Wait...Is That...SNOW???

Can you believe it? It's been snowing here today!

You knew it would have to be something monumental to get me to blog again, right? I am truly sorry it has been so long, but I've been awfully distracted lately. I hope I'll be able to start making time for blogging again soon, but I wouldn't hold my breath if I were you.

I've been working on finding a new way to show off my pictures to you because they just take so long to upload on blogger. I put off blogging because I don't have the time to post the pictures I want to post next, and as a result I don't post anything at all for week after week.

So if you want to see some Thanksgiving pictures, go here. You can browse around through some other folders as well and see some of the last few weeks of photos before Thanksgiving that I never got around to posting.

Hopefully I can make some time soon to do a real post with some updates about the boys, but for now I think I'm going to enjoy this very rare snow with my boys.

Uh-Oh, Spaghettio

It was one of those days when nothing seemed to be going right. I was late picking Patrick up from MDO, they hadn't fed him lunch before I got him so he had to eat in the car, the check engine light came on as we left the church, and I was stressed.

Even after Patrick got off on the school bus successfully, with a full belly, all his clothes, and on time, I was still cranky. I was already at the end of my patience when Nathan decided to play around with lunch.

He started throwing his food over the side, a new habit he's picked up that Amber loves as much as I hate. I warned him in the mommy voice, gave him the mommy look, and watched as he smiled his impish grin and did it again.

I was debating whether he would understand a time-out and what the next best punishment would be when he did it one more time. One more puff hit the floor, and Amber dove for it.

I put on my best, most stern face and was ready to launch into punishment mode (which I hadn't quite decided on yet) when he got that glint in his eyes and said it: "Uh-oh, spaeeo!"

I fought the smile back and pulled the finger out (you know which one I'm talking about--the lecturing pointer finger) to try yet again to discipline him.

"Uh-oh! Spaeeo!"

This time I gave up and dissolved into laughter. He had me beat, and I knew it. Instead of turning the misbehavior into a teaching lesson for him to learn obedience, I let him turn the moment into a lesson on living in the moment for me. So Amber got one more puff--at least I don't have to clean the floor of the mess.

It was much more important to take the moment to enjoy my crazy boy and congratulate him for not only saying for the first time the phrase I'd been working on teaching him, but to have chosen the absolute best moment to spring it on me.

But now I know just how far advanced his manipulative skills are. I think it's going to be interesting staying a step ahead of him in the coming years.

Growing and Changing

I've been so bad about updating lately. I have lots of pictures to post, but those will have to wait for when I have more time (whenever that will be).

Patrick is thriving at school. He literally runs to the school bus when it gets here and comes home content and tired. He asks--begs--every single day to go to school. In the week or so since he started, his language has started to take off. Almost every single day I notice a new word or some new grammatical change (like calling things "mine"--"my bed"). He will sometimes sing songs now and shows off with how much of the alphabet he knows. We didn't even know he could recite the alphabet, and he basically knows the whole thing!

We are still going to MDO on Tuesday and Thursday mornings, and he seems to be benefitting from the extra socialization. I love that he's staying in that familiar environment as he's adding the new preschool.

Nathan is still growing like crazy too. He has started bravely standing unassisted for a few seconds at a time. I think he could do longer, but he gets scared and grabs something just to be sure he doesn't fall.

He, too, is becoming more social. He says many words and phrases that he hears often and sometimes uses them to communicate his wants to us (like "Dada, see you in a little while" to tell me he wants to see his daddy). He has found all sorts of fun games he likes to play at dinner or in his bed and loves it when we play along.

The two boys are growing more fond of each other each week. They will play together, even if it takes a lot of moderation to keep fussing over toys to a minimum. My favorite sight, though, is watching Patrick give Nathan a hug before bed, something he now insists on. That gentle kiss on the top of Nathan's head proves to me that Patrick is sweet and compassionate underneath all that energy we see all day long.

The Second First Day of School

Patrick just left to go to school. On the bus.

Confused? How about I back up to Monday to clarify what happened...

On Monday Patrick had his first ARD with the school district. You might remember that he had graduated out of the ECI program when he turned three. At that point, he is tested by the school district to see if he qualifies for special ed. The ARD is the official meeting that inducts him into the special ed program. (It will also be a yearly meeting we have to make sure his needs are still being met and will hopefully one day dismiss him from the program.)

