretty different for us this year as we were away from family.  Thank heavens for good friends!  We had a great time with the Whitaker clan.  Atticus especially loved the time with his bestie, Bow.

Another huge milestone for us is counting!  Atticus surprised me one morning, without any coaching or practice:

But we need to get to the biggest milestone of the past month- the birthday!

No kidding, right before his friends were supposed to arrive, Atticus went through a coming of age ritual that I was not in the least expecting.  But what a manly unibrow, right?

 While we were a little frustrated (we couldn't get it all off as you'll see in the birthday photos) it was pretty darn funny.

We still managed to have a great time!  Here are some highlights from his birthday party:

I wasn't quite sure how much Atticus enjoyed his birthday, but he made it clear that he had loved it the next morning.  He kept saying, "Happy Day, song, a-peees" (translation, "Sing the birthday song, please!" and then blowing.  So we sang it a few more times and practiced blowing out candles.  He should do much better next year.  :)

I just love how he says, "Happy Day."  Here he is saying it back when we were trying to send a birthday message to Bobba in October:

Here are a few final memories for Atticus while still a 1-year-old:

 Dane's dad came down at the beginning of the month.  Hooray!  Unfortunately, due to a computer malfunction, we've lost a few of the photos, but we had a wonderful time.  We even got to celebrate his birthday with pie.  We just love Bobba!!!

Birds at a nearby park are a little more comfortable with humans than I would like.  I really did have to pick up Atticus and run shortly after taking these!

Eating cheerios out of his tractor at church

We finally caught his awesome sound for chickens (and all birds, for that matter).

Only 20 more days until Christmas!