Frogs, Snails, and Puppy Dog Tails

Is it really almost THAT time?  I have sent out the invitations, bought the party supplies, dog bowls, table cloths, and ordered the cake.  Noah's 1st birthday is only a mere 3 weeks away.  Where has the past year gone?  It's amazing how even simple scents can bring back memories.  For example, my body wash.  It's a Dove body wash that I used right after I had Noah.  Just that smell brings back the simple memory of having time to catch a quick shower during such hectic days.  Oh, those hectic days....when you have absolutely no idea what you're doing and sometimes you feel like you want to just put your head through the wall.  But as everyone told me, I does get better.

His Smashbook is full of pictures from the day he was born and also his umbilical cord that fell off that day when I was changing his diaper.  I was so scared that he was going to bleed to death just because it fell off "early".  I remember all of those late nights and early mornings when he slept in his Pack 'N Play in our bedroom and how all we wanted was to watch "Frankenweenie" one night, but it was turned down so low that we couldn't even hear it, because we didn't want to wake him up.  But little did we know that soon, he would start sleeping all night long.  He would start eating rice cereal and holding his head up.  Not too long after that, he started rolling over on his own and wanting to crawl.  Then comes eating fruits and veggies and drinking out of a sippie cup.  When he started crawling, we thought we were in trouble.  Boy, were we right.  That's when he began the desire to crawl behind the sofa and touch electrical outlets and bang on the fireplace glass.  Whew.  He's into everything.  Now, he's taking his first steps. (And he's still into everything)  It's such a beautiful thing to watch fall down and get back up and try again.  This is one of many times that he will fail and keep on trying.  And in just a few short weeks, he will be a little boy.  No longer my baby.  He will start becoming more independent and won't allow me to rock him to sleep any longer.  We will have to transition his crib into a toddler bed.  These are all just a few baby steps that I'm sure all moms experience, but to me, they are giant leaps for my darling boy.

I can't wait to experience these milestones along with many others that I'm sure will be here before a blink of an eye.