August 16, 2010

Dear OBaby,

Besides exploring and examining, your biggest thing is smiling. It’s been said of you that your goal in life is to smile at everyone you come in contact with. So far you have been highly successful. Highly, highly successful, you little flirt. I am happy to say that your smiles are non-discriminating thus far, but you are beginning to pick up on the fact that the ones with the long hair and the higher pitched voices typically oogle over you more. How could they not fall in love with your sweet partially-toothed grin, your shoulder shrugs and your pretending to be shy? I just hope you are slow to catch on to the extent to which we are wrapped around your finger.

So, buddy. Let’s talk about the squawking, shall we? WHAT. IS. THAT. ABOUT?! I am trying every thing I can to help you, teaching you sign language, being readily available and attentive to you, but still. The squawking. You actually went as far as to squawk in my face a few days ago in the grocery line, you were in a pack on my front and we were both O so done waiting. I gave you a grumpy face and started whispering in your ear to distract you and also cue you into a more appropriate volume level (O boy would those gentle parenting books be so ! proud !) but you didn’t give a hoot about my Dr. Sears approved parenting strategies. You just went on squawking in my right ear drum until every last item was scanned and bagged. Then, you smiled nicely and waved to the cashier as we exited the store.

You are a puzzle, little one. A messy, busy, smiley puzzle.

As puzzling, exciting, entertaining, and frustrating as your behavior can be, I wouldn’t trade this moment in your development for the whole wide world. I really wouldn’t. I feel like now more than ever before you are my little buddy, my daily companion on our adventures (like grocery trips and play dates). If it were even possible for a toddler to make errands more fun, you do it. You smile and giggle and flirt your way through the day with me and my heart is on the very verge of bursting. Even with the squawking.

To the moon and back buddy,

Mama

Anyway. While I wasn’t speaking with city inspectors and frantically calling in family reinforcements to help us level the back yard’s weeds, I was watching my baby walk. All the time. Everywhere. We went to the library with friends and enjoyed ourselves. That was what we needed to do yesterday, not blog. Perhaps I should have been more organized with my time other evenings, but it is what it is. Today I hope to bring you two more posts about organizing, one about cloth diapering and one to inspire.

But for now, here’s my kid walking. This was taken Monday and I’m telling you he’s already worlds steadier than this. It happened! so! fast!

PS: I totally remembered to turn the video the right way this time! I learn fast, too!

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This is pretty average-ish walking performance for OBaby lately (and by lately I mean these last 3 days). Sometimes it’s better, sometimes he’s not interested at all. But HEY! I caught it on film! And the tripod was only in my dining room for a few hours to do it! ::pats self on back::

PS: O for Pete’s sake… do I ever wear anything but that shirt?!

So, remember that time that I sat down to write my son’s first birthday post and then I proceeded to stare at the screen for the first 20 minutes of naptime because, O My Heavens, what do I even say? I mean, if I write the post about him being one entire year old doesn’t that mean I can’t deny it anymore? Won’t that make it official and I will have to stop pretending that he’s a wittle bebe after that?

Because I do. not. want. that.

