Dear Col

We knew it was coming, but it's still almost impossible to believe that in just one year we've gone from this ...

... to THIS:

Insert eyebrows of choice

Today of all days, you have a tummy bug, but we still celebrate YOU! Here's a snapshot of a few things you're up to right now...

When you're excited about something--a person, a toy, food, or nursing--you rapid-fire kick both your legs in and out, in and out. You've done this since you were tiny and I suspect you'll quit once you start talking, but I sure enjoy it for now.

You love to dance, especially when Dad plays music:

You hold toys out to people as if you want to share with them, but really you just want to SHOW them. And keep the toy. You particularly like playing with anything that Big Brother plays with, right when he's playing with it. If he gives it to you and moves on, you lose interest and move on with him.

Corollary: You wholly worship your Big Brother except when he tries to wrestle with you. Then you squawk in no uncertain terms. He particularly loves grabbing your head and you particularly hate that.

We are looking forward to dressing you up properly for your second Halloween and to giving Big Brother all your candy (minus the candy tax, natch).

"Keep smiling ... make eye contact ... inch toward the berries"

For the most part, you go to bed around 7:45 and wake up around 4 a.m. to nurse, then you're down again until 6:30. However, some nights you're also up around 1 a.m., just to break up our sleep more evenly.

In terms of child care, you've stopped acting relatively low key when we (and especially I) leave. Instead you pitch a fit at the signs of imminent departure. I'm told you settle down pretty quickly, but it's never while I'm in earshot. I'm sure your security quotient is not helped by this week's day care drama: you have been unceremoniously uprooted from your cozy spot in the baby room at Stepping Stones and transplanted into a much larger toddler room at your new nursery, Kids Unlimited--Oxford Waterways. (More about the sudden and terrible nursery shutdown in a subsequent post--this is Col's day!)

You're in the 50th percentile for height, weight, and head size, but you look enormous to us because Tor was so bitty. Very few of his winter clothes fit you because he was a full size smaller than you at one year old. You've still got some epic thigh folds but I'm sure you'll lose these when you begin walking in earnest.

Livin' large

You think baths are THE. GREATEST. We have not had a bad one yet--you can be tired and angry or even hungry, but once you get in the bath, it's all good, and it's better than good if Big Brother's in there with you. Of course, it's a different story once you get out: the rage begins once you hit the towel and usually doesn't stop until there's food in your mouth.

You resemble baby pictures of both your dad and me. Which really means the two of us kind of looked like each other as children. I also think you look a lot like my mom's dad, which is fitting since we used his name for one of your middle names--Harry.

My dear Col, you have delighted us with your cheeriness from sunny California to drizzly Oxford. We are so grateful to have you in our family and I am honored to be your mom. May your year ahead be one filled with joy, growth, discovery, and love.