HAPPY BIRTHDAY, RYDER

Ryder!! Oh, my God! How did a whole year go by already??? Seems like just yesterday, you were this cute, chubby, wrinkly, tiny baby!

 Now, you're a cute, chubby, less wrinkly, still dimply, walking, babbling, playing, joyful little boy!!! (one I LOVE to photograph)

I can't believe how being your Mom has changed me; made me less "type A," more relaxed, HAPPIER, more tired, less fitness obsessed, more empathetic, more thoughtful, more forgetful, more emotional, more sensitive, more understanding of my own Mom and the Mom's of the kids I teach, more creative, more appreciative of my own body, more scared, more fearless, and plain old, more....better!!!
I had no idea one could love the way I love you! It is a feeling I feel sooo blessed and lucky to finally be given the chance to experience!

Ryder, there are sooo many things, little things and big things, that I don't ever want to forget about this first year. The little things can be easily shadowed by happy memories of the big things, like the first time you smiled, sat up, ate solid foods and walked.  The smiles I get from remembering the little things though, make those memories deserving of a place in "forever too!!"

These are the little things, I never want to forget about you in your first year:

·      The way you crank your head as far as possible to the right when you slept at night

·      The little noises you make when you were just about to fall asleep while you sucked on your soother

·      The way your hands  knead knead when you breastfeed

·      The way you’d rub your eyes or tug on your ears when you are tired

·      The way you smile when you wake up

t  The way you stand in your crib and start jumping up and down when I come in after your nap, or in the morning!

     The way you play shy and flirt with people who smile at you

·      The way you get excited and kick your legs when you think I am gonna take you out of the stroller or car seat

·      The way you curl over to your left side when I lay you in your crib

·      The way you LOVE Scout and how patient she is with you when you grab her lips and her ears and poke her in the eye.

·      The way you are obsessed with the laundry room. How fast you can get there when you hear the door open.

     The way  you take the lid off the dog food pail so you can shovel dog food in your mouth

·      The way you “run” to other kids whenever you see them anywhere 

·      The way you “growl” at everyone. I wonder if you learned to talk from Scout as both of your growls are always happy ones

    The way you like to beeline for Scout’s gross hairy bed just so you can flop down on it and snuggle up to her.

·      The way you giggle and giggle when we tickle your neck at supper time

·      The way you shovel grated apples in your mouth

·   The way you hide behind my leg when you are playing shy with a big smile on your face

·      The way you arch your back in protest when you didn’t want to do something (like get in car seat or high chair)

·      The way you hate getting your diaper changed now that you are a "big boy"

·      The way you LOVE all animals and want to pet them by "whacking them on the head."

     The way you carry around your yellow school bus

     The way you "organize your books" carrying them from one shelf to the next.

I    I know we have sooo many more memories to make. I look forward to every adventure! Here's to the future.  I love you!

    “Making the decision to have a child is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body.”   Elizabeth Stone

R

               Love, Mommy!