The sweetest day!

So yes, I still have many weeks (okay, months) to catch up on but I HAD to update the blog with today's happenings because it was the sweetest day in this Mama's life!

Why?  For starters, it is Clay's 11 month birthday and that is both mind boggling and awesome!  Then add to that the fact that Clay gave me two fantastic and priceless gifts on his "birthday".

Before I get to the gifts, I'd just like to point out that Clay currently has his first ear infection and still managed to do these two great things so yes, I believe that further demonstrates what a sweetie (and genius) he is!

Gift Number 1:  This afternoon Clay and I were at BabiesRus getting fun things like diapers.  He was getting a little squirmy so I randomly came up with a new game that would hopefully keep me from having to carry him while pushing a cart.  I leaned forward and asked, "Clay, may I please have a hug?", then I gave him a hug and said "Thank you!".  I did this a few times but when I got to the "Clay, may I please have a hug" part, Clay leaned forward and gave ME a hug!  Oh yes, sweet boy, I love you sooooooo much!  Ooooo, and it doesn't end there!  After that, we went to Target to get a new monitor (more on that purchase in another post).  Since that was a very quick trip, I didn't want to load him up in the cart so I just carried him.  So we're walking around and he's on my hip and I again asked for a hug and that sweet boy put his head against me AND an arm around me and gave me a hug.  I've had a fun time of playing this game about 473,968 times since we got home!

Gift Number 2:  Clay has said "Dada" and "Mama" a couple of times.  However, it's been a good month since he's really looked at one of us and said those words ("Dada" did come first), so I've had a hard time saying that he's said his first words because it felt a bit like a fluke.  When Clay was babbling this afternoon during his naptime (aka the nap that he didn't take) he was just standing at the end of his crib saying, "Mamamamamama" over and over again.  I didn't think much of it because it's one of his favorite babble words.  Later, I rescued him from his room and put him down in the living room while I refilled his sippy cup.  He was not thrilled at this prospect so as I filled up his cup, I heard little man make his way into the kitchen while "yelling" MAMAMAMAMAMA.  I was definitely amused by this but didn't really think he was saying my name.  Much later this evening, Jim started take Clay back to his room to get ready for his bath time.  Clay looked directly at me and Mama, Mama, Mama!  I looked at Jim and asked "Was that?" and Jim said, "Oh yes, and when you were gone earlier, he was calling for you".  I melted!

So yes, today is great because my 11 month old baby started giving hugs to me AND started officially calling me by name!

Now, here are some pictures of that (good) name calling, hug giving boy!