At Patrick's ARD on Monday, we learned that he does indeed qualify for special ed services under what they call a speech impairment. Really, they didn't find anything other than what we already knew. His only problems have to do with understanding speech, expressing himself, and talking socially.

The special ed teachers recommended that Patrick start their pre-school program there. It runs every afternoon from 12:45-3:45. He also rides the bus to get there. (Don't worry, it's a special bus for special ed students--yes, it's a short bus--and it has a carseat in it for him.)

This will be a good thing for him. Patrick will get more specific help for his problems from professionals who know how to help him. He will also get a chance to socialize with many different kids from different backgrounds with different problems. It's my hope that after a year or so of this pre-school, he will have caught up to the point that he no longer qualifies for special ed. Unlike many other students in their program, Patrick's problem is not (should not) be a lifelong problem and will likely resolve itself after some time of specifically addressing it.

After much thought and consideration, Patrick will try to stay in his MDO program at the moment. He won't be able to stay the whole time so that he can be home in time to catch the bus for pre-school, but we would like for him to continue in the school environment he already knows and loves. The teachers there are wonderful and so nurturing, and I would hate for Patrick to miss out on the church education he gets there as well. I also like that he gets a chance to socialize with "normal" kids, kids that don't require the extra help that his pre-school friends will. MDO will help create a more well-rounded kid, I hope.

Of course, having that busy a schedule twice a week may turn out to be too much for him. The next few weeks will be a trial period to see how he does before we make any final decisions about staying in MDO. Please be praying for us as we are forced to make some final decision.

It was really kind of weird to send my oldest son off to school on the bus for the first time today. He took it like a man--okay, really like Patrick--and didn't shed a tear. He was smiling from the excitement of it all. Me? Not so much. I'm a little scared about how he is doing all by himself in a new place and a new situation. I'm sure my resilient little boy is loving the adventure of it all, though. I just hope he doesn't mind the huge bear hug he's going to get from me when he gets home.

Halloween '08

This year we didn't do much for Halloween. We're still fighting snotty noses, coughs, and incoming molars, so we've been pretty low-key lately. The big excitement was Patrick's Circus Day at school on Thursday. It's their replacement for Halloween, where the kids could wear non-scary costumes to school. Nathan and I went for the festivities, both boys complete with circus-themed costumes. Unfortunately I have no pictures of the peanut (Nathan, wearing Patrick's costume from last year) or the tiger at school. I'm hoping I'll get some pictures from the other parents who were there or the teachers. It was just too difficult to wrangle Nathan, Patrick, and that huge camera.

For Halloween yesterday, the boys did wear their costumes for a little while so I could get pictures. We went a different route with the theme this year. Patrick is wearing a tiger costume, similar to the one I and my three siblings each wore when we were about Patrick's age. Nathan is wearing a pumpkin costume, reminiscent of one of Matt's favorite costumes from his childhood.

I think he enjoyed chewing on the tie for the hat more than being a pumpkin, but it kept him happy anyway.

Oops, maybe not. We'll call this his mean jack-o-lantern face.

But generally he really was happy in the costume. He's the cutest pumpkin I've ever seen.

Patrick absolutely loves his tiger costume. He asks to wear it all the time. I particularly like his fashion sense, pairing it with his camouflage boots.

I had to get a back view. The tail is adorable.
It seems that Amber likes playing with cats as well as children. Really, she was good with the boys in costumes. She wanted to sniff them endlessly, of course, and was kind of excited, but I expected both reactions. At least she wasn't scared of the boys looking different.

It was difficult to get a picture of that cute face underneath the tiger face, so I'm glad I have this one.

And the one picture of the boys together in their costumes, both looking at the camera. It's harder than it looks. Maybe next year they'll pose together voluntarily.

Cranky Nathan

Last night and today we got to see Cranky Nathan, the very one I wrote about yesterday. I had my suspicions about why he chose now to rear his head, and my suspicions were confirmed a little while ago: one tiny corner of his left molar. The right one is close enough to poking through that it's hard to tell for sure that it hasn't already. Fortunately, this phase should truly be short-lived; as soon as those molars finish cutting through in the next day or so, he should be back to normal.

