A Letter to you on your First Year of Life!

365 Days and here you are. A Year Old.

Your Daddy and I are officially parents to a Toddler. 

When you read this, you will most likely be an adult. 

Which at this point I never want to think about.  

I will be posting this probably many days after your birthday, but Happy 1st Birthday baby.

First off, I love you. Daddy and I love you very much. 

And Secondly, becoming a Parent is the hardest but most rewarding change in your life you will ever experience. 

Day One.  7lbs 10oz 20.5in. 5:15am. You were born by cesarean, which is when they have to surgically cut into a Mother's abdomen and uterus to get the baby out. By the time you read this, you will know how babies are born and all about these things. I have a beautiful horizontal scar that one day I can show you. Minutes after the doctor and nurses pulled you from my belly, your Daddy wheeled right over to me with you in his arms. The best memory from your delivery besides seeing you was hearing your first cry. I remember it more than I do anything while being in the hospital those 3 days. I have to blame the medicine though for not remembering much Ha-ha. Your cry was sweet and quiet and so distinctive. You were a calm and quiet baby. Every time your Daddy and I would walk to the nursery, you were the only one not screaming. You were either asleep or curiously gazing around.

Week 1. Week 1 through probably 8, maybe even to 10 Weeks were the hardest for me. You were an angel, but recovery for your Mama was hard mentally and physically. You slept great for how a new baby should sleep. You were breastfed for the first 2 Months and then we switched to formula. Your first weekend home, we were moving. Just down the road, thankfully Ha-ha. We moved into your Great Grandpa’s house. He passed away just a couple weeks after your birth and he was able to see you before he passed. Reecie loved you right away. We had a vibrating bassinet that she would poke her head in and sniff while you'd be laying in it. These days, you feed, pat, smack, try to kiss, yell at, and lay your head on her. I had never seen Reecie bark at your Daddy but the first few months after your birth she would bark at anyone that walked in, including him. The first week, you were held and loved on by everyone. You had the cutest squishy face and a full head of curly dark hair. No matter what anyone says, you looked like your Mama as a baby. When you get older I will let you be the judge. (:

Month 1-3.  Son, your farts sounded like a grown man! You pooped maybe once every other day, but you sure farted at least every hour and not just once. At a month old you were already sleeping about 3 to 4 hours a night. You loved to cuddle. You co-slept with your Daddy and I until you started crawling, which we will get to. You were cooing and smiling when you ate and slept. You could lift and turn your head and you loved bath time. Your first bath was with your daddy. You kicked your legs and laid quietly in your daddy’s hands. I was set on your first bath being calm and warm and with one of us. I would watch videos of the hospital baths they gave babies and how to wash a baby in a tiny plastic tub and think that would be the worst. You would have been cold and most likely crying.  Even now we still get in the bathtub with you. You have become such a water bug. Splashing and dunking your head in the water. We got your newborn photos done around 8 days after your birth and you pooped and peed on the blanket the photographer made ha-ha. She also did your 6 month & 1 year photos. I love that I will have those to show you. Month 1-3, you learned and started doing so many things. By Month 2, you could suck on your hands, punch and kick the air, and coo and make noises when your daddy and I were talking to you. You started smiling a lot. You would smile at anyone baby talking to you and any ceiling fan that caught your eye. By 3 Months, you were 13lbs and could hold your head up and roll over. You were just starting to giggle and your loved seeing yourself in the mirror. You were and still are the sweetest boy even as you’re trying to bite my thigh right now as I’m sitting on this stool. It’s okay you’re just wanting to be held ha-ha. 

Month 4-6. You grew way to fast in just 4 short Months. You will learn when you have your own how fast a baby grows. I never realized it until you came along. I would get told over and over again to not blink. If there was a way to slow down time I would. Month 4 until now, you would and still chew on everything. I would say you were teething but you didn't get your first tooth until months later. You would scream and squeal constantly. You could put your feet in your mouth and jump in your bouncer. You would bounce so hard in that thing. I will show have to show you a video. I'm sure everyone in our family will tell you how hard you bounced in it. It would be coming off the floor ha-ha. You started eating baby food a little over 4 months old. Your Daddy made most of your baby food when you first started eating. The first thing you tried was squash and you loved it. You were that baby that freaked for another bite. Mouth wide open and shaking your arms for more ha-ha. You started sitting up, holding your bottle, and walking in your walker at around 6 Months. These were 3 huge milestones we loved. The first time I put you in your walker you looked at me and just smiled. Then off you went. Now... well I’ll get to that later. You celebrated your 1st Halloween & Christmas. Don't worry I didn't dress you up in a silly baby costume for your 1st Halloween. And I won’t judge you if you decide to with your babies ha-ha. We did however take you on your first visit to the Pumpkin House. You loved the music and lights in the pumpkins. For Christmas, we took your to see Santa. You didn't cry but you did touch his white beard. I'm not sure what age you will be when you read this so I won't say anymore ha-ha. You had 3 Christmas's. One at home, at your Momo and Popo's, and one in Maryland with your Mamaw and Pappy. You got so many toys, you should see our house today. It’s filled with all your toys.

