Birthday Baby

It's hard to believe that one year ago, I gave birth in the backseat of our car, in front of the Whitehorse General Hospital. That one year ago, I held my new baby boy to my breast for the first time, while P looked on from the bedside, both of us in total awe that we created this tiny human being.

And now, a year later, we're both still in awe, as he changes every day. How did the time go by so quickly?

At one year old, Aedan is walking all over the place; he hardly ever crawls now.

He loves to play "put": we find he puts things in the oddest places. Today I found a container of bay leaves in the wood box. We find his blocks in our water jugs and pot lids in the grey water bucket beneath the sink.

He babbles almost constantly, from the moment he wakes to the moment he sleeps. He tries to say "dog", and he repeats "guck" when I tell him something is yucky. He can make the sign for milk, and he does an approximation of the sign for "more".

He takes a real interest in his books now. He loves to pull them all off the shelf, and will crawl into my lap to have one read to him. He turns the pages himself, carefully studying each picture, and will sign for more when we finish.

Aedan eats almost anything. For his birthday supper I made curried lentils with sweet potato and cauliflower, what I judge to be one of his favourites. He also loves oatmeal, broccoli, bananas, kiwi, wild berries, and tofu.

He makes the silliest faces these days, for no apparent reason other than to get a laugh. He loves to play peek-a-boo, either with a blanket or scarf over his face, or crouching down beside the couch and popping back up again. He points at everything, waiting for us to bring the world alive with names.

He's my favourite person to hang out with. He makes me laugh, he drives me crazy sometimes, he reminds me to slow down and take each moment as it comes.

Happy 1st birthday, my sweet boy!