Thirteen Months

Dear Nathan,

You're starting to sound so old. I rarely ever give your age in months anymore, but if anyone asked, I would now get to say you're thirteen months old. It's not a big milestone by any means, but one worth mentioning anyway.
You're still little enough that I hear older kids shout, "Look, Mommy! A baby!" when we walk by, but you're quickly outgrowing that phase. Pretty soon that will be you looking at younger children, telling me you see a baby.
And I have no doubts that it won't be long until that happens. You are quickly catching up to your brother in language skills. You desperately want to be like him in every possible way, and his slightly lagging language skills have left an opening for you to catch up to him. Just this afternoon, you told me "da" while you were holding a rubber ducky and then "ca, ca" (quack, quack, I think). Apparently you're paying more attention to our bedtime book about farm animals than I'd realized.
You were also excited today to see Amber when you woke up from your nap. You said something that sounded like, "Hi, Amber," followed by "gi ga," which sounded remarkably like your brother's version of "good girl." If I add these new phrases to all the words and phrases you've already been saying, it's safe to say you are at least on target with the langauge development I'd expect for your age (not that I really know what to expect based on past experiences), if not a little ahead.
Most of the time it's fun to take you out places. You are still quite the charmer and look excited about every single outing. I usually carry you in the baby carrier, and you hang there happily, kicking your feet, waving your arms, and grinning that famous smile of yours. You never fail to get a smile out of even the most grumpy-looking people. I love watching you bring joy to everyone's life, even people you've never seen before and will probably never see again.
But Nathan, that doesn't begin to compare to the joy you bring to my life, and all of us who get to spend so much time with you. If more families ended up with children like you, there would be population boom unlike what has ever been seen before. You are the picture of perfection of babyhood, the one every mother dreams about but never gets. Except for lucky, lucky me.

Still, I know that perfect as you are now, it would be foolish of me to place that burden of perfection on you. Before I know it, you will have fallen headfirst into the terrible twos, and I will rely on my memories of these first thirteen (and hopefully more) months to take me through the toddler years. You have my permission to fail, to turn into that cranky baby that must be hidden somewhere behind those bright eyes and permanent smile. I've seen enough of you already to know that this happy baby I've seen for the past thirteen months is the real you, and you'll be back eventually when you let the cranky baby take over.
In the meantime, you are working to keep up with your big brother in ways other than talking. You are soooo close to crawling the real way, but every time it looks like you're going to give it a try, you fall back on your tried and true scoot-crawl. You're amazingly fast at it. You're already a handful to keep up with when you get scooting.
But more than anything, you want to be on your feet, standing. You can balance for a couple of seconds without any support, although you don't allow those opportunities often, and I've watched you watch your brother walk and run with that jealous glint in your eyes. I'm sure it won't be long before you summon your inner courage and toddle those first few steps after him--I'm sure it will be after Patrick. And then? I don't know what I'll have to do to keep up with both of you.
At least at the end of the day, when all of your energy is spent, you still crash like a baby. I never get tired of the sight of your sweet, innocent face relaxed in sleep. Never is my urge to love and comfort and protect you from all the hurts of the world any stronger. At the end of the day, regardless of how mature you get, you are still just my little baby, and nothing can take that away from me. And that makes me as deliriously happy as you always are.

I love you, sweet Nathan.

Mommy

A Few Things

I'm sorry I've been such a bad blogger lately. I've had lots of things to blog about but haven't had the motivation to actually sit down and write about them, much less download all the pictures I have and upload them to blogger. I'll get there eventually, I promise. In the meantime, here are a few random stories, etc. from the last week or two that I never got around to writing about:

--Nathan had his one-year check-up almost two weeks ago. Obviously we learned nothing monumental, otherwise you would have heard something a little before now. It was mostly a weight and height check. If you're interested, he's right at 19 pounds, which is somewhere around the 5th percentile (a bit of a drop from his birth weight percentile). His height is at 29 1/2 inches, which is about average. Surely this must be a phase, where he is predicted to grow to an average height but is a beanpole. He also got four different shots with several more when we go back for Patrick's three-year check-up. Of course he cried, but he got over it pretty fast too.

--Patrick's been developing his sense of humor, surprising Matt and me with the silly things he does that seem to come out of nowhere. For example, the other day we were eating French fries with dinner and Patrick decided they looked better as toys than actual food. He kept putting one on his head and giggling. When that started to get old, he put one under his nose like a mustache. That one definitely got Matt and me laughing. Where did he come up with that? I don't know that he's seen anyone turn food into a mustache before, so we think that's pretty creative of him.

