One Year Ago...

"All the world is a birthday cake, so take a piece, but not too much." -George Harrison

One year ago today, I was packing my hospital bag, nervous with anticipation. I was scheduled to go into the hospital that night to have my labor induced so that I could have my baby on the 9th of February, 2011.

That's right, David turns the big O-N-E tomorrow, my friends. Let's look back through some of his accomplishments:

• He was born! After a little more than 9 hours of labor, he was born at 9:33am. He came a week early, on purpose, because we were a little worried he was going to be a big baby. And he was! He was 9lbs, and 21 1/2 inches long!
• He was jaundiced for the first few weeks, but got over that in the first few weeks.
• He learned to roll over between 3 1/2 and 4 months old.
• He started eating (and LOVED) solid food at 4 months.
• He learned how to scoot around at 5 months! I wasn't prepared for that...
• He learned to sit up (finally) around 6-6 1/2 months.
• He's sprouted 6 teeth since he turned 6 months old.
• He crawled (for real) at around 7 or 8 months.
• He learned to pull himself up and cruise around 8 1/2 months.
• He learned to walk at 10 1/2 months! I wasn't quite prepared for that either...
• He said his first word - Ball! - at 10 1/2 months. That's often the first thing I hear him say in his crib in the morning, and the last sound I hear him make at night when he falls asleep.

David is still as bald as ever, with mostly just light brown/dark blond fuzz growing on his head. He has the most mild, chill personality ever, loving to smile and laugh, but happy to be held and be quiet too. He loves playing with toys, especially with the ones Andrew doesn't want him to play with. ;) His favorite toys are balls, hence his first word. He brings a ball to me, says "Bah", and drops the ball forcefully into my hands. It's so cute! He smiles and laughs and makes everyone around him happy. We are so lucky to have him in our family!

Let's look at a few pictures to show how he's grown!

A few days old! He was so little compared to Andrew.

A week(ish) old. A friend came over and took some beautiful pictures of him!

Three months old, enjoying the sunshine.

6 months old, playing on the floor.

9 months old, enjoying eating dinner with the family.

A few days ago, we had ravioli for lunch. He was REALLY happy as he got it all over his hands, face, hair, and clothes. Oh, and this was right after having taken a bath, too. :)

On Sunday, my side of the family got together for some Sunday dinner/birthday cupcake eating to celebrate David's birthday. Here are some of my favorite pictures from that:

First bites.

SMOOSH!

What? It's good!

This picture should be in the dictionary after the word Gluttony!

My baby isn't a baby anymore! Where did the time go?

Secret: I'd rather walk through snow than rain. Yes, snow is colder, but at least it doesn't soak your clothes on impact! Which would you rather walk through?