Happy Birthday, Baby

So I'm a tad early in posting this...however, a year ago at this time I was in my 14th hour of labor...and still had 22 to go. But I digress.

Tomorrow at 6:29pm G3 will officially be a toddler! He will be one year old and I cannot even believe it. People say how fast it goes, "don't blink", and "enjoy it"...they aren't kidding. It literally seems like just the other day I was holding him for the first time, that we brought him home from the hospital, that he started immersing himself into our lives. I have a few very vivid memories from after he was born...the night nurse, MaryRuth, waking me up with a soft "Lindsay. The baby's here," when she brought him in to nurse. Opening my eyes to see a very bright eyed little guy staring back at me through the bassinet. The first morning (when I say morning, I mean about 5a.m.) after nursing him, just laying him on the pillow on my lap and him sleeping curled up like a kitten. The kindness of the nurses. Gabe holding him and tucking little finger puppets in his receiving blanket. Wondering what he was going to be like.

Now...fastforward a year. We went through a blur of a summer with a newborn...on the go as always visiting people and attending weddings. Fall saw us with an infant...no longer a newborn but still a pretty little guy. G3 was starting to show signs of his sweet and mellow personality. We took pride in the fact that he seemed content just about ALL of the time. He grew chubby, started babbling and "playing" with his toys. We moved into winter and G3 moved with us...first rolling over, then sitting, then army-crawling everywhere. The next thing you know it was spring and he started to cruise around, eat big-people food, sit and play independantly, enjoy going to the park and playing with his other baby friends. And literally--in the blink of an eye--we are smack dab into another hot summer, only this year things are different. Our lives have changed so drastically, and yet not at all. We are a family of three, we have a son and he is no longer a baby...he is a very active, crazy, funny, sweet and endearing little boy.

He makes us laugh every single day. He has made marriage harder and easier at the same time. He brings out the inner child in just about everyone--I guess all babies (I mean toddlers) do. He loves the animals. He talks constantly but says very few intelligible words other than "dada" and "kee kee kee" (which means, of course, "Kitty".) He has lots of tricks, which he of course never performs for others. He is very snuggly and will lay his head on just about anyone's shoulder. He thinks his Aunt Kellie is the greatest thing to walk the planet. He has two Grammy's who are so different and who both love him tremendously. He has one grandfather who is insistent that he can say the word "Grandad" already (that is up for debate.) He has lots of little friends. He has tons of pseudo aunts and uncles by way of our friends. He is a terrible napper and a picky eater(sorry had to throw those in!!) But he sleeps wonderfully at night, and is generally pleasant most of the time. He only has two teeth, and he doesn't walk yet. He is an absolute water-baby...he LOVES the water. If you tell him you're "gonna get" him, he runs (crawls) wildly away from you. He cries when Gabe leaves.

In short--he is just perfect. I am so happy that he is mine and so, so sad that the year of "babyhood" is already over. I know I have enough pictures and memories and that he is still "kind of" a baby...but the experience is over. I really tried to stop time as much as I could (can) and bask in the moment and yet...here we are, just a few short hours away from July 8th!!

A funny thing...when I was pregnant I would often nap (go figure) and wake with a start, feeling sort of panicky with thoughts of "Holy shit we can't give the baby back...we're stuck with him forever" and "How are we going to raise a kid for 18 years?" and "I can't believe a little boy is going to live here." It seemed so surreal and unimaginable and far off. And yet--though he isn't running down the hallways throwing toys over the stairwell and tracking mud all over, he will be soon. And as sad as I am to be losing my baby, I'm so excited to see him grow and develop and become the person he is going to be...I have no idea what that it is, and I think that's the most exciting part.

Happy Birthday Buddy!

THEN

NOW