One Year

Well we have made it one year. You have grown so much it is hard to believe. When I first held you I could not have imagined that you would grow into such a wonderful little boy. Though sometimes this last year has been hard it has also been filled with joy. So many times when I have been frustrated or down you have smiled and whatever was bothering me was no longer so important.
You have had so many firsts in your first year. First time rolling over, first time crawling, first smile, first word, first tooth, first steps, and each was more exciting that the last. When you started crawling we thought you were so talented, so precocious. Then you pulled yourself up to standing and you were so amazing, so strong, so smart. Then you started climbing up the furniture and while we were still impressed we were maybe a bit less excited. You are such a strong little boy, but I guess that isn't really a surprise. A few months of using my bladder as a punching bag, followed by squats and chin-ups would make anyone strong.
You are a very curious, investigative child. Everything is worth investigating, especially if it is a grown up toy. All of Dad's tools are wonderful, but the best thing of all is the screwdriver. Nothing makes your eyes light up like an 8" #2 flat head screwdriver, except perhaps any other screwdriver you manage to lay hands on. What is on the counter top? You don't know, but you are going to find out, drawer handles make great ladders. What's in the roll top desk? As soon as you can get it unrolled you will find out.
You are quite the animal lover, though animals don't always love you. Gentle is still a lesson you need to learn. The cat is trying to teach you but you just roll with the punches. You show up with the occasional scratch but it doesn't seem to faze you. You think Lucy is wonderful and you would love to just pet her and dig your face into her fur but you respect that that is not what she wants.
Even though you put everything from the floor into your mouth (the less edible the better) and you insist that the world is your oyster and won't believe it really isn't OK for you to climb on the table, even though it has been near impossible for me to get anything done for a year now, I would not change a thing. I don't regret a minute of it. You are the greatest gift your father and I have ever received. And now you are starting to talk. You will say Peek-a-boo, uh-oh, sometimes doggy, and maybe even daddy. You have other methods of communication, some more subtle than others. You make the sign that we are trying to teach you means milk for just about any food you want, you have found that trying to pull off my shirt is very effective at communicating "Milk, now!"
One of our friends from college recently found out she was pregnant after 5 months of trying. I remember learning I was pregnant with you, I was excited, a little scared, but excited. I though I knew what this would mean, Blah blah blah, awesome responsibility, blah blah blah, your life is totally different, blah blah blah everything will change, well I didn't know. I thought I could imagine how my life would change, but I couldn't. But I also couldn't imagine how much I would love you, how much joy you were going to bring to my life.