turning 1 = toddler???

I had no idea that my sweet little baby would turn 1 and become a toddler on the very same day!!! Isn't it wonderful & heartbreaking enough to have a 1 year old but then to see your first born child look you straight in the face and determinedly decide to WALK across the room on the afternoon of his 1st birthday-it is a bit of a shock. It happened this weekend. For the last week or so he has been standing up & down and tentatively trying steps between pieces furniture and pushing various toys and walker-type toys around as he walked behind them and even using the DOG to stand up (like she is just some useful mobile furniture that happens to be around when he needs something to lean on-this scares me b/c I am afraid Fin will unknowingly grab a clump of her fur & rip it out & she will freak out-Kaia has been nothing but gentle with the baby but I would not ever want to take a chance so we are very vigilant when Fin is playing near the dog). Suddenly this saturday morning he started stringing the steps together and by sunday & monday (labor day holiday) he was cruising along taking several steps and balancing himself with his arms when he would get shakey and almost fall. My heart is brimming and breaking at the same time. no doubt this is only the beginning of so many bittersweet days. Now all he wants to do is walk-he won't crawl much on his knees and if he does fall down to his knees he gets up in the crab/bear walk position with his feet and hands on the ground and cruises along at top speed looking like some sort of deranged giggling spider.

Last friday evening I was sitting out in the backyard on a hot steamy late summer night listening to evening birds and watching lazy butterflies and bees visit flowers-remembering the evening exactly 1 year ago when I was doing the very same thing yet I was still pregnant!! hard to believe. I remember feeling so very pregnant and uncomfortable and anxious to meet my son but convinced that he would not be arriving for another few days b/c I was feeling no contractions or tightness-just feeling hot and large. little did I know that later that night at 3:30am-my water would break (all over the floor) and then Bill & I would be off to the hospital with excitement and hope for a new life. It is so hard to believe that this little person we now have in or life-such a force to be reckoned with is the very same little wiggling baby who we greeted 1 year ago.

This sunday sept 2nd was Finley's 1st bday. I feel like it is an even more important day for me-what a huge milestone. i am so proud and amazed for Bill & I & Finley too-and even for Kaia-she has been such a sweet good natured lady-dog. so gentle and has had to learn so much about babies in the past year. we ALL have-that is for sure.

Mornings are very special times for our little family. We all wake up together in our big family bed. the bright morning sun filters in thru our shades and we can see the shadows of the leafy trees just outside our window & we listen to the little bird whistles and rustles coming from the nearby branches.

Finley always sits straight up and greets us with the cutest smile and questioning little baby statement, "gaba ba doo?" then he proceeds to start the game of HOP on pop or hop on mom! this involves much rolling and crawling and wrestling and baby feet-in mom's face and jumping on full bladders and giggling and peekaboo and patting Kaia and mom saying "GENTLE" and more giggling. obviously if we were not fully awake at first-a good game of hop on parents will do the trick and wake us up. On his special bday morning mom & dad sang Finley the happy birthday song in bed. he started clapping as we sang it-it was just so cute we gushed.

then we all got up & got dressed and went outside on the deck to smell the fresh morning air and feel the dew on the outdoor furniture. then we went off to a birthday breakfast at Northside Grill. Bill & I definitely felt like it was our celebration too-not just Fin's bday.

then we went & bought some play sand for Finley's new (used but new to him) green turtle sandbox that he dad found on the side of the road!!! what a great find it was-in perfect condition and ready for love form a new family.

then we filled his sandbox and Finley was delighted to have the BEACH in his own backyard. of course he promptly proceeded to start throwing the sand and flicking it over his head and trying to get it into his eyes as well. lovely for us so Bill tried to discipline him by closing the lid of the sand box and then Finley decided to crawl ONTOP of the lid and STANDUP. yes standup. good lord we are so screwed.

this reminds me-on saturday morning I brought Fin downstairs after we woke up, put him in his bedroom while I went o the bathroom when I came back around the corner (maybe 2 minutes later-at most) he had taken off his diaper and POOPED on the carpet. gross messy yellow poo with chunks of undigested food. lovely. needless to say-the carpet died that day.

So later on in the evening on Fin's bday we went out o Brighton ore lake to visit my parents. we had wonderful cake & ice cream and Finley got to play on the real beach.

We did not make a big celebration this weekend b/c next weekend we are having a combined bday & baptism celebration for Finley. it will be a wonderful bash.

here is a link to a recent movie of Finley walking & falling and being cute & talking to his dad. there if a part where he basically crawls right into the wall with his head and he does not even care. this is exactly how he is everyday.