We survived the first year!

Little B is now one year and two days old. His party has unfortunately been postponed until next Saturday, much to our disappointment and inconvenience. Thank goodness he’s not old enough to be disappointed yet! A good two thirds of the people we invited couldn’t make it due to illness – so we learned that while the upside to a Winter birthday is the mid-year toy sales, the downside is that everyone is always sick. And there’s no point having a big party with no guests, so we’ve postponed to the 17th. The worst part? The sheer amount of party food in our house is far too tempting to last the whole week, so by the time his party finally happens, I’ll have gained 10 kilograms. Anyway, I will put up photos on Flickr and make another blog post from Blake’s birthday party when it’s been had (along with the photos of his birthday-day).

This past year has been an amazing journey, learning curve, challenge, blessing, life-changing event. It seems like just yesterday that I was reading the little ticker graphic on my blog, Daniel sitting beside me, getting giddy reading about how our little 8 week old jellybean embryo no longer had a tail or finger webbing. Every week we would check three or four different pregnancy sites, reading the week-by-week descriptions, learning one or two new facts on each site. We would measure in-utero Blake in centimeters and get excited over eyelids and the glowing outline of his (freakishly large) head during each ultrasound. We were so excited and nervous about the “jellybean” inside me, feeling him kick and roll, wondering what he’ll look like. And then one night he arrived and in a matter of seconds, our lives changed.

So many incredible new things happen for humans in the first year of life. So many new discoveries, new experiences, firsts. Over the last twelve months Daniel and I have watched someone smile for the very first time, heard the sound of his laughter before it would be heard by anyone else in this world, fed him his first foods, watched him learn to roll, scoot, crawl…walk…run and dance. The shrill cat-like yowls of a newborn upset because even he didn’t know what he wanted have become the insolent screams of a toddler who knows exactly what he wants and wants it now! It took less than two years for this new life to transform from a fertilized microscopic egg to an independent little boy.

Every week there have been new discoveries, milestones met…Daniel and I have the blessing of being able to appreciate all the small, simple things in life, experiencing life alongside a child. There is no boredom and no rest. It has been a challenge, there have been arguments and tears and breakdowns. But there has also been much love, laughter and there is an amazing bond between the three of us.

My beautiful boys, thank you. I wish there were words to say you how much I love you.

Blake’s Baby Record Book is complete, with the last page with room for a photo, the text reading “Now you are One!”

Click here for a collection of short videos of Blake’s milestones from birth – 1.
Click here for a collection of sets of photos from his first year.

Tagged as: Blake, Celebrations, Milestones