But, as it turns out, I don’t so much have a choice. One day, there I was, bouncing on a big exercise ball at 39.5 weeks pregnant, hoping and wishing and praying that time would speed the heck up, and then BAM, here I am dragging my feet more everyday as we hurdle toward toddler-hood. And I guess if I don’t have any say in the matter, I might as well do it up right, no? So here are 1374 words of birthday goodness, comin’ atcha.

~~~~~~

I feel a little bit like I’ve survived a wedding weekend, what with the out of town guests, the piggy-backed events to plan, coordinate, and host, the merging of friends, family and neighbors, O, and the exhaustion. Definitely the exhaustion.

My parents came into town Thursday and we were off running with dinner out that night and a Friday (OBaby’s actual birthday) filled with celebrating at Ikea eating Swedish meatballs and buying first birthday presents (yea, I plan ahead like that).

Friday evening, O My Immediate Family (all 11 of us) sat around 2 tables in our living/dining room for a birthday dinner (either I need a bigger dining room table or we need a smaller family). OBaby was not interested in dinner, so he nommed some blueberries and saved most of his tummy room for…

PS: My son apparently does NOT like being told “No, you cannot touch the flame.”

PPS: He DOES apparently like cookies and cream frosting.

The shirt and bib, by the way? A beautiful gift from the beautiful Kim (of I Want a Minivan). She doesn’t have an etsy or other online shop yet, but I was thinking that if you and I sent her some gentle persuasion, maybe she would open one so that we could all have a little Kim craftiness in our lives. Did I mention that the bib was reversible (as in, double the cute)?

Gift time was so wonderful. A few pieces of clothes and a few toys were given to OBaby. OBaby now has a college savings account in his name (praise God!) and a few new great, educational, hands-on toys. Nothing was over-the-top or ‘you shouldn’t have’. I am so grateful for our families; their priorities are evident and admirable.

We took Saturday to spend time with my parents, going to the farmer’s market, a park, and the science museum together. (Like I said, it was practically a wedding weekend. Non-stop family and celebrations.)

Sunday was the big bash with friends and extended family, including but not limited to great aunts, great grandparents, 1st cousins once-remove’ds, The Flipping Couple, The Howells, and Kelly at Love Well‘s beautiful family. This day, friends? This day was literally the epitome of God’s provision. Provision of OBaby’s first year, of family and community, of food to share, of weather to enjoy.

We had reserved a picnic pavilion at the lake up the street, and thankfully the weather was beautiful because 26 people would have been a tight squeeze in our house (see: needing a larger table/smaller family). The setting was so beautiful on its own that I decided that the only decorating I would do was a banner that matched OBaby’s invitations (banner tutorial in a forthcoming post).

Wait, have I told you about the invitations?

They set the theme for the entire party, and I am so, so grateful for that. Back in, what? May? I was already feeling daunted by this whole first birthday thing but these invitations and the easy, causal tone they set was per.fect. They were given to us by Pear Tree Greetings, along with matching thank you cards and address labels. When I first started working with Pear Tree in June I jumped right on their birthday invitations page and fell head over heels for this design (I mean, the banner! And the birdie!) and knew I had found the right fit for our party. Having them provided to us by Pear Tree was just the… well… icing on the cake.

(Cue lame transition:) Speaking of icing on the cake, THE CAKE! Isn’t it amazing?! So here’s how that worked out: There’s this incredibly talented woman named Amanda.  She loves the Lord. She makes spectacular cakes. She lives in Minnesota. She has a website. I like her a lot. I asked her one day if she had room for a cake order in her busy life, and she was so incredibly sweet about it (get it? sweet? cake? bahaha), working with my schedule and offering to meet me half way for pick-up. I did little more than send her a picture of the invitations and she was off and running with her incredible creativity.

If you need culinary inspiration, I highly recommend her baking blog full of recipes and tutorials. Here is her post about how she made this very cake! (I also highly recommend eating her chocolate cake while taking a hot bath to recover from your son’s birthday party. But that’s just me.)

Cooler than having a beautiful and delicious cake for OBaby’s party, though? Meeting Mrs. I Am Baker and her lovely family. It was so special to me to see how God has put wonderful people like Amanda (and Kim, and Cindy of Pear Tree) in our lives and how they each became a special part of the celebration.

So yea, the cake. It was yummy. And blue. And awesome.

(OBaby totes agrees.)

{cake smashing photo credit goes to Marjorie of The Howells whose Nikon I now covet}

This right here? This is about about the point in the week where my planning and foresight ended. Ran out. Hit a wall. Went kaput.

Because after feeding a total of 55 meals to various mouths in 4 days, I failed to anticipate the following situation: Blue frosting all over baby and baby’s clothing. at a park. without a towel. or change of clothes.

Apparently I can’t do it all.

DanO decided that the rinse-off spigot on the water fountain was the best means by which to clean off OBaby, but that was about as far as he thought, because mere moments later we had a naked, wet, cold-ish baby without any dry clothes to wear.

Remember that whole God’s provision thing? Well, this may seem silly, but for a reason you may or may not know about, I had brought a change of clothes for myself to the party just in case. With a trick I remember seeing my friend do at the state fair for her little boy, I tied the straps of my tank top together and made a shirt for OBaby.

A really long shirt.

Ok, so it was more of a dress.

But OBaby looks really cute in a dress, no?

Which already has me planning ahead: 2nd birthday, toga party.

~~~~~~

{An Update: (Because 1151 words wasn’t a long enough post already…) We are so thankful for your thoughts and prayers over the last couple of days. I want you to know that they were felt. I also want you to know that we are doing well. So, so well. That peace, His peace, has continued to be on us, it has been a good week so far. Once the physical pain I had was lifted yesterday, I felt exactly like myself again. OBaby and I went back to life as usual today, and I can truly say that we are glad to be exactly where we are in life right now. Summary: You guys are great. God is great.}

{Update #2: To the O My Birthday Bash Winners – I have decided to keep all the prizes for myself. Just kidding! I wanted to ask that you please forgive me for not emailing you all back just yet. It is on the top of my list, I promise.}

You are one year old today. A year ago this morning you were born. It was such a great morning, and I will always remember that those last moments right before you were born, my midwife told me to stop pushing, so you and my body did the work together. You worked hard that morning, OBaby. We worked hard together.

A year later, as amazing as your birth was, it has been even more amazing to watch you grow.

God blessed you with a healthy body this year, one that was able to grow and learn and develop. You have gone from a 7lb 11oz little newborn to a 18lb 5oz one year old boy. That in and of itself amazes me, but there has been so much more growth this year, too. You have learned to hold your head up, roll over, roll over again, scoot on your belly, crawl with a surprising amount of speed, sit up, feed yourself meals, drink from a straw cup, pull up on things, stand on your own, sign some words, say mama and dada, and walk.

