Calvin,
Happy 1st Birthday! My gift to you is this 8-minute video of the past 12 months .
While it captures many milestones and moments from your first year, it doesn't and cannot convey just how much I love this job as your mom.
From the time you wake up in the morning and reach your chubby lil arms out for me to lift you out of the crib to the time I rock you to dreamland and roll you back into your bed at night, I try not to forget how lucky I am to be in this line of work --
* to hear you giggle as I chase you from one room to the next
* to watch you destroy folded laundry (piles of papers, boxes of tissues, shall I go on?)
*to smell your perfectly round, red head
* to feed your face full of yogurt (macaroni, meat, milk - though you spill most of it on the floor)
and last but not least (and my personal favorite)
*to snuggle you close and feel just how right you fit in my arms whenever I darn well please!
Thanks for hiring me for the job. Can we talk contract extension sometime?
xoxo,
mom
p.s. Here are some pictures of the photoshoot from your first birthday. You were so smiley and these are the best family pictures we've ever taken. I should quit while we're ahead, but what's the fun in that?
The photo of our family sitting on the floor is the precise few seconds right before your dad completely threw his back out. The photographer and I were sympathetic for approximately 30 seconds and then it was "on with the show." Poor dad, he had to crawl over to a chair and couldn't move for the rest of the session. (Don't worry, he's OK now!) I knew it would mean I was on solo overnight binky replacement/rocking duty and was prepared for plentiful wakeups that night. Wouldn't you know it, that was the first official time you slept through the night. Thank you, thank you, thank you! I will never be able to repay you in baby cheek smooches enough, but that won't stop me from trying...
