Matthew is one year old today!

I can't believe it... my "baby" is one.  He's definitely a toddler.  But he'll always be my baby.  Though we might adopt another child someday, Matthew is likely my last little bottle drinker, my last little rocking-chair snuggler, my last little one to cut his first tooth, my last little one to take his first steps, etc.  Mark and I tried to make a deal with him when he was four months old that we would let him drink from a bottle forever if he would just stay that age forever.  It didn't work.

Matthew's burn is healing nicely (I think I forgot to mention that he pulled a cup of fresh hot coffee off the table 10 days ago).  He rarely resorts to crawling anymore as he is becoming more steady on his feet.  He has eight teeth and is actively cutting his one-year molars (not a pleasant experience for any of us).  Right now he's playing with today's toy of choice: two small, thin, plastic cutting boards.  Attempts to remove those from his hands results in wailing and gnashing of teeth (well, really just high-pitched screams and cries and pounding of fists on the ground, an example of how I know that THIS child is our strong-willed child).

Matthew's one-year checkup is on Friday.  I'll post his "particulars" after that visit, but my guess is that he is roughly 31" tall and weighs over 25 pounds.  We're going to visit the NICU in a couple of weeks and I'm sure they'll be impressed by the size of this former preemie (he was born at 36 weeks and weighed 8lb 3oz, but still spent 11 days in the NICU and came home on Valentine's Day).

Happy birthday, sweet boy.  I love you dearly!

(see post below for lots more photos)