A RETROSPECTIVE ON TWELVE AMAZING MONTHS

To celebrate my one year old birthday, I'm having a party on Saturday. I can't wait to see everyone who is coming into town to celebrate with me. For those of you who can't make it, here is a little stroll down memory lane.

Me in my favorite little hangout - the baby papasan. I lot some good sleeping in there. Which is pretty much all I did for the first month or so. Eat, sleep and be merry. Of course, you'll all remember I also spent a lot of time sleeping in my swing.

Yakity-yak! Got Dad's back! He didn't even know until Mom showed him this picture. This is back in the day when I was still "sleeping in the co-sleeper" (code for sleeping in the car seat that was placed in the co-sleeper after Dad had finished swinging me to sleep). And who can forget all of the deep knee lunges that Mom and Dad had to do with me in the Baby Bjorn to get me to fall asleep.

At this point of her maternity leave, Mom was "getting her shop on" - so we were going to the grocery store pretty much every day. Heck, we would even drive all the way to the Wegmans in Woodbridge just for an outing. If it wasn't the Shop-Rite by our house, then it was Brookdale Park. And don't let me fool you into thinking it was only grocery stores we went shopping at. I shopped in Montclair, Short Hills, Summit, Westfield, Clark, Englewood Cliffs, Edgewater, New York City (how can I ever forget the infamous Kate Spade Sample Sale incident of 2006?), anywhere there was a credit card machine, I was there. Mom and I got around. ;-)

Ahhhh! But it wasn't allllll shopping! Here I am in the hey-day of enjoying my exer-saucer. I still needed the blanket tucked inside at this point, but soon, I would be in full exer-saucer hopping mode. Thank goodness that Becca had one that I loved so much to give Mom the confidence to go out and get one for me. It proved to be a real awesome toy! Heck, you can still catch me in it at daycare every once in a while!

I loved practicing to sit. This is when I was about a month and a half away from starting day care. Mom would prop me up for photo shoots. Those were the good old days. Chillin' in my nursery with all of my cool toys (like the pop-up ball machine), my favorite books (Dear Zoo, Goodnight Moon, I Know a Rhino, There's A Wocket in my Pocket, and Jamberry), and Mom.

Here I am posing during one of my trips to Buffalo. I was very lucky to be able to road trip up to Buffalo a few times during my first year. In fact, Ong Ba Ngoai watched me for a whole weekend while Mom and Dad chilled in Seneca Springs. One of the traditions from my trips to Buffalo - photo shoots with Ba Ngoai. Man! I totally see where Mom got here camera-itis disease from!

Lucky me hanging with Di Ut in Saratoga for my first Dave Matthews show outside of the womb (I was here in Saratoga the year before, but the acoustics in utero aren't as great). Like my hair? That's how I roll when I camp.

I had a great time in my new little swimming pool/sand box that Mom and Dad got me too! What a lucky boy! Good thing cause it was a pretty hot summer! But I stayed cool in my blue bug.

Of course, I made a few trips out to the home of the Blues Brothers, Bill Swerski's Superfans, and Deep Dish Pizza (Chicago) to visit Grama Lo and Cousins Elliot and Emma, Aunt Erin and Uncle Noel and the whole Grade Clan too! I took advantage of being able to go out for a swing in E&E's backyard. They're so lucky to have a full blown swing set right in their back yard! In fact, outside of Brookdale Park, Chicago and D.C. were two of the places where I first developed my true love for swinging that continues to this day. I LOVE SWINGING!

It's amazing that one day I was sleeping in the co-sleeper, then the big move to the crib, and then the day when Mom and Dad realized that they needed to move the bed of my crib down a notch, cause I could pull myself up! Wowzas!!

My first Halloween! Ben the Bear. This may go down in history as Mom's favorite costume for me - ever. It was easy (off the rack at the Gap across the street from her office at work) and adorable! (Not to mention versatile - I did wear it the day our furnace died to keep warm)

And my first time flying to Buffalo without Dad. Of course, you know the real reason this picture is here is to highlight my first bowl hair cut.

Well, here I am eating finger foods in my daycare. Remember when I was drinking boob juice out of a bottle? And that was cause for celebration? And then it was formula? And then solid foods which were really just a puree mush? It's pretty amazing how quickly all of that happened.

Here I am playing at daycare in the same area where Mom would prop me up because I couldn't sit on my own when I first started at school six months ago. Time flies man! I mean, there were days when Mom was excited just to see me smile (even though she knew it reflexive and most likely gas) and now, I can spontaneously flash a toothy (6 tooth) smile! I can pat my head. I love to clap. I crawl like a lightening bolt! I love to push along Thomas the Train or any other walker I can get my hand on (including my high chair, our dining room chairs, garbage cans, literally, anything!). I love to eat chicken, beans, raisins, cantaloupe, bananas, frozen peas, yogurt, cereal.

Every morning, I sit in the backseat of the car eating cereal out of my snacktrap before falling asleep on my way into the city for my daily commute from Bloomfield, NJ through the Lincoln Tunnel into Times Square.

I got my very first report card this week. Miss Gail said that I was a very intelligent baby who interacted really well with other kids and teachers. She said I was a joy to have in class and that she was really going to miss me when I moved up to the one year old room.

Awww shucks!! I've been so lucky having such great teachers for my first experience at daycare.

In fact, I have been lucky all around. Lucky to be such a happy and healthy kid. Lucky that Mom and Dad have taken such good care of me. Lucky that I have had such wonderful people care about me and visit me. You know who you are. You've seen yourself on the blog over the past year! I'm a lucky little boy to have every one of you in my life. THANKS!

Happy Birthday to Me!

Congratulations to Mom and Dad for making it through the first year!

It was a blast!

Here's to many more AMAZING YEARS ahead of me!