--Along the same lines, he's had lots of fun playing with his Mr. Potato Head, one of his birthday presents. He likes trading out the body parts, making some pretty silly looking faces (although he usually keeps them relatively normal, with eyes, nose, mouth, etc in their proper places). He's smart enough to recognize the body parts, too, so when he saw his brother wanting to chew on the various body parts, he had the idea to give him a mouth to chew on. I didn't realize what he was doing until he started to laugh. Then I looked up at Nathan and saw Mr. Potato Head's mouth on him. It made a hilarious picture (too bad I wasn't fast enough to snap any). We've since had to talk about what is okay and not okay to give to Nathan to chew on, but I can't fault him on his creativity and sense of humor to come up with the stunt in the first place.

--School is still going well for Patrick. I got to help out with their class's Safety Day last week, which means I got to sit and watch Patrick play with all his school friends for a little while. It was a neat experience. I learned a lot more about Patrick by getting to see him in a different environment, one where I am not usually around. It is clear to see he has lots of fun playing with his friends. But I feel bad for his poor teachers. It was not an easy job wrangling all those two-year-olds, even with four of us (the two teachers and two moms helping). I'll probably help again on Circus Day, their replacement for Halloween.

--Nathan's language has been taking off. Not only does he say "Mama," "Dada," "Gaga," and "Amba",' but he's started saying, "Hi," and "Bye" as well. He says both in this adorable sing-songy voice that makes everyone smile. He knows when to say them too, which I find kind of impressive. Lately he's also been adding his baby version of "See you in a little while" or "See you later" to the end of it: "Seeyawhy" or "Seeyalay." If you remember, Patrick said both phrases pretty early too. My favorite, though, is "Iwuhyuh," his version of "I love you." It's totally adorable.

--Then just yesterday, Nathan started waving for hi and bye. It's a little hard to distinguish from his excited arm wave, but you can tell it's a real wave because he only uses one arm and says, "Bye" or "Hi" with it. So cute!

Three

Dear Patrick,

Today you turn three years old, at exactly 4:17. With any luck you will ring in your birth moment a little more peacefully than you did three years ago, hopefully sleeping today. Even while you sleep through it, though, I'll notice it and remember for you.
These last three years have been a wild roller coaster ride. Each time it seems like things are settling down again, like we know what to expect from you, you surprise us again. For you, routines are made only to be changed. Lately, you have been all about school. Each day exists only to get you back to a school day, and you constantly talk about your teachers and friends at school. You beg all day long to "go see teacher," and your excitement can't be contained when I finally agree that yes, it is a school day.
School is teaching you far more than your colors and shapes, though. You are learning how to be social, how to be a good friend, and why we don't do mean things like throw and push. You are learning how to follow a set routine that isn't necessarily in your agenda and that the world doesn't revolve around you. We're finding these lessons you are attempting to learn at school are difficult to translate at home, so we've been struggling quite a bit over the last few weeks to help you transition between school and home--and to teach you that while the routines may differ, the same rules like no throwing and pushing still apply.
But school is helping you grow up--and fast. You are now actually playing with your brother, and he loves all the attention, even when it gets a bit too rough for him at times. I can already foresee the future months and years of the two of you wrestling. Just remember that it's quite likely he will end up with a size advantage over you before much longer, and you may regret starting the wrestling matches eventually. Still, it warms my heart to watch you play with your brother and how much you two enjoy each other's company.
You are learning compassion, too. I love to hear you ask me or Daddy or Gaga (whom you also call Na-hin sometimes now) in your little voice, "You okay?" You ask even when you're pretty sure there's nothing wrong. I guess you've picked that up from me and Daddy, but I'm glad it is one of the things you have chosen to repeat. It shows a sweet spirit underneath that stubborn exterior.

