The Melkerssons: personality

Rise and Shine...We came in saying Happy Birthday! I think he was wondering what is going on...

Breakfast time. He had a yogurt and then pancakes topped with his favorite fruit, raspberries.

Time to open gifts. We stuck to the little rhyme from Katey; "Something he wants, Something he needs, Something to wear, Something to read." It really makes it a lot easier to buy gifts based on those four things.

Hmmm...what am I supposed to do with this?! He looks perplexed.

Ribbon! That's always a hit. ("Something to read")

The hat = something to wear

The sword casing Enzo gave Aleksander as a gift. It belongs to the sword Enzo got at the Disney on Ice. Funny thing is, is that casing is by far Aleksander's favorite toy. He drags that thing all over the house. I asked Enzo if he could consider giving Aleksander that for his birthday since he couldn't buy him a dog, which he really wanted to do. He thought giving him that was a great idea, so he wrapped it. Sweet. I think it's even sweeter that he honestly wanted to get Aleksander a dog because he knows how much Aleksander loves dogs. And he is hoping that Aleksander will buy him a cat for his birthday because Enzo loves cats!

Ready to go out on our walk around the neighborhood and then to the playground for some swinging.

We had originally planned to take Aleksander swimming but then us parents got lazy and opted out. Poor guy, but fortunately he doesn't know the difference.

His birthday cake. Stumbled upon this Raspberry Tarte... had to make it for him since he loves raspberries. It was perfect, hardly any sugar added, except for a tblsp in the whole recipe. Loved it. Simple and delicious. I'll tell you how simple it is, it's a frozen butter dough, rolled out, homemade vanilla cream, topped with raspberries and then a warmed apricot marmelade drizzled over the top. Light and delicious...just ask Mattias, he had 4 pieces.

Yes, that is a tea light you see. Us, lame-o parents forgot to buy candles and didn't realize until it was time for the cake that we didn't have any bday candles.

Anyway, here we are singing happy birthday to the birthday boy.

He finally gets pissed at me because I won't let him touch the burning candle. Crazy kid! Make a wish, baby!

Yum!

Mr. Attitude!

We've made it to the one year mark! Wow, this time has flown by. His first year has been packed with a lot of first and many, many adventures.

Aleksander has grown and changed tremendously in the first year. He went from being my calm, sweet baby to my strong willed, opinonated baby! I am not sure how this all happened and honestly I didn't see it coming but I guess they both can't have the personality of their father. I guess it is safe to say that Aleksander is a little bit more like his mother...whoever that may be ;)

Let me just say some things about Aleksander; he loves being outside. When we leave the balcony door open he cruises out there every opportunity he gets and chills. He loves climbing up and down stairs and when isn't free to do so he'll let you know what he thinks about that. He loves dogs, at least it seems that way. And it's even so that he says doggie, or better yet "daaaw-yee" too cute! However, this morning I noticed when I took him out on a run with me this morning that he was calling the geese "daaaaw-yee" so I am not sure if he thinks all animals or doggies or what. But I kid you not, he lights up when he sees a dog. It feels like a crime that he didn't get a dog for his birthday.

He loves pointing at things and sometimes even nothing but I am sure he thinks he is being specific in his pointing. He is a picky eater, making it well known when he doesn't like something or doesn't want more of something. He does this by either purposely tossing the food directly onto the floor and looking at it land, smack down on the hardwood floor, or he'll swing his arms at the spoon that you are trying to put into his mouth or he'll just turn his head with his lips sealed shut. And let me just tell you, the first two signs just pisses me off. As soon as he starts tossing food on the floor it's time for him to get down from his chair.

He loves browsing through books. He loves nursing...still. He nurses about 3 times a day...morning, midday and evening. He loves exploring new surroundings. He loves his bed.

He's a good boy and we adore him. Even though his personality is strong and puts us to the test, we love it! We are eager to see the kind of boy he'll grow in to. But in the meantime we are enjoying him just the way he is.

Oh yes, he is still crawling away and not showing much interest for walking. He cruises while holding onto things but never attempts to find his balance without support nor is he too fond of walking while we are holding his hands...he'd rather crawl.

Aleksander still sleeps twice a day, once in the morning and once in the afternoon...which ends up being anywhere from 3-4hrs total. He usually sleeps with a pacifier and in his own bed and occasionally in the cargo bike if we are out all day. At night he goes to bed between 6:30-7pm and sleeps soundly (sometimes) until 5am at which point I'll either nurse him or ignore him and then he'll wake up for the morning at 6am. Phew...

He had a immunization appointment today...poor guy. Two shots on his birthday! He was NOT happy about that. We took the opportunity to weigh him, he weighs; 10,713 grams (which is about 23.5 lbs) and is 74 cm long. He's following his own curve perfectly, he lies right above the median.

Happy Birthday Munchkin! I hope you had a fantastic birthday! We love you and look forward to many more years with you! Kisses!