Promises

While we celebrate my nephew's 1 week birthday, I am settling myself into the Booger's First Birthday Countdown! When he was born, we were given a wonderful book 100 Promises to My Baby by Mallika Choppra. It is not the type of book you sit down to read, but one of those that you come back to when you need a few moments of meditation or a gentle reminder that it (it being late nights, early mornings, diapers, laundry, tears, and inconsolable babies and mommies and daddies) is all truly, truly worth it, especially this amazing first year.

In coming across it again this evening, I realized that it would be a wonderful way to reminisce and celebrate the week leading up to my miraculous son's first birthday. I spent some time looking through and pulled out a few promises that I want to give to him. Stop by throughout the week to watch the flashbacks (in photos) to go along with my Mommy moments.

My first promise on your first birthday;

I promise to love you, with not limits, from the depths of my soul, even when I know that it makes me more vulnerable than I have ever felt before.

I cannot count the number of times I have been amazed that I could love someone this much. Just looking down at you sometimes, I catch myself in awe. In awe of the amazing little bundle of personality that I nurtured and grew for months and months has stopped moving for a few moments and is so soft and sweet. In awe that I am 'the one' that you look for when you are scared or surprised or excited. In awe of the task that I am facing to somehow raise you to be a happy, satisfied, successful, well-rounded, strong-minded, loving, good person. In awe that in one whole year you have changed my life more than I could have ever imagined, more than any person I have ever met.

I know that you give me unquestioning love, and I want you to always know you have had the same love, magnified by thousands from me. I know when you are older, you will probably not believe me because I have to be the 'mean' mom. Always know that I really and truly love you from the depths of my soul, and that will never change.

1st Chritmas!!

I cannot believe that the Booger's 1st Christmas has come and gone! I have a whole post-ful of 1sts he's mastered lately as he ridiculously quickly approaches his 1st birthday! Still working on wrapping my head around that...

1st and foremost though... the joys of his 1st Christmas. Amidst teasing from his daddy and his uncle, I helped a very distracted, uninterested, impatient baby go through his stocking and unwrap his gifts. Note to self: practice opening gifts this month, so he can open his birthday presents... He was surrounded by his cousins' easily accessible, conveniently unwrapped toys, so really- why bother with all that work unwrapping? Come on, Mom!

He did well going through his stocking in the beginning- he got the idea of reaching in and pulling things out. Alas, after he found a couple fun board books, and I wouldn't let him eat the animal crackers, he was over it. So we moved on- the result:

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Here comes trouble

I'm only a day late for Debi's Baby Picure Sundays better late than never! But we had some family fun yesterday and didn't bother with the computer. Right in the beginning of our fun, the Booger found some trouble to get into...

So many buttons... so little time...

I could get the hang of this

C'mon, get out of the way, baby behind the wheel!

It's a Zoo out there

We spent a fun-filled weekend with my sister, my brother-in-law, and their twins (plus their cupcake that's still in the oven). Living in the Zoo (Kalamazoo, that is) we are pretty lucky to have lots a cool things to do of all varities, so it was hard to decide what to do when they talked about coming to visit. They decided the zoo was a must see- Binder Park is only about 20 minutes from our house, and I suggested our fun, free museum downtown, and a fun park that is just down the street.

Barb already posted some zoo pictures, which was very fun. The Booger slept through a lot of his first trip to the zoo, ....and didn't pay attention to the rest of it! Here are a few of the things he actually did pay attention to.

The camera

His feet

He did help feed the giraffe- after he tried to taste test the merchandise

The giraffe really wanted some more

We were posing with the giraffe...

Stay tuned for more weekend fun!

Silly baby

The Booger is really figuring out how to play. I had a headache this afternoon, and was cuddling with him while he played with toys. Somehow he wiggled his little baby self from sitting up next to me to laying down on his belly. Which was pretty impressive in itself- I was wishing I had to camera, his arm got stuck, and he was busy swinging the other arm around to get momentum, and then it all came together.

Then I was rubbing his soft skin and fuzzy little head, and he popped his head up and gave me a big ol' smile. I just laughed at him and he dropped his head down again. Then a minute or two later, he did it again, waited for me to say hi, and then smiled at me. Then again...and again.... After a few times I realized he was playing with me, and he started it! He always likes being tickled or kissed or played with, but we have always initiated it.

He is getting such a personality, and it is super sweet, loving, and funny. I was so excited to meet him before he was born and spent a lot of time wondering what he would be like. Now I can really start to see the little kid he is going to turn into in his adorable little face and how he interacts with us and the world around him. And it just makes me even more excited to see what else is in store.