I Blinked.

I promise, that's all I did. I blinked, and my baby grew up. Just a second ago, Cory was a sweet, cuddly little baby in my arms. Then just this second, he grew up into an almost-toddler. He'll be a year old in less than two months; can you believe it?

This year has gone by so fast - faster than any other year in my life. If time doesn't slow down a little bit, I'll be 80 tomorrow.

Cory can communicate. He signs "more" and "all done." He points at what he wants when he's eating. He nods emphatically and adorably. He says "ba" for bottle and banana, "pa" for pumpkin, "ma" for more (that was actually his first word, spoken about three weeks ago.) He says Mama and Dada (and yes, Dada came first).

He tries to put his shoes on his feet. He lies down when I tell him to, when he's trying to get up and should be napping. He tried to put my sunglasses on his eyes. He laughs when he sees someone in a hood. He's been cruising the furniture for at least a month now, and will be walking any day.



Cory eats everything and drinks water from a bottle that he holds himself. He likes to look at books if he's the one holding them and turning the pages as he pleases. Once he read a book while nursing; that was funny.

He babbles. He points to everything that he's interested in, especially animals and crepe myrtle trees (go figure!). He has a temper which shows itself generally when I take something away from him and manifests in screaming and going limp in protest. Sometimes arching the back or throwing himself over backwards. That's a fun one.

He wears jeans and sneakers and looks like a little boy. His hair is longer now, lighter brown than it was when he was first born, and wispy. His eyes are big, brown, and expressive. When he sees me from across the room or coming around the corner, he points. If I point back, he grins.



He likes to pull one sock off (see mower picture) when he's in his carseat. Why just one? He thinks it's funny if I tell him something is yucky, and he sticks his tongue in and out and makes funny noises to show me that he gets it. Then he puts the thing back in his mouth.

Speaking of tongues, Cory likes to turn his upside down. Or stick it out. Or suck in his top lip and stick out his tongue. He sleeps not so well, but I blame the teething, in part. The other part is...who knows?

Cory is a little shy. If someone talks to him, he tends to put his head down into my neck and hide, smiling coyly all the while. He gives hugs sometimes. He loves holding onto hair, and always has. His favorite position used to be sitting on my left hip with his right hand up on my shoulder and holding onto my hair. (See? I said "used to be." There shouldn't be any used to be's yet with this guy!) He grabs and releases my hair as he's going to sleep - hold, tug, rake fingers through, repeat. Sometimes he tries to hold his own hair, but he prefers someone else's.

Cory is a sweet, sweet boy. His babyhood is almost over. If you blink, you might miss it.