C.J. - Year One

I don't think pictures can even come close to conveying the extent of this little boy's personality - even at a year old.  He just made everyone around him smile and laugh with his antics.

Although there wasn't too much smiling going on when I was trying to get him to eat.  I admit, shamefully admit, to getting frustrated on more than one occasion at mealtime.  The child simply would not eat anything! I included the next two pictures to illustrate to you exactly what I mean:

He would not touch any food unless he could dip it in something...ketchup or ranch dip, etc,...then all he would do is lick the dip off of the food and that would be his meal!  I remember an evening when he was 14 months old and ate a half of a hot dog for dinner.  Oh, what a joyous night!   
Anyway, he was such a little peanut - and never on the growth charts - that I had to bring him in to the doctor's office to get weighed every month.  Finally, at 17 months old, I said "no more."  He was healthy, he was growing each month...just slowly.  


It's safe to say that C.J. was a little indulged. He was the first grandchild for my parents and his only cousin on the other side of the family was already 17.  So, he got away with things that he probably shouldn't have been doing...case in point:

One of his favorite things to do was help my mom move their dishwasher over to the sink.

He knew which button to press to turn it on and once it was running he would do this cute little dance, then walk over and pull the handle up to turn it off.  Then he would repeat the start...dance...off cycle again.  Until finally we'd have to say enough.

He continued to amaze us with his development and by 18 months he was walking down the stairs without even having to hold onto the rails.

That was the groovy shag carpeting in our basement.

Yes, he was just an incredibly happy toddler.  No tantrums ever.

As he got closer to two he developed a love a puzzles

This love would stick with him for quite a while and in preschool he earned the nickname "the puzzle master" from his teachers.

At his 2 year check-up he weighed barely more than he did the year before...20 lbs 8 ozs less than 3%)...but it didn't worry me anymore because he was eating better and I knew he was okay and healthy. He was just going to be small.

To be cont...