Wyatt: 12 months

I rolled over in bed yesterday morning to groggily check my cell phone. 7:12 am. There I was laying in my bed, an entire night of uninterrupted sleep behind me, on the morning of Wyatt's 1st birthday.

Exactly a year prior at 7:12 am, I was lying in bed too, only I was in a hospital room and partially numb. It was uncharacteristically quiet for a hospital, and looking back, it truly was like the eye of the hurricane. The previous three hours and been a complete blur of pain and activity, and the following days would be another blur of activity, pain, (stitches in your nether regions will do that to you) and little to no sleep. The day before, I had scheduled my induction, yet there I was not 24 hours later in the hospital with a baby warming in a crib next to me. My baby.

 

I don't think, or at least hope, I will ever forget those first moments in the hospital. The sun was rising, my baby was here and safe, and save for the random click! click! clicks! of Caleb snapping photos, all was quiet. Cozy. Calm.

How did that tiny little pink baby become this, so quickly?

 

He signs when he wants food. Water. Milk. More. He gives high fives, kisses, and walks all over the house like he owns it. He kicks balls, sticks out his tongue on command, and knows that when he hears keys jangling and locks opening, Daddy is home.

He's like a little person now. He knows what he wants and doesn't want. He knows that when I come get him from his nap, he's supposed to put his binki back in the crib, and willingly tosses it in himself. He knows that when we're done reading stories and saying prayers, he waves bye-bye to Daddy, and goes to bed. (Though this will change soon...)

He loves to push things.

 

He loves to be pushed.

 

He loves to pick up leaves and sticks and gum at the park...

 

I'm serious about that last one. I barely caught him.

Also, random goose feathers.

 

(Sorry, Cabe. Bird Flu.) 

I took him to the park on his birthday, pretty much the best thing that can happen to you when you're one. Swings. Weird plastic boats, teeter totters, water features that don't work...

We had a great time. I was standing there watching him walk around squealing and picking up sticks and I couldn't believe I was at the park with my little boy.

I was a mom. A real live mom at the park.

 

He's started to have opinions on what he eats, and when he's done. You know he's done when he starts throwing everything off his tray. He does it so matter-of-factly, like nope, don't want you anymore. Don't think I like lunch meat ham. Don't feel like scrambled eggs anymore. I've tried telling him no, even grabbed his hand to stop him mid-toss, and he started giggling. Not an I'm-being-bad giggle, like he genuinely thought it was funny that I'd grab his arm.

I tried to have a stern face, I did. But his giggles are just so dang cute!

He's just so sweet. He's never going to throw a tantrum, right? Never going to act out? Always going to be so happy to see me, to give kisses, to sit on the bed and read stories?

I do believe this is the first thing in my life where I haven't been anxious to move on to the next phase. I wanted to drive a car. I wanted to go to high school, and then wanted to get out of high school. Wanted to be in college, wanted to get out of college...this time, I think I could be perfectly happy forever watching him toddle down the hallway with a balloon, like he's just got off a horse.

Though that's what I thought about his hands slapping the wood floor as he crawled. Watching him right himself as he learned to sit up.

Man, this is cheesy. Every month I sit down to write these updates, and each time I try to express how much I love him, love his little quirks and the funny things he does, and each time I fall short. It seems impossible to put it into words, and maybe that's okay. It keeps me always appreciating the little things.

Comments

[Abby]

Ack! Tears! They're everywhere! On my face! Get them off me!

[Eliza]

Very sweet post. Happy 1st birthday Wyatt!

[Emily]

I love you wy!!!!!! I think I'm going to cry!!

[Michelle]

Oh man a year old, wow!!! I know the feeling though, where has the time gone? Someone asks me yesterday when I plan on having another one and I just stared at her with my mouth open. I mean I can hardly keep up with this one climbing and eating everything he can:) What was she thinking? Ha ha Wyatt is adorable and sometimes I think we are not old enough to be parents, it was just yesterday I was getting married...right???

[KRIS]

But when your a mom you know just what you are talking about, so your not cheesy at all.

[Stacy]

Um, yeah, seriously crying right now. He is so adorable. Happy birthday Wyatt.

[Jessica]

So beautiful. Such a good Mama. Such a sweet little boy.