Happy 1st Birthday, Dylan

Dylan,

It's so hard for me to believe that a year has passed since you were born. I can still close my eyes and instantly be transported back to the moment you came into this world; 10:33am on Tuesday, November 30th. Even though the pregnancy was hard (and with complications), and delivery wasn't any better, I was so excited to get to meet you and was overcome with joy at the sound of your first cry. But you didn't cry much... the nurses had to give you oxygen after you were born, but they did bring you over to me so I could at least see you. You were beautiful! When the doctor had finally finished sewing me back up, we both went to the recovery room, and I got to hold you for the first time. You were so small, and so, so sweet. We started nursing almost immediately, and continued on for an additional 11 months.

For the first few weeks, you were a very easy baby, much like your brother. You slept a lot, and only cried when you needed something. However, when you were about a month old, you developed reflux and became a little harder to handle. You cried a lot (because we had a hard time getting that darn stomach acid under control), but we did our best to try to make you as comfortable as possible. We put you to sleep on an incline, or let you nap in your baby swing, and these efforts seemed to help. Of course the medicine helped too... thank goodness your daddy is a pharmacist, because he made the "Dylan special" as palate pleasureable as he could.

We've had tons of fun, and have been to fun places this year too! When you were 2 months old, we went to see Aunt Mimi in Savannah, and went to the beach for the very first time! You slept while we were there, but your brother had a blast! We also went back to visit her when you were 9 months old. We had such a good time, and I found out that you are a fantastic traveler!

You love to play games as well. You love pat-a-cake, "riding the horsey", "where's Dylan" (which involves putting a towel (or similar) over you head and then pulling it off), playing chase, and your new favorite is peek-a-boo. You are so cute when you try to put your hands over your face... you don't get your eyes covered up, so they are open and you are grinning at me as you try to play with me! You also want to play with anything that Riley has. You love your big brother so much and laugh hysterically at him when he's being silly. He always knows just the right thing to do to make you smile.

Some other milestones that you hit this year:
-you sat up on your own at 5 months
-you got your first tooth at 6 months
-you started crawling at 7 months
-you starting sleeping through the night (most nights) at 10 months
-you started walking at 10½ months
-you can say 4 words now (mama, which you have been babbling that since you were 4 months old, dada, rara and nana, which means food)

Your little(big) personality is really starting to shine now. You are so much like your daddy. You go, go, go all the time and don't want to stop for naps or food. You are quite stubborn and hardheaded (ok, that's not totally all daddy), but are still so sweet and cuddly. You are quite mischievious and into everything. You do understand the word "NO", but choose not to listen. In the past few weeks, you have been in a daddy phase, and want him most of the time.

So, you see, baby boy, you've grown and changed so much in this first year. I have loved every minute of it and can't wait to see what your next year brings. This is just the beginning, sweet love. There is so much more to come.

Love,
Mommy

so this is love
so this is what makes life devine
I'm all aglow
and now I know
the key to the heaven is mine
my heart has wings
and I can fly
I'll touch every star in the sky
so YOU are the miracle
that I've been dreaming of
so this is love