I am so, so proud of you, buddy.

It’s funny, I guess, to feel such swelling pride at what you have learned to do, because, well, isn’t that just what babies do? They learn things and grow? Yes, bud, you did exactly what God designed you to do this year as you developed by His grace.

You have traveled to 3 other states and learned that being on a plane really just means having a *very* captive audience. You have certainly made countless friends, smiling at everyone you meet eyes with in the grocery store, restaurant, or park. I have watched you learn how the world around you works, and as a result you have become more comfortable with it.

And while it may seem trite or silly to be near-exploding with pride over you growing as you naturally should, I know that it is right. I have watched God work, create you from the tiniest seed in my tummy, and teach you to grow all the way into a boy who can take his own steps. It has been a joy to watch you grow as He intended.

For the rest of your life, may it be as natural for you to follow God as he teaches you and shows you which way to go as it has been this year – rolling, scooting, sitting, crawling, standing, walking. While natural, it has not always been easy. Learning those kind of big things is hard work. I imagine God has more hard work and big things in store for you. On the other side of it, though, as you look back at how much you’ve grown, you will know that the hard work had to be, and that it was worth it.

This year it was moving and standing and eating that God taught you how to do, but someday it will be doing justice, loving mercy, and walking humbly with your God.What an exciting road you have before you! This year has only been the beginning.

For each year from here on out, OBaby, may God bless me with that same joy and pride at watching my little boy follow His path and grow exactly as God has designed you to.

I love you to the moon and back,

Mama

OBaby took his first steps yesterday!

He walked from DanO about three steps toward me.

O. My. Heart.

Also? Here’s a sneak peek at the family pictures we took yesterday.

Have a blessed Sunday!

{The illusive picture of the teeth, captured by yours truly.}

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There are 12 hours left to enter the $50 {GUSSY} giveaway! The winner will be announced tomorrow.

To my sweet 10 month old OBaby,

What a fun age you are. What a fun age. I am so glad I feel like myself again and can really enjoy you because there is just so much to enjoy.

Your independence skyrocketed this month and you are now happy to crawl out of the room I am in (and go pull everything off of the shelves in your room). You are absolutely elated at your ease of getting around. If I were able to bend over for that long, you would walk around the house holding my fingers from sun up to sun down. You love to move. Sometimes I’ll hear the pat-pat-pat of your hands on the floor as you’re crawling interspersed with laughter.

Pat-pat-pat squeal. Pat-pat-pat squeal.

What a wonderful sound track you add to our home.

You have also started saying Dada. I don’t think you associate a meaning with it yet (mostly because whenever I say “Mama” to you, you look at me, smile, and say “Dada”) but it still lights up your Daddy’s face. Actually, just you being you lights up your Daddy’s face. He loves to wrestle with you as you climb all over him. The two of you could spend hours being creative with everyday objects in ways I never could. You are such good play buddies and I love to watch you together.

You have an insatiable curiosity and it has been a joy to notice all the little things with you. You show me things I wouldn’t otherwise see (like the little holes in the sidewalk that you like to stick your fingers in). You particularly enjoy emptying the baking dish and tupperware cupboards in the kitchen.

More than the holes in the sidewalk, you have shown me the Unseen, too. I had a rough start to this parenting gig, filled with days of doubt if I was really cut out for it. Turns out our Heavenly Father just wanted to show me that I cannot do this without His power. I am so thankful He did because I don’t ever want to be in a place where I don’t desperately need Him.

I don’t want you to ever be in a place where you don’t desperately need Him, either. May He use whatever means necessary to keep you moving only by His strength, praising only Him with your mouth, and seeing Him in all things.

I love you to the moon and back,

Mama

Learning to walk means we fall sometimes.

Learning to be mothers means we fall sometimes, too.

I am so thankful for my Heavenly Father’s strong arms that reach down and pick me up when I face-plant.

They carry, calm, and comfort me when I fall.

They make me feel safe enough to try again.

(If you’re seeing this in a reader, click through for redesign of the century last 6 months!)

You likey? Me too. DanO and I needed something fresh this weekend and this was just the ticket. No only is the dizziness gone, the rotating carrot words are back (after a 6 month hiatus)! Yippee!

But enough about web design and how awesome DanO is. OBaby would like to make an announcement:

I’m getting teefers. Two of them at. the. same. time. I am sad about this.

Unfortunately, this time it’s not just grumpiness that we are just saying is teething because GOOD GRIEF WHAT ELSE COULD IT BE?! No, this is red swollen front gums complete with visual on one of the two as it breaks through the skin, teething.

I am going to miss his gummy smile. Also, my heart hurts from all this growing up business.