Happy Birthday B-Man!

Brady turns one year old today! I can't believe it. It seems like just yesterday I was trying to hide my contractions from Zach so he could go and take the GMAT. Luckily he made it through the test before Brady came and even scored well enough to get into the school of his choice! Now here we are back in Provo and Brady is >this close< to walking. Crazy sauce.

And now, a review of the year in pictures:

September 12, 2010. Day one. Hours after being born. It was love at first sight.

It was not, however, love at first scream. Brady was born with the most raptor-like cry I have ever heard. He would go from zero to banshee scream in .02 seconds. All the nurses knew it and they would come to my hospital room at all hours of the night holding a screeching Brady at arm's length ready for me to take him. Yea, he was a charmer.
Long story short: Brady as a newborn= no fun. But the good news is babies get older, and cuter and less cry-e-ier. Phew.

October 2010. One month old. Getting cuter but I was still terrified of him. He was a horrible nurser and that cry! Oh that cry. I cried three days straight when my mom left me. But somehow, we survived.

November 2010. Two months old. Nursing was getting better. Sleeping was getting better (sort of). Things were looking up. And that smile. That smile made it (almost) all. worth. it.

December 2010. Three months old. Bumbo awesomeness. The chub started accumulating proving that this was, in fact, mine and Zach's kid. The fat rolls on his knees are quite impressive.

January 2011. Four months old. Thank goodness for the jumperoo. That's all.

February 2011. Five months old. Sleeping greatly improved. Screech-owl cry has disappeared. Next time I have a baby can I just be pregnant 5 months longer and start at month 5? Seriously, newborns scare me. But it all turned out great with Brady and he became the sweetest, easiest 5-12 month old I have ever met. (minus a couple plane rides and that whole stranger anxiety phase.Bleh.)

March 2011. Six months old. Holy cuteness. Can't get enough of that curl. Continues to love the jumperoo and any attention he can get from Ryan. His smile is to die for. Starts rice cereal. Dislike. Hates anything baby food. Subsists on milk and bananas for next three months.

April 2011. Seven months old. Keeps sleeping better. Finally is sleeping through the night occasionally. Schedule is starting to be predictable enough that we can have play dates and run errands and kind of feel like we know what comes next. Brady becomes a very content baby... as long as mom is holding him. Stranger anxiety comes on full force.

May 2011. Eight months old. Hair keeps growing. Cheeks keep growing. Starts to crawl at the end of the month. Crawling greatly increases his happy:sad ratio during the day which , in turn, increases his mom's happy:losingherfreakingmind ratio during the day.

June 2011. Nine months old. Starts playing with Ryan in the toy room. Hallelujah! Loves musical toys and dances every time he hears a song he likes- which is pretty much every song he hears. Is consistently sleeping through the night. My quality life greatly improves. Thank you Brady.

July 2011. Ten months old. Starts to pull up! Loves his naps. Loves his brother and starts to love the dog. Continues to hate baby food but will eat anything that has texture and that he can feed himself. Gerber graduates are our friend. Along with bananas and canned peaches.

August 2011. Eleven months old. First trip to grandma's house (both sets!). First trip to the beach. First plane ride (4 hour crying fest. Reappearance of raptor baby.) LOVES the ocean and crawling into small spaces. Also loves to try to crawl under things. Large bobble head makes this difficult, but very fun to watch. Takes first steps on August 22nd. In Virginia. While dad is in Utah. Sad day for dad.

September 2011. One Year! This boy brings so much happiness to our home. I can't imagine life without him. He goes to bed at 7:30 or 8pm and has been known to sleep in past 10am! Those are 14 hour nights. Yea baby. He will eat anything and everything you put in front of him. Loves to feed himself. He can take ten to fifteen steps on his own and will probably be a full fledged walker by the end of the week. We spent his birthday at the zoo and he loved every second of it- even with missing his nap. He loves to laugh and is still in awe of Ryan. If Ryan pays the slightest bit of attention to him he is in heaven. Starstruck. It is so cute to watch. I can't wait for them to grow up together and become playmates. They will be so good for eachother.
At the conclusion of his first year of life, I can without hesitation say that all those nursing battles, banshee screams late into the night and even the horribleness that was Flight 969 were worth it. Brady is the sweetest thing and is now the easiest, cutest baby I have ever seen. He makes me laugh everyday. B-man, you're the BEST!

Happy Birthday!

p.s. I promise you will get balloons and presents and cake on Wednesday. Monday birthdays are tough for a procrastinating mom who waits until the night before to think of things like cake and balloons. I'm sure you will forgive me when you take your first bite of cake. Love you!