Toddle Toddle One Year Old

Yes, we're still alive and well! Technology is mad at me and I haven't been able to get on my computer since January. I'm working on a permanent solution. Maybe I'll get a new computer. Anyways, my baby turned one on Tuesday. He's officially a toddler. According to babycenter.com, the definition of a toddler differs; some people define the stage after babyhood by when said baby starts walking, and others say toddler-hood starts at the one year mark. Either way, my baby is a toddler. I have mixed emotions. One year... has it really been one whole year? How can that be?


Derek is just as cute as ever. He walks. He runs. He loves being mobile. I take him into primary with me for the second hour of church so that Tyler can teach his class. Derek loves to run around and play with the kids. He also loves to run out the open doors to get to the drinking fountain.

He runs around the house all day and gets into everything. His favorite thing to do is to take stuff out of drawers and to put them into other drawers around the house.

He calls me Mom sometimes, but most of the time he calls me Tara. He calls Tyler, Dad, sometimes, but most of the time, Tyler. All day long all I hear is, "Tyler, Tyler, Tyler." Derek picks up my phone or one of his play cell phones and talks to his daddy. He says, "Hello, Tyler," and, "I love you, too, Tyler." It's absolutely adorable. We've started to try to get him to call us mom and dad. His first sentence was, "Tara *smack smack smack*" when he wanted to eat.


He loves to read books. His favorite right now is a book called, "What's Wrong Little Pookie" by Sandra Boynton. He loves it because there is a page with elephants and cookies and he loves to pretend to eat the cookies. "Yum yum," says Derek, "smack smack smack."

He loves to scribble. He also loves to play with my iPod. He loves monkeys. He makes the "oo-oo-oo" sound that a monkey makes. He also can tell you what lions, elephants, dogs, cats, and (sometimes) what roosters say.

What else can I say. I'm sure I'm forgetting something. He amazes me. He's so smart and loving. He gives kisses and waves "hi" and "bye." He's so much fun and I'm learning so much from him. He's good-natured and beautiful and... well... amazing.

Happy birthday, Derek.