School is also starting to develop your language skills even further. Although I can tell your language is still behind that of your friends, you are starting to catch up. More and more you are talking in full sentences, and you attempt to tell me about your school day when you get home, even if it takes a little interpreting on my part. You readily repeat lots of words and phrases you hear Daddy and me say--unless, of course, we ask you to. I can't tell you how much I love getting to hear you chatter on at meals or our little snack time after school. Some of the things you say--like asking me to stay in your room this morning with you--make me feel more special than anything else you have done in your short life.
Even when you are fighting against us, you are so full of life. That is what tends to get you in trouble the most. You get so involved in playing or making a mess that you tune out all the warnings from me or Daddy and end up in time-out as a result. I'm finally starting to understand you, though, and your inability to be distracted from whatever activity you have in mind, even if it results in a punishment. It dawned on me yesterday that I am just as frustrated when people try to distract me once I have my mind set on doing something. I'm going to start working on patience with you in this area because it is how I would want people to deal with me. But I expect compromise, too; I can't be too patient with you when you are risking your safety or that of someone else, like your brother.
For example, last week as we were walking into school, you darted out in front of the car into the parking lot while I was still gathering all your school stuff from the car. I managed to catch you before you got too far, and there were thankfully no cars coming right then, but it scared me. Your inability to stop when I screamed your name, panicked, has haunted me ever since. I had numerous nightmares about you disappearing or getting hurt or worse all that night. As frustrated as we can get with you sometimes, I know part of me would die inside if I let anything like that happen to you.
Over the last three years you have certainly enriched our lives, much more than I ever thought possible. I won't lie and pretend it's always easy to be your parent--probably anyone's parent--but it's worth it. I am so entwined in your little fingers now that it would rip my heart out for anything to happen to you. In fact, it will rip my heart out each time you grow just a little more independent, like your first day of kindergarten and your first date and college. I just hope that you never grow too big and independent to stop being my sweet little boy, that you never grow up too much to refuse to give me a sweet kiss when you wake me up on Saturday mornings. Because kisses like that, and moments like that, are the ones that make up for every single frustrating one in between.

Patrick's ECI graduation yesterday

Love,

Mommy

Nathan's Birthday Celebrations

I'm only a week overdue on this post. I hope you'll forgive me for losing track of time over the last week.

We actually ended up having two celebrations for Nathan's first birthday. The first happened when we were in Dallas fleeing the aftermath of Ike. It was definitely impromptu, since we had no idea we were even going to be there a week before Nathan turned one. Please keep that in mind--how last-minute all of this was--when you see pictures where I'm not wearing make-up and the fact that all of our nicer clothes were dirty.

Despite the circumstances, though, it was great getting to celebrate with family. Of course my parents (Nana and Grandpa) were there, and Matt's grandparents also happened to be in town and came as well. It made the idea to have a cake for him turn into a real party, thrown together or not.
Nathan was thrilled with all his presents, but especially this card. Or maybe just getting to stand up next to the coffee table.
Patrick loves cameras, so he was doing everything he could to help Grammy fix hers.

This was Nathan's big toy at the party, a ride-on toy that makes all sorts of crazy sounds. Both boys love the toy.
I think that's a grin for the camera (thanks Mom for playing photographer for most of our party!).
And here we are as a family helping Nathan open one of his presents. Patrick had so much fun "helping" Nathan open gifts. Boy is his birthday going to be fun this year!
Again with the card. Who knew a card would be so fascinating?
His first taste of both chocolate and cake. He mostly picked at it but seemed to like the taste of the frosting pretty well and did manage to make quite a mess out of it...eventually.

See? His hair was coated in chocolate too. You can bet he had a birthday bath in store for him immediately after the party.
Nana, Grandpa, and the birthday boy
Grammy, Gramps, and the birthday boy
Mommy, Daddy, and the birthday boy
I look awful in the picture, but you can see how excited Nathan was by all the attention.

A few days later Patrick found the hat I'd taken out for Nathan's official first year pictures and insisted on wearing it. By the way, how do you think he knew this was a hat? He hadn't seen his brother wearing it at this point. Either way, it was cute and funny enough that I had to get a picture.

I decided to do something a little different for Nathan's cake this time around and made cupcakes instead. I also made a single layer round cake for something different if the cupcake thing didn't work out with the boys (it did). When I put it all together, i realized it looked kind of like a spider. I guess I should have put a face on it and make it look planned.

Here's Nathan waiting on his cake--or cupcake--trying to figure out why we're all singing off-key to him.
Patrick obviously enjoyed his taste of birthday cake. He's asked for it every single day since. Sometimes he'll find the birthday hat and put it on before asking, as though you have to be wearing the birthday hat to get birthday cake, like Nathan was on his birthday.
Nathan actually ate more of the cake this time, now that he knew what it was, but he managed to not make as big of a mess. He still ended up with another birthday bath, though.
Since he'd already opened half or more of his birthday gifts the week before, his loot pile wasn't as big this time, but we compensated by giving him bigger gifts.
Fortunately he could care less how many there were. He loved them all, and both boys play with his new toys all day every day. They are going to love getting to do this all over again in another week when Patrick turns three.

