The Huntleys: October 2012

I can't believe Mac is ONE! In some ways this past year has been the longest year of my life, but when I just think about Mac it has FLOWN by! I want to say that he has been such a blessing to us and our families, but I just don't feel like that really even begins to scratch the surface of how much he means to us.

Happy Birthday! 9/30/12

Happy Birthday! Iuka Party!

Since I failed miserably at keeping up with this blog (and just documenting Mac's milestones in general), I'll just update on what Mac is doing now.

At his well visit last night he weighed 24 pounds, 11 ounces and was 30.5 inches long. He is in the 90th percentile for height and not sure where he falls for weight. His clothes are 12 or 18 months. He wears a size 4 shoe and size 4 diaper. He has 5 teeth (almost 6).

Mac uses 3 words appropriately (for the most part): daddy, hey and mama. He has a few other words that will come out randomly. "Hey" was his first word. He would wave and say "heeyyyy". He says "Da-dy" the most. He will say "da-dy" when he is looking for Ryan, when he sees Ryan and when he puts a phone up to his ear. I'm guessing that came from when we were in Iuka over the summer and Ryan would talk to him on the phone. He will randomly treat me to a "ma-ma" every now and then (rarely:). I love seeing his communication skills develop! He squeals when he gets excited and it is just the best sound! He also tells us yes or no by shaking his head. His teachers call him McCarthy at school and Ryan and I have figured out that he responds more when we call him McCarthy, too.

He is walking and "running" around everywhere. EVERYWHERE. He started taking a couple of (very wobbly) steps without holding on to anything around the beginning of August at about 10 months. One day when I picked him up from school his teacher was so excited to tell me that he took 4 steps! I caught them practicing one day: (I LOVE being able to see what is going on in his room from these windows!)

My absolute FAVORITE thing that he does: When we ask him for a hug he will walk/"run" to us with his arms spread open with the biggest smile and just squeeze us as tight as he can. He gets just as excited as we do when he does it. Mac loves to play peek-a-boo. He and Ryan have a little game where Ryan will crawl around a trunk (coffee table) hiding from him and Mac either runs or crawls in circles around it trying to find him. Mac LOVES school. LOVES IT! We have been lucky so far with him not having any separation anxiety. Thank goodness because when we get to Tishomingo County-- I catch myself not knowing where Mac is or who he is with...and not even being worried about it ;). He loves to play with blocks, balls, and any kind of electronic toy and he loves reading books. He will walk around kicking a soccer ball. I have tried to get a video, but as soon as I start recording he stops. It's soooo cute! He also really likes to brush his teeth at night and loves taking baths.

He is eating all table food and there is nothing (so far) that he won't eat. Some of his favorites are bananas, green peas, sweet potatoes, ice cream, grits and cheese. Right now he takes 3 bottles (2 at school, one at bedtime) and drinks milk or water from a sippy cup. He will start in the 1-year-old class next week and they only get sippy cups, no bottles (YAY!! for not washing bottles!!).

Right now Mac is sleeping pretty well. He has definitely fluctuated as a good sleeper/not-so-great sleeper in the last year. Probably because he was sick a pretty good bit and we traveled back and forth to Iuka lot. Right now he goes to sleep around 7:30 every night and wakes up around 5:30 or 6:00 the next morning. We started Mac's bedtime routine when he was about 4 weeks old and we still follow that routine exactly (almost) every single night starting around 6:30: bath, put on pjs, play/read books for a minute, turn sound machine on, lights off, he takes a bottle and we lay him in the crib...sometimes he's already sleeping when we put him down, sometimes he's still awake.

Mac has just recently started really paying attention to Charlie--smiling and laughing at him. He will take Charlie's toys or bones to him and he LOVES to drop food from his high chair for Charlie to eat it.

Mac has 3 first cousins right now and another on the way! Libby (Jason and Stephanie's daughter) is 3 years old and the "big" cousin. Mac loves to stay right on her heels! He watches every move she makes and always wants to play with whatever she has! Alex (Nikki and Nate's son) is 6 months old. Mac is pretty interested in Alex (more than I thought he would be at this age). He always crawls or walks over to him and pats or pokes at him. Alex smiles the biggest smile when he watches Mac. Pawpaw just can't wait for Mac and Alex to get in their first fight. Mac has been told (by pawpaw) that Alex is going to "skin his head" more times than any 12-month-old should ever hear. HA! Jay (Jason and Stephanie's son) is 4-months-old. Mac will poke and smile at Jay, but right now is more interested in what Libby is doing. I have a feeling that will change before we know it and poor Libby will have partners in crime to deal with! Brad and Lindsey are expecting a baby in February and we are so so excited. We are so blessed and still have a lot to be thankful for!

I can't believe a year has passed since Mac was born. He is so much fun! Ryan and I are loving every second! It didn't turn out to be the best year of my life like I had pictured in my mind, but Mac has brought more joy to our lives than we ever could have imagined. The week that we lost Daddy Nikki posted a picture on facebook of friends and family sitting on Mama's porch and a bunch of Kinsley's friends in the yard throwing a football and she commented something about it being a really sad time for our family, but that we still have joy in our lives. And it's so true.

Mac, we love him so, so much!