Happy Birthday Baby Boy

Si,
 I simply cannot believe I have gotten the privilege of being your mommy for a whole year already! I don't know where the time has gone! Last year I was looking fo the fast forward button for pretty much all of May, now I am frantically searching for pause. I cannot even express how amazing it has been watching you discover the world and learn new things every day. You are way to smart for your own good and it generally takes you minutes to figure out something new.

You love to bounce. You bounce constantly. Whether you are being held, sitting, or standing.

If you do not have your lovey, you cannot fall asleep. And it is adorable. You reach for it as soon as we lay you in your crib.

You are not a snuggler, but every time you wake up, I get about 5 minutes of cuddles that melt my heart every single time.

You love being outside. You will stand by the sliding glass door for over an hour just looking outside.

You love your stroller. When we go for walks, you freeze. You do not move at all! It is so goofy!

You love swinging. We tried it for the first time a week ago and you fell asleep in it. This is on our list of things to buy for you this summer :)

You are a pro at drinking out of your sippy and you prefer water over formula or milk (so much like your mama)

Your laugh is hilarious. When you really laugh you sound just like mama. Your belly laughs are awesome and make everyone around smile. And you laugh all the time!

You love your daddy. As soon as he comes in the house, you require his full attention. And if you don't get it you let us know!

String cheese and animal crackers are currently your favorite foods. You can eat your weight in either of them!

You love it when we read to you. Which makes me really happy because its about the only time you actually sit still for more than 5 minutes!

If I let you, you would spend all day, every day outside. You are so content out there!

You are terrified of the vacuum cleaner and bubbles.

Daddy's air compressor, nail gun, and anything else loud that Daddy does is hilarious. I don't understand how that can be fun but the vacuum is scary, silly silly boy!

You found out that when we are in the basement, you echo. As soon as we get down there, you start to talk and laugh.

You can go up the stairs, but not down.

If you really wanted to, you could walk. But please don't rush to do it. Mommy is fine with you just crawling!

You love bathtime and scream and cry and arch your back when we take you out.

You love to share you food right now, which is great, unless its pre-soaked....

When you are done eating, all the food left goes right on the floor.

I can't thank you enough for making me a mommy little man. I don't know what I would do without you and I can't wait to see where the next year takes us! Love you so much little man!

Fast Forward vs. Pause

Sometimes I am slow to come to terms with certain things. Some changes or really unexpected news...and apparently the passage of 1 years' time. I cannot wrap my head around the fact that tomorrow will be 1 year since my little man joined us. Today, a year ago, was my last day at the best job with the funnest people I have ever had. I still miss it and them. I was a nervous wreck most of the day, waddling around, almost needing help to get out of my chair to help customers. I'm sure it was a sight. In the moment, it was all kind of surreal. But I know they made an impact on my life, because otherwise I wouldn't miss them a year later.

Almost every day this week, I have gotten teary remembering something from when Si was still just a tiny baby. Last night, as I was about to lay my not cuddly almost one year old in his crib, he laid his head on my shoulder and wrapped his arms around my neck. I lost it. I was standing in front of his crib, the crib that used to look HUGE with my tiny baby taco swaddled in the middle of it, with an almost one year old little boy wrapped around my neck. How did that happen?! I am with him every single day. There has been literally 1 day in this whole year that I have not seen him, and yet I cannot wrap my mind around the fact that tomorrow, he will be 1. It is seriously unreal to me.

Last year at this time, I was looking everywhere for the fast forward button. I wanted to be done with being pregnant so that I could meet the little person I had been growing for 9+ months. I wanted labor and delivery to be over (although I can't say I was scared to go through it). I just wanted to meet the person I loved so much, even though I didn't know if it was a little lady or a little man. Now, I am frantically searching for the pause button.

I hope I find it before tomorrow. If I don't, I will most definitely need to find some tissues.