Porter's 1 Year Pics

We finally scanned Porter's 1 year old pictures!! We got them done at Sears a couple of days after his 1st birthday and are very happy with the way they turned out. What an adorable little guy huh!! Seriously, look at this little guy. I know that I am biased but come on....you can't get more handsome than this!! His little smile just melts my heart!! My little Porter is definitely Mr. Personality!! It is absolutely amazing to me the many ways in which Porter is growing and the many things that he is learning everyday. He is one smart little guy and just so much fun. Porter is saying a bunch of words now. He says: 'What's this'... and points to everything. He also says This and that, bath, ball, what, Mama, Dada, baby, ba ba. He also understands so many words. When we ask him to point to the following items, he does it perfectly: cat, dog, cow, horse, ball, baby, books, airplane, Jesus, bath, blanket, balloon, shoes, socks, and probably many more that I have forgotten. Whenever we say that we are going to say a prayer, he folds his arms right away! So adorable!! Porter's favorite game is: 'Where's Porter'. Whenever we say Where's Porter, he gets a huge smile on his face and quickly runs away and hides. Or else he covers his face with anything that he has at the moment (blanket, a book, his hat, etc.) It is just the cutest thing in the world. He also loves when we say, 'I'm going to get you'..and he just takes off laughing and tries to hide.
He also has started dancing... A LOT! Whenever he hears any kind of music, he starts dancing. He has some pretty awesome moves. He even gets his arms and head involved! He also imitates other people's moves.. It is absolutely halarious! So we are making sure that we are playing a lot of music in our home.
Porter is such a little monkey. He has started climbing on EVERYTHING. The other day, I was getting something in my room and when I returned I found that Porter had opened the dishwasher and was standing inside it. He also climbs up on our couch, in and out of the bathtub, and we even found one of his legs outside of his crib (So we are going to have to get a toddler bed sooner than we thought). He also tries to climb the bookshelf and his rocking chair. He also has learned to open the refridgerator, turn the TV and dishwasher on.
Porter has started eating TONS better, thank goodness. We found out that he absolutely LOVES ketchup. So we add ketchup to almost everything he eats. He also loves orange juice, scrambled eggs, yogurt, oranges (even though he just sucks out all of the juice and then spits out the rest), and any kind of pasta. He has also started getting extremely intersted in feeding himself. He always tries to reach for the bowl and when I let him have it, he puts his spoon in the food and sometimes brings it up to his mouth. He also loves feeding others. He puts food in your mouth and then giggles. It's pretty funny.
Porter's motor skills are incredible. Last week, he was playing with an empty gatorade bottle. He screwed the lid on all by himself. He then handed to me to take the lid back off, I gave it back to him and he screwed it back on. We played this 'game' for like 20 minutes. He also tries to put baby puzzles together, tries to put his socks and shoes on, he rolls balls back and forth and is getting very good at throwing balls. We took him to the park today to feed the ducks and he did such a great job at ripping off pieces of bread and either throwing them at the ducks to get or holding them out for the ducks. He is such a smart little guy.
Porter loves to play outside. He could wander around parks for hours if we let him. It is so much fun to watch how curious he is. He always has to touch every single bush, plant, flower, leaf, etc. Every time a plane flies over head..he stops whatever he is doing and points to it. He also loves other little kids and will go up to them and try to play. Porter is very sensitive to noise and still has to be carried every time I vacuum. His Daddy and Uncle Erik were also extremely sensitive to noise so it must be genetic.
We are still trying to find out why Porter has been throwing up so much. We got an upper GI test done which said that yes, he has very bad reflux (which we already knew). They also said that is seems like he aspirates some of his food and drink while he eats. We got an allergy test done yesterday which was negative. One Monday we have to have an esophigal study and a swallow test done, and then in May we are taking him to a GI specialist. Hopefully we will receive some answers. Porter has been such a little trooper through everything.
If anyone told me that I would feel this much joy and happiness from being the Mom of one little guy, I would not have believed them. My heart is so full when I think of all of the love that I have for my little Porter. Being his Mom is the best thing in the world. I love him more than words can express and am so excited for what the years bring ahead. I hope that I can always be the Mom that he needs and deserves. It kind of scares me when I think of what a responsiblity I have as a Mom. I hope I can do a great job raising him and teaching him all of the important things in life. I LOVE YOU SO MUCH PORTER!!!