Firsts

Yesterday was Patrick's first birthday. Today we celebrated with our family. He seemed to enjoy it all - the attention, the chaos, the tissue paper, and especially the cupcakes.  He is such a sweet, happy little guy. He's ornery and daring. He keeps us on our toes for sure. He's a great eater, not a great sleeper, and is currently in a Mama's boy phase. His favorite tricks right now include climbing through the doggy door and dumping Botchie's water dish. (Amazingly, B is so patient with him!) Patrick has started sharing his feelings a little more - mostly when we close the doggy door or stop him from climbing on something. He says several words: uh-oh, bye-bye, mama, dada, and occasionally dog and ball ( ok, it's really more like bah, it we know what he means).

For me, this is the first time I really struggled with one of my kids turning one. I'm not a mom who wishes for my kids to stay eternally young or who longs for the newborn days. Quite the opposite actually. I truly enjoy every stage and find wonderful things about each age. But I will be happy when we have 3 kids who sleep thru the night, are done with bottles and diapers, and can have "real" conversations, play games, etc. So when I was rocking Patrick the night before his first birthday and found myself crying as I reminisced about the first year, I was a little surprised. But for whatever reason, this one's a little hard for me. This past year has been full of change for us - Patrick, jobs, kindergarten. The year seems to have flown by in some ways. But when I think of how different things were then, it seems like so long ago.

I love my sweet baby boy. His blue eyes will forever melt my heart. I am excited to see what his next year brings. Undoubtedly we will add to his list of firsts. There may even be a few more moments that bring me to tears.

A few photos of my favorite one year old...