One Year Ago....

Kicen is my sugary sweet little monster, my sensitive little bruiser. He's my little angle daredevil, the perfect combination of sweet and spicy! He is 100% Russell boy, but as you know, his stature screams O'Neil. ;-) He keeps me on my toes and keeps a smile on my face. Even when he's at his worst, he still has a twinkle in his eye. His smile melts my heart and his laughter is music to my ears. He is the perfect gift from God!!

Kicen LOVES to play, play, play. While he loves his trucks and animals, he isn't picky when it comes to toys. A wooden spoon and a water bottle are just fine with him. As go-go-go as he is, however, he will almost always sit still to read a book. He plays by himself, but loves to play with his Sister. He giggles the sweetest giggle when he's tired. He isn't confused about what he wants and he isn't afraid to let you know. He gets his patients from his Momma, so if he wants something.....he wants it now. He is quite the charmer when he needs to be and full of spit and vinegar if he doesn't get what he wants. He gets frustrated if something isn't working the way he wants it to and he can pitch a fit with the best of them! Its safe to safe he has a temper.

Kicen is my show off! He loves to know that you are watching him and he loves to be praised. If he gets enough applause, he'll continue showing off. I'm sure I'll receive my fair share of "Mrs. O'Neil, this is Kicen's teacher" phone calls over the years.

Kicen is a sponge and he is very quick to figure things out. He is picking up sign language quite fast and is quite good at communicating. He signs 'thank you', 'please', 'drink', 'more', 'bath', 'help', 'all done' and a version of 'play'. He will repeat almost any simple word you ask him to and replies correctly when you ask him what a cow, lion, dog and elephant say. I think he's a genius, just like his Sister.

Kicen loves music. He loves to be sung to, he loves hearing music on TV, he loves toys that play music. When he hears music, without being instructed to do so, Kicen will start dancing. I can't quite tell if he's going to have rhythm or not, but the boy sure does try!

Kicen is my 'loves all things food' baby! He can finish his own meal and if he sees you eating something he didn't get, he wants to try yours too. He LOVES fruit and pickles. He likes to eat things he thinks are for 'big kids'. He likes things that he can crunch on and the boy has never met a bite that was too big. If I hand him a cracker, he assumes I intended for the entire cracker to be consumed in one bite. It doesn't help that he has jaws of steel. I've tried on more than one occasion to retrieve an exceptionally large bite, only to find that my fingers jabbing at his mouth are no match for his desire to consume food.

Kicen is a mess maker. Its not sufficient to play with 2 or 3 toys at once, he quite prefers all toys to be in the middle of the floor....at the same time. If I start cleaning up while he is in the middle of playing, he'll drop whatever had his interest for the moment and begin removing from the shelves, items I was attempting to clean up. He loves to dump bags, boxes, containers full of items and put them back in, only to dump them out again.

My son has no fear. Throwing himself over the side of a bed, head first is not something he stops to contemplate. If he wants down, whichever way is fastest and/or easiest works for him. He climbs on EVERYTHING....and when I say everything, I, LITERALLY, MEAN, EVERYTHING!! He climbs on chairs, stools, furniture, his wagon to the furniture, cases of water, painting easels, step ladders, stairs, foot rests, car seat bases, baby gates, the list goes on. If there is an obstacle in his way, my son will scale it, most of the time without hesitation.

Kicen doesn't hand out kisses often, actually he's quite stingy with them, but he's a sweet little lover. He has created a ritual of rolling all over stuffed animals when he's tired, the bigger the pile, the better. He loves to snuggle with fuzzy blankets and if he can chew on an end, he is happy. He squeezes his animals and kisses on them, but its a lucky day if he plants a wet one on you!! However, its a rare occasion when he'll turn down a kiss from Sister.

Kicen loves animals, stuffed or otherwise. He gets excited when he sees our cat and just wants to squish her! Dogs don't scare him and he couldn't get enough of the elephants at the circus. He 'oos' and 'awes' over animals in books and loves to see them on TV. I've never seen him shy away from touching an animal and if there is fur involved, he'd like a handful please. For my sake, it would be nice if he had just a healthy fear of, at the very least, strange animals.

He is, for the most part, a very easy going little boy. He is quite easy to please, as long as he gets what he wants. ;-)

He doesn't mesh well with strangers and it takes quite a while for him to warm up to new people. He likes the comfort of Mommy, Daddy and Auma and familiar places. He likes to explore as long as he is certain you aren't leaving him. If one of us walks into the house and doesn't come right to him, he makes a point to yell at us. He does like his attention and if he's missed you, he'll let you know.

Kicen has never really been a quiet baby, but he is after all, part Tingley!! He is constantly talking in his Kicen language. He babbles and learns new noises all the time. He really enjoys copying noises that someone else makes or hearing someone copy the noises that he makes. Its become a game that, for Kicen at least, could have no end! Its not often that Kicen is quiet. He will be that child you MUST check on when you suddenly realize you hear no noise!

Kicen likes to go. He will often grab a shoe, any shoe- he doesn't discriminate, bring it to me and wave 'bye-bye'. It is common for him to grab our hands and bring us to the door either to leave or take him outside to play. He loves to be outside doing, doing, doing. I foresee exhausting days in my future!

One of Kicen's favorite things is the telephone. It is unacceptable in our house for a person to use a phone and not share with our children. Kicen loves to hear people talk on the phone and presses the phone right up to his face if you tell him to say hello. He gets really excited, tenses up and with stiff arms starts pressing all the buttons. He loves to talk to Auda on the phone. Auda has always made a certain noise to the kids, since Nakiah was born, and whenever he knows that Auda is on the phone, Kicen will make the same noise.

My son makes me laugh. Days don't go by that he doesn't make me laugh. He thinks he is funny and laughs at himself constantly. Sometimes I don't even know what he's laughing at. His laugh is infectious. He has a laugh like his Uncle Boog, the kind of distinctive laugh that you can hear in a crowded room, the kind of laugh that just makes you happy to hear. Hearing him laugh, especially when he's tired just makes me happy.

He is proving to be a difficult child to discipline. Trying to tell him no, or not to touch something, or that something isn't safe for him, usually ends up in him repeating the act at least half a dozen times and laughing at me every time I tell him no, or to stop. He literally thinks everything is a game and is seeming to be the child that needs to find out the hard way that something isn't good for him. I think I might have my work cut out for me....

Kicen is curious, he loves to explore, he isn't afraid to taste pretty much anything, including, but not limited to; rocks, dirt, grass, paper, stickers, etc. He doesn't hesitate to try new things, he loves other kids and can't get enough of his Sister. He wants so badly to do everything that she does. He has a bit of a Momma's boy side to him (although its mostly an Auma's boy side at present) He's my class clown and my entertainer. He can be a bit reserved in unknown territory, but it isn't his nature to be quiet for long. He likes the freedom to run around and does not enjoy restrictions on his exploration. He will be my child that tests the boundaries, probably more than once.

He is my joy.

I can not believe how fast the last year has gone. My sweet little baby is already growing into such an amazing little boy! I could not be any more proud of my beautiful little man. He is more than I could ever have hoped for and has far exceeded every expectation I ever dreamed up. He is special in every way and simply, the most amazing son. He truly is my gift from God. I'm blessed beyond measure to be his mother and I can not wait to see what the next year brings.

Happy 1st Birthday Kicen!

I love you more than words could ever explain!