It is amazing to think that in just a month Michael will be a one year old.

Amazing and petrifying.

I can barely remember the last year. It's amazing how that happens. I, of course, look back on pictures and can barely believe how tiny he was when he was born. I can't remember a time when he didn't have his tuff of blonde hair on top of his head. I can't remember a time where it was hard for him to crawl... and here we are.

Unbelievable.

So, updates!

Michael is around 21 lbs, and we're guessing around 30 inches long.

He is pulling himself up with ease, cruising furniture, and practicing falling down on his bum. When we're on the bed he'll be courageous and practice standing, knowing he'll land on some cushioning, he'll stand without holding on to anything. He's definitely gearing up to stand. He has this look of determination when he's going to crawl on his hands and knees that he's now applying to whenever he gets reading to stand on his own. Whenever he lasts for longer than a second, he looks to us for praise-- and we gladly give in and clap and say, "YAY, Michael!"

(Michael's look of determination.)

He still loves the outdoors. As in, no napping until I get some sunshine, mama. Today, for example, I tried to lay him down twice to no avail. Never mind that he was rubbing his eyes, yawning, being clingy.... He wanted to go outside. So, outside we ventured for a good ten to twenty minutes.
(Look at that grumpy face.)

Now he's passed out on the bed and has surpassed the five minute mark, which means he'll sleep for at least thirty minutes. *Sigh of relief.*

Michael performs for the camera. Not always, mind you, but if we get out the video camera or the regular camera, be prepared for some "cheese". I don't know if he quite comprehends what we're doing, but he knows we love it when he starts giggling or grinning at us when we have those instruments in our hands.

Did I say instruments? That reminds me: everything is an instrument. Or rather, everything is a drum.

Pots. Pans. Trash cans. Tables. Toilets. Bathtubs. Chairs. Toys.

Need I go on?

Michael loves banging on everything. I like to say he gets it from his father (a percussionist), but I have a feeling it's just because he's a baby... maybe.

A new game is taking everything out. He hasn't quite discovered that everything needs to be put back, but he definitely has the taking-out part down. Whether it's from his little toy chest/basket/thing, or the wipes bin, or the basket in the living room that has odds and ends, or DVDs... he LOVES taking things out and making a total mess.

The best one was the other day when our air was still out (and not temporarily fixed like it is now) and he went for the wipes container. It was too hot to try to stop him... sadly I apparently thought it was too hot to take pictures, too. None the less, he took out at least a dozen wipes and then ripped them to shreds.

Let me tell you, that was TONS of fun to clean up. Can you imagine?

His sleeping habits are fluctuating. One day he'll take an amazing 2.5 hour nap (fingers crossed that today is one of those days), the next day he'll take two forty-five minute naps, the next he'll take a ten minute "nap", the next... I think you get the point. There really is not schedule to his sleeping, sadly. Every time I think we've got some sort of schedule done, he decides to switch it up. However, the cutest thing I walked in on was our second day with no air, after a day with no nap at all, and found him like this.
This was after an hour of sleeping. Apparently he had semi-woken up and moved (he initially was lying in between the pillows), but was too tired to full wake up and fell bake asleep. I did put another rearrange pillows to the best of my ability after this, but it was too adorable to not capture in a picture. He lasted for another 1.5 hours, so this was an excellent nap day.

Michael still "meows" for kitty and "aaaaahs" for a sheep (still no "b" sound). He also imitates Luna panting by sort of snorting, and every now and then he'll make a sound that is *sort of* like a woof, but someone else could just take it as a shriek if he wasn't doing it directly at a dog. He says "nu-nana" for banana and has started trying to say other things like he says, "dah" for "dog", and "at" or "dat" for "that". He's also starting to say "nuna" for "tuna". You can definitely tell the difference between that and his "nu-nana".

He's very vocal. Even if he's not trying to really say anything specific, he's making some kind of noise. I swear when he hits two or three (and four and five and six...) he's going to be talking everybody's ears off. God bless our future babysitter.

Last but not least, Michael is definitely fully aware of when dada is home and when he's not. Days that Clark is out ALL day for work, Michael's grumpy. Every now and then he'll reach for the door. We'll go outside, but he'll just sit and look around. One time he sat there and kept saying, "dada". I would shake my head no, because that's what he does, and he'd shake his head no, and then say it again, "Dada". We make sure, therefore, that Dada and Michael have excellent bonding time as often as possible.