Lately, every day I think back on what I was doing an ENTIRE year ago and I think about how much has changed in that short amount of time. An entire year ago I did not think I would be meeting my son in one short week (since he came 3 weeks early). I still thought I had plenty of time to finish the final touches on the nursery or plenty of time to pack my bag for the hospital or plenty of time to finish our birthing classes at the hospital. Yeah, life sure does have a way of being full of surprises! :) I do remember being completely miserable at this point in my pregnancy- the swelling I had was crazy and it was a miracle that I made it to work and was able to work every day because I was so tired and huge and just plain miserable!! I also remember how nervous I was about the whole birthing process. Little did I know I would have the perfect birth which would end in the most perfect son!! :) Really, Bennett's birth was picture book perfect- I worried about it for nothing. I'm sure all those moms who stayed in labor for 16, 24 or even longer would agree that having an 8 hour birth is a breeze. :) I progressed so fast I surprised not only myself but my sweet nurse who took care of me throughout the whole process. I can remember that night like it was just yesterday. Little did I know I would have to spend 4 days going back and forth to the NICU to see my son in the hospital. I had this idea in my head of how my hospital stay was going to be. I was going to have my son and be able to show him off to all the visitors that were going to come by. Again, life has a way of not working out exactly how you have it planned. I also had no idea what I would be getting myself into with breastfeeding- I had no idea that the most natural thing about having a child would be the hardest thing I would have ever done in my life, up to that point. Seriously, and not to scare those soon to be mothers, but breastfeeding was by no means natural- it took A LOT of work and 6 weeks to master!! But it was the BEST decision I ever made- the best decision to try breastfeeding and the best decision to stick with it, even when I wanted to give up! I even had Jason go buy me some cabbage- that's how bad I wanted to quit. But I breastfed Bennett for 9 whole months and loved every minute of it- after I mastered it!! :)
Since Bennett has been born I find myself loving him more and more each day. Before he was born, I had no idea how much love I would have for that little baby growing inside of me. I knew I would love him because he was my son and I was his mother, and that's what mothers are supposed to do. But the amount of love that I have for him is indescribable. Even through the sleepless nights and fussy times, I loved him soooo much.
In one year, Bennett has learned to: (in no particular order)
- sit up
- crawl
- chew food and swallow it
- put his paci in his mouth all by himself
- walk assisted
- say words in his own language :)
- sit himself up
- pull himself up onto his feet
- hold his bottle
- play peek a boo
- pull his socks off the minute we put them on
- clap
- roll over- first from stomach to back and then back to stomach
- feed himself
- smile - and what a beautiful smile he has
- make all kinds of sounds with his mouth
- drink from a sippy cup
- close and open doors (not by the door knob quite yet, thankfully!)
- go all night without needing milk- this is probably Mommy's favorite accomplishment :)
I'm probably forgetting some stuff but I would say that's a lot to accomplish for such a small little fella. It's amazing how fast babies grow and learn when they are so small. It's also kinda sad how fast we want them to grow and do things. We want them to be eating food, sitting and rolling over and walking and talking but my thought is he's got the rest of his life to do that. I want to enjoy him being a baby as long as possible. Before I know it he's not going to need me to put him to sleep or feed him so I'm gonna enjoy doing that every day now.
The next 2 weeks we have a lot planned. First, Bennett's birthday is in ONE week so we will be celebrating our big boy's FIRST birthday next Friday. Then his birthday party is next Saturday so we will be having fun preparing for that and then enjoying Bennett's first year with our family and friends. And then we have his 1 year pictures planned for the following week. I'm really excited about that!!! Amanda Joy Photography will be doing them and our plan is to start at the Govenor's Mansion and then move to her inside studio to get some inside pictures and cupcake smashing pictures. Can't wait, can't wait, can't wait!!!!
So in the next few weeks I will have a lot of pictures to share with you!! Next week my baby will officially be a toddler!!!! Sniff, sniff.......
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