Guess who's one!

Matthew turned one year old last Wednesday and it has been one heck of a celebration week! I took Wednesday off from work, mostly because I wanted to spend the day with my little man, but a small part of me also took off because I knew it would be an emotional day for me. I am thrilled to watch Matty grow, but a very small part of me is sad that my baby is no longer a baby. He will have no more first holidays, no more first steps, no more first laughs, and so on. He's officially a toddler who loves to run, laugh, babble, eat and play with his best bud Marley. 

So Wednesday morning, Matthew and I got up, ate some breakfast and went to get his first birthday pictures taken at Buy Buy Baby. He started off the photo shoot very serious and refused to crack a smile, but as he warmed up, his smile got wider and he started playing with some of the props. The photos turned out great! While we waited for the prints, we shopped around the store and Matthew picked out some blocks and a farm game that sings and makes animal sounds. He thought it was hilarious as I tried to mimic the snorts of the pig and the cluck of the chicken... the other moms in the store thought I may have lost it. I didn't care because we had a great time testing out the toys before we made our final selections.

Then, we did his other favorite activity and went grocery shopping for his birthday party! He was kind of over it though and let me know he was ready to go home at the check out by rubbing his eyes and whining. Even so, he refused to take a long nap, so we spend the rest of the afternoon snuggled up on the couch watching Disney Jr.

After his dad got home from work, we went to French Pub for Matt's birthday dinner, and then back home for cake and ice cream with his grandparents. Not that I had much doubt, but Matthew LOVED his birthday cake. He had such an exhausting day that he fell asleep right after his bath as I was putting on his pajamas. Although we didn't do anything super exciting, I think he had a fun day just hanging out with his mom and dad.

Saturday, we had a small family party where Matthew was the center of attention. It was a Jake and the Neverland Pirates theme, and the kids loved breaking a pinata of Jake and doing arts and crafts. It was a lot of work preparing for the party, and I definitely complained a lot about all that needed to get done, but it was worth all of the frustration and aggravation because he had a wonderful time with his aunts, uncles, grandparents and cousins. Happy first birthday buddy! I love you.

Nostalgic

This morning I woke up feeling a little down thinking that my baby isn't really a baby any more.

He will turn one a week from tomorrow, and I cannot believe it. I feel like he just got here.

I remember so vividly the moment he was placed in my arms for the first time, and yet, this first year has been kind of a blur. I recall snippets of time that melted my heart, but I wish I could capture the memories over this past year - the best one of my life - in a bottle so that I will always remember exactly his newborn smell; his first smile; his first laugh; the first time he rolled over, crawled and walked; the first time he said mama and dada; the moment when he and Marley became best friends. The list goes on and on. I'll never have these firsts with him again, and a part of me is a little sad that I won't get those moments in time back.


Each day Matthew does something new to amaze me, and I am so proud of the little boy he is becoming. He's sweet and easy going. He makes me laugh daily, and his growing personality show little nuances of both Eric and myself. I look forward to seeing the man he becomes - just not so fast.

As much as I love watching him grow and explore new things, I miss the days where he would cuddle with me for hours on end. Now, he wants to run all over the place, chase Marley, climb the stairs, jump on dada, and blow raspberries on mama. He also loves to escape during diaper changes, give me love bites (I'm working on nipping that in the bud) and terrorizing Marley by ripping out clumps of her hair and sticking his fingers up her nose. That dog that was so crazy as a puppy really makes me proud of the dog she has become. She happily lets Matt terrorize her, and although she does get jealous that Matt has taken away some of her attention, she's so good with him. He goes WWE on her constantly, jumping on her and pinning her when she least expects it and she just wags her tail harder when he gives her Matthew hugs. The growing bond and friendship between them makes me smile.

This time last year...

This time last year I was miserable, fat and antsy to meet my little one.

This time last year, I was getting as much work done so that I could enjoy my maternity leave and not have to worry about what was going on at the office.

This time last year, I was having one last ultrasound of my baby to make sure everything was a-okay and he or she (didn't know the gender at this point) was healthy -estimated to be about 7.3 lbs at 38 weeks in utero - and about to make his debut. My how times have changed.

Yesterday, I took my almost one year old grocery shopping. It's one of his favorite activities. He loves to ride in the cart, wave to other customers and babble down every aisle we go. I have a normal conversation with him, talking about what we should buy and ask him what flavors he'd like. He responds in baby talk that I don't quite understand, but it's a great conversation nonetheless, because it's great mommy and Matty time. In fact, we had a lot of mommy and Matty time this weekend, and it was THE BEST!

On Friday, Matt and I went to an impromptu play date. I shopped for make up and Matty played with other toddlers at the party. He isn't really into playing with other kids yet, so he basically kept to himself and played with a wooden toy duck, but he enjoyed himself and when he got tired, he reached up and nuzzled my hair until it was time to go.

On Saturday, I took a mommy time out for a couple of hours to go shopping and  meet baby Emerson - one of my best friend's new baby boy. He's gorgeous and such a tiny little peanut. I tried to remember Matthew being that small and, to be honest, it's a little fuzzy. I mean I remember him being a newborn, but at the same time I don't. It is the strangest thing, because this has been the quickest and longest year of my life. One study says that it's normal for moms to "forget" the newborn stage, because if we remembered it all we may not have more babies. But I didn't mind the newborn stage, so why don't I remember it very clearly? It's a conundrum.

Later Saturday night, Matt and I watched cartoons, played chase and laughed in hysterics at each other. I, of course, captured much of it with my iPhone... sorry for clogging up your Facebook and Istagram feeds, but I couldn't help myself. He is just too darn cute. 

He is growing up so fast. I just wish time would stand still for just a little while, so that I can enjoy my baby a little longer before he turns one and is a pre-toddler.