1 year ago...

Newborn...wow; where did that little baby go?!?

12 month old!!!

One year ago the most amazing little man came into our lives. He came on his own terms; on exactly the first day of my 36th week of pregnancy. He weighed just 7 pounds that day and was 19 inches long. 10 fingers and 10 toes. Absolutely perfect. I know most people would say their lives completely changed when a baby came into their life, but I really haven't felt like that at all. Oh yeah I haven't had a decent night's sleep since he was born. Oh yeah our house if filled to the gills with baby toys. Oh yeah there are the diapers and bottles and baby shampoos where there was none before. But all of these things have enhanced my life in such a profound, amazingly wonderful way that the change has not felt life altering to me. I feel like I was ready for all of these things. It was time to have these things filling up my house and taking my energy and enriching my existence.

And really, I couldn't ask for a more wonderful kid. He is so happy, smiley and inquisitive. Just a bundle of personality. I love spending my days playing with him. I love spending time snuggling, smelling and kissing him. (He has the best smell ever!) I seriously could kiss his soft, chubby cheeks all day long and not feel like I had wasted my day.

He now weighs around 24 pounds and is somewhere close to 30 inches long (I won't know the exact figures until his appointment tomorrow). He crawls like there is no tomorrow and loves to walk using the aide of anything that will help him. When he does walk holding onto our hands, he ONLY wants to hang onto 1 hand; he's no baby who needs 2 hands to hold onto! He has taken 4-5 steps on his own into the awaiting arms of his daddy, but he has yet to "really" walk. He LOVES to play outside; to explore the nature that is around him. The other night I asked our dog if he wanted to go outside and Brendan jumped up from what he was doing and made a beeline to me. He wanted to go outside!

Some nights he sleeps through the night and others he likes to get up and party a bit. OY! He takes either a long 3-3 1/2 hour nap or 2 short 1-2 hour naps a day...it's a crap shoot which he's going to pick every day. He is wearing 12, 12-18 and some 2T clothing. Size 4 diapers. Size 3 or 4 shoes. He is now sitting in a forward facing car seat (Yay!!!). He babbles dada; da-dy; mom; momma; tah; dah; ch; ssssss; ba-ba-ba-ba. I swear he tries to say "uh-oh" and "dog". He loves to look at his books, especially the ones that have things to feel on the pages. He loves Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and claps whenever Mickey is on the TV screen.

1 year ago today we welcomed Brendan into our lives. 1 year ago today I became a mommy and have loved each and every minute. I can't believe that 1 year has passed me by as quickly as this year has.