Samuel turned 1 year old on July 25. When he was born he was 7lbs, 6oz (~35%) and was 20in long (~60%) and now he is around 21lbs (~20%) and 32in long (~90%). His feet and hands are big, but his head is small. We love how cute he is, especially with all of his quirks, except for the challenge it is to find clothing that works for him. It will be interesting to see if he is going to continue to be tall for his age. Here is a quirky picture of what he looked like when he was born:

It is amazing to see how his personality has grown since he was born, and how in some ways it has stayed the same. When he was born he came out “talking” a lot and moving constantly. He even head-butt Joe when Joe first held him. He has always been a constant mover and only in the first few months would he let people hold him. At one year old he is constantly crawling around and “talking” all of the time.

Samuel has always been comfortable around people, but as he has gotten older, he now really enjoys people. He especially loves being around kids, and he grins from ear to ear when he sees other kids his age. He gets joy in making people laugh and smile. He definitely takes after Joe in being an extrovert.

Samuel has loved music since before he was born. There were many times I could tell he enjoyed the music I was listening to or singing because he would move around and kick vigorously. When he was just a month or two he would smile whenever his little toy that made music went off. Now he shows his delight for music by “dancing” – bobbing up and down. He will even change the rhythm that he moves to match the beat of the song.

It’s so hard to believe how much of a little person Samuel is becoming and we are delighted to see how he grows in his next year of life.