Anderson Turns One!

Anders is the funniest Noon baby--he looks like both his brothers but also distinctly like himself. (And almost nothing like his twin sister.) His chill demeanor reminds me of baby Will; his suspicion of others reminds me of baby Finn. But his open-mouthed smiles, laughs and kisses (he never closes his mouth to do any of those) are pure Anders.

What Anders looks like at twelve months old: Anders has soft, wispy dark blond hair with blue-gray eyes; he's 31.5 inches tall (96th %ile) and 23 lbs, 5 oz. heavy (79th%ile). His head is big (88th %ile), but that makes it small for a Noon kid. No, seriously. He's lean-looking with a round face and chubby cheeks and fair skin.

What Anders currently likes: Car rides (thank God); assisted walking (when left to his own devices, he takes a step or two and then drops to his knees for speed-crawling--and he shouts angrily if you try to make him walk); pulling all the books off the bookshelves; eating shoes; drumming on anything; climbing on top of Hadley to get a toy; getting tickled; high fives; peekaboo; scooching his high chair forward using a rocking motion and then grabbing the tablecloth off the dining room table; trucks, blocks, balls, music.

What Anders DISlikes: Getting buckled into his seat; taking baths; lying still for his diaper change; when Mom and Will/Finn/Bridget get out of the car for a school dropoff and leave him there; (also, apparently, when he's forced to keep a Santa hat on his head or he accidentally worms out of his clothes during a nap--see below)

What Anders loves to eat: His favorite meals, I kid you not, are broccoli and sweet potato with citrus salmon or roast chicken. He will eat anything I put in front of him, though, although he's not in love with plain pasta or, strangely, watermelon.

What Anders likes to read: Hm. Anders is not a big reader, mostly because we can barely squeeze books into our schedule. He does like it when we read to him, but he's usually interested in grabbing our faces and crawling on us as we read--it's like he thinks we the readers are more interesting than the books themselves.

Who Anders loves: Mom and Dad and all his siblings, although Finn is the biggest baby-lover of the bunch so Anders does gravitate toward him. He's started to get a little stranger/separation anxiety at the Y babysitting room, but it only lasts until I turn the corner, and thankfully he'll always have Hadley to soften the blow!

What Anders says: All done/Done, Mama, Dada, Down, Hi, More, Uh-oh, Tick-uh-tick-uh (for tickle tickle)

How Anders sleeps: At night, beautifully, a full twelve hours, after one round of "Twinkle Twinkle"--he also doesn't fall asleep unless Hadley's in there with him. Anders doesn't need long naps (sadly), so whether they get one or two on any given day, I usually split the difference in their wake-up times--I'll let Anders holler for twenty minutes while Hadley gets her extra rest, and then I'll go get him and wake her up a few minutes later.

How we feel about Anders: Like sentimental drips--like he was meant to be the third member of the Noon boy trifecta--like if we hug him too long, we might inhale him accidentally-on-purpose.