Boofie is 1!!!

To start, we call Liam, "Boofie"... why?, you ask?  Good question.  It started as "Boofah" which I began calling him at about 3 months and which Daniel initially said made no sense.  Soon, though, he joined right in.  Then, over time,  it was "Boof", "Boofer", "Boofie", "The Boofiest."  He is called "Boofie" more often than "Liam."  I know it's weird but I think we will call him that until he is an adult.  It just suits him so well at this point.  His personality is just "booftastic."  His face is just the most "boofnicient" thing I have ever seen.  He and Daniel have a song (to the tune of  "I'm Sexy and I Know It") which goes, "Look at this baby..., I'm Boofie and I know it... I take naps!" (This may not be exactly right, and I am sure Daniel will correct me, but you get the idea.)  In the past year he has, in our eyes, begun to epitomize all that is boofie!  His personality, which a year ago, was nonexistent as he slept and ate... and pooped is a quirky, energetic, silly mixture of Daniel and I.  He is a dancing machine, a banana eater, a green bean hater, Mike the Knight enthusiast who loves anyone who is wearing a RED shirt.  His little personality has gotten cuter and funnier on each of the past 365 days. Which brings me to the point - our precious little 7 lb 8 oz. love bug has grown into an almost 30 lb. crawling, cruising, babbling, ONE YEAR OLD. 

This past year has been unbelievable.  When he was born I couldn't imagine loving him more than I did in those first days... but, somehow, it happened!  I love him more each day.  He becomes more and more of a little person with each passing hour, day, week and month and he gets cuter, funnier and returns our abundance of love with kisses, hugs and giggles.  He is a love machine, truly.  : )

The love just keeps expanding like a big balloon.

When I found out I was pregnant again I had days that I was worried that Liam would get shafted or that I could never love another child the same way that I love him but now, looking at my precious one year old boy, I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that the love in this family is just going to keep GROWING as our sons do.   I can't wait to re-live all of the milestones we have experienced with Liam with his little brother.  I can't wait to watch Liam teach and model for Derek all of the skills that he has already mastered.   Next year, on Liam's birthday he will have a 9 month old brother to celebrate right alongside him! My heart feels so full just thinking about it.

Parenting is tough stuff and not for the faint of heart and this past year has been super challenging and even terrifying somedays.  There have been the weeks when Liam was sick and no one was sleeping.  There have been trips to the grocery store when Liam cried the whole trip or I had to change two poopy diapers in the car.  There have been the days when he ate his own poop or the poop ended up on my shirt or his shirt or both.  There have been some rough days as a SAHM when I was just plain bored and lonely.  But, at the end of this year, looking back, my mind's eye sees more smiles and hugs and kisses than screams and cries, more banana faces than poop faces and more wonderful, happy mornings than sleepless nights.  Would I do it all over again?   Of course... and that's all that matters.

So for all you moms (and dads) out there who are at your wit's end today... just remember... there's always tomorrow... and the next day... and the next day... and someday these special little creatures will be grown ups with their own families and houses and lives.  Each birthday, a wonderful celebration, will be bittersweet (I sobbed this evening during his bath) because each birthday signifies that they are one year older, stronger and more independent.   So hug them tight, love them deeply and try to take it in.  If you forgot to do that today, it's OK.  Some days I forget too.   Today happened to be VERY SPECIAL.

My Little Ray of Sunshine

While I have been pregnant this second time I have been utterly PLAGUED by mood swings, worry and crying spells.  I have been an emotional basketcase who, at times, feels totally out of control of my emotions.   It has been trying for myself and my husband and I have tried extremely hard not to let my son see too much or sense too much of it but I am sure he does sometimes.  However, when I have cried in front of him, he has laughed HYSTERICALLY giving me the sense he thinks I am just making silly noises and sounds... playing with him.  Long-lasting emotional scarring seems unlikely...  This totally inappropriate laughter, however,  is often just what I need to snap out of it.  How can you be upset when there is this gorgeous little boy laughing so hard his face is turning red?  The magic of it all is that, even when his mommy is crying, his life and world are so magical that he believes that she is trying to bring him joy.  That's the thing - the world is here to make him happy, to entertain him, to make him laugh.  Perhaps he also laughs because when he cries someone always smiles at him, holds him and makes him feel better.  Perhaps he sees my crying spell as an opportunity to return the favor; to smile at me, to tell me "Hey mom, It will be ok... it's not so serious... don't be silly..."  Regardless, he reminds me that it's going to be OK.  That is his gift to me.

The simple magic of being a small child is the belief that everything will be OK - that life is really just a big fun game!  This morning, after breakfast, I did the dishes and he played with his colorful baby spoons in his high chair.  He pounded them on his high chair tray, he sucked on them, he put them over his eyes and giggled,.  He threw them on the floor and waited for me to pick them up and then laughed when I handed them back, grabbing my face as I set them down and pulling it in for a kiss.  The magic of the spoons (that he eats from EVERY day) lasted 30 minutes.  I kept thinking, I wish I found spoons so enchanting.  Doing dishes would be a lot more fun if I did.  But, at least, I get to do the dishes with HIM every morning.  Afterward, I set him on the floor in his play pen and took out some of the toys he was playing with yesterday and put in some "new" (haven't been played with in a couple of days) ones.  He spent the next hour (while I worked on my grocery list and paid bills) picking up each new toy and playing with it, rolling around with it, tasting it, pushing all of its buttons and giggling at me each time I walked by or looked up, as if to say, "Look Mom!  Remember my piano??!  It lights up and makes noise!  I haven't seen this thing in days!!"  I would lean down and kiss him and he would grab my hair HARD and when I yelled "Ow!" he would, what else?, laugh!   The amount of magic and joy that this baby experienced in just the first two hours of being awake this morning is probably twice as much as I have in the last year. 

The great thing is that now I get to experience the magic with him and, though he's not much of a conversationalist and has terrible taste in TV, I get to hang out with the happiest dude on the planet every day... and that makes life a lot easier, funnier, sillier, happier and just, all around, awesome!  He is the best anti-depressant in the world and I am so grateful for my little ray of sunshine! 



If you don't have a little one to spend your life with then I will share mine:

The magic of dirt in your hands... nothing better!

A CAMERA!!  Let me hold it!!!

 

The washing machine is soooo cool!

 

Toast is amazing!

 

Have you really LOOKED at the top to my shape sorter???  Coolest thing ever!

 Placemats, what a fantastic invention!