Happy First Birthday!

Today is LR's first birthday. I marked the occasion by starting my part-time hours today. It was wonderful. I didn't get to see LR in the morning, but Daddy says that the Nanny M showed up right on time. LR woke up right after she arrived and they did the breakfast routine together. Then Daddy got ready for work and left. Nanny M and LR played, got changed, played some more and then napped for the last hour and a half. She said LR was happy and an easy baby. He woke up right after I walked in. I fed him lunch and then he mistook my pulling his hands away from his mouth for a game, so he gagged himself until he threw up. That was a first, but I guess bound to happen at some point. After getting changed, we headed to the park using the new Radio Flyer wagon that Gigi bought him for his birthday. LR seemed to enjoy the ride and then really loved pushing it around the soccer fields. Eventually he got tired and we headed home. At home he rocked on his new snail rocker that Daddy and I bought him for his birthday. He took a bottle, played some more, and then Gigi took over while I headed to rugby practice. When I got home I fed him dinner, bathed him, and put him to bed. All-in-all a good day. Sorry for the quick rundown of the day's events, but there's so much to say about the past week!

Last Thur, we packed up and headed to the airport. We went to Denver to stay with Grandma and Grandpa H for a few days. On Sunday we had a wedding in Boulder to attend, but we spent most of the time visiting. He was okay on the flight out. He took a bottle right as we took off and slept for an hour and a half. We had 2 and a half more hours to kill when he woke up and half way through that I realized I hadn't brought enough toys to keep him entertained. By the end of the flight our arms and backs were tired from trying to keep him from crawling down the aisle, kicking the chair in front of him, or pulling the phone out of the cradle in the middle seat. Daddy made a number of laps up and down the aisle with him.

Grandma picked us up at the airport and Grandpa was there when we got home. LR quickly found all the toys they had set out for him and then went about pointing out all the non-baby-proofed items in the house. He's so helpful! Grandma was one outlet plug short, so, of course, he pulled the flashlight plug right out and tried to stick his fingers in the holes. *sigh* They had the greatest cubbys too which were just LR sized. He spent a fair amount of time crawling into and out of them. He also bumped his head a bunch, but nothing Little Rugger can't handle. He also adored the "Whack-a-mole" toy they bought. Noisy AND a hammer. Thanks, Grandma and Grandpa! He also loved the small red wagon that he could push around the house. LR bonded easily with both grandparents. He's so friendly and doesn't seem to mind new people very much. Although they weren't really new since they took care of him the first week of his life! Grandpa rough-housed with him and Grandma was a little more cuddly. She even helped me bake him his first birthday cake. He didn't like it very much, but he enthusiastically squished the cake and icing between his fingers. Gooey!

On Friday we made a quick visit to LR's great grandmother. He loved her walker. It ran along in front of him just like his stroller. We knew he was days away from walking, but instead of walking for Gigi who has spent an entire year with him, or for the Grandma and Grandpa we were visiting, he took his first steps at our friends' rehearsal dinner in Boulder on Sat. Sept 16th. I saw him take the first two to get to some potted flowers on the driveway. Daddy came out and saw the third step. LR had his own cheering section just inside the front door.

The next day LR took 4 steps toward me first thing in the morning. I headed off to the wedding in the afternoon. (Daddy had spent the night in Boulder.) The ceremony was lovely and the band at the reception was awesome. LR had a great time with his grandparents, but that didn't change the fact that we got a fourth night of restless sleep. We had him in a pack-n-play in the room and he could see us whenever he woke up in the night. He ended up cosleeping with us most of the time. It's been 6 months since the last time we coslept and I don't remember him being nearly so much of a thrasher. When we got back home (after a great flight back where he slept for 2 hours and 15 minutes), LR went to bed at 8pm and got up this morning at 7am. I didn't hear a peep from him all night. He must have been as exhausted as we were.

Oh and he babbles constantly now. His favority word from the past week is "golly." His variations are "doggie" and "cookie." We're not sure if he's saying the words intentionally or if they just sound similar to "golly." The grandparents got a kick out of it, so they bought him a bunny which we decided should be named "Golly the Bunny." I'll try to load a picture of him soon.