Birthday month has arrived!

This is going to be a big month! Our baby boy N is turning one! I am pretty sure this was the quickest year of my life. Each day for the last few weeks I think, "Last year on this day I..." On October 1, I was remembering my baby shower. Columbus Day weekend we were back down the shore where last year on that weekend I realized I'd no longer just be an aunt to children (was with my nephews and niece) but that soon (the next time I saw them) I'd be somebody else's mom! (I was actually teary-eyed leaving the shore last year.) October 11 was the one-year anniversary of my last day of work and October 12 was the one-year anniversary of the start of my maternity leave. Then on our fourth wedding anniversary I recalled our last anniversary, our third, where I had contractions ALL THROUGH DINNER. I thought the baby was coming soon! Ha, he showed me. I went into labor exactly one month after our anniversary. Now that November is here I am just blown away. I don't have a baby anymore. I have a little boy! He is so sweet. He continues to be a snuggler and a real Mama's boy. I am his favorite person in the world, as it should be. He has some separation anxiety when I drop him off in the morning but I discovered if I put him right into a high chair with his buddy G and he gets to start eating breakfast (bagels or pancakes or biscuits, etc.) he just watches me leave with no tears. Whew! It was really hard leaving before that because he'd come crying and crawling after me and that image would be stuck in my head the rest of the day and I'd feel so guilty. Meanwhile, he'd be fine in a minute or two. G's mom sent me a text one day to tell me she saw him smiling on her way out, which was probably a minute after I left so I know the tears don't last long, but it's hard for my heart to understand that. It is so much easier to leave when he has this, "Bye, Mom, I've got G and breakfast" look on his face. Speaking of G, N had his first playdate with G on 10/20 at G's house. They were cute together, of course both wanting the toy the other one has at all times. I heard a funny story about N at school too. Awhile back I heard that G taught N to go around to the cribs and bang on them to wake the sleeping babies! Ha ha! Well, one day a new teacher told me how G and N (11 days apart) are "two peas in a pod." She said G fell asleep and N went and sat beside his crib for awhile and then started banging on it (guess he wanted his buddy to play!). How cute is that? He is not walking but he seems like he could if he wanted to. He can freely stand without holding on but he usually quickly drops to a crawl or holds on to a chair or table or whatever is available. I thought he'd be walking by now because he's been cruising for months but I know he'll be even harder to keep up with once he does. We are planning his party for 11/11, eight days early but that is just how the scheduling worked out. I don't quite feel prepared enough. I am guessing we have about 35-40 people at this point but I don't have a final count yet. For his birthday we got him the cutest little chair and ottoman that pretty closely matches our living room furniture. He has already seen it and he mostly uses it as a stepping stool to get to the end table and to grab whatever is on there. He continues to be fascinated by paper products. He LOVES to grab a circular, napkin, power towel, piece of paper, etc. and just rip it to shreds. I catch him trying to eat it too. All things must be tasted! Then when it comes to real food he often throws it. I was having a somewhat rough time trying to get him to eat meat. He would just toss it without even tasting it. Tonight his dad handed him a piece of lamb from his gyro and to my surprise and delight (even though I do not eat lamb or veal for that matter) N chowed down on the lamb. Then I gave him some of my pot roast (we were at a diner) and he ate that too. This was just minutes after throwing a hard-boiled egg and a peach slice. Meat is what is important at this age anyway so I'm very happy. For Halloween he dressed up as a monster. He got quite a lot of mileage out of his costume. Hurricane Sandy whipped through here Monday and trick-or-treating was postponed in our area on Wednesday so we went tonight. But he got to wear his costume to Boo at the Zoo last Saturday (his second trip to zoo!) and to daycare on Wednesday. We took him to my parents' on Sunday and to my MIL's tonight in costume as well. He looked quite adorable. And coincidentally G's mom bought him the same costume so they matched at school! He is working on tooth #5 and I think tooth #6 right now. It is really hard to get in there to see! Hubby texted me the other day that he had five teeth and I was surprised! I hadn't seen it just the day before. They take awhile to get all the way in though that is for sure. He started blowing raspberries again yesterday; they are quite amusing to me because I can't do one to save my life! I don't remember when but he stopped growling some months back; that was funny too! My boy sure makes me laugh...and smile.