Annual Review

Memories are starting to pop up on Facebook from this time last year. I look at how small my son was, and I think about how big he is now: a year, the blink of an eye—and still so far yet to go. 

My little 7lb 8oz 21in long baby is now a 19 lb 14.5oz 30inch long toddler. In a year we have watched him grow from a tiny baby blob who would just stay in one place when you put him down, to this little bit of a boy who can walk, crawl, climb the stairs, and explore the world around him at will. I thought I had so much to teach him, but so far, he’s been the one teaching me. 

This year I have loved more deeply than ever before. I’ve loved to tears and loved into a panic. I’ve loved loudly, laughing and clapping and blowing raspberries, and I’ve loved softly, in the dark of his room in the middle of the night, whispering against the crown of his precious little head. I’ve loved with three words (I love you) and sometimes with one (no). I’ve loved against and through my own fears and anxieties (am I doing enough; what if, what if, what if). I’ve loved with the sun shining and the moon up high. I’ve loved when it’s brought us closer and when it has tested us as a family (screaming infant at 2 in the morning, am I right?). I’ve loved through the pleasures and the pains that being a mama brings. 

We have celebrated 12 months worth of milestones with him: first bath at home, first blowout, learning to hold up his head, rolling, sleeping through the night,  sitting independently, first solid food, crawling, walking, and million more little things along the way. 

We are celebrating ourselves as parents, as well. For making it to my goal of breastfeeding for an entire year. For providing a safe place for him to learn and grow. For keeping him happy and healthy. For keeping him alive. 

There are a lot of applicable cliches that come to mind at this point as well:

He’s not a baby anymore, but he will always be my baby. 

The days are long, but the years are short. 

Growing like a weed. 

In the blink of an eye

I am loving every bit of who he is becoming right before our eyes. Right now one of my favorite things is when he grabs my finger and leads me somewhere—to help him with something or to show me where he wants to go. He loves to play outside, and I love to watch him explore and learn how the world works. He has started signing “please” when he wants something (usually food) and likes to wake up Chelsey in the morning by snuggling her.

He will shake his head “no” if he doesn’t want something and loves to clap and wave. He still loves his cats and is delighted by everything they do, but he is unsure (even apathetic) about other animals. He really loves emergency vehicles, especially fire trucks. He stops playing when he hears one go by outside, which happens pretty frequently where we are located. He likes toys that make noise, especially things he can shake and rattle, and also things with wheels that he can push and roll across the floor. He still loves taking baths and will play with water wherever he can find it. We hit 100 foods just before he turned one—edamame was 100. Now that he’s a year, he can have pretty much anything. He tried milk for the first time, and seemed to like it like the Wisconsin boy he is!

He is not especially enthralled with books, but we have plenty for when he’s ready. He still doesn’t like long car rides, so we try to line them up with naps as often as we can. He immediately takes off accessories like sunglasses and hats, and also turns into an alligator when it’s time to get dressed or have his diaper changed. 

In the next couple of months we will be working on mastering the sippy cup as we transition off of bottles. In September I successfully weaned off of pumping at school and have been nursing him just in the morning and at night. By the end of the year, we will be working on weaning off of those feeds completely—I honestly think it will be harder on me than on him. We will work on a new bedtime routine during that transition, as he currently nurses to sleep. 

I recently read somewhere a phrase that has really stuck with me. To paraphrase: “He will never be this young again; neither will you.” Knowing how fast time goes makes those words hit different. In the next year we will focus on making the most out of every single moment we have as we continue to grow together and constantly redefine our roles within our little family ❤️