The past year I have said the phrase "Time Flies" more times than I ever thought imaginable. I now understand why people constantly tell you how fast the time goes once you have a baby. It feels like just yesterday we were at the hospital awaiting Dylan's arrival. We had such a rocky & scary start but the moments & memories we have had this past year have been such an incredible blessing. I have learned & loved more than I ever thought I possibly could in such a short time. I recently attended my first MOPS meeting at a friends church. I had a great time. At the beginning of the meeting a lady said something that will forever stay with me. She was talking to the the entire group & said "You all were chosen. God chose you to be a mom". Not everyone is fortunate to have the experience of welcoming a child into this world. It made me realize that as much as I have been dwelling on Dylan's early arrival, his stay in the NICU or my health issues after delivery...God chose us to have those experiences. He knew we could handle it & he knew it would only make us stronger. Thank you for choosing me :)
Since "Time Flies" was on my mind so much, we decided to have Dylan's 1st birthday party with the theme " Time Flies When Your Having Fun" . We had airport signs around the house. "Check In" was at the gift table, "Baggage Claim" where the kids could pick up their party favors ( candy filled plastic airplanes) "Arriving Flights": airplane pins with kids names who were attending the party , "Jet Fuel" for drinks & we decorated above Dylan's highchair with clouds & airplanes. We also had a banner with all of our favorite pictures of Dylan throughout the year. I LOVE to plan parties so needless to say I had a BLAST planning for his big day.
Dylan had a great time. We were so blessed to have most of our family & close friends to celebrate with us. Dylan was showered with gifts & really enjoyed his first taste of cake. We started him off in the highchair but he had the most fun when we moved him to the floor with his cake. He even dug his toes in!!
At 12 months Dylan has become much more independent. He used to want me within arms reach all the time. Now he is very content playing on the floor with his toys. He still goes to physical therapy to help with his delays in his milestones. His improvements have been amazing. Right before he turned 1 he began putting weight on his legs and standing at the coffee table. We are still working on him pulling to a stand but for now he really enjoys standing to look out the window or standing to get any & everything off the coffee table. He is officially on the move! He is not a crawler but a scooter. He scoots everywhere & is in to everything. Ryan & I spend most of our time these days following him around or picking him up & putting him back where his toys are. He LOVES our coat rack. He seriously has a strange obsession with it. He constantly is trying to get to it before we can catch him! He waves & smiles at it all the time!!!
He still loves to give me slobbery kisses on the cheek. He also now makes a kissing noise to give others a kiss. It is so cute. If I say give a kiss..he puckers his lips & makes a big smooch noise :) He always seems to have a new way to melt our heart.
The day after his first birthday we decided to try & give up the bottle cold turkey. At this point Dylan was still taking 3 bottles a day so I really didn't think it would work. I was SHOCKED when it did. That day he ate dinner as usual but I put whole milk in his sippy instead of water. I put him to bed that night with out a bottle. He slept all night. The next day I offered a sippy with whole milk all day long. He was such a champ. Never a whine or whimper. Its been 3 weeks & I am still shocked. The transition couldn't have gone any better.
Dylan recently had pink eye for the first time. He looked horrible. As bad as he looked it only seemed to really bother him at night. He had several restless nights. It took an entire week to clear up. Luckily no one else in our family caught it.
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| These are actually the "good" pics of his pink eyes..I decided not to share the nasty & horrible ones! |
It has been such a memorable year. I am so excited for all the new memories & milestones this year will bring us.
*I had originally decide to keep this blog to document Dylan's first year & then have it printed into a book for us to have. I have had so much fun I have decided to continue. I wont be updating every month but want to update a few times a year to reflect on holidays, fun moments & milestones.