Looking Back

Since I don't have birthday photos downloaded yet, I hope this will tide you over until that happens. Here's a slide show looking back over Nathan's first year, to save you having to go back and look at pictures over the last year's worth of posts.

One Year

Dear Nathan,

Happy birthday! I know I've said it to you in person many times already today, but it can always be said one more time. I've spent all day so far remembering what I was doing right now a year ago. I even looked at the clock right at 10:43 and smiled to myself remembering how wonderful that moment was last year.

I've found your birthday to be kind of bittersweet. This past year has been so perfect that I'm not ready for it to end. I'm not ready for you to move on past being my sweet baby. I want to take you in my arms, hold you close, and keep you there forever and ever. I'll even gladly cling to the sleepless nights from your early days (months) if it meant I could keep you little just a little longer.
But I'm making a point to look forward instead of behind me. The awesome little boy you're already becoming will only get sweeter and more fun as time goes on. It will be neat to watch you continue to grow, to watch your hilarious personality develop.
Right now, you are still such a happy boy, content with your surroundings--as long as Mommy is around. That's right, you are still a Mommy's boy. I love how much you cling to me, even when my arms get tired sometimes from all the carrying you still get. In fact, you scream every time we take Patrick to school or pick him up; you're afraid I'm going to leave you behind too. I've had to start carrying you on those short trips in and out of school, as well as Patrick's backpack (which is clearly too large for his tiny back), his lunch, his nap mat, and his hand. Your clinginess is forcing me into becoming SuperMom, which I guess isn't a bad thing, although a bit trying sometimes.
I'm thrilled that you are becoming increasingly excited about Daddy too, though. You chase after him (as fast as you can scoot anyways) sometimes, calling out, "Da Da Da Da" as you go. You ask for him every morning and don't seem to like when he's at work when you can't see him right away. You may still prefer that I carry you around more often, but he's an acceptable alternative. Regardless, though, you adore your daddy and think he hung the moon. I don't blame you for the adoration; he is definitely somebody special. I'm glad you take after him as much as you do.

Now that you are able to play with toys more, your relationship with Patrick is beginning to change. You admire him still, but I wonder how you can some days when he is particularly mean to you. He'll push you over, making you cry and earning him a time-out, and all you can do is look longingly at Patrick until he can come play again, even knowing that he will likely just try to push you over again or take a toy away from you. I guess it's those times when the two of you play happily together that you focus on, and honestly I love them as much as you do. I can tell the two of you are going to be best buds when you catch up a little in size and can hold your own against him.
The other day we tried to get pictures for your official one-year photos, and I didn't realize we hadn't tried a mini-session like this since you've become so mobile. It was difficult and a bit frustrating, and I was a little disappointed that I didn't get the same kinds of sweet pictures I got of your brother when he turned a year old. Of course, he couldn't crawl yet at the time, so naturally that session was easier. When I downloaded the pictures and started flipping through them, however, I was stunned at how much personality came through even the bad pictures. While most of the pictures I got may not be the kind you see in an art studio, they are YOU. I'll be much happier years from now to browse through pictures where you are crawling off, sticking your tongue out, and scrunching up your face than I would have been with those generic baby pictures.
You are growing into such a beautiful child, too. I no longer have fears that I might have one of those rare ugly babies and not know it thanks to my mother's bias. Nope, you are indeed an adorable child. The only problem with your beautiful face and soft blonde curls is that you are being mistaken for a girl more and more often. It doesn't matter how boyishly I dress you; people just get drawn in by those beautiful blue eyes and curls and look past your clothes, unable to decide whether you're a gorgeous boy or an adorable girl. I can't say I blame them. But that doesn't mean I'm cutting your hair anytime soon, just so you look more like a boy. I'm as taken by the curls as the next person, so they're sticking around for a while.
I knew how special you were before you ever made your appearance a year ago, on the first day of fall (actually exactly a minute before fall officially starts). I knew you would enrich all of our lives and how much my heart would grow to make room for you. I just had no idea exactly how much that would happen. I have gotten to the point where I could never imagine life without you in it, without that bright smile and chuckly laugh, your silly games of peek-a-boo and imitation of Patrick or me or Daddy. Thank you for this past year. I'm looking forward to the next one and the one after that and the one after that and all the joy you will continue to bring to our lives throughout your entire life. Happy birthday, my precious son. I love you to the ends of the earth.

Mommy