Month 7-9. At 7 Months, maybe earlier you decided to start saying Dada (which would be your first word). I would say you said Dada for everything though. You loved to wiggle and dance anytime I sang or you would hear music. At this point your hair was starting to stick out over your ears with curls. We have yet to get you a haircut. I cut your bangs, but we just love your curls. You celebrated your first New Years. After you went to sleep, Mommy and Daddy played a board game. It wasn't to exciting but we loved being home with you. You started crawling by 7 Months. You army crawled until you learned to walk. Both you and your cousin Konor didn't crawl the normal way. You army crawled and he crawled like a monkey. Once you started crawling, we knew it was time for your own bed. I loved you sleeping with us, but I was excited to have my own sleeping space back. Well, we didn't transition right away and one morning you decided to crawl off the bed. Without getting into too much detail, you were fine and have never slept in bed with us since. You slept so well in your own bed. By 8 months you were sleeping though the night. After you crawled, right away you started pulling yourself up onto things. The first thing you pulled yourself up on was your toy box. After you started pulling yourself up, you started reaching to be held. It was like you learned something new right after another. By 9 months, you ate baby food on a regular schedule. You had tried all the allergy causing foods. You loved eggs the first time your tried them. You loved peanut butter and bananas. I mean we still haven’t found a food you don’t like. You were getting used to different textures. You were so big already. I wanted you to stop growing so fast. 

Month 10-11. Finally, at 10 months old your first tooth popped through. The day I noticed it, you were chewing on a white straw. I happened to look in your mouth and I was paranoid that the straw got stuck in your gum and it turns out it was a tooth. I went down to show your Momo and have her feel if it really was one. Sure enough your right eye tooth was coming in. You were born to be a shark baby. From loving water and watching the baby shark video over and over. A few days before you turned 10 Months old, you were just started to take steps. By 11 Months old you were full on walking. This is when you started to feed Reecie girl your food. She loves it by the way. At this point, you were getting into absolutely everything. You ate everything we gave you. Cuddled us so hard and made fart noises all the time.  When you were scared, you would lean into one of us like we were there to protect you. You started to have a bashful side and for some reason men with beards made you cry. (They still do). You celebrated your first Easter and we took you to take a picture with the Easter bunny. I was surprised that you didn’t cry because the Easter bunny had always been scary looking to me ha-ha. We took our first family vacation to the beach. You won't remember but we have so many pictures we can show you. We went to Tampa, FL. You loved the beach! I mean really loved it. You ate the sand like any baby would. You walked down the beach and loved the ocean hitting your feet. We let you go under water in the pool and you didn't freak out! I'm hoping to teach you to swim at an early age. You were already acting like a toddler. Growing so fast and doing so many new things.

1 Year Old.  Happy First Birthday Baby Boy.  You are now a lean, mean, sweet, walking, talking, tooting machine. Total of 5 Teeth and you are trying to run already. We threw you an outdoor themed birthday party where you and the other kids got in the pool. Everyone ate s'mores and you took your first ride on a training dirt bike with your daddy. Your personality continues to change with each day. I will admit, you can be quit rotten sometimes. You have become even more bashful. I don't like it, but I was the same way when I was little. You are still mostly shy around people you haven't seen in a while and men with beards. You and beards... I just don't get it. They must freak you out or something. For your birthday, all the family members that attended wrote you letters. Nothing long, just short simple sweet notes for you to read when you are older. 

This year has been a wild ride having you around. These are all just moments in time I feel the need to tell you about. I'm sure I’m missing something, but these are the moments that stick out the most. You have grown so much in just a year and it makes me sad knowing you are only getting older. I can't wait for the moment to hear you say I love you or mommy, my tooth fell out. You are so special to me, love. I hope you always know how loved you are. Thank you for making me a Mother and teaching me patience I never thought I had to be taught until you came along ha-ha. I love you more than words can ever describe. I hope you enjoy this letter to you for your First Year of Life!

Love, Mom.

May 24, 2016  .  5:15am  .  7lbs 10oz 20.5in

 May 24, 2017  .  22lbs 27in