fastest year ever.

In January our baby was born, and now it's JUNE. HOLY POO HOW DID THIS HAPPEN!?
Things to document, in addition to things you probably didn't know:

When Taj was born, he was tongue-tied (like Andrew and me: don't worry, we're still both really good kissers), and he had to have his little tongue cut loose in order to eat! He was a champ, and is now the best nurser I know. ...if he's not distracted by a friendly voice of course..

The little man doesn't like dairy (just like his dada), and therefore it has been removed from this dairy diva's diet. If you know me well, you know this was/IS brutal. But helping him to be less gassy and angry at life when pooping was so difficult, made it so much easier. That said, I'm not perfect, and tend to fudge it now and then, and it's a 50/50 if he'll react poorly or not... so I tend to keep tossing the coin.

He has always been an epic sleeper. When he was just a couple weeks old, he started sleeping 6 hours at night. A few weeks later, that progressed to 8, and from the time he was 3 months on, he's been sleeping from 9-730, with a sunrise breakfast at 6. THIS IS HUGE FOR US. Andrew and I were the good sleepers of our family, and the happy babies no less, so I guess that got passed right on down. Lucky us. When we were little we both used to ask to go to bed, and have always needed 10 hours of sleep, so needless to say Taj was a Godsend of a baby. Literally.

Taj has always appeared to be older than he actually is. Everyone assumes he's 2/3 months older, given his alertness, size, and overall very attentive demeanor. His head is huge (adorable but large: 96%-- stuck head and a c-section making a little more sense? haha), and he always measures tall as well. Must have his papa Monroe & gramma Shelley's genes.

He's so content just chilling on someone's lap if he can observe the world around. Everyone asks, "is he usually this chill?" The answer is yes, he's one calm kiddo.

He's also a chatty Cathy at home, and a shy guy when we leave. This is a tie to his observant nature. He's a lot like his mama in that regard. He loves to be the life of the party when it's an intimate setting, and just take a backseat and take it all in when he's a small fish in a big pond.

He LOVES music. Being sung to is his favorite thing ever. Which is good, because Andrew loves to make up songs, and already has a handful for Taj, that he's grown to love and get excited over whenever he sings them to him. It's really the most precious thing.

He's also decided that he now is a thumb sucker. He was over the pacifier after a month, and decided a week ago that the thumb was a good idea. He did it in utero, but this is definitely shown up as a habit now.

He gets SO hyper right before he goes to bed. When we lay him in his crib to sing him to sleep, he goes NUTS. Giggles, shouts, kicks, and the cheesiest smiles ever. It's our favorite. We listen to him squeal himself to sleep until he passes out. Haha.

Man, he is our favorite thing ever. He is such a good baby, and I am so in love with him. I never expected to be that kind of mom. I just assumed, I'd grow to love him from serving and nurturing him, but this is something else. I get it now. I ADORE him. He makes me want 5 more.

So thankful to be his mama. So so thankful.