He’s One!

These baby milestones are killer. I don’t often find myself wallowing leading up to or reaching an age milestone, but some sort of witchcraft happens as soon as that first birthday comes. It’s as though, all of the sudden, the changes come at you full force and reality gives you a big smack in the face, shouting, “HEY! You don’t have a baby anymore!!”

Our boy is ONE. His first birthday was a sweet day filled with the people we love most who love us so very well in return, a whirlwind of smiles and hugs and laughs and love. Kathryn came over earlier in the day to help us with last minute prep (and to spend time together in general), and it was just a lovely way to spend our day. We kept the party fairly simple and for good reason: Patrick’s birthday falls two weeks before school is out for summer, and Ben’s falls two weeks after school starts. Ha! This phenomenon is also known as: Nicole will never, ever win the birthday celebrations award. Never.

Since turning one two weeks ago, Benjamin has made some leaps and bounds in the world of mental and physical development. It all began with him being completely unable to sleep the entire night before his birthday, of course, so he was exhausted during the party despite a solid nap beforehand. Those nightly wakings have continued for many nights, almost every night this past week - except for this past Friday night when he slept a solid 13.75 hours. Babies. Go figure. 

Benjamin has certainly needed the extra sleep lately for all the growing he’s doing - of both brain and body! There are some days when he naps so hard that you can just tell he is busy growing. At his one year appointment, this little man weighed 22 lbs 11 oz and measured 31 inches. Let’s just say that we graduated out of the infant car seat at 10 months! At the time of his birthday, he was wearing 18 month daytime clothing and 24 month pajamas; two weeks later, those 18 month clothes are clearly seeing their final days, and Ben perfectly fits into 2T pajamas. I just can’t believe that my barely-one year old is wearing 2T pajamas!

Developmentally speaking, Ben has made some gigantic leaps these past two weeks. In the span of the past three days, actually, he has figured out how to walk with and maneuver his walker toy completely on his own. This kid could definitely stand and walk by himself, but he won’t try unless he’s sure that he feels comfortable doing it. Not mad about that one bit! Then, yesterday, he most definitely said his first real word! “Splash!” I’m also certain that he said “hop” tonight while playing with some bunny rabbit stuffed animals. Ben also tells me that an owl says, “hoo!” and shows me that the fan goes around in circles by motioning with his arm. He has been mimicking animal noises for quite some time, but tonight was the first time he truly recalled the answer to a question and it is all just SO exciting. One of the absolute best things about parenthood is seeing your child learn how to do new things, and then seeing them beaming with pride is some seriously sweet icing on that cake.

The fact that it has taken me two weeks to write a blog post about Benjamin turning one should speak for itself, really. Life has been a little bit crazy. The past month has positively flown by, and we're not expecting things to slow down any time soon. Next thing I know, I'll blink and he'll be walking and talking like he has been doing it all his life. Time, you are one crafty creature.

Gosh, how we love this sweet boy of ours! Benjamin, you truly are such a delight, such a gift, and we treasure you so!