growing up: 12 months

At 9:45 a.m. today my sweet baby William will be one year old. How did I ever live without him? I remember dreaming about the day that I would be a mother. I dreamt of bedtime stories, snuggled up on the couch and kissing just-washed hair. I dreamt of being "the only one" my babies wanted to kiss their owies. I dreamt of loving those babies forever and ever. But, not until 9:45 a.m. on November 2, 2009 did I feel all those dreams rush from imagination to reality. It was this overwhelming surge over my body - like I was battery-powered but someone had finally flipped the "on" switch. My life was incomplete until the moment when I kissed two perfect hands, kissed two perfect feet and kissed two perfect cheeks. I love him so!

first sight.

At this point he:

- is walking. A lot. And is quite good at it for being a beginner.

- says a few new words: "yum", "moo", "bbbbbb" (when he pushes his cars) and is learning some sign language.

- is fully weaned. I miss breastfeeding a lot and I think he does too sometimes but he needed to be weaned before our trip to NYC and this is how it worked out.

- has learned to quietly say "ahhhhhhh" while driving on the freeway because it makes a funny noise with all the shaking (our car might need a tune-up). It's pretty hilarious and we love it.

little lion - halloween 2010



dream job

prunes without limits.

We went to dinner last night and I had to laugh when I saw two young, single guys watching in horror as William dropped grain after grain of rice onto the floor (followed by all our utensils and plates). The table next to them sat a couple with a screaming toddler and an overtired infant who quickly shoveled their dinner down so they could leave. The table next to us was full of a family of four children, including a helmet-clad infant who was throwing a temper tantrum about his pacifier. I chuckled as I imagined that these two guys' conversation must have included the phrase "I'm so glad I don't have kids".

As David and I ate dinner (and in between spoonfuls for William) we talked about those childless men and about how being a parent is really tiring. When you look at our situation from the outside, it seems like an awful thing. But the joke's on them because the reality is that we wouldn't trade the food messes or the loud banging of plastic plates on the floor for anything. Being a parent really does require a great sense of humor to laugh at all the things that drive you crazy (like William's new favorite trick of dropping everything and watching me pick it up).

And then David left a generous tip for whoever got to pick up the grains of sticky rice all over the floor. That is a job I don't envy!

a very dramatic story

The other morning I brought William into my bed to nurse him while I tried to wake up (in other words: my daily routine). He was wide awake though and was playing with my hair and face while eating so I couldn't really get much sleep. I finally decided to just give in and wake up. As I fully opened my eyes and looked at my sweet son with his big, brown eyes looking at me . . . I saw it. A big ____________ on his arm making its slimey way up to his neck. I screamed and brushed it onto the sheets and whisked William off the bed while he laughed, thinking I was playing a funny game. In my head I'm thinking, "Is it a centipede? Is it centipedes or millipedes that are bad? Are they poisonous? Can they kill you? Did it sink its teeth in my baby? Does it have teeth? We're going to die!!!!!" (I added that last part for dramatic effect - cause this story really needs more drama, you know.)

And then I realized that I was being really dramatic and that it was probably just a caterpillar (and a rather pretty one at that - the grey and yellow is quite stylish). Too bad I flushed the little sucker.

The end.