January 28

Today, my baby turns one.

I've been doing a lot of reflecting as we approached this milestone; it was a rough year, and Eli is likely our last child (I'm holding out hope to one day expand our family via foster care or adoption, but Chris is hesitant, so if that happens it will be many years from now), and so I've been feeling sentimental. 

One year ago, this happened:

These pictures sum it up perfectly. They are chaotic, messy, stressful... and yet, the expression on my face is one of pure joy, delight, and love. I look at the pictures above and see a seasoned mama, birthing her fourth child, who has no idea what she is doing. Eli grew inside my body for 35 weeks, and yet he emerged a complete stranger. Over the past year, Eli and I have fought many battles together. In the process we've forged a precious bond, and I sit here at a loss for words to describe the admiration and love I feel for this little guy. 

He is sweet, charming, and totally unassuming. He doesn't draw attention to himself, and so I am constantly surprised by him: by what he can do, by his funny little personality, by the fact that he has certain preferences.

If he had been my first baby, I'm not sure there would be any more children after him. He is always either the best baby in the world, or the worst baby ever. There is no in-between. And yet, he is the perfect last baby. 

Eli goes in for his one-year checkup tomorrow, so I don't have current stats for him. But here are some of the things he is doing now:

naps twice a day, for about an hour and a half each

sleeps in his crib for the first three hours of the night, then joins me in bed

still nurses at least four times a day, and then throughout the night

crawls like a champ

pulls up to standing and has begun to cruise

says: ball, bird, cat, more, one, dog

sometimes says mama and dada, and says "day" for Daisy and "buh" for Caleb

doesn't clap. It's weird.

dances to music

gives the biggest, slobberiest kisses

still has zero teeth. Any day now.

desperately wants to pet the cat

loves to snuggle

loves his siblings

loves oatmeal, applesauce, clementines, and cheese

I have spent the past few weeks putting together this video slideshow of Eli's first year; it's nearly 9 minutes long, so I don't blame you for watching, but if you have time you totally should.

We are having a celebration for his birthday on Saturday, so today was a pretty low-key day for us. However, when we went to pick Daisy up from preschool, it was nearly 60 degrees outside. On a whim, I picked up McDonald's for lunch and took the kids to a playground. They were so excited. We never do things like that, but it ended up being the perfect way to celebrate Eli's birthday.

Don't worry, Mom. Eli was in the very center of the table, and surrounded by food. He was safe, and he wasn't going anywhere.

He's wearing Lily's chew necklace.

After the kids ate, they played. Eli had so much fun!

"What is this?"

And then we got to the swings. As soon as I gave Eli his first push, he began laughing harder than I've heard him laugh in quite a while. I'm not sure if it was the swinging, or the sunshine, or the swinging and the sunshine after a long absence of both, but the kid was so happy. I can't think of a better way to celebrate a one-year-old's birthday!

There was only one baby swing, and at first Lily was quite upset. But one of the big kid swings was at just the right height for her, and then she was so very, very happy. She kept saying, "Daddy be so 'pressed that I ride big kid swing!"

All four of my duckies in a row!

We got home in time for late naps, and once the girls were down I tried to snap a few one-year pictures of Eli.

It didn't go so well.

Both boys in their Superman shirts. Look at how much Caleb loves his brother - it makes my heart sing. I am so thankful that we are homeschooling right now, if only because of moments like this that we missed while he was at school.

Sweet boys.

(Even if Caleb's hair looks wild. And Eli looks weird. And he's trying to squirm out of Caleb's lap.)

Oh. This one kills me. It would have been sweet, but I totally missed the focus. Oh well.

And look at that! The picture is kind of misleading, because Eli definitely doesn't do the "hold my fingers and walk" thing yet. But he does do the "hold my fingers and stand" thing!

Super Eli!

Happy birthday, big guy!