The fastest year of my life...

John turned 1 on the 21st, three days after Ella turned 4. I will say, there has never been a faster year that I can remember. It was packed with a kitchen remodel, a newborn, flights to see family, Andrew working more than ever, more flights to see family, and now birthdays. In between there were lots of smaller things, but overall, travel, work, and life with #3 has been our year and I hope this next year doesn't fly by so fast. John has been the best baby a mom could ask for. He is content, curious, and oh so cute. He is a crawling and climbing machine, and can out eat his older sister in less than 15 minutes. I love his huge blue eyes and his little curls that are forming along his hairline. He's a good sleeper for the most part. Sharing a room is hard, but he's learning to make it through the night without waking up more and more. He had chicken nuggets for the first time at home today with Ella and Peter. He also was the only one who would share my mushroom risotto, so I know he will be a refined young man, right? I mean, what baby likes risotto? I guess to me it just sounds fancy. He loves to watch other kids and is getting more brave as the days pass. Walking along everything and standing for about 10 seconds on his own, but no steps yet. He's smart, he knows I'm not ready for that yet. He crawls for the door when he hears Daddy come home, it's just so great. He still only has 2 bottom teeth. I'm not sure if part of it is because he sucks his pointer and middle finger of his left hand whenever he sees his blankie, or if it's just because they're taking longer to come through. I can't get enough of his cuddles and I'm sure getting sad watching him get bigger, but he's also having so much fun keeping up with his brother and sister, and that's a blessing to watch too. As I protect him while he climbs up the stairs, I realize that we don't have a little baby in the house anymore. A new phase has begun and little John Lew is entering toddlerhood. Yikes and yippee at the same time.