Happy Birthday Hawken!

Hawken is 1 year old!!! What?! How did this happen SO fast?! One year ago, I was falling in love with our newest precious little baby boy. Hawken Kast Berg. Oh, How I loved you from that first moment I saw you, and had no idea how much I would grow to love you even more every day since then.

Hawken has been an interesting baby. From day 1 he could hold his head up to look around. He learned things faster than most babies do. I'm not bragging, it's just a fact. He learned to scoot to move around at 4 months old. At 5 months he was sitting alone and pushing up on all fours and by 6 months he was full fledged crawling. He started pulling himself up to stand at 7 months and was walking (more than 10 steps in a row, and preferred it to crawling) at 8 months. No joke. We have a genius baby on our hands. Hawken learns things SUPER fast. Part of it can be credited to the fact that he wants to be able to do whatever Matix is doing, but part of it is just him. He is smart and very determined.

What can Hawken do at 1 year old?

• Walk, and even tries to run.
• When we say "ready, set...." he says "GO!" in the cutest little baby voice you've ever heard.
• Pick up his toys, and can sort them too (blocks go with the other blocks, cars go in the green bin, etc.)
• Turn the tv on and off, much to my dismay...
• Pick his shoes out of the pile. When he brings me just one, I send him back for the match, and he always gets the right one.
• Mimics gestures and dance moves, adorable.
• Nods his head "yes" and shakes his head "no" fairly appropriately.
• Says quite a few words, although rarely does them on command. He refuses to perform. :) He can say: "buh buh" (bye-bye), "mama", "bah" (ball), "cah" (car), "up", "go", "eh-yo" (hello), "bookt" (book), "tucked" (truck) and probably more.
• Follows simple directions, although sometimes he thinks it's funny to do the opposite of what I say, and giggles as he is disobeying...
• Tries to eat with utensils. He wants to, but doesn't quite have the coordination yet.
• Waves to everyone he sees.
• Sleeps 12 hours at night (straight, but only recently) and 3 hours total during the day (2 naps still).
• Is STILL nursing, despite our deadline...
• He knows where his hair and nose are, but nothing else.

What does Hawken like to do at 1 year old?

• He loves to play outside.
• He likes to eat things that are not edible. Dirt, sand, paper, crayons, markers, sticks, leaves, toys, books, stickers, clothes, shoes... YUCK.
• He loves to play with Matix. He follows him everywhere.
• He likes to kick the soccer ball around. It's pretty impressive to watch this little guy dribbling it up and down the driveway without stumbling.
• He likes to sit in little areas. Under the table, in the toy bin, in the cabinets, anywhere tiny.
• He likes to be with mom. He is a momma's boy, and I love that.
• He likes to do things by himself. He wants so badly to be able to jump, but he never gets frustrated.
• He loves the water. Beach, bath, shower, rain, pool. Loves it all.
• He likes his blankie and paci for bed and naps, but could care less about them during the rest of the day.
• He loves it when dad comes home. He is always there, arms outstretched waiting for Paul to pick him up as soon as Paul walks in the door.
• He loves to snuggle, and give kisses, and hugs. He even makes the lip smacking noise, although not always in time with the actual kiss. :)
• He loves to wrestle Matix, especially when Matix has just woken up.

What does Hawken NOT like to do?

• He does not like to go back inside the house after playing outside.
• He doesn't like milk, but in his defense, the milk here is gross.
• He doesn't like when I read a book to him only once, it has to be three or four times to be satisfactory to him. :)
• He doesn't like it when I try to do the dishes, or anything else that is taking attention away from him, even though when I stop with the dishes, he goes right back to playing without me anyway...
• He doesn't like it when we can't go outside... Rain, hurricanes, and the fact that it's 6am are not favorites of Hawken's.

Hawken is ALWAYS on the move, so it's hard to get a good picture of him. Plus he is always making silly faces... Here are some of my recent favorites of him. Our 1 year old. Our island baby. Our sweet little snuggle bug, Hawken. We love you!

Happy Birthday Hawken!