It is so surreal to be writing about Jack's first birthday. I now understand the phrase "in the blink of an eye." It seems like I blinked and my tiny 6 pound 11 ounce baby weighs 18 pounds 11 ounces. I blinked and that toothless, gummy grin is smiling back at me with razor sharp teeth. I blinked and my helpless infant has turned into a spirited toddler who wants to do EVERYTHING by himself. I blinked and said toddler ran by me three times. If only I could pry my eyelids open...if only I didn't have to blink and he could still be that tiny, helpless baby snuggled in my arms. But I know that would be wrong. It would be wrong to rob him of all of his amazing firsts that we experienced this year. It would be selfish of me to keep him from growing into the amazing, inquisitive, fun-loving toddler that he is. It would be wrong to keep him to myself and not share his thirst for life with each of you. So that means I must blink. I must let him grow up. I must be brave and let him explore, let him experience the newness of life, let him trip and fall if only to be there to pick him up.
Now, don't get me wrong. There are moments in our day when he is still my little baby. When we snuggle in his chair in the quiet still of the early morning and he has a bottle (yeah, we haven't given that up yet), when he falls and only Momma can make it better, when he has finished his breakfast/lunch/dinner and his little tummy is sticking out so big I think it might pop, when he unashamedly (and rather proudly) carries his little blue bunny around for all the world to see (one day all to soon I'm sure he won't be caught dead with a stuffed animal). Those moments remind me that he is still my little helpless baby and I must admit, I love that (almost as much as I love watching him learn new things).
On his actual birthday we had a low key celebration. When he woke up for the day, I got a birthday boy picture and brought him to the kitchen for "JACK IS ONE" and "1" birthday pancakes with peach confetti. He loved them and gobbled them up. He got dressed for the day in his birthday boy shirt and we headed to the park. He had a great time playing (as he always does at the park) and then we headed to Sam's Club to pick up cupcakes that we ordered to celebrate with. We took 30 cupcakes to Daddy's office to say thank you for helping to bring Jack into the world one year ago and 30 cupcakes to the pediatrician's office to say thank you for helping us get through the first crazy year of life. Everyone loved the cupcakes. Late that afternoon Grandma,Grandpa, and Aunt Morgan arrived and we enjoyed dinner at home. We called it an early night so we could rest up for the big party the following day.
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