Happy Birthday Baby Butter!

Dear Eliot,

Today you turn one. I cannot believe that an entire twelve months has passed since you came into our lives. What they say is true, and possibly corny, but it does go by so fast.

Ever since you moved in, I don't have to do the dishes anymore. Thanks Eliot.

This has been the toughest and most rewarding year of our lives. I have never felt so stressed, weak, joyful, and strong all at once, and it's taking some getting used to. Daddy and I haven't had much sleep in the past year (mostly Mama - just remember that). After you were born, we decided that we couldn't bear to put you in daycare. We made the decision for me to stay home with you and find another way. That way included nannying for Parris and Bronte, two little girls who've made you their honorary little brother; and doing freelance writing for neuropsychologists in Canada, a lucrative yet so far spotty endeavor. We also decided to sell our house and move somewhere smaller, so that we could all be together without having to worry about money. Because that is just a drag.

"Okay, Ruby, I think it's time I filled you in about the birds and the bees. This is a bee, right?"

This year, you have:

• Lost your front hair
• Grown your front hair
• Grown 6 teeth (4 top, 2 bottom)
• Learned to roll over, sit up, army crawl, real crawl, pull up, and cruise
• You can say: Eliot, up, Dad (sometimes Dadda), duck, dog, hat, and hi
• You cannot say: MAMA - which is something I think you need to really focus on now that you are one
• Dressed up like a hot dog
  
• Learned to wave
  
• Learned to crawl up and down the stairs
• Learned to kiss
• Had your first haircut
  
• Learned how to SLEEP THROUGH THE NIGHT at ELEVEN months. Finally. Thank you so much, you don't know how much the sleep deprivation was starting to kill me.
  
  Who knew I would fall in love with a slob?
  

Your favorite things are:

• Cheese - any kind, any where, any time
  
• Gerber's Graduate's Zesty Tomato Crunchies (which I often use to bribe you, and then feel guilty about, because I'm pretty sure they are just low calorie baby junk food stuffs)
• Farmer Tad's banjo
• Phones, remote controls, anything with wires or lights
• To stand at the coffee table and 'talk' on your phone - which might sometimes actually be a stuffed animal or remote control - My guess is that you are mimicking behavior that you are probably seeing a little too much
• Your Daddy
• Nursing - yes, still, your face gets this complete look of unadulterated glee when you realize you will be meeting with 'nipsies'. I'd also like to point out that your teeth are killing me; the other night after I put you to bed I noticed that I had TEETH MARKS on my nipple. You should also consider working on that. Just a suggestion.
• Other kids - you have so many friends: Sylvia, Ruby, Ava, Lila, Parris, and Bronte. You do not have many boy friends, which leads me to believe that you will either be a ladies' man or gay, and I want you to know that I'm fine with either of those options. I just ask that you do not deny me grandchildren.
  
• The time right before bath time, formerly Naked Time, (you are just too mobile to risk an off-the-mat pee). This is the time of the day when you laugh the hardest and I really feel that we are a family.
• Sharing food - you love to offer a bite to whomever is at arm's length, you also are very good about offering up your toys for someone else's examination.
  
• Sliding - Ruby has a slide in her room (lucky!) and you just about lost your mind when you experienced it. Even cuter was the way Ruby laughed at your reaction.
  
• Waking up at ungodly early hours. Like 4:45 a.m. That is just ridiculous. Please add sleeping in to your goals for 2008.
• Books and being read to. I am convinced you will be reading by your next birthday. Please don't disappoint me.
  
  Proof that you are an angel.
  
  My baby boy, you are pretty much a toddler, which is exciting and a little bit sad for me. I loved your babyhood; you are such a happy and loving boy, you bring such joy to everyone who knows you. Although, you could really have started sleeping through the night on a regular basis a little sooner. Your sleep routine was killing my blogging. I blame all my lazy updating on your thrice nightly waking. That said, I am very much looking forward to your toddlerhood. I can't wait to watch you learn and grow and change and walk and talk. You and Daddy are the best things that have ever happened to me, and I am thankful every day that we have one another.
  
  XOXO,
  Love always,
  Mumma