One year old Hyrum

Here are something that define Hyrum in his one year old age.

• He is delightful, full of energy, just a darling happy boy...such a fun age, such a fun boy! 
• Curious about everything...yet he can focus so well for long periods of time on the simplest things--putting a lid on a box,  turning knobs and wheels, stirring a spoon in a container (I've seen him do this for literally almost an hour!)
• Loves to point and 'talk' about everything!  Even right when he wakes up I'll peek in and he'll be standing up in his crib and pointing and talking about anything he can in his room.
• Eating machine. There is hardly anything he WON'T eat and I swear he eats in larger quantities than me.  Where does it all go?! Could be why he also poops SO much.
• A bit obsessed with animals. Especially monkeys and dogs and of course our bunnies.  He'll pick up his stuffed monkeys and look right into his face and 'talk' monkey to him as if they are having a conversation. 
• Full of sound effects. Animal sounds, cooing, tongue clucking, lip razzin, growling, grunting, screeeetchin.
• Social laugher. He laughs at the most random things. He laughs just because we're laughing...he want us to know that he 'totally gets it' too.  He thinks he's quite hilarious at times because sometimes we wonder what in the world he's laughing about and we conclude that it must have been something he just did or thought of. 
• Still a rough tough little guy (he's been from the moment he was born). He's not into cuddlin or kissin and huggin so much  (even though we attack him with so much of that...) but he'll once in a while climb up to me to give me this wet little open mouth face plant on my face that I think can be interpreted as a Hyrum kiss. What is funny is that in rare moments of cuddliness (usually when he is tired) you can only count to 2 seconds max before he'll pull away and move on to others things.
• Getting more opinionated and more demanding.  He's growing out of the easily-distracted-infant-age and merging into the determined-to-get-what-I-want age.  I was battling with a tight grip screaming child over the toilet scrubber the other day. But overall, I must say he is a pretty easy going kid. 
• A great sleeper.  Although cutting through  four fat teeth at once has altered that a bit lately.
• Almost walking. Hyrum had me fooled.  He's been pulling himself up and walking up against things for a while now, with everyone saying that he'll be walking in no time so I thought he'd sure be walking before he turned one. Nope. He's perfectly happy crusin' on all fours and still walking up against things. He even pushes the stroller for half a mile half way across the park but still could careless about taking steps on his own.  I know, he'll get there.  But since I only have one child that I watch for hours on end, I must admit I'm dying to see him do a new 'trick'..hehe.
   ...and then once he's walking and running out of my reach, I'll wonder why I wished it so bad...