It's my son's first birthday today. And I've had enough requests for updates over the past year that I figured that this would be a good time to get those interested caught up on his progress.

First of all from a starting weight of 3 pounds 10 oz he's currently up to 21 pounds 4 oz. And that's a nice little chunk of baby. He's in pretty good health - we've had a few problems with asthma and colds but nothing out of the ordinary. He has four teeth coming in at the same time so he's not always in the best mood but over all he's a very happy baby. He's a little ray of sunshine when he wakes up. All you have to do is look at him and smile and you get a big grin right back. And he's a watcher - nothing escapes his attention. He's all eyes whenever someone is talking. Or opening the refrigerator.

We do have a behavioral problem however. According to the teachers at his daycare he's a binky stealer. He has no use for them himself and I guess he just can't understand why anyone else would want one. We'll have to break him of that habit. It's also very difficult to change his clothes or diapers because as soon as you start he loves to spin. Can anyone explain that? It's hard to believe that a little child can be so strong until you try to hold him still long enough to get clothes on him.

He'll eat just about anything but his first bite of it will get you a scrunched up look. Then he's fine. He loves books { for chewing } remotes { for chewing } grabbing ear rings { for chewing } - do you get the picture?

He likes my mandolin and guitar but he goes nuts for my octave mandolin. When he hears that he bounces and dances and smiles like crazy. He likes classical music { Segovia } for sleeping but he tends to like bluegrass and celtic music for "dancing". The more upbeat the better. But he's still having trouble making a barr "F" chord. No pressure from dad of course. I've also told him that I don't care what college he goes to - Berkley and Julliard are both alright with me.

I would like to take a quick moment to thank everyone for all of their messages of love and support from last year. It was a very difficult time for Bretta and I but we still feel like we've been incredibly blessed. If you could see Brendan smiling in his crib early in the morning you would agree. Thanks for indulging me - and have a great Christmas.