Saturday, January 9, 2010

Happy 1st Birthday Big Boy!!

Wow, I can't believe you are a year old already. I have to see, it's been an amazing year watching you grow and change!!

Here's you inside my belly at the hospital just before you were born...

And here's you just minutes after you were born...

Being pregnant with you was a breeze. I mean, I was always worried about you since the journey with your brother didn't quite end the way we thought, so having you, we worried about whether or not you'd get sick etc. And really, things weren't perfect either. Halfway through, we found out you had an irregular heart beat. The doctor said it would probably resolve itself, but that medication might be required and worst case scenario, you'd have to have surgery while you were still growing in my belly. You can imagine this was a bit stressful on me!! Well, then I ran the Disneyland Half Marathon. The doctor said to keep an eye on my heart rate and truly, I ended up walking most of the race. It took me 3 hours 29 minutes and 42 seconds (18 seconds to spare since you have to finish in 3 and a half hours to be a legal finisher!!). Well, after the race, your heartbeat was fine, and ever since then it has been fine, so I suppose me having my heartrate at 140 for that length of time helped you figure out how your heart is really supposed to work. See, running fixes everything, hahaha.

We were monitored very closely with you and I got to see you at the ultrasound multiple times. And then, on January 9th last year, we headed to the Rockyview Hospital to welcome you into this world by elective c-section. I didn't really have a choice, so a c-section it was. I had a bit of a rough ride with the anastetic and all that. Let's just say I was sick for a good 24 hours and the recovery after that was slow. But wow, we got to hear you cry!! And daddy got to hold you straight away, and he got to bring you over so I could see you for the amazing little baby you were. Little, who am I kidding, you weighed 8 pounds 13 ounces. And, that was 10 days before your due date!! Although, the ultrasound predicted you'd be a pound bigger. Imagine that!! Well, I got taken to recovery and pretty soon afterwards, your dad and you joined me. I got to try feeding you for the first time, and the three of just hung out (in between my bouts of puking of course). It was so incredible that you got to be with us from the beginning. It was something totally new for us even though you were our second child. I loved that you stayed in the room with me. I did my best to feed you and hold you and do what you needed to be happy. And then, 2 days later, we got to leave, and, we got to take you with us!! It was such an emotional experience to leave the hospital with a baby. It was wonderful!!




At the start, you were pretty much a lump. You didn't do much, just slept and ate. Your big brother wasn't entirely sure what to make of you. Suddenly, he had to share his mom!! But, he asked to hold you and has been pretty fantastic with you. I loved when you started to smile. You have been such a happy baby. I mean, every now and then you have your moments, and you've had your little freakouts, but everyone does, but they are so few and far between. I'm so lucky. You are always smiling and curious about everything.


You quickly adapted to being on your tummy and much preferred to sleep there. You used the Amby bed for about 4 months but then happily preferred a crib after that. You started rolling over, then sitting, then army crawling, which you did for quite awhile, until finally realizing that if you did regular crawling, you could get places faster. You are standing now, and walking along stuff. It won't be long and you'll be walking.



You love playing in the kitchen, taking stuff out of cupboards, banging around pots and pans. You love pushing cars along, which you learned how to do by watching your brother. Really, you pretty much love whatever your brother is doing and strive to do it too. It's pretty cute these days when you try to chase him. You both end up in fits of laughter. You are a bit of a godzilla when it comes to building trains though, and same with towers. I have a lot of fun with you building block towers while you knock them down. That's something that just the two of us do together!!

You have done pretty good for seeing the world already. Your grandma and I went to Europe with you when you were four months old. You were awesome to travel with!! We went to Germany, Austria and France. It was an amazing trip and I couldn't have asked for a better baby on that trip!! You also got to go to Kamloops, Vancouver, Seattle and SunPeaks. That was a road trip with your grandma, brother and me. And, we were lucky that dad came and met up with us for the Vancouver and Seattle part!! It too, was a lot of fun. And then just before Christmas, you went on your first cruise and your second trip to a Disney park (because you'd already been to Disneyland Paris!!). You were great. You loved the verandah in our room, and loved going from outside to inside all by yourself.


And you are quite the little eater. It was very different for us as parents, to feed you. From the very first time we fed you solid food, you've embraced it with both arms (literally). You love eating and are willing to try most things. You also much prefer feeding yourself to letting us help. This is amazing to us as parents. I had no idea a baby could do these things on their own so quickly!!


Sullivan, you are a fantastic little guy. I hope you will always have the same zest for life that you exhibit already. I hope you will continue with that amazing smile. You are a great little guy and it such a pleasure having you in our family. We love you so much and look forward to watching you grow into a little toddler now. I look forward to your first words, and your first steps. Thanks for all the smiles and the laughs. Thanks for being so carefree and loving. You are a sweetheart and we love you more than anything. A very Happy First Birthday to you!!

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