"One"derful Weekend...

Today is THE day. The day that I've known has been coming since this day last year. Today is LD's first birthday. One year ago at this moment I was in labor bringing the most incredible little guy into this world. I can't understand how the three years we battled infertility and pregnancy loss crept by so incredibly slowly, as in each second literally felt like it took 10 years, and once LD arrived time began to speed by at a breakneck pace. During this year my cuddly sleeping newborn has grown into an independent inquisitive toddler. He's gone from barely moving to scaling couches, boxes, toys fearlessly. As I'm writing this he's walking across the room(by himself!!) to engage in his new favorite activity, terrorizing er...I mean...petting the cats. Each day lately brings a new accomplishment and with it so much pride I can barely hold it all in, sometimes a bit of it escapes in joyous cheers and enthusiastic clapping. He's walking on his own, it's not quite his exclusive mode of transportation but each day it becomes more and more the favored one. He's got 7 sharp teeth, the finger toothbrush had to be retired a few months ago because those little guys can do some damage. We're working on some potty training and it's going pretty well. He's feeding himself and not too picky at all. He does fantastic in restaurants and continues to love to be out in public. He loves to swim and play in the water. He loves other babies, although he's a hair puller so he can be a bit of a bully. He still loves to hug, even strangers, and me especially when he knows he's done something he shouldn't have. It makes it hard to lay down the law sometimes. As does the fact that he's pretty sure "No" is the funniest word in the English language. He still wakes up between 3:30-4:30am for a bottle but goes to bed at 7pm without a fuss. He's usually ready for the day by 7am. He naps for an hour in the morning and an hour in the afternoon. Never more, sometimes less.

We had his birthday cake a little early because yesterday he went to another birthday party and I wanted his cake to be the first cake he had. Daddy and I took him on a picnic and then we had cake for dessert. LD wasn't too interested in eating the cake but really liked how squishing the cake and frosting felt in his hands. Mommy's not complaining because that meant more cake for me!!

In other news I did retire "the girls" finally. I've been ready for a while but I was having a hard time letting go. I plan to do an exclusively pumping recap post about my experience when I get some time, hopefully it will help someone in the future. For now I'll leave you with some birthday photos...I must go and celebrate some more with my ONE YEAR OLD!!