One whole year with this amazing little guy.  Just as I said about Cooper, it rings just as true with Crosby….it seems like Crosby has been a part of this family forever.  Every morning while I am getting stuff together, I start to hear a little stir, and then the sweetest little chatter coming from Crosby’s room.  He is such a happy kid when he first wakes up.  He will sit in his room for 30 minutes just playing quietly and chatting with his animals and himself.  Then when I go in to get him, he stands up gives a few little excited jumps and then gives me the BIGGEST smile!  When he is particularly happy, he will scrunch his shoulders up and in a super cute and giddy way grab at his belly and flip his arms in front of his tummy and then behind his back.  I seriously couldn’t think of a better way to start the day!

Once up, he is ready to go!  Set him down, and he will cruise…run in his ET-like waddle down the hall towards the living room, slowing down as he gets to the end of the hall, so that he can peak around to catch a glimpse of his buddy Cooper.  Another incredibly huge smile.  I say “Say good morning Cooper”, and Coop looks over and gives him a big smile and says “Good morning Crosby!”  I would eat that up with a spoon, if possible.

Then it is off to have some breakfast.  Fruit, vegetables, chicken, braunswager, cereal, milk….you name it, Crosby likes it.  He is a great eater, not picky at all.  And when he is hungry….watch out!  I would say that he probably eats 3 times as much as Cooper, and that is conservative.  Granted, Cooper is a slow and pickier eater, and Crosby is growing like a weed.  Now that he is walking I have no doubts that the baby chub will start burning off, and have already seen a bit of that.  He has lost almost 3 pounds in the last 3 months.

One thing that I have definitely noticed is how similar in some ways the boys are, but how very different they are in other ways.  It is amazing to me how different sometimes.  They both as babies enjoy independent play, and doing their own thing.  But Crosby definitely checks in more often.  Waddling up to be held, tickled or kissed.  When he is tired, you can tell in a heartbeat and will go to bed immediately like a champ.  He plays hard, much harder than Cooper did.  Maybe that is due to having a big brother that wrestles with him more (AKA knocks him down and lays on him), or striving for more attention.  He is louder, stronger at this age, a bit bigger, and definitely a bit more feisty.  He can get straight up pissed sometimes.  It is actually pretty funny.   90% of the time he will listen great if I say “No”.  Most of the time giving me a smirky little smile as he fakes doing whatever it was again.  Then walking away and moving on.  Then there is the other 10%.  Like when it is time to go inside after playing outside…not pretty.  He is a strong little dude, making diaper changes and clothing him more and more difficult.  Crosby also loves to get into things a lot more than Cooper ever did.  We rarely make the mistake of leaving the toilet paper actually on the holder anymore, we have learned a few lessons on that one.

He loves baths and showers, and thanks to Granny and Bumpa moving to a new house with a pool, he has grown to LOVE swimming!  Now we just need to work on that whole not drinking the water and holding your breathe thing.  He has become more and more vocal, saying “Uh Oh!”, “Duck” and “Dog”, with a random Mama and Dada.  You can just tell how badly he wants to be able to communicate with us.  Hopefully that will become less of a frustration for him in the coming months.  He absolutely loves walking around the house pointing and babbling about the pictures on the wall.  He is just so fun to be around!  Such a smiley kid.  I swear, every time I take a picture of him I see a different expression, or a different look all together.  He is amazing!  We love you so much Crozbow!

Watching how quickly things have progressed and evolved with Cooper, I can only assume that Crosby will go through a ton of the same things, and I have no doubts he will be smiling all along the way, at least 90% of the time.  We are so blessed, he undoubtedly makes our family complete.