Dear Crozzie Bear-
Well, here we are. You have completed your first trip around the sun and are officially one year old.
You are walking with assistance and can stand on your own but you are nervous and will sit down when you realize we've let go of your hands. You cruise across the furniture and prefer standing, always. You laugh hysterically and make all kinds of hilarious noises. My favorite is when you scrunch up your nose and sniff like a doggie!
You are a charmer (like Daddy) and can be really, really loud (like Momma). You love your bottle (still on Mommy milk!), can sleep through the night and still take need two naps a day.
You are addicted to your paci and have to have two in order to go to sleep - one in your mouth and one in your hand.
You have 9 teeth. A molar popped up in the tooth eruption schedule and took us all by surprise.
You are aware of your environment and all that's going on. You are into everything. Sometimes, when you are just sitting back, you look left, look right and I know you're trying to make up your mind on what you want to grab or get into next.
You are feisty, spirited, passionate, sweet, funny, persistent and intense! You can throw one heck of a tantrum, but in the next minute, I am being thoroughly tackled by you with your hugs and an onslaught of kisses that are mostly slobber, with a side of sharp teeth.
I do sometimes grieve over how quickly time is passing. You are already so different than you were three or six or nine months ago. But even as I mourn the speeding up of life, I love watching you grow, becoming a little person, filled with energy, and loudly-voiced opinions. It just makes me so proud to think of the little boy you are becoming.
My sweet boy, you are one year down, with a lifetime a head of you. Oh, the places you will go and the people you will meet! Oh, the adventures you will have and the love you will share! Oh, the the lives you will touch! Your entire future, minus one year, lays out before you, just brimming with possibilities.
From the moment I met you, I knew my life would forever truly be full. You were my missing piece. You are the adventure I longed for but didn't know existed. You are the product of love between your Daddy and I and you were so wanted.
Everyone always likes the story of how they came into this world. I sat down many times to write your birth story but never finished, so here's a summary: Yours was a typical delivery. My water broke on the night of your due date, we went to the hospital, waited around, and with your Daddy by my side, I pushed for an hour. It was a long day but before I knew it you were born and on my chest, looking up at me. You were here, you were perfect, and you were mine. We were complete. It was the sweetest moment and I experienced a deeper love than I knew existed. I cried and Daddy and I just stared at this little human we had just brought into the world. I was amazed. I knew you and you knew me. I felt this incredible high, like I could do anything after that, anything.
Every day that I get to spend with you is a delight to me. Nothing makes me happier than your hugs, cuddles, and giggles. Your joy and vivacity are infectious and I love looking at the world through your eyes.
I love you with a love so fierce, my baby! Happy Birthday.
Love Always & Forever,
