first birthday

five days later, we had our next birthday.  our little man became a one-year-old little man!  I would be more in shock if, in the last month or so, he hadn't suddenly become a not-quite-toddling toddler, complete with opinions punctuated by yells and a compulsion to climb everything in sight =p

this first year with s has been nothing short of delight.  I've said it a hundred times - I could not imagine an easier baby.  easygoing, flexible (did he have a choice?), content, friendly (no hint of stranger anxiety), good sleeper (unless he has a runny nose), good eater (he makes everything look delicious) - he can even play by himself for a fair amount of time.  until the aforementioned opinions came along ;-), he was never fussy for no reason and only when he was overtired.  I've rarely made or changed plans solely on his account, maybe with the exception of (not) playing out in the snow in the single digits.  many people have asked whether having a third has been exponentially more difficult, and for us, I can honestly say no - at least, only to the extent that I now have a 20-pound weight attached to my left arm =p  entering the scheduled world of schools has been a much bigger change.

I never want to forget the tap, tap of his hand on my shoulder when I'm holding him, or the bouncing 'ma ma ma ma' when I get him up in the morning.  I never want to forget the little O his mouth makes when he says 'oh oh' for something dropped or his little wiggle-waggling bottom as he crawls after something at top speed or his grin and arms in the air for 'party party party!'  I may want to forget how many times he's snuck into the bathroom and stuck his arms in the toilet and how many times I've had to rescue my computer, the stereo, my phone, the remotes, you get the idea, from his chubby little paws =p  he has retaught me the meaning of 'childlike', with his wonder-full grin at a toy retrieved from under a couch, at a sister sleepily coming up the stairs, at an untimely sneeze, at the water splashing out of the faucet.  it takes a child to see the joy in the world that we adults often move through so blindly. 'truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.' [1]

enough talk!  here we are just before his birthday, trying on our flower girls dresses one last time and opening a great big package from g&g:

practice run ;-)

he put himself in there =p

on the day of his birthday, we were so glad to be able to have lunch with daddy at work before heading to the airport for our California trip:

strolling the mayo subway with dr. nicholson

fun things at the Minneapolis airport

watching the planes

the first unassisted standing caught on camera

multi-tasking!

little guy didn't seem to mind that we spent most of his special day traveling, but he did get a cake and a birthday song coming up in a few days =)

[1] - matthew 18:3