Ian Tobias is one year old.

How the time flies. Today my nephew turns 1. He's the spitting image of his maternal grandfather, Gary, which is odd, b/c Chloe looks just like our side of the family, so the two of them bear little resemblance to one another. He chose not to crawl in the traditional way - clearly a visionary - and he motors about rather rapidly on his hands and feet, diapered bum up in the air. He's just begun to figure out the word thing and the other day said, "Hey, dad!" quite clearly for the first time. He also pulls himself up to the TV and chants, "did it! did it!" when Dora sings the "We Did It" song at the end of each adventure. Chloe loves him and resents him, which is normal. He worships her and most of the time if he's upset, she's the only one that can make him happy. She calls him "my little Ian To." I've called him Ito since he was in the womb and when I talk to him on the phone, my mom says he recognizes my voice.

I didn't fully bond with Chloe until she was nearly two. I went home for Thanksgiving and she and I were playing and occasionally I would give her a squeeze and say, "Auntie Tiffy loves Chloe!" We went to the park and she fell down and scraped her hand and she raised it up to me and said, "Auntie Tiffy kiss it!" At that point I was ready to buy her a car. When we got back to the house, she was having lunch in her high chair and she was eating and chatting and out of the blue said, "Auntie Tiffy loves Chloe." I was pretty much done. It was one of the only times it's been hard for me to come back from a trip home.

I don't know how it's all going to shake down with the boy. I've only seen him a few times in his one year of life and I have two more coming up. His personality is already very different from hers and he and I will learn to relate to each other on a very different level. I'm really excited to get to know him as he grows and speaks and becomes the person he was created to be. Happy birthday, little man!

UPDATE: Here's my favorite picture from his party. He's so not into the hat.