Madsen: The first year in a nutshell...

Holy Cow! How is my baby ONE? Where has the time gone? I can't believe it's been (over) a year since I gave birth to my little nugget, I remember holding him in my arms for the first time like it was yesterday. This last year has been the CRAZIEST year of my life! I have never laughed so hard, cried so hard, or loved something so much since my little firecracker came into my life! One thing is for sure, I have learned A LOT. Has this been the easiest year of my life? Absolutely NOT. Has it been the best year of my life? Without a doubt! I remember being a clueless first time mom bringing that sweet little boy home from the hospital and thinking how crazy it was....I was now responsible for a tiny human. As most of you know, the first few months were really hard for me. Ok, lets be honest, they were AWFUL! I tell people that it's a really good thing that I loved Madsen so much, because for the first 6 months I didn't really like him. He literally screamed for 6 months straight. If he wasn't asleep, he was screaming. Poor little guy had the worst acid reflux and colic you could imagine, Then one day he started to crawl, and I think being on the move made all the difference in the world for him. He was born to be a busy boy. Since he started crawling, life has been bliss! Not bliss in a "life is absolutely perfect kind of way", bliss in a mommy sort of way. Life is hectic and crazy, but so much fun! Madsen started crawling and sitting up around 5-6 months, then shortly after that he was pulling himself up on things and walking around furniture, then before we knew it, at 10 months he was walking all over the place and climbing on everything. He is the craziest little one year old I know. He is full speed, ALL the time. He's not the kind of kid that wants to sit and watch mickey mouse clubhouse and cuddle with mommy all day, he's the kind of kid that runs to the front door first thing in the morning and pounds on it so I will let him go outside and play with his toy cars and trucks in the driveway, dig around in the dirt and gravel, or climb on his little trike and ding his bell until I get annoyed enough to go push him around the block in it. He keeps me on my toes to say the least! But I honestly wouldn't have it any other way. He is so active, and so smart. Everything intrigues him and he is just so ready to learn. When we took him to his one appointment, Dr. Later told us (as Madsen was running around his office getting into EVERYTHING) that Madsen was very inquisitive and acted like most of his 18 month old toddlers act. And it doesn't help much that he is big enough to be 18 months! At one year, he weighs 26 pounds (95th percentile), he's 32 inches long (99th percentile), and his head circumference is 19.2 inches (98th percentile). Dr. Later told us that all the smart kids have big heads- we'll roll with that :) He also told us that he's huge and we better get him ready for football! Anyway- some of Madsen's favorite things to do are going swimming or to the splash pad (really anything to do with water), ride his little trike, play with trucks or cars or anything on wheels, swing, climb up slides, and anything to do with the outdoors. He is starting to say more words, but never does them on command or when I'm trying to show him off. He say's mama, dada, dog (and he barks), baba, hop, purple,bat, uh-oh, hi, bye, and his favorite word, NO! (I wonder where he got that one from?) He also says other random words that he's learned from all his books, but that's all I can think of right now. Most of the time he just babbles off in his crazy baby language and looks at me like I should know what he's talkin about. He's such a nut! He's such a happy little dude and has four little teeth with a big old gap between the front two, and he will just run to anyone with a big cheesy grin on his face and you can't help but fall in love with him, he's so darn cute! He's the funniest little guy you will ever meet, he has such a huge personality, and along with it, a huge attitude! Luckily we get more of the big personality and less of the attitude MOST of the time. I could ramble on for days about my little Madsen, but I won't. This last year has been an emotional roller coaster trying to figure out how to be a mom, and most days I wonder what the heck i'm doing, but at the end of the day, my little family is happy. I have a sweet husband that works all day, then comes home and takes crazy Madsen off my hands, and I know he wouldn't rather be doing anything else. I'm not perfect, and neither are my husband or our crazy little boy, but they are perfect for me. We are perfect together. And I love it.