Tempus Fugit

Dear Ian,

I can't believe it. Tomorrow is your first birthday. Yesterday we held your birthday party, and it was a blast - a true celebration of your first year. There were a ton of family and friends there, and you seemed to have a lot of fun. I really cannot believe that it has already been a year.

Some things I have learned from you over the past 364 days:

* If diaper changes aren't quick, a little boy CAN pee in his own ear.

* Even spit up can be funny. As it runs down your back or into your bra.

* A 31 inch tall human being can fit in a dishwasher.

* Laundry to a new person is THRILLING.

* I have an even greater capacity for patience than I originally thought.

* Just because a mommy or daddy doesn't like a particular food doesn't mean a baby wont like it.

* Children's clothes are way fun to shop for.

* Toilet paper is an amazing plaything.

* As are toilet paper tubes, paper towel rolls and Daddy's empty protein shake bottles.

* A person can almost die from sleep deprivation. But since the reason for that deprivation was you, I could get up and do it again and again.

* The tiredness and frustration didn't last as long as I thought it would as I was going through it.

* One can actually *miss* breast-fed baby poo. This grown up poo is something else.

* Walking babies thrill and terrify grown ups.

* Everthing that we see as ordinary and mundane is exciting and scintilating.

* Time stood still on those nights we were awake from 2:00 - 6:00am, but if flew from October 2009 to October 2010.

Little Man, I don't want to get too sappy with this post. So I am going to knock it off right now. This is a happy post! All about polka-dotted banners (which I made) and balloons (which you love). We had a cake for you in the shape of a number one, but you got to smash and eat a cupcake. There were 7 or so other babies there, including your cousin Payton, BFFs Graham and Isabella, Chase and Tyler and Olivia. You had TWO great-grandparents in attendance and both sets of Grands. Aunts, Uncles, friends... Tons of people came out to wish you a happy birthday. It was a happy, happy day with beautiful weather. It is a day that will be locked away in my heart and memory, right along side the memory of the actual day and moment you were born.

So tomorrow, at 3:22pm, you will be exactly one year old. You, your Daddy and I will celebrate at home, or maybe out to dinner, with you. Just the three of us. A little family that came to be a year ago.

I love you , my little one-year-old son,

Mommy