Happy Birthday, Baby Boy!

At this exact time a year ago, my contractions were starting to get incredibly uncomfortable, I was dilated to about 3cm, and my wonderful husband had his laptop playing Jewel's Lullaby CD with his (uncomfortable) chair pulled up to my bedside while I was trying to catch some sleep while the pain meds were doing their job.

All day, I've found myself stopping and thinking "At this exact time last year....", and it's literally been breaking my heart. My sweet baby boy will be a whole year old tomorrow and I'm never going to get to do this again. No more baby stuff. No more fun baby stages. None of it. I can't say that I'll miss the sleepless nights, but I'd still take them to do it one more time (I always wanted 4).

My labor with Phoenix was the most emotional experience I've ever had with Dayton. While of course we had been through it twice before, for some reason (maybe because we knew this was the last time), we bonded more in those few hours than we had in so long. We had been so scared for the weeks before (due to the scare with his brain ventricles and being told he would need a shunt immediately after birth and would probably be mentally impaired) and when the time actually came, we were definitely in it together. I didn't feel alone for a single second during the process.

Anyway, here I am...freaking out that Phoenix is a year old, and yet, this is just the beginning! We've just gotten going. His little personality is starting to really shine. He's starting to develop in the most amazing ways. And I can't wait to see what he and Michael will do once he's a little older and they're really capable of running a muck! And I keep telling myself, "ANYTIME NOW! ANYTIME NOW HE'LL START SLEEPING THROUGH THE NIGHT!"....I'm probably not that lucky, but I keep telling myself that to ease the baby fever ;)

We'll be having his party on Sunday and I can't wait to see how he reacts. In the meantime, enjoy some pictures of our first year together! =)

Happy Birthday, baby boy! <3 b="b">

The drugs were working! 

About 6 minutes old!

All three boys <3 p="p">

On his way home...

AMAZING hospital pictures!

Sweet boy <3 p="p">

6 weeks with our midwife, Peggy

Mommy and Phoenix

10 months...and a mess!

Sweetness!

11 months...and still no teeth!

Today, my sweet baby boy is 11 months old! I can't believe it. It feels like just yesterday, I was in the hospital having him. The last 11 months have been a whirlwind! And yes, he's still as toothless as the day he was born. But it's amazing to watch him gum down some goldfish or a banana. The kid has talent.

In the last two weeks, he went from simply sitting on the floor, to getting up on his knees, to TAKING OFF! He's a spitfire! And now, we can't keep him still. He's all over the place and into everything. In the last few days, he also started pulling up on his own (Slow down, baby boy! Mommy isn't ready for this!).

One of his favorite things to do now is to wave at people. Even if I'm simply sitting across the room, he has to wave. When we come or go, he waves. Sometimes we just have to look at him and he waves. It's the CUTEST wave I think I've ever seen (except for the baby waves ZoeJane and Michael did, haha). He gets so tickled at himself when he does it...it's adorable.

And finally, the little monkey has got a few words under his belt. He says dada, mama, and yuuummmm. He loves that he's able to say mama or dada and get our attention immediately. In fact, sometimes I think he loves it a little too much. He calls one of us just so he can laugh when we turn around. If he calls Dayton and Dayton doesn't respond fast enough, he lets out the loudest grunt/"DA!" that he can muster. That one leaves all of us laughing.

It's been a bittersweet 11 months. I love watching him learn and grow, but I hate knowing that this is the last time that I'll be doing the baby things. It breaks my heart just a teense. And because it's the last time, I'm constantly worried that I'm going to miss something.

So, here we are at 11 months in, baby boy. Hold on tight. We're just getting started! (I love you, I love you, I love you!)