1 year!

Well folks, the milestone has come and gone. I, Joshua Haddon Pugh, am officially a one-year-old! I know moms like to still use months when chatting about the age of their kiddos, even after a year or two has passed, but if you ask me, my answer will always be in years. It just sounds more legit, in my opinion. I think Mom and I have come to a compromise on this one.

So what all has this one-year-old been up to, you might ask? A LOT. As usual, I have much to share, so stick with me. I'll throw in lots of pictures to keep your interest :)

My twelfth month was another one for the books when it came to traveling. Dad was off for the month of July, so we took advantage of that and made the rounds to family. Look who all we saw!

Claire and I got really close.

Well hey there, Karis. It's nice to be older than someone! I tried to teach her how to crawl.

To my Mother's [and everyone else's in the house] horror, I actually took a tumble down these stairs while I was there. Though it was traumatic at first, 10 minutes later I was scrambling up them again. Under fierce supervision, of course...

If you're wondering why the video above of us in the pool got cut off rather abruptly, Mom was getting sprayed by one of the sprinklers, so she was trying to spare the camera. Good times :)

It was so fun to be able to spend a week with the Kizziahs in South Carolina. There was lots of good cousin time and I got to have my first zoo experience!

Though I enjoy animals, I'm rather skeptical about getting to close to them.

Maybe one day I'll be as cool as John David, geared up and ready to go. I had to settle for the stroller...

Which actually isn't too bad when you can engage in stroller sparring with your younger cousin.

You can see more zoo pictures here.

Needless to say, I was worn out after this eventful week. Maybe that's why I'm such a good traveler. Mom and Dad just wear me out and then throw me in the car again. Sometimes it works...

Next on the agenda was good ole Decatur. I got some more good time in the pool with my awesome new float [that I sometimes face plant in, giving grown-ups watching the urge to dive in at a moment's notice to scoop me up].

It's serious business navigating around in this thing.

But it's pretty fun, too!

 

Just floating around, enjoying my mullet.

I love my Nana!

As if the pool wasn't enough, Nana and Papa added a new contraption of fun to their backyard for the grandkids to enjoy.

MY FIRST TRAMPOLINE, Y'ALL!!!

She's so pretty.

Coming after Mom and her camera...

HEY MA!!!!!!

Well the fun [and traveling] doesn't stop there, my friends. Next thing you know, we were T-town bound!!

Big Daddy let me share a birthday party with him and it was a big hit. A little early, but I wasn't complaining :)

Mom made a healthy cake for me...

And decorated it with cheerios. I do love cheerios!

Before the cake presentation, we had an awesome photo shoot with Aunt Lynn.

That was lots of fun. You can see more of those pictures here.

Then came the cake...


I'm sure you're disappointed that I didn't dive in, but the cold whippy frosting was just throwing me off. It tasted good, but I couldn't get it off my hands. Looking back on this event, I wish I would have responded differently. Then I may have escaped my Father's antics to make some magic happen...

Yep, Dad put me belly down on that cold cake. I was very offended. Happy birthday to me. I forgave him, but I can't say I'm not scarred from the whole experience.

We capped off our summer travels with a trip back to Brooklyn. Some of you may remember that Mom made her debut in the blogging world right before our trip there last summer. You can read the one about what brought the Pugh family to Brooklyn here. She was pregnant with me then, so I like to claim this as my second trip. Dad was helping lead volunteer teams and Mom and I were along for the ride. I just so happened to have my official birthday while we were there [doin' it big, I know]. Here's a glimpse of how that celebration went.

Just rockin' my Brooklyn tee IN BROOKLYN.

Lunch at LaMela in Little Italy.

You know I had to get grubbin' on some bread, y'all.

Kicked back, waiting on the Staten Island Ferry to take off.

Front row view.

How many licks does it take?

While on the ferry, Mom got a little crazy and decided it was okay if I tried some of Dad's tootsie pop. I kind of didn't give her a choice because I totally jacked it from his mouth to put it in mine. What can I say? He was eating it right in front of me. You can't do that to a kid on his first birthday...


I dominated that thing. Then came the sugar crash... [not really, it was just way past my afternoon nap time]

So tired...

Surrendered to sleep.

It was a long, full day in the city that ended at the local park in Bay Ridge where we'd spent so much time in earlier in the week doing VBS and clean-up.

Being the bread man that I am, you know I had to get a taste of an authentic New York bagel while I was there.

 

Then they did that whole singing thing again...

Undecided.

Glamor shot of the cupcake before I did a little damage.

It was a perfect ending to a wonderful day. Not many kids in the nursery where I roam can say they spent their first birthday in New York. Thanks for the street cred, NYC.

In other news, I'm weaned!

Check out my big, bad, whole milk self! Actually, this was probably still from my month of formula while Mom was cutting back the feedings, but NOW I'm am definitely a milk man.

I'm trying to think of some other milestones that may interest you... I now point at things and ask you "Deux?" Yes, that's two in French and that's exactly what I'm saying. At least, that's what Mom thinks it sounds like. I'll let her keep guessing for a while until I really communicate my thoughts.

In terms of communication, anyone and anything is "Da-Da," "Daddy," or "Dat." Sometimes I get this one contextually when it comes to Dad, but I just really like saying it to everything.

Everyone wants to know if I'm walking yet, but I'm not. Bear with me, friends. I'll stand on my own for a bit and I've kind of taken a few steps from that position, but I'm not ready to make the definitive claim of "first steps" just yet. For Mom's sake, I'm going to try to have it down by the time Eden makes her entry into the Pugh home.

I can officially wave now [in context]. I really enjoy it and like to predict when people are about to leave so that I can start waving. I may have been a late bloomer in this milestone, but I am definitely making up for lost time.

I definitely still love food, but am becoming rather fickle. I just like to keep my parents on their toes when it comes to the food I decide to eat that day. Mom occasionally lets me feed myself, but this usually ends with her taking the spoon away from me because I'm making a mess, therefore I pitch a rather emotional fit.

This is one of my finer "feeding myself" moments...


At my one year check up [8.14.13], here were the stats...
>20 lbs. [10-25th percentile]
>29.25 inches long [25th percentile]
>Head circumference of 18.25" [50th percentile]

Compare those to my last list of numbers and you'll see that I've been a growing man!
9 month check-up stats—[5.14.13]
> 18 lbs. [25th percentile]
> 28 inches long [25th percentile]
> Head circumference of 18" [50th percentile]

Still a little top heavy, but I can't complain.

Well that about wraps it up, folks. Speaking of which, I need to officially announce that I will no longer be making monthly posts. Mom will still keep you updated on how I'm doing and I'll make an occasional guest post on here every now and then, but I'm a busy man these days. There are cabinets to get into, books to read, and things to be destroyed. I must heed that calling first. Don't be sad, there will still be plenty of Haddon to go around. I'll make sure Ma keeps here camera on hand.

It's been a delightful year, my dear followers. Thanks for cheering me on every step of the way. I'm so thankful for each and every one of you.

grace to ya,
Haddon