1 Year

Little C turned 1 year old yesterday. On Sunday we had a birthday party and welcomed lots of friends and family, so yesterday seemed a little uneventful as we had done most of our celebrating over the weekend.

We did start the day by sneaking into the munchkin's bedroom while he was sleeping to pick him up and hold him and just cherish those few small still moments. Mr. C and I just smiled and held him - we had made it, were officially the parents of a 1 year old!

Once the day got going, I had a thing to go to, and since my mom was still staying with us, she watched the munchkin while I took off for the meeting. Little C's friend Caroline stopped by after lunch for some splash time in the baby pool that was still out from the birthday party the day before, and Mr. C picked up Boston Market for dinner since I had spent a lot of time in the kitchen over the weekend for the party and was really boycotting cooking.

Even without much hoopla, it was a special day, and I was a lot more emotional about it than I thought I would be. There's just something about your first child's first birthday that is monumental. You are thrilled you survived, even more thrilled your child survived, and yet it is a slightly bittersweet day because that first year just flies by so much faster than you anticipate.

This past year has been filled with ups and downs, lots and lots of trips to the doctor, grand goals for parenting (and realistic adjustments), and many many milestones.

As of late, the munchkin has taken to walking EVERYWHERE. He's been 'walking' for a while, but for weeks and weeks, he would only take 2 steps. Then it was four steps. He'd get going with so much momentum and we'd eagerly count, one-two-three-four....then he would fall, sit or slide down to his knees to crawl the rest of the way. About a week before his birthday, though, he took 7 steps. It was completely out of the blue, and the next day he took 9, the next day 14, the next day 17, and after that we stopped counting because he walked from one end of the living room to the other. He had proven he could walk as far as he wanted, but despite the steady progression, crawling was the preferred form of transportation.

That all changed this past weekend. He just decided it was faster (or at least more entertaining) to walk from point to A to B than to crawl. It's still comically unsteady, but he'll run around, hands in the air, delighted with his new found skill.

He has also figured out how to take his diaper off. I left him for three seconds to run to the bathroom and when I came back, the munchkin had stripped himself down and was streaking around the living room, diaper held proudly over his head. No more pantless naps for you!!

The funniest new achievement is how well Little C can now use his voice. It's hilarious to see him point and jabber (loudly) at just about anything or anyone. He even scared a little boy at the park the other day when he walked right up to him and started pointing and shouting in his face. I tried to explain to the little boy that it was just his way of 'talking', but the three year old started crying. Guess he didn't think this new found method of communication was quite as cute as I did. :)

As for teeth, we're up to 6. Four on top and the 2 on the bottom. More to come soon, I think. He's been tugging at his ears but according to the doctor doesn't have an ear infection, so hopefully we'll be seeing a few more pearly whites soon!

Anyway, here are a few pictures from Little C's 1 year photo shoot with Mackenzie Wheatley of Chubbyfoot Photography.

Happy Birthday little man!! Your daddy and I love you more than you can imagine - you are truly the light of our world. This past year has been the most joyful, fun, challenging and rewarding year of our lives. We have loved watching you grow and learn and hope and pray we have many many more years to enjoy more of the same. We can't wait to see what the future has in store for you. All our love to you on your first birthday, mommy and daddy.