366 days

On October 16, our little boy turned one. One! The year that has been passed has been filled with joy, wonder and amazement -- starting with his bursting onto the scene, screaming his lungs out for hours and hours as if to fill the air with his presence. I know no better way of describing that moment than this:

He was actual! An actual baby, pulled from the dream of my body into the shocking wakefulness of earthly life.

Elizabeth McCracken

Since the midwife placed him on my belly, he has truly been bundle of joy for all that encounter him. Until Nicholas was born, all of us were nervous about what changes a new baby would to our family. But once he came along, we all immediately had a sense that "of course Nicholas belongs here". He has always belonged here. Until he arrived, though, we just didn't know it.


Imagine what an experience that first year must be for a baby... the first breath, first food, first smile. In fact, in his first year, Nicholas has experienced thousands of "firsts" and achieved many of them on his own. Meeting his brothers, crawling, burping, banging his head with Lego blocks... The list is endless. I feel so lucky to have been able to be home with him this year, to watch him grow and learn and become the loving, cuddly little burst of energy that he is today.

Mom and Dad were here to celebrate that special day with us, and we were so happy to spend a week with them. Nicholas particularly loved his new Radio Flyer bike, which he can already move on his own and is daily crashing into the walls (only when his daddy isn't home, of course).


For his birthday, we made an egg-less, milk-less chocolate cake, which actually tasted quite good. Nicholas seemed to enjoy it....



Here are just a few of our favorite photos from Nicholas's first year.