other firsts.

his mimi (vicki) took him to striderite to get his FIRST pair of walking shoes...he's still not actually standing up yet...but james and i both had to wear special shoes to correct our feet when we were babies, so we're starting early...we just put them on him for an hour a day and put him in either his jumper or walker.

FIRST ride in his new car seat...i couldn't even get him to look at me or smile...he would just stare  straight ahead at the windshield...and i have to say, it's so nice to not have to haul him to the car in the carrier!

long live the king.

stetson's first birthday party was a success...other than the dramatic gagging on the cake...he did really well despite the fact that there were 30 people at our house...he isn't as shy as he was so he acted like his usual happy self in the midst of all the chaos...he wore the little crown the whole time and didn't even try to take it off...and he loved all the cards he got the most.

a year ago.

so much to catch up on from the last few weeks...2 more teeth...(finally) forward army crawl/inchworm...pulling up in his bed...gagging on birthday cake...getting really good at feeding himself...going from formula to milk...big boy walkin' shoes...first trip away from him...so much going on...

but i was just sitting  here (tearfully) remembering that this time last year i was having contractions...that lasted all night, every five minutes....until they became irregular early in the  morning...went to the doctor around 9 am...5 cm...sent me to the hospital...contractions stayed irregular until she broke my water i think around 1:30pm...epidural maybe an hour later...and he arrived at 7:50pm.

while showing pictures of him during my first trip away last weekend, i got asked if i walk around feeling like my heart is gonna explode all the time...that would be a yes.

what an incredible joy he has been.  

i can't believe it's been a year.

slowly but surely.

stetson is slowly starting to be interested in moving around...he can scoot backwards on his belly but hasn't figured out how to go forward yet.  when he's in his bed, he is constantly getting up on all fours and rocking until he goes forward onto his belly...he even pushed himself up onto his bottom in a sitting position the other day.  he also moves around in his walker (backwards) and has started jumping in his johnny jump up.  now that he's trying to move around, he has become more interested in the things around our house...i guess this means sometime soon we need to babyproof.  he's still super content playing with his toys and will play with the same one for long periods of time.  his babbling is so funny to listen to...he can make so many sounds now and he puts them all together like he's really trying to tell you something.  he tries to copy any sounds you make with your mouth and will randomly repeat a word.  unfortunately, the one sound he hasn't made yet is MAMA.  i'm pretty sure he calls both of us da da...sometimes da dee...or the other morning when i went in to get him he said "hey deedee".  i keep saying mama to him but that's one of the few things he doesn't try to repeat.  he also has started trying to push me away when i'm kissing on him, but i keep reminding him i waited a long time to have my own baby to kiss.  his birthday is less than 3 weeks away and i can't believe it.