My Baby is One!

Ok, so this post is overdue.  Mitchell's birthday was Wednesday, and his party was last weekend.  Life has just been so crazy lately and I really haven't had the time to sit down and devote the time to this I want.  The past week has been such a whirlwind, and I have been somewhat emotional thinking about how our lives have changed in the course of 365 days (give or take a few). 

(2 Days Old)

This time last year we were coming home from the hospital with a new baby, both scared and apprehensive, but excited about getting to know our little man. We had no idea about the hard nights we would endure, buckets of tears we would shed (by both me and Mitchell) and yes, the arguments we would have when we were frustrated, confused or just plain tired.  I still haven't lost all my baby weight, and there are some days I swear that my house will never be clean again, that I'll never have time to sit down and just read a book, and that I wish I could just run out and accomplish a quick errand that had just occured to me needing doing.

(1 Year Old)

However, we also had no idea how deeply we would fall in love. Not just with our son, but with each other in a way that was different than the way we'd loved before, tested and forged by confronting and overcoming the difficult moments that parenting holds while sharing in the immesurable joy that it also brings!  I cannot imagine what my life would be like without him in it.  I live for the first grin he gives me in the morning, for his giggles, his babbles, watching his chunky legs churn as he motors around the house, his inquisitiveness, and his little mischevious streak.  I cherish every snuggle he gives me, steal every kiss I can from him, and never miss telling him how much his Daddy and I love him.  My priorities certainly have changed, but I can honestly say that I really don't mind that a bit. 

(Goofin' with Daddy)

We are so amazed that we've been given this wonderful gift of Mitchell.  He has such a sweet, happy spirit, and I pray that he continues to be so good-natured for all of his days.  He rarely meets a stranger and seems to be a natural flirt (when he gets to high school I am probably going to be a mess over these same qualities, right?).  This boy has me firmly wrapped around his tiny little fat fingers.

(Birthday morning with Mommy)

He's always been in a hurry in life (except for while I was pregnant with him, they had to induce me and then still it was about 17 hours before he finally arrived), bearing weight on his legs at a couple of months, rolling over at 3 months, first tooth at just over 4 months, sitting up and crawling during his 5th & 6th months and finally, taking a step just shy of 9 months and fully walking by 10 months. In such a developmental whirlwind, it can be hard to stop and smell the roses, so to speak.

(Mitchell wants to know what the fun is in sittng still, anyway?)

But it has been so fun to see him grow over this past year.  There's not much he's doing new from his 11 month update: babbling a bit more, pointing to indicate he wants something, shaking his head no intentionally now (so cute, but I know soon I will probably be wanting to eat those words), and starting to try to say a few words that we can just barely make out.  He will say something that sounds like Dixie, shoe, and my favorite, which is sit down.  Obviously only we can make these out.

(I hope you can see the blurred hand here, he was wailing and flapping and I'm sure our neighbors appreciated the wake-up call, this being about 7 a.m. on Sunday morning)

And grow he has!  At his 12 month check-up, he weight 24 lbs, 4 oz (75th percentile) and was 31 1/4 inches long (90th percentile).  His legs have started to get longer and his pants now look more like he is going wading (time to hit my mom up for some new ones).

(Barely filling up the carseat, on the way to our first doctor's appt four days after he was born)

(Using the carseat as a jungle gym)

I have been a bit apprehensive about how he'd take to phasing out the bottle at school, but all of a sudden in the last week or two he has gotten great about drinking from a cup and is almost entirely on cow's milk now during the day.  He just nurses once before bed, and I will continue that until baseball season is over so John will be around to help put him to bed consistently during that process.  He has just taken so naturally to the changes that come with growing up. 

(Big Boy...Big Belly)

He starts in his new classroom on Monday (delayed slightly by them wanting another child who will probably have a harder time to be able to move up with him, so that they both have a buddy while they are adjusting), and while we will miss his teachers in the infant room, he hasn't really been an "infant" in so long that it is clearly time! 

We're ready to charge head-first into year two of life with Mitchell!  Thanks for the encouragement you've given through gifts, notes, e-mails, phone calls and yes, reading this blog.  It is so nice to have a place to express myself AND show off my sweet thang!