Motherhood by the numbers

Henson is about to turn one! ONE!!! My god. That is just mind blowing. I can't say that this year was easy but it was defiantly AMAZING. I will never, ever have another year like it and I am so grateful for every moment (the good and the bad) because Pat and I were tested and we survived!!! Parenthood is crazy and because I am a visual person I thought it would be fun to do some tallying. Here is my first year as a mother by the numbers:

2,583 baby photos taken with my camera
days of breastfeeding
31 trips to the library
18 cloth diapers
14 phone calls to my sister for advice
13 stitches in my lady bits

11 breastfeeding support group meetings

9 hours of candy crush

8 minutes of TV Henson has watched

7 nights at the children's hospital

6 trips to Vermont

5 pies made and consumed (mostly by me)
5 proclamations that I was a bad mama
5 dates with Pat (that includes two weddings without Henson and a trip to Home Depot)
4 proclamations that I wouldn't survive motherhood
3 pant sizes down
3 trips to the movie theatre by myself
2 frustrated screams into a pillow
2 failed diets
2 exploding diapers
2 cans of formula
2 newer (and safer) cars

1 mouth full of spit up (my mouth, Henson's spit up)

1 night of solid six hour sleep

11 months of little things

To our little doodle,

This post is late. Seventeen days late to be exact. Yikes! Where is the time going? With the change in the seasons and starting my new job, time is getting away from me. Whenever we are together we just play and play...okay, occasionally I sneak in a few smooches but you don't really like them right now.

You really enjoy:

sliced turkey

watching boats in the river

toy cars and making the "vrrrrooooommm" sound

naps on the couch

going on adventures with Janie

standing

high fives

climbing stairs

singing "la, la, la"

You dislike:

sleeping alone

rainy days when we have to stay indoors

Things to look forward to:

Your first birthday!

picking apples and pumpkins

walking?

warm cider

pancakes with cinnamon

You are the best of the best. Thanks for being so loving. I love you Henson with all of my heart. 

If we all take a minute, it is easy to remember why we are all here. 

Love, Your Mama. 

10 months of little things

To our baby doodle,

As we get closer to your first birthday, I have started building a scrapbook for you. Every hour that I spend with all those photographs is daunting. It seems like you were born yesterday and also a thousand years ago.

You have grown into such a little personality! You are full of loud squeals, big smiles and a pout that makes my stomach ache. As we get ready for a shift in our routine, I can't help but feel a little bit sorry for you. Will you be confused? Will you be sad? Maybe you won't miss your mama and will love every minute you spend with your dad or new nanny.

Henson, just so you know, I have enjoyed every single minute of our time together. I can't believe how lucky I am to have watched you grow these last ten (almost eleven) months. I won't lie, it hasn't been easy and you have tested my abilities in a million ways but I have learned so much about myself. I have learned so much about my patience, ability to cope and the insane amount of love I have in my heart. You went from a blobby newborn into this little person with preferences and characteristics.

You really enjoy:

all kinds of melon

cheerios

the garden hose

climbing in Cookie's bed

standing up

flipping through books

crawling, crawling, crawling

playing outside
clapping

You dislike: 

getting your diaper changed

Things to look forward to:

eating fall foods like soup and squash
the harvest
sleeping through the night?

I can't believe it is the middle of August. Time flies when you are having fun. It also flies when you have a perfect baby that wants to play all the time. We certainly had a great summer. 

If we all take a minute it is easy to remember why we are all here. 

We love you. Love, your Mama.