First Birthday

I honestly can't believe a year has passed since Maksim was born! It has been very hard for me today to not relive all the events and fear surrounding Maksim's birth, but looking at these pictures helps to put everything into perspective. What a miracle this sweet boy is in our lives!

At one year old, Maksim weighs 15 lbs! He wears mostly 3-6 month clothing, but he is starting to fit into some of his 6-9 month stuff! He is a skinny little thing with a long body a short legs. :) He has 4 teeth and 2 more coming in, which is crazy to me, because he got teeth quicker than Milyn! He is still army crawling, but is rocking on his hands and knees a lot. He will get there. He is unable to sit on his own, which the doctors believe is a result of the ototoxic medications he received in the NICU. He has passed his hearing tests, but has vestibular damage, which affects his balance. He also isn't talking/babbling much, but hopefully that will just come with time as well. He has started eating solids much better. He loves yogurt, just like his sister, and he can even feed himself the Gerber puffs. Here is a little list of what he is up to these days.

-mimicks grunting sounds
-turns in circles and climbs over obstacles
-smiles and giggles a lot, and he is SUPER ticklish
-gets mad when we leave the room, but he is still very easy-going about different people holding him. He doesn't really show a preference for familiar people yet.
-he follows us everywhere, especially the bathroom
-he loves to watch Baby Einstein videos on the iPad! He has to get so close to see, but it is adorable
-he likes to push toys all around the house and pound the floor when he is excited
-he likes to follow the vacuum
-he likes having his teeth brushed
-he absolutely LOVES his sister!

He got some cute clothes and a couple fun ball toys for his birthday. We had a small party at our house, but unfortunately some of our family were unable to come because they were ill and can't be around Maks. We were sad that not everyone was there to celebrate with us! Since he started doing better with solids earlier this last week, we decided to give the cake thing a try! He had spoonful and a few bites of ice cream, and he loved it.

Maksim, we love you so much, and we definitely can't imagine our family without your special spirit. Happy birthday, Miracle Maks!


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