My sweet baby boy, what a fine toddler you have grown in to! Daddy and I are so greatly proud of everything you do! You amaze us every single day in every thing that you do. We are always surprised at how you seem to have grown over night!!! You are the best thing that has ever happened to both of us. "Flesh of my flesh and bone of my bone," your Grandma Teri would say. I understand now why that is so meaningful to a parent. You are the product of our love and purpose of our being!
It seems like just yesterday we brought you home! You were just a helpless tiny infant that would stare up at our faces with wonder and a bit of confusion. Then, you started recognizing us and your pets, but all you could do was give us a little smirk. How excited we were when you first showed us your joy!!! We would do anything for any amount of time just to see you smile! All of the sudden, you started sitting up and rolling over... How amazing! SO early! He's advance! We told everyone we knew what you were up too and how impressed we were! Then we realized, it's time for solid food... IT'S BEEN SIX MONTHS!? Today, I woke up... it is February of 2013. You will be one year old in seven short days. You can walk, you show pride in yourself, you are talking and carrying conversations, very sure of what you are saying, and you haven't stopped amazing us yet!
Watching your love for us blossom and seeing you express it has brought us the most joy we could ever imagine experiencing. You are our world. We love you to the moon and back!
So this month is to you!
My sweet boy, it is finally your BIRTHDAY!!! What a happy birthday it is! We had such a big fun day planned for you and I couldn't wait to get started! You had your favorite foods for breakfast, which were eggs, potatoes and pancakes! You LOVED the pancakes. We let you watch cartoons in your birthday suit and it was ahhhh-dorable. Then we put you down to nap in your bed and you slept a record nap time in there! You never cease to amaze me.
After your big boy nap, we left right away to go to Raleigh. You didn't have a clue, but we were taking you to an awesome kid's museum called Marbles. You absolutely loved it and played for over two hours, nonstop! You were walking all over the place just like the big kids all around you. We couldn't stop taking pictures and videos, you were just too adorable! You loved the splash zone; we practically had to drag you away! There was also a slime station where you would squish it in your hands and splat it on the floor. You tried to eat it, but we intercepted! Luckily, you don't have to take our word for all the awesomeness that you are because we have proof...
After you had another short nap at Mummi & Ukki's, we went out to dinner at Kanki! This is one of your mommy and daddy's favorite places to eat and we thought you'd like to see the cooking. Well, we were right! You cheered up as the chef came out and started preparing our meal. We celebrated two birthdays at that table and when they were singing to the 12 year old, your daddy and I secretly sang to you instead. It was only the 100th time you heard that song on this fine day! We headed home afterwards to get you to bed (much later than usual!) and finish preparations for your party!
We had such a wonderful time with you on your birthday. It was as perfect as possible and brought bliss to our hearts to see you so happy. We are in love and never falling out if it.
Oh! Did I mention you started
clapping just in time for your birthday?! You started a few days before, but on your birthday you wanted to clap all day! At Marbles, in the car, at Kanki- clap clap clap!!!
Saturday, February 9th
Party day!!! We followed up your terrific birthday with a day to celebrate your birth as a family. We ate some delicious taco / ranch style & queso dip that your Daddy made, a beautiful array of fruit &, of course, Aunt Lydia's famous cupcakes! She made the adults a cinnamon flavor, while yours was a whole grain muffin filled with fruits and veggies! We still gave you some icing and you went bonkers on it! When we sang 'Happy Birthday' to you, you just stared at everyone with your mouth open and listened. How did we all know the same song!? :)~ After Miss Téa blew out your candle we let you dig in. Then it was gift time! After opening the first gift, bath toy from Aunt Lyd, you didn't care for any others! You just chewed on that one and lost interest! So all the other children opened your gifts for you. It was hard for me to sit back and let them open your gifts.. but you didn't seem to think you were missing out on anything so as I watched you and fought to see your gifts, I decided we'd introduce you to your new things when we were alone again.
Even though you were battling a case of constipation and didn't have a good nap earlier in the day, I think you had a good party! You walked all around as everyone admired your skills and talked about how well you were doing! You love to show off already (& I love to show you off)!
In general, I'd say your first birthday was a smashing success!! We love you so much and want to give you the world! For now, you'll just have to accept our love.
Later in the evening, while you were asleep, Mommy took pictures of your future girlfriend (in utero). Tina needed some maternity pictures so we had a blast taking pictures! You sleeping in your bed all night like a big boy has given me a whole new freedom! Thank you Boober!
On Valentines Day, we went to story time at the library and then to your 12 month checkup with Dr. Goth. She said you were growing and developing perfectly! Your height and weight (23.4 lbs) were around the 50th percentile and your head was around the 75th. You always had a slightly larger noggin. A more significant happening, you had your first ever vaccine! We have been struggling with the decision of vaccinating since before you were born. We decided we would do one shot at a time starting at a year old. We want you to be safe, strong and healthy, I just wish they didnt add all the extra ingredients in these shots! Either way, you got the DTAP vaccine. You didn't even cry! She stuck it to you and you yelled out and tried to swat her away but then went back to nursing. She also pricked your finger to find that you had a slightly low hemoglobin level (9.4). She milked your finger hardcore and then it goes for the next 30 minutes. You sucked on it until you had blood all over your mouth! My little vamp :). You will now be getting a steady intake of high iron foods!
