One Year Old

Nathaniel's first birthday just passed on Saturday. I can honestly say I could not sleep the night before because I was completely filled with jitters and anxious to celebrate his day! His first birthday not only marks his first year of life, but our first year at parenting.

We have so enjoyed getting to know our son. Each passing week, he becomes more of a little person and is filled with more personality. In his early months, I thought I had the unhappiest baby. He would cry all the time and would never sleep. It turns out that he had colic and literally hated being immobile. As each milestone passed that allowed his more and more mobility he became a much happier boy. I remember his loud screech laughs that he made when he realized he could roll across our whole living room to get his toys. Now, as he navigates the house through crawling and cruising on any object that he can use to "walk" he is truly elated.

His laughter and joy has filled our house. Joel and I literally fill up with love each time his bright smile widens when he see us. He is an extremely sociable young man. He loves people. He is a people watcher much like Joel. He never cries when I leave him at a nursery. He just truly enjoys people. I know he will be so happy to have a playmate close in age.

Joel and I have settled into a comfortable routine of parenting. We navigate the daily parenting tasks with ease, as opposed to the early days when we struggled to change a diaper quickly and it took us forever just to leave the home. I went from a self conscious mom to a confident women who was completely comfortable with my parenting style. So much has happened in a short 365 days. We have moved twice since Nathaniel was born. We had one cross town move and one cross country move. I went from working full time to being a more than full time stay at home mom. Life has brought us a myriad of challenges, but thankfully the Lord has provided for us each step of the way.

Parent Accomplishments over the 12 months:

Breastfeeding for a few weeks shy of one year

Teaching our son to sleep through the night via the cry it out method (at 6 and 9 months)

Learning how to have an amazing date night at home

Falling more in love with each other throughout the day

Falling more in love with our son

Nathaniel Accomplishments:

Basically everything!! At the end of 12 months Nathaniel can:

Almost walk!! He lets go and takes a step here and there

Say Mom, Dad, that, and Hi

Wave hello and goodbye

Let us know he is hungry

Eat an entire meal of "adult" food

Drink from a sippy cup

Sleep a good 12 hours each night!

Laugh, dance, and sing

We look forward to the next years with our son. We have so enjoyed being parents through the good times and the bad, and everything in between :)