Happy Birthday, William!

Dear William,

Today you are one year old! I think this has simultaneously been the fastest and the longest year in mine and your Daddy's lives. It has also, without a doubt, been one of the best. And scariest. And most fun. You have brought more joy into our home than we even knew was possible. We love you so much!

You are at such a fun age right now. You learn new things every day and constantly make us laugh.

• You pull up on anything that is remotely stable and cruise like a pro. Occasionally, you get this look in your eye like you might turn loose and try out walking, but you haven't yet.
• "Bird" is officially your first (and favorite) word. You say it whenever you hear or see a bird (or anything you think might be a bird, including police sirens and leaves blowing through the air).
• You also say "banana" (ma-MA-ma), "mama," and "bye-bye" (ba). You also wave most of the time you say bye.
• If you want to go outside, you beg to be held and then start waving and saying bye. You LOVE to be outside. If you can't be outside, you like to position yourself at our front window so you can at least keep an eye on things.
• You can clap your hands, pat your tummy, and touch your nose on command. You also clap your hands anytime anyone says "Yay!" or "Good job!"
• For the longest time we thought you were never going to crawl on your hands and knees. But now we know that you can because we've seen you do it, but only occasionally because you're just much faster on your tummy!
• As a testament to our family's lifestyle right now, you love to play with suitcases. Especially ones with handles that go up and down. 
• You love to play with cars and almost always make the motor noise as you drive them across the floor. You have also been known to "drive" your food across your highchair tray.
• Daddy taught you a fun game a few weeks ago while he was "teaching" you to fall down in your crib (aka knocking you down). Now when you wake up from your naps we often find you pulling up and falling down over and over again all by yourself. You crack yourself up!
• We didn't teach you this intentionally, but every time someone says "hello!" you put your hand to your ear like you're answering the phone.
• You are a really good eater! You love food so much that, whenever you see food that you want, you say "Mmmmmmmm!" A few weeks ago you even did it during the Lord's Supper at church.
• You sign "more," "all done," and "eat." I think I've seen you sign "ball," "car," "shoes," and "dog," too, but I'm not 100% sure yet.
• In an effort to teach you not to throw your sippy cup on the floor during meal time, I started clapping and making a huge celebration of it when you or anyone else put your cup in the cup holder on your high chair. You love to be praised, so now, usually once during every meal time, you will pick up your cup just a bit and shift it around in its holder and then look at me and start to clap, waiting for me to praise you. You usually do this at least 10 times in a row before you tire of it. 
• You think hiccups are hilarious!

As your personality develops more and more, I can't help but be so excited for the future. I can't wait to see what kind of (little) man you become. 

Your Daddy and I love you, sweet boy! Happy Birthday!

1 day old

1 week before his first birthday

Midnight Musings

William hasn't been sleeping well at night lately. I think he's going through some sort of weird phase because he's also been cranky and clingy during the day and fighting his naps, too. Let's just say that I hope this phase end really really soon! When I talk to other moms, a lot of them mention similar phases around the 1-year mark. Why wasn't I warned?

Anyway, all these hours spent awake during the middle of the night have yielded some silly, introspective, pointless, and profound (or at least they seem profound at 3:00 in the morning) thoughts that I thought I would write down:

• "I Need the Every Hour," the hymn that kept running through my head as a prayer/meditation for strength and patience, could also have been William's mantra for the last week. Get it? Because he needed me every hour?
• I am very thankful for the promise in Scripture that my Father never slumbers or sleeps. Nor does he need to.
• I turn into a complete softie when Michael is out of town.
• Having an almost one-year old is kind of like having a newborn. Because of being up all night. Also, my almost one-year old eats 6 times in a 12 hour period.
• I have a hard time with silence. And solitude. And being still.
• I have changed A LOT in the last year.
• I require A LOT less sleep than I thought a year ago.
• The original hardwood floors in our 1950s house sure are pretty, but they are not your ally when you're trying to sneak out of your child's room once he's finally fallen asleep.

I seem to think that there were others, but they escape me at the moment. Aside from the fatigue, I've actually enjoyed these last few nights of extra snuggle time with my little man. He is so high energy and always on the move during the day that having him still and quiet in my arms is pretty nice.