To My Little Squish

Dear Enok,

You turned one today! I can't even believe it. To be honest, the first six months of your life went really slow and I wondered then if we would ever make it to this day, but the last six months have been a blur and now we are here! You have really been growing into yourself the last few months, and I feel so blessed that I get to watch you develop every day. I really am the luckiest mama. You're amazing.

Your favorite things.... You currently love pears (even more than bananas, which is saying something), yogurt (in any form, bites, drink, frozen, or regular), ice cream (you first ate ice cream when you were 6 months when we were at Jason's Deli with Granny & Grandpa Roberts, and it was love at first bite), outside (you sooo love being outdoors, you would live outside if I let you. If you see me or your dad go outside without taking you outside you whine and if we bring you in when you're not ready you whine. Also, whenever you hurt yourself, if we just step outside you stop crying pretty quick and just get happy again), chewing on things you shouldn't (power cords, keys, shoes, pretty much anything but your actual teething toys), the tupperware cabinent (I just put a baby lock on it so I don't have to put the tupperware away so many times a day, but I figure I'll still let you in there every once in a while), stacking cups and mega blocks, the DVD player (you turn it on and off probably 20 times a day, you love to push that button and see it light up, luckily you haven't figured out to push the button and get the tray to open yet), real utensils (you know those baby ones aren't the real thing), feeding me and daddy your toys and food (you think it's hilarious for us to bite your toys or food), bath time (scrub a dub), real cups (who wants a sippy when you can try to drink from a real cup and get water all over yourself), brushing your teeth (its great for chewing on), copying mom & dad (copycat!), looking at yourself (in a mirror, picture, or video), and friends (you're a social boy and you love to be around other kids and people). You have so many favorites! Those are the ones I could immediately think of right now.

Your personality.... Oh boy, do you have a personality. You are just going to love life. You are such a fun guy. You love to laugh, chat, and be silly. You have such a happy countenance and disposition. (Notice I didn't say you have a content disposition, because you are only content if you're being entertained and all your physical needs are met, but you are apt to be happy if things are good). I guess the real description would be that you are fun loving. And you have a great sense of humor. I think you get your happy fun loving countenance from your dad. I suspect you will be quite the optimist, I certainly hope so. You love to clap and give high fives. You give the biggest smiles and the best squeals. You're always ready to have a good time. You'll make the best big brother someday and you'll be a great friend. I can already tell that your personality is so different from my own and I love learning how to be a better person from the differences I see in you. You tend to just love everyone, and I wish I could be more like that too. I hope you always know how special and important you are.

Your milestones... You say momma and dadda meaningfully, and you say a lot of other things too in baby talk. You're always chatting to yourself. You have four teeth. Two on top and two on bottom in the front. You can walk! You first tried to walk by yourself just over a week ago and now you can pretty much walk across a room by yourself! You're also learning to push buttons on toys and to 'put toys together' (like stack stacking cups or build on mega bloks or put a ball down a little ramp). You grew 11 inches this past year (from 18 to 29) and gained around 17 pounds (from just under 5 to around 22). We love to watch you learn new things. You're amazing.

Your nicknames.... We started out calling you little guy.... But then we started calling you bubs, which transformed into bubba, so we mostly call you bubba, or bubba boo, and sometimes even baby bubba boogaloo! Haha! But you know your real name too. I really like to call you little squish. Cuz you are my little squish. And you're squishalicious! Haha! And you love to be my little squish.

We love you so much Enok. I can't believe how much you have changed me and my life in just one year. It's true what they say, once you have kids your life isn't ever the same, and neither are you. I don't know if you'll ever understand how much you have forever changed me, or how much I love you. And how I will always try to do what's best for you. Maybe someday when you're a dad you'll understand. I'm just blown away by how much you've affected me. I had no idea, no clue at all, that you would change me so much, or that I could love someone so little so much. You deserve the best of me, and that's what I will always strive to give you.

I love you Enok. Thank you for the joy, happiness, and meaning you bring into my life. You certainly are, and no matter what will always be, the most meaningful part of my whole life. Nothing else I could do would ever even remotely compare to you. I thank our Heavenly Father for you everyday, and will be thanking Him for eternity for the blessing of being your mother. I know I will learn great things from you. I'm so very excited to spend tomorrow with you and watch you grow and develop everyday for another year.

Love,

Your momma