Taylor, Matthew & Brayden: The Big One

Brayden turned one last week. One! How is it possible that his first year of life is over? I remember trying to freeze time so often during Taylor's first year of life - there were so many moments that would make me pause and savor her firsts - yet I was rarely able to do that with Brayden. Many times before bed, I tried to embed a permanent image of his little body in my brain. I am acutely aware of how time is slipping through my fingers and my days of holding a baby are fleeting! I hate that I did not get to cherish every single moment with my baby boy. A few people have told me that I'll be able to make this time up with B on the back end (when Taylor and Matty have left for college and B is still in high school), but something tells me that he won't be as interested in me when he is 17 and 18!

At one year old, Brayden is a sweet little guy. He rolls with the punches, sometimes literally. He loves playing independently, but he also loves trying to keep up with his sister and brother. His absolute favorite "toys" are Taylor's markers. My little artist (Taylor) constantly leaves her markers out at her art table, and Brayden will go straight to them. This was fine for a period of time, until two weeks ago when he discovered how to take the lids off. He also loves to play with Matty's cars - the challenge being that most often Matty does not like to share with B. Brayden's other favorites around the house include playing with the fireplace doors, pulling utensils out of the dishwasher, grabbing for wine bottles on our wine rack, climbing stairs and chairs when I am not looking, and playing with toilet water. Yep, he is all boy!

Brayden is a good sleeper, he is a paci addict much like his sister and brother, and he often eats more than his siblings. He has blonde fuzzy hair that is a bit wild at times, and his eyes are still a grey-blue color. He has six teeth, two on the bottom and four on top. He started walking a few days before his birthday, but crawling is still his preferred mode of movement. He babbles and has said "mamama," "dadada" and "sis," but I don't think he says any of those words intentionally. He loves to wave (even though sometimes it is backwards) and babble at other people, but this guy is a momma's boy. His favorite place to be is in my arms. I love it. We tried to have pictures taken of Brayden to commemorate his first birthday - we had to reschedule after the first shoot was a flop and we called it quits after the second - he would not let me put him down and cried heartily when I did.

At B's one-year check up today, he weighed 20 pounds, 6 ounces (16th percentile) and was 29.25 inches long (31st percentile). I consider this okay given that the poor little guy has had diarrhea for ten days now (much like Matty did two years ago).

For his birthday, we had a low-key party with Grandma and Pop Pop. Brayden didn't mind - he loved all the attention for an evening!

Happy 1st Birthday, Sweet B. We love you to the moon and back. Thank you for completing our family.

Our happy birthday boy

One example of Brayden's love of markers...

... and his love of the fireplace doors.

He knows he's not supposed to be there.

He is a messy eater, but he sure is cute.

Sweetness

#1 picture collage of B's first year

Let the party begin!

This is a sign I ordered for B. I mounted it on foam board in hopes that he would carry it around on his birthday and I could get all sorts of cute pictures. That idea was a total fail, but the sign sure is cute.