2.13.10 (44/365)

Happy Birthday baby J!

Here is a letter I wrote him on February 11

February 11, 2010
My Sweet (almost) One Year Old,
I don’t even know where to start such a letter to you, but I think the best thing to say would be, “I love you.” You fill our hearts with joy every single day, and I find myself laughing at or with you many times during the day. You fit into our family perfectly and we feel like we have known you for a long time—not just a year.
As I write this, I am thinking about tomorrow. Although you were technically born on February 13th, it all started on the 12th, and we thought for sure you would share a birthday with Auntie A. We were wrong—but only by an hour and eleven minutes! As I go through my day tomorrow, I will stop at points during the day and snuggle you and enjoy your last day as an eleven month old. I will look back and remember how I went to the doctors in the morning, walked around a few different stores to help the labor, got Subway for lunch, how I called Daddy at work and told him to hurry up and get home! (A kind of crazy fact: that was Daddy’s last day at his old job, so he got to leave a little early because of you!)
At dinner tonight, I looked at you in your highchair and said to Daddy, “Remember when we used to have to hold him while we ate so he wouldn’t scream?” Wow, that seems like so long ago, but I still cannot wrap the fact that you are a one year old around my head.
We love you so so very much and are proud to call you our son.
Here is some info about you:
*You started to walk on January 21st! Yay! You now walk most everywhere and I don’t think I’ve seen you crawl in about a week.
*You will eat pretty much anything and eat a lot of table food. You still eat some jarred food, but we are cutting back
*You will be starting to drink milk in the next few weeks
*You babble a lot and even say “Bub-bub-bub” when we talk about the fish. (fishes say bub-bub-bub, right?) You do not say any real words yet, though.
*You are cutting you 9th tooth
*You drink 3 8oz bottles and have meal time with us now
*You only cry when you are hurt, and when we lay you down to change your diaper. (That is not a real cry though, just an annoyed one)
*You DO whine to be picked up a lot. It’s hard to prepare a meal because you stand at my legs and pull till I pick you up!
*You are turning into such a daddy’s-boy! If Daddy leaves the house, you get sad or try to look for him.
*You understand a lot of things I say to you. You will take your paci out, find your snug, sit down, look at the fish, give kisses, and a bunch of other things. Today I asked you to bring me the book that was on the floor by you, and you picked it up and brought it to me.
We love you! Happy First Birthday! Love, Mama